Moving Parts

Yesterday, some big news hit the college hockey world - Notre Dame is moving out of Hockey East after the 2016-17 season concludes and joining the Big Ten as an associate member for hockey.

For those of you who have your ear to the ground, the move isn't terribly shocking. There have been murmurs that the Irish were unhappy in Hockey East for a little over a year, and obviously the Big Ten's struggles across their first three seasons have been well documented. This is a move that seems to make sense for both parties involved.

During the 2011 schism in the college hockey world caused by the formation of the Big Ten, Notre Dame's final landing spot was much debated. At the time, the Big Ten wasn't an option for them because the conference was not open to adding anyone who wasn't a member in every sport. That changed in 2013 when the Big Ten added Rutgers and Maryland to its ranks, two schools that sponsored lacrosse. With only five schools playing the sport, they added long-time independent Johns Hopkins (a D-III school in every other sport) for lacrosse only as an affiliate member to make six.

The Big Ten has lusted after Notre Dame's storied football program for decades, but that's always been a non-starter. So it's no surprise that the Big Ten, three years into a hockey experiment that has seen the conference embarrassed for basically all of the last two seasons with just one NCAA bid both years, was willing to admit the Fighting Irish this time around.

On Notre Dame's side, there's the understandable travel issue. While they had no problems financially taking a trip to New England every other weekend, and other teams didn't mind having to trek to Indiana once a year, the Irish had a problem with being the only team that had to go on long road trips all the time - a competitive balance issue. The travel within the mostly-Midwest Big 10 shouldn't be too much of an issue.

But that does now leave Hockey East with 11 teams, and moves the Big Ten to seven. The dominoes are starting to fall once more - and an odd number of teams is usually difficult to deal with on the long-term, due to issues with scheduling and playoff seeding. So what happens next?

Arizona State: The Sun Devils completed their first Division I season this year as an independent and they will do it again next year, this time with some additional home games against D-I teams. After that, they've said they want to be in a conference, and the Big Ten has long been touted as an understandable landing point. The one sticking point was considered to be the open question of whether the Big Ten would be OK with having affiliation in hockey. That question has certainly been resolved.

ASU may be in the hinterlands when it comes to hockey, but on the larger scale, they're a big deal - a power school in a power conference. But unless (until?) their Pac-12 brethren start adopting hockey, they need somewhere to reside. The only two conferences that ever made sense on a power and location basis were the Big Ten and the NCHC - the WCHA as it exists now is certainly too small to interest Arizona State.

With Notre Dame's decision and the news that ASU's discussions with the NCHC haven't been plentiful lately, it does seem like the Sun Devils becoming a second affiliate is a lot closer to reality. But it's not certain by any stretch of the imagination. ASU likely needs to start making some progress on their still nebulous plans for an on-campus rink. Their current homes are a tiny rink in Tempe that is the smallest in Division I and the Gila River Arena in Glendale (where the Coyotes play) that is the largest, impossible to fill.

But... who else could it be? Well, Miami has had some notable concerns about their travel situation in the NCHC. They've been strong enough in hockey for the last decade that the Big Ten might be willing to consider them as an affiliate (recall that Johns Hopkins is a lacrosse powerhouse, and Notre Dame is Notre Dame). That quality might open the door to North Dakota (who has traditional rivalries with Wisconsin and Minnesota) or Denver (certainly a storied enough program) as well, who would arguably have a better claim. Both of those schools, however, were among the driving forces behind the NCHC's very creation, and the NCHC certainly isn't having any problems.

Or, the Big Ten could stay with seven. It would be odd, but so is what they've already got going.

That leaves... Hockey East. With 11 teams, they're certainly going to want to get themselves back to 12. Five years ago, we pontificated on who the 12th team would be if Notre Dame was the 11th (basically at the bottom of that link). The answer ended up being UConn - but only after a serious change in their status quo fomented by their hockey loving governor.

Now, the question can be asked again, with UConn off the table. The top three answers are more or less the same.

Quinnipiac: Last time out, we thought Hockey East would arguably be more interested in RPI than in Quinnipiac despite the Bobcats having the newer facilities and the New England location. But in the last five years, there's no question that the Q has established themselves as a powerful program, and the opening in Hockey East probably couldn't have come at a better time if you're on the "Quinnipiac to Hockey East" bandwagon.

We still have to wait and see how the 2016 NCAA tournament plays out, but as the #1 overall seed, Quinnipiac have certainly made themselves the favorites to win the national championship. They played in the national championship game in 2013. The women's team is certainly on the rise, having just won the ECAC championship for the first time. Looking at things from Hockey East's perspective, there's no way at all that, among currently existing programs, they'd have anyone but the Bobcats at the top of their list.

The bigger question is this: does Quinnipiac really want to leave the ECAC? Five years ago, Hockey East was an obvious step up from the ECAC. Today it's still a step up, but it's not nearly as big - the gap has been closed slightly. And as things stand, it's hard to argue that Quinnipiac isn't one of the clear cut top programs in the league - which wouldn't necessarily be the case in Hockey East. Is it better to be a big fish in a smaller pond or a medium-sized fish in a bigger pond? That's the question that Quinnipiac will likely be asking itself.

Hockey East does have some benefits that the ECAC can't offer - national exposure is still far higher in Hockey East. But the ECAC also offers Quinnipiac guaranteed games with Yale every year, something they seem to cherish. The Yale-Quinnipiac "rivalry" is still very one-sided even despite (perhaps even because of) the 2013 national championship game. It's basically RPI-Union from the late-1990s, with Yale playing the role of RPI. Will Yale ever really care about Q though, at least enough to play them regularly in different conferences? It's hard to get an Ivy League team to care about a non-Ivy. That's just history working against the non-Ivy, and history trumps geography big time.

Holy Cross: The Crusaders are still kinda there in the discussion if only because they're right smack in the middle of the league's footprint. But nothing has changed in Worcester since 2011. They're still kinda middling in Atlantic Hockey. They're still playing in the same small rink on campus attached to their basketball court (which will be renovated soon, but not made bigger or more impressive). Their women's team is still in Division III. If anything, things may have dipped a bit for Holy Cross. Paul Pearl, an alum who was head coach of the team for almost 20 years, left in 2014 to become an assistant at Harvard. And they haven't been back to the NCAA tournament since that well-known upset of Minnesota in 2006.

The hangup in 2004 when Holy Cross applied to the ECAC was that they weren't interested in paying equal attention to their women's team. There doesn't seem to be anything that's changed there, which makes CHC a tough sell to Hockey East.

RPI: Much has changed for the Engineers in the last five years. Back then, we thought RPI might have made the most sense for Hockey East, and they probably still did if UConn's sudden epiphany had not happened. Much of what we wrote back then remains true.

But from RPI's perspective, the allure of staying in the ECAC has certainly changed. While five years ago we pondered that an RPI move to Hockey East could strengthen the program simply by playing in a higher-end conference, today the Engineers are playing in a conference that has produced two of the last three (and are favorites to make it three of the last four) national champions. The move would be slightly more lateral than it had been back then, and that makes the difference in the academic profile a bit more difficult to deal with.

And this time around, they're definitely second banana to Quinnipiac as things stand, at least from a Hockey East perspective.

More on this in the near future. As with five years ago, the topic of RPI to Hockey East deserves a more detailed look at this blog.

So... what if there's an open spot in the ECAC? What happens then?

Holy Cross: Basically, the same as above. There's no way Holy Cross goes anywhere unless they agree to move women's hockey to Division I, and if they're happy with where it is right now, they're probably happy being in Atlantic Hockey.

RIT: If only Rochester were closer to... Albany, or Worcester, or something, RIT is the totally obvious choice. Academics, history, everything's there. They'd be an 8th program without athletic scholarships.

The problem - and this is a problem - is that the ECAC has a really good thing going with its travel partner system, and RIT doesn't fit into it well. It might work if RPI ends up bailing for Hockey East, but almost certainly wouldn't if it's Quinnipiac. Without RPI, Union is orphaned, and one could see a Colgate-Union pairing and a Cornell-RIT pairing sort of working (or Colgate-RIT and Cornell-Union). If Quinnipiac bounces, Princeton could go back with Yale, but who does RIT pair with that doesn't turn that road trip (and likely, others) into a nightmare? It's a logistical problem for a league that depends on some easier travel schedules to stay a manageable bus league.

If RIT comes large with an ECAC bid, the league could certainly bend quite a bit in order to make it work, especially since they'd add a solid following. There's a lot that RIT has going for it and, geography aside, they bring everything you'd want to the table. But whatever they come up with has got to fit with the Ivy League's preferences, too. The Ivies have the power to blow up the league, so that makes their opinion matter just a little bit more.

Bentley or Sacred Heart: They fit the footprint, but not the gusto. Bentley at least is taking steps in the right direction on getting themselves an on-campus rink, but neither are ready for a step out of Atlantic Hockey.

