59 Teams in 59 Days Notre Dame

The 59 Teams in 59 Days tour continues with a trip to one of the most famous colleges in America. Today we make a trip to South Bend, Indiana where the Notre Dame Fighting Irish are featured.

Head Coach Jeff Jackson had one goal in mind last year, and that was to improve from the previous season where the Irish went 5-27-6 in 2004-2005. In 2005-2006, the Irish went 13-19-4 and finished in eighth place in the CCHA, which got them a home playoff series with Alaska-Fairbainks. Even though the Irish got swept by the Alaska, it was still an improvement from the 2004-2005 campaign. So what does this season bring for the Irish?

Lets start with the Offense, where Notre Dame returns four out of the top five scorers on the team. Erik Condra led the team in points with 6 goals and 28 assists for 34 points. With that perfromance last year, Condra got selected in this years NHL draft in the seventh round. Senior Josh Sciba was the team leading goal scorer with 17, he will captain the Irish this year. Expect a big year from those two players as well as Junior Matt Van Guilder.

The defense could be this years backbone however. With five players returning, the Irish will have experience on D. Wes O'Neill is a two-way threat, as he can score if you need him too, as well as play his position. Noah Babin, Brock Sheahan, Tom Sawatske, and Dan VeNard are the remaining defensemen who return from last years squad. So who will fill that sixth spot on Defense? Three incoming Freshman are coming in to fight for that spot in Brett Blatchford, Stewart Carlin, and Kyle Lawson. Junior Dan VeNard will be the other defensemen who will look for playing time this season.

Goaltending wise the Irish should be set. Davd Brown, who helped lead Notre Dame to their first ever NCAA tournament apperance in the 2003-2004 season, looked like he had got some of that experience back after only playing in 15 games in 2004-2005. Brown was 9-15-4, that was the only stat that was shaky. All of the other stats such as a 2.47 goals against average, and a .915 save percentage. Brown also got two shutouts last year. Brown will be the starter, and Sophomore Jordan Pearce will be the backup.

Overall it looks like second year head coach Jeff Jackson has a pretty solid team this year. Notre Dame is in such a tough conference though. With one through three being Miami, Michigan, and Michigan State, expect the final five "home-ice" spots to be fought out by Notre Dame, Nebraska-Omaha, Ohio State, Alaska-Fairbanks, and Northern Michigan.

The predicted ceiling for Notre Dame is fourth in the CCHA, while the gutter is ninth.

Tommorrow we will travel to Columbus, Ohio where the Ohio State Buckeyes will be featured on the 59 Teams in 59 Days tour as we hit day number 44.