Irish Not Just About Football

Notre Dame continues to build program into a power

Jan. 18, 2008

By Dave Starman

Special to CSTV.com

	DAVE STARMAN Dave is a CSTV game and studio analyst, and contributes regular insight to CSTV.com. E-mail here!

        ---   Column Archive   --- STAR TREATMENT 1/18: Irish Not Just About Football 1/11: Been There, But Not Done Yet 12/30: Tech Is Back 12/30: Michigan Is A Team Again 12/29: History Made, Revisited At Great Lakes Invitational 12/29: From Stripes To Suits 12/27: Go West Young Men 12/21: More Questions Than Answers 12/21: Forechecking Makes Things Happen 12/19: Not All Holiday Surprises Are Happy Ones 12/7: Feeling The Love 11/30: How About Next Time? 10/19: Home Sweet Home 10/10: What's The Worst That Can Happen? 9/27: A Shot In The Heart 9/25: CCHA Media Day Notebook 9/25: DelCastillo's Balancing Act 6/20: College Well Represented at NHL Draft 5/16: Morris Back in the Saddle 4/6: Numbers Game At Frozen Four 4/6: Notes On The Frozen Four 4/6: At Maine, There Is No Off-season 4/6: Behind The Scenes 4/5: Heart On Your Sleeve 4/5: Nothing New For Cavanaugh 4/5: Frozen Four Storylines 4/4: Even Keeled Whitehead Suits Maine Just Fine 4/3: Comley Calm Behind Spartans' Bench 3/24: The X-Factors: Saturday Edition 3/23: The X Factors: Friday's Semifinals 3/23: Sitting On The Panel 3/12: Two Expressions Told It All, One Is Lasting 3/7: Officiating, Conference Alignment and More 3/1: In A Fantasy World, Five Trades In College Hockey 2/7: Here They Come Again 1/31: Revamp The NCAA Tournament 1/26: No-goal Controversy Needs Another Look 12/29: Team USA Has Talent To Be Much Better 12/14: Composite or Wood? 12/6: Making Sense of the Senseless 11/24: Hensick Working On His Two-Way Play 11/7: Wisconsin is Fully Equipped 11/3: Pooley Receives Ultimate Honor 11/2: Off Wisconsin 10/6: NCAA Rules Committee Lays Down Law 6/27: NHL Entry Draft Thoughts 6/16: Collegiate Stars Making Mark In Finals 4/7: Damon and Moore: Maine Men 3/25: Women’s Frozen Four Notebook 3/23: At The Frozen Four With SLU 3/23: UW's Slusar Wins Off The Ice 3/7: Questions Asked And Answered 2/16: Pioneering Spirit 2/15: Playing Five Questions 12/20: Christmas Edition

Notre Dame.

Those two words stir memories, passions and intense feelings of fandom or hatred.

On the sports stage of American life, the Fighting Irish are either loved or hated. You're either with them or against them. Hundreds of thousands of sports fans were delighted to see Charlie Weis' team lose to Navy and almost everyone else this season, while at least that same number were heartbroken. 

While Notre Dame football is going through a slight down period, the same can not be said about the Irish on ice. The success story of the mid-decade is Notre Dame hockey. While enjoying some good times under former coach Dave Poulin, the program has really taken flight under Jeff Jackson. That resurgence has been met with nothing but positive acceptance from the fellow members of the CCHA.

"I think it is really important that they are a good program, absolutely," said Rick Comley, the bench boss of the defending National Champions from Michigan State. "I think it is important that the teams that are traditionally good remain good. Notre Dame is one of those new wave programs with an unbelievable tradition and history. Now it's starting to translate to hockey. That just enhances our game."

A vibrant program at Notre Dame is vital to college hockey, as is success at the other schools that are traditional powers and are name brand schools. While the following sentiments might not be popular in certain areas, the truth is that college hockey can market itself better when the big-name football and/or basketball schools are good hockey schools.