Army: They've been in the ECAC in the past, and they're a fellow Patriot League member with Colgate, but if you can find anything that would suggest that they'd have a better time in the ECAC than the last time they were there that led to their departure, we'd love to hear about it.

Mercyhurst, Niagara, Canisius, or Robert Morris: No shot. Too far away for all of them. Canisius at least has a sparkly new rink, but that's about it.

American Interna OK, I can't even get to the joke here.

So the quick answer is that there's no really good answer to who makes the ECAC "whole" again if Quinnipiac or RPI leave. And that's problematic for the five non-Ivies that would be left - because if the Ivy League isn't satisfied with how things shake out, they've always got the option of striking out on their own, an option which arguably created Hockey East in the first place.

The real answer of "which team would best make #12" is a team that hasn't been around since 1978: Penn. The Quakers would pair supernaturally well with Princeton, and everything else would stay the same. Unfortunately there's no magic pixie dust that can be used to re-create a team at Penn in order to save the ECAC's bacon. Not to mention that Penn's addition would only make for a stronger possibility of an independent Ivy League down the road, possibly one day made whole if they ever learn about hockey in Morningside Heights.

Bottom line? It's time to tread carefully right now, especially if you're Hockey East and Quinnipiac is unavailable, because there's no other really good answer for #12. If you're Quinnipiac and RPI, you've got to ask yourself if moving to Hockey East is really the best long-term plan, and if not, is the ECAC going to stay iron clad after Hockey East gains a new member?

Know Your Enemy: Notre Dame

RPI is always going to have a minor place in Notre Dame's hockey history - they were the opponent for the Fighting Irish in their beautiful new on-campus facility, the Compton Family Ice Arena. The home team won that one in front of a sellout crowd, but it appears that the Engineers may have taken a bit of a liking to the place. They'll play there for the fourth and fifth times when they arrive in November for the Shillelagh Tournament, the third season in five that they're making a trip to Indiana and the second in a row for a tournament following last year's Icebreaker. An upset victory over the Irish opened the season well for RPI (in what would prove to be an exception game rather than a harbinger), but this year, they won't face Notre Dame unless the stars align for the second night of the tourney.

Notre Dame
Nickname: Fighting Irish
Location: South Bend, IN
Founded: 1842
Conference: Hockey East
National Championships: 0
Last NCAA Appearance: 2014
Last Frozen Four: 2011
Coach: Jeff Jackson (11th season)
2014-15 Record: 18-19-5 (10-7-5 Hockey East, 5th place)
Series: Tied, 4-4-0
First Game: December 29, 1988 (Troy, NY)
Last RPI win: October 10, 2014 (South Bend, IN)
Last ND win: October 21, 2011 (South Bend, IN)

2015-16 game: November 28, 2015 (South Bend, IN - possible)

Key players: F Thomas DiPauli, sr.; F Steven Fogarty, sr.; F Sam Herr, sr.; F Mario Lucia, sr.; D Andy Ryan, sr.; D Justin Wade, jr.; F Anders Bjork, so.; F Jake Evans, so.; D Jordan Gross, so.; F Connor Hurley, so.; G Cal Petersen, so.; D Luke Ripley, so.; F Cal Burke, fr.; F Christian Fischer, fr.; D Dennis Gilbert, fr.; F Dylan Malmquist, fr.; F Andrew Oglevie, fr.; F Joe Wegwerth, fr.

Previous KYE installments:

• 2011-12
• 2014-15

Things looked good after the Engineers beat the Irish last season. Viktor Liljegren had his freshman coming out party by scoring the team's first goal of the year, Mark Miller hit the game winner as a response to a Notre Dame goal less than a minute earlier, and Jason Kasdorf looked superb in his return to competition after nearly a year away from the ice. Most predicted that the Fighting Irish were going to roll RPI, and while the Engineers looked pretty decent, ND had a rough game.

Ultimately, Notre Dame meandered their way through the season to a fairly pedestrian record. They weren't awful, but they also weren't that great in the end. After dropping two games at home in the Icebreaker, the Irish burned through the rest of the month of October, going 5-0-1 in six straight home games following the tournament - not that clowning Lake Superior State and Niagara was much to be proud of last season.

The team never really got into a good flow in Hockey East play, with relatively few quality wins on the year. They mostly beat the teams they needed to beat, but with the exception of a 3-point weekend against Boston University in February, they had a paucity of signature statements to show for their 5th place finish, an end that forced them to compete in the first round of the Hockey East playoffs against a UMass team that struggled all year long.

When fans settled in for Game 1 against the Minutemen in South Bend, none knew that they'd have to stick around until almost 1:30 in the morning if they were going to see a winner - and it wasn't going to be the Irish. In what became the longest game in the history of college hockey (shockingly, not lost by Union), UMass and Notre Dame went for five overtimes and 151:22 of game play, besting the previous longest game by 1:20 before the Minutemen won it. Notre Dame's Cal Petersen broke RPI netminder Dick Greenlaw's NCAA record for most saves in a game by stopping 87 shots (although, let's be fair, Greenlaw's 78 came in a 60 minute, 9-0 loss against BU) but it wasn't enough.

Losing the longest game ever to the worst team in the league didn't break the Irish, though. They came back for a victory hours later in Game 2, then crushed UMass 7-0 in Game 3. The next weekend, they took UMass-Lowell to a third game, but gave up 11 goals during losses in Games 1 and 3. It was not enough to salvage even a .500 season - not the way you'd expect to see a team with 10 NHL draftees on its roster complete a year.

The Irish will again have 10 NHL draftees this coming season, as two graduating seniors and former junior-to-be Vince Hinostroza have all left the program for the NHL, and they're replaced by three incoming freshmen, two of which were drafted this past weekend - Fischer in the 2nd round, Gilbert in the 3rd. Wegwerth was taken in the 4th round in 2014.

Most teams tend to blend their NHL draftees in with the non-draftees in terms of who's shouldering the burden, but last season Notre Dame leaned heavily on its most talented players to guide the way on offense. Herr and Gross are the only returning non-draftees that were in the top 12 on the team in scoring. That probably means the team is going to expect a great deal out of Fischer and Wegwerth especially, but likely also from Malmquist, a high school teammate of Lou Nanne.

Defensively, expect a tighter net with Petersen now having a season of college hockey under his belt and the defensive corps growing more experienced than last year's grouping, which had just one senior and one junior getting regular playing time on the blue line. An RPI-ND matchup would be one Buffalo Sabres fans could take some interest in, as it would pair Petersen's Irish against Jason Kasdorf's Engineers in a battle between the Sabres' top two college prospects in net. Kasdorf was a Jets prospect when the teams faced last year, and Petersen didn't play against RPI anyway.

Notre Dame has achieved the status of "team that won't stay down for long," and last year was certainly a down year in their books. Expect a much better rounded team effort from the Fighting Irish this season if the Engineers cross paths with them again for two reasons - they'll have an overall better squad next season, and the faceoff will come nearly two months into the season, as opposed to the very beginning of the year as in last year's game.

Men's Hockey - Icebreaker Tournament (10-12 Oct)

The Engineers got their season out of the gates with a difficult assignment - the annual Icebreaker tournament, which always features some of the top teams in the nation. The way it played out was probably one of the toughest paths possible, featuring a game against the homestanding Notre Dame Fighting Irish followed by the consensus favorites for the national championship, the Minnesota Golden Gophers. RPI picked up an upset victory in the first round by knocking off the Irish, 3-2, but learned they have a long way to go to challenge the very best in the nation, playing well but falling 3-0 to Minnesota.

Notre Dame
Neal-Laliberte-Bourbonnais
McGowan-Bubela-Schroeder
Wood-Liljegren-Melanson
Nanne-Miller-DeVito

Leonard-Bokenfohr
Curadi-Prapavessis
Wilson-Bradley

Kasdorf

Lines and pairings for the Engineers against Notre Dame were similar to the ones put forward for the exhibition matchup the previous weekend. Milos Bubela was reinserted into the lineup on the second line, moving Lou Nanne to the fourth line.

After a back-and-forth, fast-paced 10 minutes to start the game as both teams got their competitive legs underneath them, a penalty to Jared Wilson was the first item of note on the box score, producing a penalty kill that RPI got behind them with little fuss. Notre Dame would, however, score the game's first goal shortly after killing a penalty of their own with very little problem, getting a tally from Mario Lucia to take a 1-0 lead with just under three minutes left in the game.

RPI wasted very little game time getting the goal back. After a cross-checking call against the Irish with 11 seconds left in the first period, freshman Viktor Liljegren scored the Engineers' first goal of the season, and the first of his career, on the power play just 42 seconds into the second period to knot the game up at one.

Five minutes later, it was Jacob Laliberte scoring his first of the year on a redirection of a shot by Matt Neal to put RPI ahead for the first time. After that, it was the Engineers' penalty kill that saved the day, scotching power play opportunities for Notre Dame off penalties to Drew Melanson and Jake Wood.

