Irish Hockey No. 1 Entering 2011-2012 Season

Photo Credit: South Bend Tribune Photo/ROBERT FRANKLIN

Jeff Jackson, Notre Dame Fighting Irish Hockey Head Coach, has things cooking in South Bend. In his short tenure thus far he has already led Notre Dame to its first ever Frozen Four and national championship game, won a conference titlle and led them back to yet another Frozen Four.

Accolades keep piling up for the Irish skipper and his team as the domers enter the season ranked No.1 by USCHO and No. 2 by USA Hockey.

Despite the pre-season praise surrounding the program there were more exciting things covered on media day earlier this week, namely the newly constructed Compton Family Center.

Extensive coverage by Stars and Slights on the new home to the Fighting Irish hockey program has been seen since May of 2009. If it were laid out chronologically, coverage would look like this:

1. May 2009 - Announcement of future home
2. December 2009 - Mock drawings of arena released
3. March 2010 - Construction begins
4. October 2010 - Groundbreaking ceremony
5. January 2011 - Construction update

Now, as September comes to a close the Irish will have to wait patiently before they skate in their first game at their new home. In fact, Notre Dame is scheduled to play its first two home games of the season at the Joyce Center against Ohio State before unveiling its new jewel on October 21 at 7:35p EST against Rensselaer.

One month later the Irish will drop the puck at their official dedication game on November 18 at 7:35p EST against long-time rival Boston College. That matchup falls on the same weekend that the Eagles' Football team will be in South Bend to take on the Fighting Irish Football team.

Before playing any games in the new rink, though, several finishing touches need to be made on the arena. Among other things, the ice needed to be laid and even painted. For an in-depth look at those tasks as well as viewing the first skate by the Irish squad in their new home follow this link.

Back to the team, Seniors Billy Maday and Sean Lorenz will serve as co-captains this season and sophomore Anders Lee will be an alternate. These leaders will play pivotal roles for the Irish but they are not the keys to success.

Ultimately, Notre Dame will rely on a combination of its bountiful underclassmen from its sophomore and freshmen classes to carry the load. Consistent goaltending from Junior Mike Johnson would also go a long way toward helping the Irish achieve their ultimate goal: the program's first national championship.

Stay tuned throughout the 2011-2012 season as we follow the Irish hockey program.

My Name is Jonas: Gray Powers Irish to Win in Pittsburgh

Notre Dame's 15-12 victory over Pittsburgh last weekend was far from a thing of beauty. Turnovers, penalties and offensive miscues again abound for the Irish in keeping with the first half of the season.

One of the few spots of brightness, aside from the 'w', was a 79-yard touchdown run from seldom used Sr. RB Jonas Gray.

Fitting for a 230 pound tailback for the Irish playing in Pittsburgh to scamper for such an impressive run. Jerome Bettis, a former Irish tailback in the mold of Gray's stature, played for the NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers for several seasons and unleashed similar runs against opposition in the Steel City.

Tommy Rees was inconsistent and too predictable in the passing game for much of the afternoon as the Panthers did a tremendous job of disguising looks and confusing the Irish offense. He did, however, manage to put together the game-winnning touchdown drive late in the 4th quarter to put the Irish on top for good. On that series alone, he went 8-8 passing. For the game he finished 24-41 for 216 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT.

Tight End continues to be a valuable asset in the Irish offense. Tyler Eifert snared 8 passes from Rees for a game-high 75 yards and caught the game-winning TD and ensuing 2-pt. conversion attempt. For his efforts he was named John Mackey Tight End of the Week. He now leads all FBS Tight Ends in receptions, receptions per game, receiving yards and receiving yards per game. Translation: he's a stud.

On defense, the Irish yet again proved that the epic Michigan collapse was most likely an abberation. They held the Panthers to an unimpressive 268 total yards on offense and refused to allow a rushing touchdown. On the season, they have only allowed 1 rushing TD; only Florida has fewer.

Freshmen DEs Aaron Lynch and Stephon Tuitt were strong contributors for the second consecutive game. Lynch finished with 1 sack and an additional tackle-for-loss and Tuitt chipped in with 1 tackle while clogging gaps while splitting time at DE and NG.

Darius Fleming recorded 2 sacks to support the defensive effort as the Irish tallied 6 total sacks of Panthers' QB Tino Sunseri. With the game on the line on what would turn out to be Pittsburgh's final possession the Irish defense harassed Sunseri with a couple sacks and forced the Panthers into 3rd and 4th and long, which they ultimately could not recover from.

Special teams still has room for improvement, although they managed to not turn the ball over or muff any kicks last Saturday. A questionable roughing the kicker penalty by Austin Collinsworth sparked Pitt's lone touchdown drive of the afternoon to open the 2nd half.