That list would include schools like Boston College, UMass, Notre Dame and Big Ten schools Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Wisconsin and Minnesota. Then you have the teams that in the past 25 years have been mainstays on the college hockey elite list. That group could include Harvard, Cornell, Clarkson, Boston University, New Hampshire, Maine, St. Lawrence, Denver, Colorado College, North Dakota, Michigan Tech and Minnesota-Duluth.

However, the coup would be Notre Dame in the Frozen Four. For marketing reasons alone, this would be a dream for college hockey to play on a national stage and outside its niche market. While not on the same scale as Team USA in 1980, this type of scenario, ND playing for a national championship would extend past traditional hockey boundaries.

"Notre Dame has done a lot of work...looks like they're going to be getting a new building pretty soon," said former NHL player and current Harvard coach Ted Donato. "Jeff Jackson's done a great job there. I like to see schools that have great academic backgrounds do well, and there's no question that not only in the world of hockey but just in the world of college sports that Notre Dame is a big name, so I think that the more big players that we can get to have success in college hockey, I think it's better for the sport."

Jackson would certainly love to see this scenario play out as he chases his third national title. While the best thing for him is Notre Dame being a good program, he also sees the far reaching benefits of that happening.

 "Well I think just the recognition of Notre Dame draws a lot of attention as we see everyday in football. I think that there's you know so many fans that either love or hate Notre Dame that you know you watch for one reason or the other," said Jackson, whose team heads to Michigan this weekend for a huge CCHA and national showdown. "And you're either rooting for them or you're rooting against them. I think that Notre Dame being a strong college hockey program is definitely going to create an identity for college hockey and help to do a better job of promoting the game. And I think that's the direction that we're hopefully heading."

Helped by associate coach Paul Pooley and ace recruiter Andy Slaggert, the Irish are on the verge of becoming a powerhouse. They are solid in goal with youngster Jordan Pearce and have a trio of young guns in Ryan Thang, Eric Condra and Kevin Deeth and future defensive stars in Ian Cole, Teddy Ruth and Kyle Lawson. With the new building on the horizon to give them a level playing field in the "bells and whistles" department, this could become very good for college hockey. 

"I would say it's important for the CCHA to have another contending team.  Notre Dame has had one good year, and with Coach Jeff Jackson leading the way, I think they'll continue to be a stronger program than they were," said Michigan coach Red Berenson. "It's a huge benefit for college hockey to have any name school step forward. We've had a lot of teams like Michigan, Michigan State and certainly Minnesota and Wisconsin, BU and BC have been perennial contenders. It's good to see some emerging programs, and Notre Dame is one of them."

However, there are some that see Notre Dame's emergence as a good problem and a bad problem, and that is certainly OK. Cornell is one of them, sort of. Cornell and Notre Dame recruit in the same circles athletically and academically so the rise of Notre Dame can put a dent in the storied and successful program in Ithaca, N.Y.

"You're asking me to plug a team that's our competition recruiting," Cornell coach Mike Schafer said while laughing. "I think everything regional is important. Notre Dame's important. Cornell's important. Boston College, Minnesota and Wisconsin, too. I think that hockey has spread all across the U.S. into California, Florida and Georgia, and there's players coming from everywhere. So I think a school like Notre Dame that's got a nationally-recognized name, it's important that they be a strong program."

"As you know Major Junior A [Canadian Hockey League] is obviously an entity that we recruit against. When you have a school such as Notre Dame or Cornell academically, showing kids that they can play at the best level in the country and be a good student, I think that's a good thing. And I think that's why I support for Notre Dame to be successful."

Across the spectrum of college hockey, the consensus is that Notre Dame is now a player on the national stage and should be for years to come. Now the CCHA will have new buildings in Oxford (Miami), South Bend and Columbus (Ohio State). They have a classic at Michigan in Yost Arena and a building with a rich history in East Lansing (Munn Arena at Michigan State). That certainly puts the league on a level playing field with its western neighbor, the WCHA.

However, the one thing the CCHA has is the best brand name in sports. That name might become the best team in college hockey one day soon, and no one seems to object for the good of the game.