Another penalty by Wood in the early third period looked to give the Irish their fifth power-play chance of the game, but a penalty to Lucia six seconds later ended it before it even began. Notre Dame did end up making the most of the ensuing 4-on-4, tying the game at two with a goal by Jordan Gross. But as the 4-on-4 continued, and with Wood about to exit the penalty box, RPI earned what would eventually be the game winning goal from junior Mark Miller, who put back a shot by Zach Schroeder to put the Engineers ahead for good.

Jason Kasdorf, in his first official game for RPI in almost a full calendar year, stopped 14 of 15 Notre Dame shots in the third period to seal the victory, as the Irish spent much of the last 10 minutes of the game with the puck down in the Engineers zone. He made 31 saves on 33 shots overall.

The victory set up an early Sunday championship game against #1 Minnesota, who had been 4-3 winners over Minnesota-Duluth earlier on Friday. There were no games played on Saturday due to the Notre Dame football game taking place on campus that day, which would have completely dominated the tournament's conclusion otherwise.

Minnesota
Neal-Laliberte-Bourbonnais
McGowan-Miller-Schroeder
Wood-Liljegren-Melanson
Nanne, DeVito

Leonard-Bokenfohr
Curadi-Prapavessis
Wilson-Bradley

Bell

Kasdorf

Bubela, who didn't see an awful lot of ice time on Friday, was pulled out of the RPI lineup against the Golden Gophers. The Engineers dressed just 11 forwards, two of which (Nanne and Schroeder) are from families with Minnesota hockey alums in their ranks. In Bubela's place, Bradley Bell suited up for his first official action as an RPI Engineer, skating as a seventh defenseman.

From the very outset of the game, it was apparent that Minnesota was the dominant team. The Golden Gophers controlled basically every aspect of the game from start to finish, and it was a testament to how well RPI played in response that the final score was not worse than it ended up becoming. Some observers said the Engineers looked like they were a step behind the #1 ranked team in the country, it was probably more accurate to say that Minnesota was a step ahead.

The Gophers collected just one goal in each of the three periods, getting points from Seth Ambroz in the first, tournament MVP Hudson Fasching in the second, and Connor Reilly in the third. The first two goals were on redirects in front that were primarily a function of Minnesota's superior puck control, the third was a power play goal immediately after the first faceoff of the man advantage, a booming shot from the point that Kasdorf probably would have preferred a second chance at, quite possibly the only goal of the weekend that he gave up that he could have done better with.

The Engineers took their chances throughout the game and put a respectable 22 shots on Minnesota goaltender Adam Wilcox, but many of their opportunities were not high-percentage chances, and Wilcox gave up few rebounds. Despite Wilcox's shutout, it was Kasdorf who was named the game's third star after a second consecutive 31-save effort, this time making 31 saves on 34 shots, including a couple of breakaway saves against some of the best shooters in the country.

For the next three weekends, the Engineers will have only a single opponent in a weekend series. It starts with another long road trip, this one to the NCHC's Denver, and follows with the home openers against Bentley and the annual home-and-home against Union.

RPI at #12 Notre Dame
Icebreaker Game - Compton Family Ice Arena (South Bend, IN)
10/10/14 - 7:30pm

RESULT: RPI 3, Notre Dame 2

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS
RPI
USCHO
Troy Record

RECORD: 1-0-0

RPI vs. #1 Minnesota
Icebreaker Game - Compton Family Ice Arena (South Bend, IN)
10/12/14 - 12:00pm

RESULT: Minnesota 3, RPI 0

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS
RPI
USCHO
Troy Record
Minneapolis Star-Tribune

RECORD: 1-1-0

Upcoming games
17 Oct - at #16 Denver
18 Oct - at #16 Denver
24 Oct - Bentley
25 Oct - Bentley
31 Oct - #2 Union

The Boys are Back

It's on.

The men's grueling start to the season begins tonight, as they take on #12 Notre Dame in the annual Icebreaker Tournament, straight outta Compton Family Ice Arena in South Bend. On Sunday, they get either Minnesota-Duluth, a team that was just barely outside of the first USCHO poll (by a single vote) or the #1 team in all the land and the pretty clear favorites for the national championship, Minnesota.

The women get their first home game on Saturday when they take on Vermont, and then they turn around and head up to Burlington on Sunday for the back-end of a home-and-home series. That makes for an even more rare men/women doubleheader on a Sunday.

Hockey is fully back, and it's time to get flying.

Know Your Enemy: Notre Dame

Welcome back to Without a Peer's annual exercise in opponent analysis, Know Your Enemy. As always, we'll spend every Wednesday from now until the season starts breaking down the teams featured on the Engineers' upcoming schedule, look at what they've done since we last saw them, and try to give some insight on what to expect when RPI faces off with them. We start as always with the first opponent the 'Tute will see in a competitive game, a program that has seen quite a few changes over the last few seasons but are still in search of an elusive national championship that would raise them another level as an elite program.

Notre Dame
Nickname: Fighting Irish
Location: South Bend, IN
Founded: 1842
Conference: Hockey East
National Championships: 0
Last NCAA Appearance: 2014
Last Frozen Four: 2011
Coach: Jeff Jackson (10th season)
2013-14 Record: 23-15-2 (9-9-2 Hockey East, 7th place)
Series: Notre Dame leads, 4-3-0
First Game: December 29, 1988 (Troy, NY)
Last RPI win: January 1, 2005 (South Bend, IN)
Last ND win: October 21, 2011 (South Bend, IN)

2014-15 game: October 10, 2014 (South Bend, IN)

Key players: D Eric Johnson, sr.; D Robbie Russo, sr.; F Peter Schneider, sr.; F Austin Wuthrich, sr.; F Thomas DiPauli, jr.; F Steven Fogarty, jr.; F Sam Herr, jr.; F Mario Lucia, jr.; D Andy Ryan, jr.; F Vince Hinostroza, so.; D Jordan Gross, fr.; F Connor Hurley, fr.; F Andrew Oglevie, fr.; G Cal Petersen, fr.; D Luke Ripley, fr.

Previous KYE installment:

• 2011-12

When last the Engineers encountered the Fighting Irish, it was a very special occasion - RPI had the honor of being the very first opponent for Notre Dame in their brand new cathedral of ice hockey, the Compton Family Ice Arena. This year, they return to that building to take on the home team in the first round of the annual Icebreaker tournament.

At the time the building opened, there was a lot of buzz not only about the sparkling new digs, but also the recent news that Notre Dame would move from the crumbling CCHA to join Hockey East in two seasons' time - and there was a bit of discussion at the time that RPI could be a potential 12th member, which would mean that the game featured two teams from different conferences that might have been league-mates in a third conference in the near future. That didn't end up happening as UConn stepped up to claim that 12th spot that they fit so well into.

As for the Irish, the remainder of the 2011-12 campaign was middling for them at best as they completed the first season in the new barn with a record just over .500, failing to take home any hardware. Since then, however, the Irish have seen a pair of NCAA bids, claiming the final CCHA championship in 2013 and then earning an at-large bid despite a rough go of things in their first season in Hockey East thanks in part to their three-game upset of arch-rivals Boston College in the Hockey East quarterfinals. Both seasons, however, Notre Dame fell to St. Cloud State in the first round of the national tournament.

Next year's edition of the Irish will undoubtedly be better accustomed to the more rigorous travel schedule required when all of your road games in conference involve trips to New England, but that will matter very little when the Engineers arrive in South Bend for what will be the first game of the year for both squads. Notre Dame is graduating their top two scorers, but they had four players with 30 points last year and two of them, Lucia (son of Minnesota head coach Don Lucia) and Hinostroza are part of the young core of the Fighting Irish, along with Herr who potted 14 goals last season.

The question marks for Notre Dame next season are mostly on defense, as they graduate three seniors who played in all 40 games last year along the blue line for the Irish, as well as a goaltender who started 99 games in his career and all but a little under 200 of his teams minutes last season. The only returning netminder appeared in only five games last season, but Petersen should probably be considered the favorite for the starting job and will likely see his first college action against the Engineers.

That may be the biggest opportunity that RPI will have in this game - although a similar situation arose last year against Boston College and Thatcher Demko, and the freshman easily made his way through that contest while being lifted by an offensive barrage. Since the offense isn't going to be in question heading into the coming year for the Irish, nothing short of a complete game on both sides of the puck is likely to be enough to keep the visitors in the game come October.

ECAC: Between a Rock and a Hard Place

The final piece of the puzzle in the upcoming conference scramble appears to be falling into place with reports last week of Hockey East and UConn inching closer together. Reports are that the Huskies are likely to join Hockey East in 2014-15, one season after what we referred to last offseason as "the tsunami" strikes college hockey's shores, irreparably changing the landscape as we know it.

With Hockey East now apparently destined for the 12 teams most everyone expected they'd finish with, there's only one question remaining - the long-term fate of Alabama-Huntsville. Given a reprieve by the school in December when the school reversed its much-maligned decision to scuttle the program, the Chargers will enter their third season without a conference this October and will still require a place to call home in order to secure their long-term existence.

