Season In Review Irish Have Rollercoaster Season In 2011-12
Notre Dame starts the year ranked No. 1 in preseason but finishes with 19-18-3 mark.
The Notre Dame hockey team moved to the Compton Family Ice Arena to open play on Oct. 21, 2011. Anders Lee scored the first-ever goal and finished with a hat trick as the Irish handed Rensselaer a 5-2 loss in front of an opening-night sellout crowd of 5,022. FAREWELL TO THE JOYCE CENTER – With the opening of the Compton Family Ice Arena, the Irish played their final games at the Joyce Center when they opened the year on Oct. 14-15 with Ohio State. Notre Dame won the first game of the series, 5-2, before losing the last game, 4-3, to the Buckeyes. In the 44-years of use, Notre Dame played 723 games at the Joyce Center and had a record of 374-290-59 for a .558 winning percentage. NEW HOME – During the 2011-12 season, Notre Dame began play in the brand new Compton Family Ice Arena on Oct. 21, 2011, opening with a 5-2 win over Rensselaer. Sophomore Anders Lee christened the building in grand style, scoring the first goal on the ice of the Charles “Lefty” Smith Rink before finishing the game with a hat trick. Mike Johnson picked up the first win in goal by making 15 saves while Sean Lorenz ‘12 had the game-winning goal. In 19 home games at the Compton Family Ice Arena, Notre Dame was 127-0 and saw 91,793 fans go through the turnstiles for an average of 4,793 per game with 11 of the 19 games sellouts of 5,022 CONFERENCE CALL – The Hockey East Association and the University of Notre Dame announced on Oct. 5, 2011 that the Fighting Irish had been accepted into the league as the 11th member
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school and will begin play starting in 201314. In making the announcement, Hockey East commissioner Joe Bertagna said, “It is not an overstatement to say that this is one of the most significant days in the history of our conference. The addition of new institutions is always exciting but Notre Dame brings a unique set of qualities and circumstances to the continued growth of our league. We are proud to welcome Notre Dame into the fold and we look forward to getting to the many details that come with this announcement.” Notre Dame Vice President and Director of Athletics Jack Swarbrick said, “We are excited to be joining Hockey East beginning in the 201314 season. Many factors played a role in our decision, but three were of special importance to us. The first two were the critical issues of the student-athlete experience and Notre Dame’s fit with the other schools in the conference. But of special importance in this instance, was our goal of giving our hockey program an unprecedented level of national exposure through our expanded partnership with the NBC Sports Group. Athletics at Notre Dame has always served as a platform for promoting the University.” Notre Dame head coach Jeff Jackson added, “We are honored and pleased to join Hockey East for the 2013-14 season. The conference is an established league with a great tradition and
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outstanding programs that share Notre Dame’s values. The exposure for our players and team in a major media and NHL market will be second to none. Hockey East’s commitment to playing a smaller league schedule will allow us to enhance our home and non-conference schedule with traditional western and Big Ten rivals. This will allow us to bring great games to the Compton Family Ice Arena and create a more diverse, nationally-televised schedule. We are grateful to Joe Bertagna and the Hockey East Association members for this tremendous opportunity.” Notre Dame will play its 23rd season as a member of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) in 2012-13 and has had two stints with the CCHA during its 44 years of Division I hockey. The Irish first joined the conference from 1981-83 and then again in 1992 through the 2012-13 season. During that time, Notre Dame has won two CCHA regular-season and postseason tournament titles (2007 and 2009). ROLLER COASTER RIDE – The 2011-12 season was a series of ups and downs for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish hockey team. After starting the season with a 2-2-0 mark after four games, the Irish went on an 11-game unbeaten streak (8-0-3) and were 10-2-3 at the end of November. Notre Dame then lost four straight games to open December before winning three straight to improve to 13-6-3 on Jan. 7. The Irish then