Just a small town girl, livin’ in a lonely world
She took the midnight train goin’ anywhere
Just a city boy, born and raised in south Detroit
He took the midnight train goin’ anywhere…

I love football, I’m not gonna lie. But hockey is a close second in my world. And with all of the Olympic hockey AND Notre Dame hockey this weekend, I could not be happier!

What … you’re not a hockey fanatic? You don’t follow Notre Dame hockey? Let me catch you up with the highlights of this 2013-2014 Notre Dame hockey team!

Here are some basics to get you up to speed!

The 2013-2014 squad has four team captains, seniors Jeff Costello, TJ Tynan, Stephen Johns, and Bryan Rust.

Notre Dame men’s hockey is now a member of the Hockey East conference, which means the Michigan rivalry is on hold until further notice. Joining Hockey East gave ND a new competitive landscape as well as exciting challenges for the season ahead. How has the challenge worked out so far, you ask?

In 31 games played so far the Fighting Irish are 17-12-2 overall. In Hockey East conference play they are 6-9-2. At home they are 13-5-1, with a clear home ice advantage, and on the road they are 4-7-1.

Twice they have had games where they’ve scored seven goals. First in a 7-3 win over Michigan Tech on October 20th, and second in a 7-1 win over Alabama-Huntsville on January 10th. Both of these wins were on home ice.

Notre Dame has shutout their opponents five times this season, four of which were on home ice.

There are three remaining regular season hockey games. Two are against Boston University (both are at home and the one this Friday, February 21st, will be televised on NBC Sports Network).  The final regular season game is versus Boston College at Kelley Rink in Chestnut Hill, Ma.

One other major highlight of the season: Notre Dame got to play Boston College outside at Fenway Park. Yes, you heard me right, Fenway. Though the Irish fell to Boston College 4-3, the experience was something players and fans will not soon forget. Here is the trailer for the NBC Sports special which covered the game, “Shipping Up to Boston.”

Digging further into the statistics of this team, they have done quite well this season.

Looking at shot statistics, they have outperformed their opponents in all categories. (See table below.)

Special teams had been a strong point for the Irish. While they continue to take fewer penalties than their opponents, their power play has withered. Until the end of January the Irish had been very successful on the power play (See tables below).  Since then they have gone 2 for 27.

Who are the top five players this year you ask? Pretty much the usual suspects.

Senior TJ Tynan has played 31 games this season with 8 goals and 23 assists (31 points), followed by sophomore Mario Lucia who has also played 31 games with 15 goals and 12 assists. Freshman Vince Hinostroza has played 25 games with 6 goals and 21 assists,  senior Bryan Rust has played 31 games with 12 goals and 13 assists and rounding out the top five is sophomore Sam Herr who has played 31 games with 13 goals and 8 assists.

A big part of Notre Dame’s success this year on the ice is thanks to the tremendous job that senior Steven Summerhayes does in goal. This season Summerhayes has spent 1,676 minutes in goal, has had 57 goals scored against him and made 700 saves. In the game this past Saturday night against Providence Summerhayes made 36 saves and picked up his 6th shutout game of the season. On Friday night, Summerhayes had a career-high 47 saves in the 2-2 tie against Providence and finished the weekend with 83 saves in the Notre Dame win and tie.

The win on Saturday night ended a six-game (0-5-1) Irish winless streak on the road in Hockey East play. The last Irish win in the conference away from home came on Nov. 2, at Vermont.

Video highlights here: http://watchnd.tv/#!/videos/92eHFvazqKmd0SfV_xxJXC8Ss-PvBnLS

Notre Dame is now 17-12-2 overall and 6-9-2 in Hockey East, good for 14 points and a tie for seventh with Vermont with the Catamounts holding a game in hand. (Which for playoff purposes puts Notre Dame in the 8th place spot.)

If the playoffs started today, the Fighting Irish team would host 9th ranked Massachusetts. (Opening round games are single elimination and teams #1-#5 receive first round byes.)

Want to catch year’s Irish squad in action? Check them out this Friday night at 6:05pm ET on NBC Sports Network.

Cheers & Go Irish!

The post Don’t Stop Believin’ appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

I received a last minute opportunity last week from City360TV to cover the Hockey City Classic at Soldier Field in Chicago which featured two college hockey match ups. The first match up being CCHA rivals No. 12 Notre Dame vs. No. 3 Miami of Ohio, and the second being WCHA Rivals No. 18 Wisconsin and No. 2  Minnesota.

I must say it was different watching hockey with shadows on the ice. We are so accustomed to watching hockey inside that it took a little getting used to, but for the players it was great to get back to their pond playing days. We could not have been blessed with better weather, and seeing an ice rink set up in Soldier Field was tremendous.

A beautiful day for the Hockey City Classic at Soldier Field, Chicago.

Our first stop was to the press box. I really had no intention of being anywhere else than rink side, but it was nice to see where we could go to get warmed up!

Our bird’s eye view from the press box at Solider Field.

Next, we headed on down to field level to check out where all of the action was going to be. It was quite brisk, but that’s perfect for a hockey game!

Anders Lee warming up before the match up against Miami of Ohio.

We watched the boys warm up a bit and then had some time to catch up with Leprechaun Johnny and get his take on outdoor hockey at Soldier Field.

Lisa Kelly and Leprechaun Johnny rink side at Soldier Field.

The game started and it was everything we wanted it to be. A CCHA conference game between two top rated teams. This was not a fluff game, it actually meant something. The guys quickly had to adapt to the glare of the sun and the adverse ice conditions and get down to the job at hand … playing hockey.

Sophomore defenseman, Robby Russo.

Freshman center, Thomas DiPauli.

Irish Puckers on the move.

Freshman center, Thomas DiPauli.

Junior Irish right winger David Gerths.

The first period ended with no goals scored by either team. Coach Jeff Jackson must have done his job well during the break as they came out looking quite determined. At 12:42 in the second period Notre Dame freshman left winger Mario Lucia scored putting Notre Dame on the board first.

The score would remain 1-0 until the third period of play. At 8:33 junior left winger Jeff Costello got ahold of an Anders Lee rebound and blasted it into the goal making it 2-0 Notre Dame.

A little mid-game mascot rivalry.

For the remainder of the game the Irish defense did their best to aid Irish goalie Steven Summerhays, who was looking directly into the sun, hold off the Miami attack and for the most part they did just that. At 9:36 the RedHawks (freshman forward Kevin Morris) managed to get one goal past Summerhays, but the Irish went on to win the game by a score of 2-1.

Each team was 0-for-3 on the power play for the day.

Post game I had the chance to interview Josh Flynt from Fighting Irish Digital Media, as well as junior center Anders Lee. All parties felt as though the experience at Solider Field was memorable, to say the least, and they look forward to similar events in the future. And with 52,051 hockey fans in attendance, I am more than certain this will not be the last event of it’s kind!

The win propels the Irish into the final three weekends of the season on a high note, and the Irish hope to finish strong.

My rookie debut in front of the camera was a good one, I think! All I know is that I had a great time, and can’t wait for my next opportunity!

Reporting rink side with City360TV.

I’d like to give City360TV a big thank you for sending me to Chicago this weekend, and I look forward to working with them in the future!

Want to see my interviews with Josh Flynt and Anders Lee? You can check them out here: http://city360.tv/archives/3267

Lisa Kelly (City360TV) and Josh Flynt (FIDM)

Cheers!

The post South Bend to Soldier Field: Part 2 appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.