With UConn set to depart Atlantic Hockey, that leaves the ECAC as the only conference to be completely untouched by "the tsunami." 12 teams when the process started, same 12 teams when it concludes.

Some, especially the powers that be in Albany, would call that a pretty good outcome. Stability is a good thing, as the schools which scrambled to find a home as the CHA and CCHA each disintegrated will tell you.

But how stable is the ECAC, really, and given the current state of the college hockey world, how much benefit is there for teams in the stable ECAC? We've long said that the league no longer qualifies as a "major conference" (at least since the very late 1990s) and that is even more likely to be true once the landscape changes in favor of the new big three: Hockey East, the NCHC, and the Big Ten. With an additional new "mid-major" likely to develop from the new WCHA and basically all of the big power schools concentrated in the Big Three, it's not out of the realm of possibility for the ECAC's decline to accelerate.

What could change things? There are two potential events on the horizon that could very well help tip the apple cart - neither are sure to happen, but neither would be a shock to the system, either.

1) The Ivy League. As we've said before, the Ivy six represent a veritable Sword of Damocles hanging over the integrity of the conference, and the sword has hung for decades, especially the last three following the Hockey East split. The Ivy League competes as its own entity in... pretty much every sport known to man. Men's and women's hockey is a very notable exception.

What would the Ivies gain from a split? They would stand to gain quite a lot, as Harvard's Brendan Roche (WHRB play-by-play announcer and all-around good guy) pointed out in a post last year while discussing the possibility of the ECAC losing RPI or Quinnipiac to Hockey East. First and foremost could well be scheduling: the Ivy League is limited to 29 regular-season games a year, and with 22 of those games earmarked for ECAC contests, that leaves them with only 7 non-conference games to play around with - just five for Harvard, which plays two of its NC games in the Beanpot every year. A six-team league could feature 4 games a season with league teams (all better draws than the non-Ivies currently are), and open two more non-conference opportunities.

Most of Roche's other points are very well taken. It makes sense for them from a marketing standpoint. With the Big Ten coming into being next year, it would give them the ability to showcase an all-sports brand, something that could come in handy when competing with the Big Ten, the NCHC, and Hockey East for talent. They'd also gain their own autobid to the NCAA tournament, though this is a bit of a wash with 9 of the last 11 ECAC autobids going to Ivy teams (Clarkson in 2007 and Union in 2012 the exceptions).

There's nothing the six non-Ivies can do about this, not anymore. None of them would fit into the west-centric NCHC (not that the league would want them if they tried) or WCHA, Hockey East is closed, and the only way out is to a lower league in Atlantic Hockey. The only reasonable option if an Ivy exit happens would be to reconstitute with programs from Atlantic Hockey that are seeking to move up in the world. We're talking about RIT, Niagara, Robert Morris, Holy Cross, and the like.

Of course, the non-Ivies could proactively split, but it's the same scenario. Compare the Ivies to the teams mentioned. With no disrespect intended to those teams (which are honestly trying to boost their competition level), but it's a step down for the ECAC non-Ivies as much as it's a step up for those teams. The only silver lining in all of this seems to be the autobid, but this would in all eventuality be a conference with only marginally better chances of attracting at-large bids than Atlantic Hockey currently does. The ECAC, at the very least, typically draws at least one at-large bid every year, giving some incentive for the non-Ivies to hold onto the marriage as long as the Ivies are still OK with it.

2) Notre Dame and the Big Ten. This is something that has been discussed, literally, for almost a century, since the first overtures between the parties were made in 1926. While the first possibility revolves entirely around hockey, this one revolves almost entirely upon football, with ripples that could now be felt in the hockey world, given the recent changes to the landscape.

Notre Dame's independence in football is storied - it gives their historic program the opportunity to set their entire schedule, and allows them to negotiate their own national television contract (with NBC) with an exclusivity that helps keep their brand front and center. But Notre Dame football isn't what it was for decade after decade of the 20th century. They haven't won a national championship since 1988 and haven't played for one since 1991. No Heisman Trophy winners since 1987. In the 14 seasons of the BCS, they've played in a BCS bowl only three times, losing all three. They haven't finished the season in the Top 25 of the national rankings since 2006 and only four times since 2000.

What's more, Big Ten football is beginning to eclipse Notre Dame in drawing power and revenues, especially with its Big Ten network. Big Ten schools are now pulling in more TV revenue individually than Notre Dame and their exclusive contract, and as the Irish continue to struggle to be nationally relevant on the gridiron, that inequity may only increase as the years progress.

What does this have to do with hockey, you ask? Well, Notre Dame has long seemed a perfect fit for the Big Ten, and if the economics of it all push the Irish to move football (and everything else) to the Big Ten, it'll take hockey right along with it.

That would create a dilemma for Hockey East. Now back to 11 teams and missing a star attraction, what course of action do BU and BC take? Both reportedly spurned NCHC bids previously, thought in large part to be because of Notre Dame's potential addition to Hockey East. Does that suddenly become an option for those teams? Either way, you're then looking at a 9 or 11 team Hockey East, with openings once again.

These scenarios illustrate the tricky spot the ECAC finds itself in, both as an integral unit and as two different halves. For the non-Ivy League teams especially, there could be a glass ceiling forming just as Minnesota-Duluth, Ferris State, and Union were proving that the Division II and III schools still had room to succeed at the highest levels.

Men's Hockey - at Notre Dame (21 Oct)

Notre Dame has a truly impressive new cathedral of college hockey - an impressive tribute to the school's commitment to the sport, and RPI was given the honor of being the first opponent in the new rink this past weekend against a Notre Dame team coming off a Frozen Four appearance last season despite being one of the youngest teams in the nation. The Engineers continued their stretch of being banged up against tough squads, playing well given the circumstances but falling for the third consecutive game, 5-2.

Notre Dame
Angers-Goulet/Malchuk/Smith

Lee/Schroeder/Haggerty

Cullen/Rogic/Rabbani

McGowan/Neal/Burgdoerfer

Bergin/Leonard

Leboeuf/Bailen

Koudys/Dolan

Merriam

Injuries are still hampering the Engineers significantly, with freshman Jacob Laliberte added to the list of key forwards missing in action. He has the same affliction as Brock Higgs, a broken finger. Meanwhile, Marty O'Grady remains out with concussion symptoms. There was some good news, as Greg Burgdoerfer returned to the lineup.

There was, as expected, an awful lot of hoopla - and much deserved - surrounding the opening of the Compton Family Ice Arena. The place is, quite frankly, gorgeous.

Notre Dame committed to a fearsome forecheck for essentially the entire game and it paid off in spades for them. Once they gained the zone, they made it clear that the Engineers were going to have to fight for every inch of space if they gained control and they used their impressive size up front very well - perhaps a foreshadow of things to come in the future for RPI.

At any rate, it was that forecheck that helped the Irish get on the board first as Anders Lee got one past Bryce Merriam after an extended play in the RPI zone that was lengthened thanks to a forecheck that kept RPI from breaking out despite gaining the puck on two different occasions. That goal was the only major difference in an opening 10 minutes that definitely went both ways, giving the Irish the 1-0 advantage.

About four minutes later, RPI finally broke its scoreless streak thanks to some gritty play behind the Irish net by Joel Malchuk and Alex Angers-Goulet. Winning puck battles and keeping Irish goaltender Mike Johnson guessing, Angers-Goulet eventually worked the puck to Malchuk, who made Johnson guess wrong on which side he was moving to, and Malchuk stuffed it in the cage to tie the game at one.

Notre Dame won this one in the second period, smothering the Engineers defensively and limiting them to just two shots on goal during the entire period, even despite a pair of power plays during the middle frame. Anders Lee scored again early in the period to put the Irish back in front, and a rare defensive breakdown by RPI with about five minutes left in the second put Notre Dame up 3-1 heading into the second intermission.

The hole became 4-1 with another early period goal by the Irish, this time coming on the power play, and it looked like RPI was about to simply get outclassed by a better team. They didn't give up down three, however, and Johnny Rogic, whose play could certainly be described as inspired throughout, picked up his own rebound with about five minutes left to play to bring RPI back within one.

The comeback attempt was immediately muted, however, as Patrick Cullen went off for a slash immediately following the Rogic goal, and after that penalty was extinguished (thanks in part to a waved off goal by Anders Lee that went in off a high stick), RPI was unable to do much with Merriam out of his cage. Lee finished off his hat trick officially with an empty netter, a truly memorable accomplishment for a memorable night in South Bend.

All told, RPI definitely missed Higgs, Laliberte, and O'Grady in this game, but there were some bright moments, like Matt Neal, who won 11 of 15 faceoffs, Rogic's play, and Merriam, who made a number of clutch saves that kept things from getting out of hand against a very talented team. RPI may stand at 1-4-0, but all things being equal, they're still playing some pretty decent hockey against some very tough teams.