Despite a clear lack of obvious development thus far over the first several games the Irish and Coach Kelly were happy (and lucky) to escape Pittsburgh with a win.

I'd like to have won 37-0 too. But you know what? Winning's winning. It's not easy. You go on the road against a BCS team and limit them to 12 points and find a way to win. I like that development. We're developing and expectation with our guys that in a close game we're going win it.

Next up for the Irish is Purdue on Saturday, October 1 at 8pm EST on ESPN.

Hokies' Cruise Past Marshall 30-10

Virginia Tech knocked off Marshall Saturday 30-10 in Tech's first trip to Huntington, W.Va. in 71 years.

The Hokies improved to 4-0 on the season and finished their non-conference slate with a powerful rushing attack.

David Wilson had 132 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries and Josh Oglesby had 12 carries for 75 yards and two scores. Quarterback Logan Thomas also had a short scoring run.

Through the air, Thomas completed 22 of 33 passes for 229 yards and an interception in a subdued, but fairly even performance.

Senior wide receiver Danny Coale had a lot to do with those numbers, hauling in 7 catches for 107 yards. Coale also punted twice for the first time in his college career, relieving Scott Demler who has had some struggles so far this season.

Coale almost won the job coming out of fall camp and will be in open competition for punting duties again this week.

The Tech defense was stifling once again, holding Marshall to just 6 yards rushing. The Hokies rank second in the nation in rushing defense allowing just 43 ypg thus far.

The Hokies now begin conference play with a big home tilt against the red hot Clemson Tigers.

Clemson enters the game 4-0 coming off wins over defending national champions Auburn and Florida State.

Tech has won the last five meetings with Clemson, though the Hokies are just 2-5 against the Tigers all-time in Lane Stadium.

The top-15 match up will be televised starting at 6 PM next Saturday on ESPN2.

Thoughts On ACC Expansion

The college conference landscape has been shifting for years now. The ACC was a catalyst the first time conference members started bolting when Miami, Boston College and Syracuse originally tried to head to the ACC in 2003 to bring that conference to 12 members.

Ultimately, thanks in large part to heavy pressure from regional politicians, the University of Virginia helped pressure conference leadership into accepting Virginia Tech along with Miami instead. That of course made sense based on being a good geographical fit, and the similar academics and athletic programs involved.

Syracuse fell out of the deal leaving Boston College to wait a year before tagging along thanks largely to University of Miami President Donna Shalala, who spearheaded the entire process.

Once again, the conference is being proactive in solidifying membership numbers before there are no other options. The ACC is now officially an east-coast super conference and may not be done adding teams.

I've heard a number of complaints from Syracuse supporters upset over losing traditional basketball match ups like Georgetown or Villanova.

UConn appears to be trying desperately to follow along to the ACC, perhaps bringing along the underwhelming choice of Rutgers. There will only be a few traditional Big East rivalries in danger, and I'm sure those few important games can be added to the non-conference schedule in hoops.

While I'm overwhelmingly biased having long disliked the Big East and strongly enjoyed the ACC, I see far more positives than negatives in this latest move.

I'm still uncertain about the viability of a 16-team league, but it would appear that's the direction things are headed.

One thing is certain, the ACC now moves to the forefront of conferences in college basketball. With Duke, North Carolina, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Maryland, Florida State etc., NCAA tournament bids look as if they will be plentiful in the new ACC.

Lacrosse will improve an already powerful conference line up with the addition of Syracuse and frankly the Big East schools moving over stand to improve all of their "olympic sports" programs with the move.

The Big East foolishly turned down a fairly lucrative television deal months back rumored to extend through 2022-2023 and worth between $110-130 million annually.

The ACC's current deal negotiated pre-expansion is already worth $155 million annually, that's approximately $1.86 billion over the same 12-year span mentioned above.

Large, evenly distributed revenue sharing leaves more money for non-revenue sports and has a beneficial effect on all conference members.

It'll take some getting used to the new, and in some cases old rivalries brought on by a new conference, but there's a lot to be said for having a stable home in these uncertain times.

Spartans Lynch-ed in South Bend as Irish Earn First Win of Season

Forget the omnipresent commentary on Notre Dame turning the ball over for a minute. With the help of a few freshmen, namely DE Aaron Lynch and RB George Atkinson III, the Irish were able to earn their first win of the season this past Saturday against Michigan State.

There were other contributors in the Irish's 31-13 victory but much of the win can be attributed to solid contributions from the underclassmen.

Lynch did not play at all in the road contest against Michigan a week prior and based on the performance he put on against Michigan State it is difficult to understand his lack of playing. He was a dominant force and caused issues all afternoon for Spartans QB Kirk Cousins.

