Irish Win CCHA Tournament Championship, To Face Bemidji State In First Round of NCAA Tournament – Rakes of Mallow

Josh_R apologizes for the lack of updates regarding the ND Hockey team. His jobs have consumed his life lately.

For much of the 2008-2009 NCAA hockey season, the main question asked by fans, the media, and even ND’s opponents was not “if” Notre Dame would take the CCHA regular season crown, but “when.” As the team’s excellent play continued, the points gap separating ND from the rest of the CCHA field increased. By the end of the season, one could only wonder that it wasn’t a question of if Notre Dame would also take the Mason Cup in Detroit as the CCHA Tournament Champion, but when.

After enjoying the bye weekend, Notre Dame faced CCHA #8 Nebraska Omaha at the JACC. UNO was coming off a fairly easy weekend against CCHA #9 Ferris State, as they swept the Bulldogs with a 3-0 win on Friday and a 5-1 win on Saturday to advance to the second round of the CCHA tournament.

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“Irish Take on Michigan State in Regular Season Finale” – Rakes of Mallow

It’s been a tale of two entirely different seasons for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Michigan State Spartans hockey teams. Both teams were predicted to be in the upper echelon of not only the CCHA, but also the national picture as well. Prior to tonight’s game, you’ll find Notre Dame sitting atop conference and national standings. MSU, on the other hand, has struggled the entire season, failing to live up to the high expectations prior to an NCAA tournament appearence last season.

Notre Dame returns home after last weekend’s hard fought battle in an intense, hostile atmosphere with UNO, squeeking out two victories. Tonight’s match up is the last home game of the regular season. Senior night will be an emotional event for our senior players and their families as their careers will soon come to a close.

Outgoing Seniors Include: RW Erik Condra, C Christian Hanson, D Luke Lucyk, G Jordan Pearce, LW Garrett Regan, and Justin White.

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“Just Enough: Irish Win CCHA Regular Season Crown With Pair of 1-Goal Wins Over UNO” – Rakes of Mallow

The rafters at the newly announced hockey facility just might be full of banners even before the Irish play a game inside of it. At the very least, the 2008-2009 CCHA Regular Season Championship banner will hang, as Notre Dame swept the weekend series with UNO and second place Miami (OH) lost to and tied Northern Michigan in their weekend series. ND obviously hopes that it isn’t the only banner they earn this season.

The title didn’t come easy. It was a physical, hard-fought weekend sprinkled with some fortuitous bounces and questionable officiating. Even Coach Jackson acknowledged that the Irish were extremely fortunate to have won Friday night’s game, a thrilling 4-3 OT win.

The Omaha Civic Auditorium lived up to the hype. Close to 8,000 packed the building each night, affectionately named “The Barn,” to hopefully watch UNO upset the #2 ranked Irish. There was a sizeable Irish fan presence and the roar after each Irish goal rivaled that of the UNO fans. What they did have was cowbell. Lots and Lots of cowbell.

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“High Scoring Irish Ready to face UNO in Omaha” – Rakes of Mallow

This is an excerpt from my hockey entry at popular ND sports blog Rakes of Mallow. Follow the link to read the rest of it. Comment!

Notre Dame hockey has had success regardless of the venue during the past three seasons, they best in the program’s history. The team hopes to continue its winning ways away from home this weekend as Jackson and Co. take on the University of Nebraska-Omaha Maverics in Omaha, Nebraska.

The Irish are coming off of an impressive weekend, as the offense exploded with 9 goals against Northern Michigan in the Friday night game at the JACC. A rare poor defensive effort was thankfully overshadowed by stellar special teams play. The power play unit was 6 of 8 with the man advantage while limiting NMU to 1 power play goal in 4 chances.

Read the rest at: Rakes of Mallow