Other junk - It doesn't matter what your injury situation or your strength of schedule at this time of year - a 1-4-0 team probably isn't getting votes and that's RPI this week, no votes at all for the first time in quite a while. This time of year, good records get rewarded no matter what, and as evidence, Clarkson's 16 votes for a 4-1-1 record. Never mind that the four wins came against Sacred Heart and American International (with a weekend series at Bentley coming this weekend!). Shrug. They can enjoy them while they last. Ranked ECAC teams this week are #10 Yale (exhibition loss to Waterloo, down one with one first place vote), #11 Union (tied Niagara and beat RIT, up one), #16 Colgate (tied Army, no change), #19 Cornell (exhibition wins over Guelph and Carleton, up one), and #20 Quinnipiac (split at Robert Morris, unranked last week). #3 Colorado College (idle, up one with four first place votes), #5 Notre Dame (up one with one first place vote), and #6 Ferris State (swept Miami, up eight with one first place vote) are also ranked this week. Also receiving votes were Dartmouth (29) and UMass-Lowell (5).

Four different teams on RPI's schedule, including three of October's four non-conference opponents, received first place votes this week and are all ranked in the top 10. Think we've got a pretty solid non-conference slate?

Ken Ralph and Colorado College come to Troy this weekend - it's going to be another tough row to hoe for the Engineers for sure, but hopefully the payoff comes the following weekend where we get a tomato-can tested Clarkson team to kick off the ECAC schedule.

RPI at #6 Notre Dame
Non-Conference Game - Compton Family Ice Arena (South Bend, IN)
10/21/11 - 7:35pm

RESULT: Notre Dame 5, RPI 2

BOX SCORES

College Hockey Stats

USCHO

RECAPS

RPI

Troy Record

Albany Times Union

South Bend Tribune

Irish Illustrated

WNDU-TV

RECORD: 1-4-0 (0-0-0 ECAC)

Reale Deals

1. F Johnny Rogic, 1 G, 3 shots

2. F Joel Malchuk, 1 G

3. G Bryce Merriam, 21 saves

Upcoming games

28 Oct - #3 Colorado College

29 Oct - #3 Colorado College

04 Nov - at Clarkson

05 Nov - at St. Lawrence

11 Nov - #10 Yale (Black Friday)

Game #5: Notre Dame

As I type this, I'm sitting in the vistor's radio box at the brand-spanking new, never before used (or seen) Compton Family Ice Arena in South Bend (I'm on the color call on WRPI tonight).

Whoa.

If you want to watch, Notre Dame is offering tonight's game for the low, low price of free on teh Interwebs.

And, as always, feel free to join in the chat as we follow the men against the Irish and the women against the Colonials, with Gary Russinko and our secret Twitter weapon providing tweets and commentary on both in the chat below live from Pack the House Night at Houston Field House, starting at 6:30 (women at 7, men at 7:30).

Spotlight Sideshow

OK, let's be honest. When the men march into South Bend tonight, they're the afterthoughts. They'll be looking across the ice at a Notre Dame team that is ranked sixth in the nation, coming off a Frozen Four trip last season, on their way to Hockey East with a fresh TV deal in hand, and, on this night, opening a fancy new arena.

Meanwhile, we've got injury after injury to deal with. No Higgs or Laliberte, likely until the beginning of November at the earliest. No O'Grady, out indefinitely with a concussion. And, of course, no scoring in over 120 minutes.

Safe to say we're the underdogs.

Thanks to WaP reader Laurel White for this week's pumpup. If you'd like to request a pumpup, hit us up: tomyousieve (at) gmail (dit) com. Yes, that's a dit com.

Be sure to head out to Houston Field House this evening to welcome home the women's team, they face Robert Morris in a pair of games this weekend - and bring along your radio to hear the men in South Bend taking on the Fighting Irish.

We didn't have much content this week - but there wasn't really much to talk about that wasn't touched on in some way, shape or form last week or in the recap.

Today's Podcast: Seth Appert (for real this time)

Last week the SNAFUs that occasionally plague our operation popped up to stop our weekly podcast in its tracks. Today, we try again, with the last SNAFU fixed and on guard for the next one.

Since we didn't get to talk to Seth Appert last week, we'll talk to him this week instead as the Engineers prepare for a big game at Notre Dame, the first in their fancy new arena. We'll get his thoughts on the offensive famine, the defensive strengths, the team's start, and, yes, the injuries that continue to impact the team - with an injury to Jacob Laliberte the latest in a string of problems plaguing the forwards.

After we talk to Seth, we'll get up to speed with women's hockey, also as promised last week. Like the men, the Engineers had a couple of games last weekend that weren't horrible per se, but they did lose both regardless, a speed bump that ended a 4-game unbeaten streak to start the year. We'll get our first real-game look at RPI this weekend as they come home to face Robert Morris in a pair of non-league games.

We go live at 5:00pm this afternoon, and you can listen live (or on demand if you miss the live broadcast) by clicking Listen to Without a Peer over to the right.

Tsunami Watch: Eastern Effects

The tidal wave that has completely obliterated western college hockey as we know it looks to be making its way east.

While eastern hockey is unlikely to suffer any radical changes in the way the WCHA and CCHA have been completely torn to shreds - with the possible exception of Atlantic Hockey, as we've discussed - changes do seem to be on the horizon, and they could well directly affect the Engineers.

On Sunday, the NCHC (which apparently wishes to be known as "The National") announced that it would launch its first season in 2013 as an eight team conference.

Let's see... North Dakota, Denver, Colorado College, Miami, Minnesota-Duluth, Nebraska-Omaha, Western Michigan, and St. Cloud State. Yeah, looks like they're already at eight.

Notre Dame? Hmm... awk...ward.

"We conducted a deliberate and exhaustive process that included consideration of adding more institutions." said NCHC ringleader UND athletic director Brian Faison. "In the end, we determined it is in the best interest of the Conference to proceed with our eight outstanding programs."

So, basically, they told Notre Dame to take a hike. Or, more likely, talks with Notre Dame broke down over some issue (probably television revenue) and the NCHC decided to make it look like they never wanted Notre Dame in the first place.

The Irish have already categorically ruled out independence, and there's no chance they're interested in Bowling Green's Zombie CCHA project (which we should find out more about this week given the Falcons' October 7th deadline for joining the WCHA). That basically leaves Hockey East for Notre Dame. The Irish are reportedly making their decision known tomorrow.

It's been reported in multiple places that if Hockey East brings in Notre Dame, they will want a complimentary 12th program in the fold as well, and we've talked long and hard about the possibilities of RPI being that team.

Here are the candidates, in ascending order of likelihood, that have been mentioned.

Cornell: I don't know where this came from, but in the last week rumors have flittered around that Cornell might be in the running for #12. Most likely, the Big Red were named by someone because for the past 10 years or so they've been the most consistently solid program in the east that isn't in Hockey East. OK, that's true. But even once that's on the table, there's zero reason to expect that Cornell would be the team. They're not just in the ECAC, they're in the Ivy League, and they aren't going to break from that association on an institutional level. If, for instance, Colgate had Cornell's present profile, they'd probably be the favorites right now, but as it is, Cornell's going nowhere.

Harvard: This one isn't very recent, but it's more of a "rumor that just will never die" type thing. This one's 100% based on geography and the fact that the Crimson are the only Boston area school and Beanpot participant not in Hockey East. It's also not happening, for the exact same reason as above.

Holy Cross: The problems that plagued the Crusaders when they applied for ECAC membership in 2004 have not diminished. They still play in a tiny rink that, while on campus, wasn't enough for the ECAC and won't even be close for Hockey East. Their women's team still plays in Division III. About the only things they have going for them is their location in Worcester and that one game back in 2006 where they beat Minnesota in the national tournament, and that's it. Maybe their position as a Catholic school to go along with the four others already in HEA once Notre Dame joins (BC, Merrimack, and Providence), but that's pretty thin.

UConn: This one won't go away because every other New England state school that sponsors hockey plays in Hockey East, and UConn is also a big name school with a big-time athletic program. A hockey program costs a lot of money to operate as compared to most other sports (including basketball), and UConn doesn't spend much on their program. That would have to change. They'd have to start offering scholarships in order to have a prayer in Hockey East (and it would probably be demanded). Then they'd have to offer more scholarships in a women's sport in order to balance Title IX concerns. They'd also need a modern ice rink with increased capacity, and those don't just come around that often - ask Penn State. The amount of money UConn would have to lay out in order to join Hockey East is probably on par with that of a brand new program, and given UConn's intense focus on basketball, football, and soccer, there's just not much of a reason to expect that kind of outlay to be forthcoming.

Quinnipiac: Outside of RPI, Quinnipiac does appear to have the most attractive potential offering for Hockey East. It's a program free from distinct connections to its current situation, unlike the Ivies. It's a program that has continually improved since joining Division I. They have a fairly new arena. It's in New England. They have an up-and-coming women's program. The one thing that the Bobcats don't have, which may ultimately be the killer, is the history. There's not much of it to speak of in Hamden, and there aren't any traditional links between QU and Hockey East programs - not even really any casual links either other than a game or two here and there. Now, Notre Dame doesn't exactly have the hockey history either, but they've got the name and they've gone a lot farther with their upward trending program.