With the Spartans running game essentially obsolete (29 yards) Lynch saw most of his playing time in obvious passing situations. His pass rushing ability stood out as he amassed five tackles, one sack that caused a fumble and six quarterback hurries. To put that last stat into perspective, last season alone Notre Dame did not have a single individual record more than five hurries for the year. That is some serious pressure!

A healthy rotation on the defensive line all afternoon kept legs fresh. Lynch rotated with Kapron Lewis-Moore, Ethan Johnson and fellow freshman Stephon Tuitt, who also played well for the Irish.

Moving onto Atkinson III, his spark was provided on special teams. After the Spartans got on the board with a field goal, bringing the score to 7-3 in favor of the Irish, Atkinson III took the ensuing Spartans kickoff 89-yards for a touchdown. It marked the first kickoff return for the Irish since Amrando Allen Jr's 95-yard return in the 2008 Hawaii Bowl.

After the game Notre Dame Head Coach Brian Kelly revealed how the Irish practiced creating a 'wedge' throughout the week to expose the Spartans. Senior walk-on Chris Salvi perfectly executed a block on the play to take out two Spartans defenders to help pave the way for Atkinson III. The freshman did the rest of the work with his blazing speed.

Special teams play for the Irish still showed inconsistency despite the great return by Atkinson III. John Goodman muffed a punt in the 4th quarter and caused a 'here we go again' feeling to settle in over Notre Dame Stadium. Punt returns cannot get much worse for the Irish as they rank 106th in yards returned (5) and 111th in average yards per return (0.7). If improvements are not made the Irish will wind up losing more games this year due to poor special teams play.

Irish QB Tommy Rees put himself into another set of precarious situations after two turnovers early in the first half. If the Irish are to make anything out of their abysmal start to the season they will need Rees to limit his mistakes. His resiliency cannot be forgotten, though, as his short term memory allows him to quickly move on after throwing an interception and focus on his next opportunity.


Fifth year senior CB Gary Gray redeemed himself nicely after a dismal showing last weekend in the Big House. He had a few knock downs and made 10 tackles en route to a much needed bounce back performance. The real star of the secondary, though, was senior Robert Blanton.

After Goodman's muffed punt the Spartans took over with the ball deep in Irish territory. Cousins helped advance the ball inside the red zone to the Irish before setting the stage for Blanton's heroics. Blanton tipped a pass from Cousins to himself and bolted 82 yards down the field to help preserve Notre Dame's first win on the year. He also made six tackles including three for a loss in the contest.


All world WR Michael Floyd faced double coverage throughout the game but still managed to reel in six catches for 84 yards. He received some help from Sophomore WR TJ Jones, who caught a TD pass from Rees in the 3rd quarter to put the Irish up 28-10. Not only did he put the Irish further on top of the Spartans, he put his gloves together to form a Leprechaun and was flagged for an unsportsmanlike penalty. This was contrary to what Coach Kelly had been advised of and had consequently informed his players that it was 'ok' to do so.

As it turns out, after further review Jones and Kelly's interpretations, not the referees', of the rule were correct.

Incorrect penalties aside, the Irish brought their season average down from 8.5 to 5, which shows they are starting to become more disciplined.

It has been said before and will be said again: Coach Kelly is building a new philosophy and mindset with his football team. In year two things should be progressing and we have already seen some major improvements along the defensive line and running game (two areas facing the most need for resurrection).

While the Irish would feel much better sitting at 2-1 as opposed to 1-2 they will take what they can get at this point. After all, as the nation's leading team in turnovers lost it is hard to imagine they have even won one game.

Pittsburgh, who experienced Notre Dame syndrome by blowing a huge fourth quarter lead last weekend at Iowa, is up next for the Irish and will pose as an intriguing challenge. The Panthers are led by Todd Graham, who skippered the Tulsa Golden Hurricane to victory at Notre Dame Stadium last season.

A lot has changed since Graham's last contest against the Irish and growing pains will most likely show for the Panthers in this contest. Barring any major catastrophe on special teams or in the turnover department the Irish should emerge from Saturday's matchup 2-2 on the year.

Cutting Room Floor Lives!

Despite what you might hear in certain circles, there are still vague rumblings of activity deep beneath the surface in Cutting Room Floor. I feel it's important to remind the world that you can purchase both our "official" releases at cdbaby.

Both In Our Luck and our Whiskey Rebellion EP are available for download, as are popular individual songs such as "Walking Alone", "No Thanks Ms. M" and "Brilliant Night".

I anticipate some sneaky new releases at some point and some potential official recordings down the line. Keep an eye on Stars and Slights for new content. Life is a little murky right now so who really knows what to expect when it comes to music?

Anyway, please buy our music as we attempt to make more.

Stay tuned!