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!

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