RPI: We've already mentioned everything the Engineers offer Hockey East. By itself, it's not enough. RPI would never have been #11, at least, not right now. But overall, RPI presents the most complete package for Hockey East. A resurgent program. A just-renovated arena with plenty of capacity. History, with a pair of national titles (only BU, BC, and Maine can claim those in HEA right now) and historical links with most of the league's members. The ability to leave other teams in the ECAC behind. Geography isn't perfect, but it's not too far away from most of the league. Throw in the large alumni base in New England and it's basically the best match out there. That doesn't mean that Hockey East is dying to include RPI, but when it comes to meeting their goal of a 12-team league, RPI makes the most sense.

Any other possibilities out there? Well, there's the rest of the non-Ivies in the ECAC. Clarkson or St. Lawrence? Both were offered places in Hockey East in the mid-80s, but neither are attractive candidates now - they're isolated in the North Country, so they'd almost certainly be a combo set and there's only one spot available. Combine that with both programs' recent downturn and there you go.

Union? A program moving up in the world to be sure, but it's a lot easier to compete without scholarships in the ECAC than it would be in Hockey East, they have no real history to speak of before about three years ago, and their rink would not be something HEA's looking for.

Colgate? The rink's a problem here too, it's farther out from New England than RPI is, and their history is closer to Quinnipiac's than it is to RPI or the North Country.

A new program? The University of Rhode Island and Syracuse are two perpetual candidates for a new setup, but URI probably wouldn't be able to put something together in time for 2013 even if they started now, and Syracuse isn't a likely candidate in the near future anyway because of Title IX concerns.

Now, RPI hasn't shown any outward indication that they are interested in leaving the ECAC. We here at WaP are a little bit conflicted about the idea - which you know if you've read our thorough examination of the pros and cons. But the buzz continues to grow. Given the NCHC's press release, we are projecting that Notre Dame will join Hockey East, and that, at some point, RPI will be invited to Hockey East and will accept that invitation. If not RPI, which could have some qualms about leaving 50 years of history in the ECAC behind, Quinnipiac probably wouldn't think twice.

That will leave the ECAC with an 11-team set up, and that would result in a new team sliding into the position vacated by RPI or Quinnipiac. Those contenders? Well, they're pretty easy to identify.

RIT: The natural selection, in our view. RIT is a Liberty League member, just like the North Country and Union (and RPI, for that matter). The academic profile fits well. Geographically they're farther west than any team in the league. You'd have to expect that the Liberty League schools, Colgate, and probably Cornell would be interested in bringing RIT in. The Tigers would almost certainly have to agree to bring women's hockey along for the ride (which, right now, plays in Division III). They've been hoping for an opportunity to move to the ECAC anyway, which probably explains their lack of interest in the Zombie CCHA.

Holy Cross: While the Crusaders won't fit into Hockey East, there could be room for them in the ECAC as long as they bring women's hockey along for the ride. The geography works, especially with Dartmouth, Harvard, and Brown all rather close by. The academics fit. The rink's still a concern here, but not nearly as much as it would be in Hockey East. There was some sentiment within the ECAC for Holy Cross back in 2004, and they could well be interest from the New England contingent of the league this time around. If Holy Cross wants to get out of the scholarship-limited Atlantic Hockey, this is their only reasonable option, so expect them to at least inquire.

Zombie CCHA: Would any of the teams trying to build the Zombie CCHA out of Atlantic Hockey be interested? Perhaps, but probably only if Bowling Green decides against that route and goes to the WCHA. If that happens, the ECAC position becomes like gold for some of these programs, although Robert Morris would almost certainly be completely behind the eight-ball compared to the other three given their distant location.

----

Women's hockey

It's interesting to note that with all of the massive changes in men's hockey, there have been a whopping two moves in women's hockey: Penn State will join the CHA in 2013, and Lindenwood became an independent program (for this year) with an application to the CHA. That's it.

The Big Ten has only four women's programs: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Ohio State, and Penn State. Thus, those first three will stay within the WCHA on the women's side. Thus, there's no NCHC equivalent on the women's side, either (since Denver, CC, Miami, Nebraska-Omaha, and Western Michigan don't have women's hockey). So the women's WCHA is intact. Notre Dame doesn't have women's hockey, so their move has no impact as well.

The first tsunami related move could well be with Hockey East's #12. We'll have to see if RPI or Quinnipiac's women's team moves along with the men's team. There's certainly no requirement, since Hockey East's women's conference isn't exactly the same as the men's conference, and, as we mentioned above, RIT and Holy Cross don't have D-I women's programs yet anyway. RPI or Quinnipiac could easily stay in the ECAC on the women's side. We'll have to wait and see.

Tsunami Watch: Double Dipping

Just when you thought the conference carousel might be slowing down, something happens and it kicks right back into full gear once more.

Without much notice, it was announced yesterday that the NCHC would offer membership to Western Michigan and St. Cloud State. The former wasn't much of a surprise, as the Broncos had an offer on the table already, but the latter was... surprising to say the least. Almost as surprising, the Huskies quickly accepted, going against statements the school had made a couple of months ago.

Why the turn around? Well, for one, everyone's still waiting to see what Notre Dame is going to do. In the meantime, the NCHC had only six teams: Colorado College, Denver, Miami, Minnesota-Duluth, North Dakota, and Nebraska-Omaha. Those are some high powered programs, and one of them has to come in last. Thus, thanks to the NCAA's rule that no team with a sub-.500 record can earn an at-large bid to the national tournament, the league would probably restricted to three or, at a maximum, four bids a year. Thus, the need to expand, and in a hurry.

So where does that leave us? Well, let's break it down.

Western Michigan: At the end of the day, this one's not too surprising, especially once St. Cloud was given an offer as well. WMU, through their actions over the last year, have proven that they are going to give 110% to their hockey program, and their athletic director has a stated goal for the program of a national championship. The huge raise they gave Jeff Blashill before the Red Wings came calling and the hiring of NHL coach Andy Murray is plenty to indicate an up and coming program, and the NCHC, in the long run, is probably the best place for the program given those goals.

St. Cloud State: This one's a little more surprising and there's already been a lot of debate in St. Cloud as to whether this was the right move to make. First off, when the NCHC was first announced, SCSU was adamant that they wanted nothing to do with the league and that they planned to take a leading role in the new WCHA. Secondly, when the "new" WCHA started to congeal, most observes had the Huskies pegged as one of the programs that could potentially dominate the conference on a regular basis, leading to more frequent NCAA appearances and, in turn, better shots at the Frozen Four and the national title.

Now, SCSU will have to fight with the big dogs of the NCHC - not that they haven't tangled with most of the teams in the league before, but there were also some minnows to fall back on in the WCHA. They won't have that in the NCHC. They also suddenly look like one of the villains just months after promising to be a hero for the WCHA. This move will help the school with their visibility, but they may find it a tougher row to hoe in the long run.

It's also worth noting that with this move, St. Cloud State turns its back on its MnSCU brethren in Bemidji and Mankato, something that definitely won't sit well with those programs. The loss of St. Cloud State takes an already weakening conference and makes it decidedly more weak.

Notre Dame: Once again, the Fighting Irish dither while the rest of the hockey world moves in anticipation of what they may or may not do. The options are still mostly the same as we've gone over many times before - NCHC, Hockey East, or independence - but in the much larger picture (not something hockey fans are used to examining), there may be a fourth option opening.

If you've been paying attention to the NCAA as a whole lately, you've seen the carousel going on at the highest levels as well, with teams changing conferences left and right. The Big East especially seems to be in serious danger of either fracturing outright or what we should probably call WCHA-ization in that they won't be much of a major conference anymore by the time the wheel stops spinning. The problem here is that while Notre Dame is famously independent in football, they're a member of the Big East in everything else. If the Big East implodes, Notre Dame will need a new home, and the rumor that will never die always revolves around the Big Ten. So that route may yet be open.

By the way, there's even talk of these BCS superconferences breaking from the NCAA altogether - and that would make some serious waves in college hockey as well since you're talking the Big Ten plus Boston College and Notre Dame among those. Topic for another day, perhaps, but... that would make this tsunami look like a ripple in a kiddie pool.

Bowling Green: The only other CCHA program without a dance partner, the Falcons appear to be out of options other than the still-pending WCHA invitation. If the NCHC had any interest in BGSU, they probably would have already sent them an invite, and since league members are already talking about how eight teams is fine and a ninth would have to bring a lot to the table (code for Notre Dame), BGSU might as well just take the WCHA invite while they have it.

Alabama-Huntsville: This new development actually opens the door a little bit for the Chargers as it pertains to the WCHA. Adding BGSU would leave the WCHA in the same place they were before this new development: nine teams. UAH could potentially round that back off to ten... if they can find a way to be palatable to a league that's already going to have to deal with having a pair of teams from Alaska in it, as we've already mentioned.

NCHC: Sitting pretty now that they've got a couple more teams to boost that at-large potential. The numbers and teams involved definitely make the conference better able to compete with the Big Ten head to head, which was the goal all along, though purists will point to its makeup - 6 WCHA teams and 2 CCHA teams - and call it a WCHA rehash, more polite than asking UAA, MTU, Mankato, and Bemidji to leave.

Big Ten: Of course, it's worth mentioning that the Big Ten, like the NCHC before yesterday's announcement, has only six members right now, and thus has the same issue with top programs potentially being forced out of the NCAAs due to their record. Unlike the NCHC, however, the Big Ten doesn't have any real prospects for expansion on the horizon (with the possible exception of the Notre Dame scenario above). The league has the stability that comes with direct affiliation with a major non-hockey conference, but it also has the limitation that it can't just throw invites to teams the way the NCHC just did. If the Big Ten expands, it's going to be with new varsity programs at Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska-Lincoln, Northwestern, or Purdue. That's it.

By the way, do you know who the sub-.500 at-large rule now benefits the most? WCHA, Hockey East, and ECAC teams.

RPI: Speaking of ECAC teams... we're still keeping an eye on the Notre Dame situation as it could pertain to new opportunities for RPI as we discussed earlier this summer. There are two things this NCHC expansion does to the metric we laid out for a potential RPI-Hockey East merger. First, it makes larger conferences more acceptable again. Second, it may increase the likelihood of Notre Dame choosing Hockey East, though they're certainly still more than welcome in the NCHC. As it is, there's little doubt that RPI is keeping a hawk an eagle eye on Notre Dame and weighing their own options. As always, stay tuned.

Tsunami Watch: Settling Point?

While we dry out a bit here in Irene-ravaged Troy (which was almost wholly to blame for this not running yesterday), here's the latest on the conference carousel that may soon be grinding to a halt.

Last week, the rumored WCHA-CCHA merger that had been discussed came to fruition as the WCHA offered membership to the remaining members of the CCHA with the exception of Notre Dame, which is still on the fence between the NCHC and Hockey East (and, apparently, becoming an independent).

Alaska, Lake Superior State, and Ferris State quickly accepted. Thus, the WCHA currently looks like this in 2013:

Alaska

Alaska-Anchorage

Bemidji State

Ferris State

Lake Superior State

Michigan Tech

Minnesota State

Northern Michigan

St. Cloud State

There's one thing that all of these schools have in common: Division II. That may be one of the things that is causing hesitation for the other two WCHA invitees, Bowling Green and Western Michigan, both of whom play at the highest level of Division I.

That leaves the following remaining question marks.

Notre Dame: Once again, it was something other than Notre Dame which moved first. We all thought the Irish would be the first to make a move... they're now almost certain to be last. Well... maybe next to last.

The options are still pretty much laid bare on the table. They're one of three remaining CCHA teams, so they can't reasonably stay there - not that that's ever been something that was realistic to begin with. They've got a standing offer from the NCHC, and Hockey East wouldn't say no if they wanted to join there.

If Notre Dame preferred to align themselves with the Big Ten, there's another option that the Irish could be considering - independence. Now, this wouldn't leave the Irish as independents in the style of Alabama-Huntsville, which will be in its second season of fully cobbling together a schedule this year, but rather, would be a situation where the Irish had long-term scheduling arrangements with other leagues, almost certainly with the Big Ten and probably with the NCHC as well. Such an arrangement would allow Notre Dame to keep playing the schools they're already used to playing without having to tether themselves to the Big Ten (which they've famously refused to do for decades) or a conference largely consisted of less prestigious institutions in the NCHC. They wouldn't be able to vie for an automatic bid and they'd have to find a way to keep playing into March (when the conferences are in tournament mode), but with the scheduling arrangements, a good Irish team with a solid record would probably be in contention for an NCAA bid without much problem.

Bowling Green: The Falcons are in an interesting position. They have the WCHA invite in their back pocket, but as a Division I school, they could arguably have the clout to join the NCHC, which would probably like to grow larger than just six schools - not to mention that BGSU's MAC cohorts, Miami, are already there. They're almost certainly going to wait to see what Notre Dame does before making a decision.

Western Michigan: The Broncos are, even more than BGSU, waiting to see what Notre Dame is going to do, in part because their proximity to South Bend could potentially allow them to latch on with the Irish as a travel partner in either the NCHC or Hockey East. It remains to be seen if the latter would be interested at all in WMU, though the former has apparently already extended an offer. Now they also have an offer from the WCHA. Options abound. It's amazing what one outstanding rebound season combined with a new commitment from administration will do for a program.

Atlantic Hockey: The WCHA-CCHA merger kills any chance that the four potential departures - Canisius, Mercyhurst, Niagara, and Robert Morris - had of being able to leave, since they had interest in playing in a revamped CCHA that will no longer exist. Those schools - and RIT as well - still have interest in improving their station in college hockey, however. What options do they have? Honestly, they don't have many places to turn. They could seek to join the ECAC, but even with the WCHA filling back up again, there's not much of a reason for the ECAC to expand (further diluting the pool for the automatic bid). For the time being, they're probably stuck where they are.

Alabama-Huntsville: The WCHA-CCHA merger is kind of a nightmare scenario for the Chargers... unless they can somehow petition the WCHA to become its 10th, 11th, or 12th member. The problem is, we're already talking about a league that is going to have to figure a way to include a pair of schools as isolated as Alaska and Alaska-Anchorage, bringing on another isolated team - and another D-II school - might be a dicey proposition.

Tsunami Watch: CCHA

In the words of Bob Dylan, "the times, they are a-changin'" and nowhere are the times changing more than in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association.

A minor conference when it was created in the 1970s, the CCHA got a huge shot in the arm when Michigan and Michigan State joined the conference from the WCHA in 1981 and ever since, the league has been one of the major players on the national scene. But those schools, along with Ohio State, will be departing for the new Big Ten conference, and a league currently sitting at 11 programs will be down to eight, with two powerful programs that will almost certainly be looking for something more firm (and more prestigious) and six less powerful programs who face a difficult future.

It wasn't long ago that some were talking about the CCHA possibly being the first conference to stretch from coast to coast (from Alaska to New York), and that may yet be in the conference's future, but minus the Big Ten schools, there's an unsure future not only for many of the CCHA's D-II programs, but also for the conference itself.

Notre Dame: At the end of the day, the Fighting Irish are really the program most likely to be the one making the next move, and they are easily the program with the most options. Why? Because they're Notre Dame - the school with enough moxie when it comes to college athletics (specifically, college football) to command their own national television contract. As Adam Wodon has said, they're probably already looking around and realizing that without the Big 10 schools, they're in a conference with nothing but Mid-American Conference and D-II schools. That's not how the Fighting Irish roll.

If Notre Dame comes calling, what established conference in their right minds would turn them down? The two most likely destinations are the WCHA (where the Irish resided in the 1970s) and Hockey East (where an institutional rival in Boston College resides, not to mention that the league isn't totally geographically similar to the Big East's core). The WCHA is home of some large buildings, but Notre Dame's new digs will be big enough to fit in.

Expect the Fighting Irish to be the next team to make a decision on their future, probably within the next year. Will they look east? Will they look west? Or will they take a leading role in trying to attract new teams (and potentially, new programs) to the CCHA? The decision they make will likely set the rest of the carousel in motion.

Miami: Perhaps the single CCHA program with the most questions. They're quickly becoming one of the best programs in college hockey - like Notre Dame, missing only the national championship - but the uncertainty surrounding the CCHA could have lasting consequences on the Redhawks' immediate future. Consider Miami's position. They are, as soon as the Big Ten schools leave, one of two powers in a significantly weakened conference and, as we just mentioned, Notre Dame almost certainly isn't long for that weakened conference. What, then, is the solution?

The WCHA is unlikely to be interested in Miami for a couple of reasons. Their arena, while new (and, might I say, awesome), would be very small by their standards. It's also significantly outside of the league's footprint and, especially by comparison to Notre Dame, Miami doesn't bring with it much gravitas other than through their recently lofty position as a college hockey power.

Hockey East also probably wouldn't be terribly interested in Miami, even as a package with Notre Dame, given its status as a regional (yet powerful) conference. They might be willing to branch out for the Irish, but probably not so much for the Redhawks.

Miami's best route, therefore, is probably in bolstering the CCHA through adding additional programs - and yet, no matter what schools possibly get added, the Redhawks are still in the precarious position of being head and shoulders above the rest of the league. That might bode well for making the national tournament every year, but if the CCHA is significantly weakened, it might make for a tougher route to their goal of a national championship.

Bowling Green and Western Michigan: The other MAC schools, each with very different hockey histories but similar recent results. The Falcons won a national championship in 1984, but have had a rocky recent past, including a threat a few years back to have their program folded due to difficult economic times. The Broncos, meanwhile, have floundered for many years but are coming off a remarkable comeback season last year under their new coach despite the school's long-term commitment to the program slightly in question.

These are schools that, like Miami, are among in the top level Division I (as defined by the D-I split in college football), but unlike Miami are unattractive to other high end conferences - neither has a prayer of being invited to a currently existing league. They will certainly miss the effect that regular visits from Michigan and Michigan State have had on home turnout, and if the CCHA doesn't grow, they may find the quality (and stability) of their programs diminishing rapidly as time goes by, further imperiling the league and their own existence.

Ferris State, Lake Superior State and Northern Michigan: The CCHA's Division II schools in the Midwest. The latter two are also former national champions, with the Lakers enjoying a dynasty during the late 1980s and early 1990s. These programs have not been in trouble as BGSU and WMU have been, but they will be taking a big hit with the Big Ten schools leaving the conference. They are not currently in danger, but the longer the CCHA exists in a weakened state, the more their future in Division I could be in jeopardy. At the very least, their ability to field competitive teams could be in jeopardy.

NMU is a former WCHA program and they were rumored to be in the mix to jump back to the WCHA during its last expansion, a slot that eventually went to Nebraska-Omaha. They could try to spring back (maybe even with Notre Dame), but it's entirely possible that the WCHA ship has sailed. Ferris and LSSU have fewer reasonable options.

Alaska: The CCHA's lonely outpost in the Last Frontier. The Nanooks have had the appearance of being a serious outlier in the Great Lakes-centric CCHA since they joined the conference in 1995, but it has been a necessary matter for their program to be able to have a secure place in the college hockey world. It is difficult at best to schedule an independent schedule, and even more difficult to entice teams to come to Alaska, even with the schedule exemption that teams who do so receive (teams who travel to the 49th state don't have to count those games toward their schedule limit). So Alaska will also be looking to keep the CCHA soluble.

One thing that almost surely will not happen is a combination of the two Alaska schools into the same conference, whether that's the Nanooks moving the WCHA as has been suggested or Alaska-Anchorage moving to the CCHA (where it has been argued they could be more competitive). Both schools cherish the ability to play each other on a yearly basis to account for some of their non-conference games (taking up the remainder with pre-season tournaments). If they were forced to play each other within a conference schedule, it would make filling their schedule all the more difficult, perhaps requiring them to travel to the Lower 48 for some of their non-conference games, which neither team currently does.

Expansion?

The CCHA's path to survival as a conference almost certainly rests in adding new programs, since we've seen how tenuous survival can be with eight or fewer teams. Fortunately, there are a number of viable options out there, including the possibility of adding new programs (which again, we won't speculate on specific schools here).

Atlantic Hockey: We'll touch more on this when we get to discussing the growing divisions in college hockey's lone minor (but improving) conference, but there are a number of teams in Atlantic Hockey that would likely love to join the CCHA, even in a weakened condition, than stay in the cost-contained AHA. First and foremost, there's Niagara and Robert Morris, both dealing with scholarship restrictions they'd prefer not to have. There's also RIT, which has been dominant in AHA and is clearly yearning for a bigger challenge, though they'd prefer the ECAC. Mercyhurst wouldn't be too far away and has been trying to improve their position. The bottom line is, there are a number of opportunities for AHA teams, especially western AHA teams, who might be interested in improving their station through the CCHA if they're up for the challenge of competing with a full slate of scholarships.

Alabama-Huntsville: Let's not forget the lone current independent in hockey's southern outpost. The shuffling that the Big Ten's arrival represents is welcome news in Huntsville not because it opens an obvious spot for the Chargers, but because it breaks the status quo, which is what has left them on the outside looking in. Could there be a spot for them in the CCHA? Certainly. Is it a sure thing? Far from it. By all reports, the schools that were warm to the idea of the Chargers joining the conference the last time they looked to join were, by and large, the bigger schools, and most of them are leaving. UAH would help stabilize the league on numbers alone, but it would also increase travel costs for a league that is not going to have as much money to play with once the heavy hitters hit the road.

Michigan Tech: Here's an interesting possibility that's probably more rampant speculation than anything, but... what about Tech? They bolted the WCHA for three years in the early 1980s for the CCHA and their local rivals from NMU currently play there (with non-conference games between the schools continuing on a yearly basis). Tech is starting anew with a new coach next year and haven't finished in the top half of the WCHA since 1993 - since then, they've finished last nine times, including each of the last three years. Might the program be better suited to grow in what will be a weaker league, one in which they would lend a bit more gravitas to in the process? It's absolutely nothing but speculation since Tech seems to be happy in the WCHA (and the reverse is probably true, since they're the trustees of the MacNaughton Cup, the league's regular season championship trophy), but... maybe something to think about as a possibility.

The Big Ten Tsunami Watch

We've talked about the Big Ten rather obliquely off and on for the last year or so here at Without a Peer. First, we hinted that Penn State might be joining the Division I family. Then it happened. Then we told you to watch out that Seth Appert didn't slip out of town to become their coach. RPI locked him up for most of the rest of the decade (not that we're taking credit for that, of course).

The bottom line on the Big Ten, at least from the perspective of a well-established hockey program with a long history, right here and now in the summer of 2011, is that we, along with the entire college hockey world, needs to be ready for radical changes in the landscape not seen since the near-simultaneous formations of the ECAC and the WCHA in the early 1960s a half-century ago.

The most immediate changes, it must be underlined, probably won't be felt in Troy, not right away at least. The formation of the Big Ten hockey conference has the most immediate impact on the western leagues, where the existing five Big Ten hockey schools currently play: Minnesota and Wisconsin in the WCHA, Michigan, Michigan State, and Ohio State in the CCHA.

The WCHA will take a hit losing the Gophers and Badgers, to be sure, but they seem to be in a good position to weather the storm of the Big Ten, in part considering their overall strength, but also due to the rich history within: the remaining 10 teams have won a combined 20 NCAA championships (26 if you want to be a stickler and count Bemidji State's six crowns from D-II and D-III). They'll lose a bit of prestige with a pair of big time schools with 11 combined titles of their own, but they could manage. The WCHA survived for years with 10 teams, they could do it again.

The true question comes from the CCHA, which will see its already slightly diminished roster be cut even further, to eight teams, nearly all of which will be either Division II schools or Mid-American Conference schools. It is a difficult scenario for each of those remaining eight teams, all of whom will undoubtedly be searching for answers, especially Notre Dame and Miami, a pair of teams that have been on the cusp of the very top of the college hockey world in recent years.

It is that question that could ultimately have an impact on the three eastern conferences. Just what kind of impact is a topic of much debate, but it probably won't be any kind of wholesale change, especially for Hockey East and the ECAC... though it certainly could.

Over the next couple of weeks, be on the lookout for conference breakdowns by team or groups of teams that share a similar fate. Let's start off with the easiest conference to break down.

Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State, Penn State and Wisconsin: Collectively, the Big Ten. No questions here, they know what they're doing - in fact, it's because they know what they're doing that leads to all of this consternation in the first place. The only real question surrounding this group is whether they seek to bring in new blood, almost certainly via another Big Ten school if they do.

Expansion?

There aren't really too many options for expansion within existing programs. The Big Ten isn't just a D-I conference, they're a power conference - which means they aren't going to associate with schools from smaller conferences (to say nothing of associating with schools from outside of D-I). When you look around the rest of the college hockey world, there's only one program with even the outside possibility.

Notre Dame: The only geographically and historically close fit to the Big Ten is Notre Dame. The school typically competes against the Big Ten in a number of different sports, fits right into the geographic footprint between Pennsylvania and Nebraska in Indiana, and has frequently flirted with joining the Big Ten as a full member in all sports, even football. There simply is no other currently existing program with the possibility of joining the nascent conference. Ten years ago, it probably wouldn't have been possible given the state of the program, and today it's still probably highly unlikely, but the door is open at least a crack for the Irish, whereas it's shut tight for every other program out there.

Next: The mess in the CCHA.

Know Your Enemy: Notre Dame

Part three of Know Your Enemy focuses on a school that's a traditional power in a number of sports, most notably among the most traditional powers there are in the biggest college sport of them all, football. In hockey, they're certainly not a traditional power, but they're absolutely a growing power - and as they showed this past season in making not just the NCAA tournament but also the Frozen Four during a season in which they were supposed to be rebuilding, they could be making the ascent to the top of the college hockey world in short order.

Notre Dame
Nickname: Fighting Irish
Location: South Bend, IN
Founded: 1842
Conference: CCHA
National Championships: 0
Last NCAA Appearance: 2011
Last Frozen Four: 2011
Coach: Jeff Jackson (7th season)
2010-11 Record: 25-14-5 (18-7-3-2 CCHA, 2nd place)
Series: Tied, 3-3-0
First Game: December 29, 1988 (Troy, NY)
Last RPI win: January 1, 2005 (South Bend, IN)
Last ND win: December 30, 2007 (Tampa, FL)

2011-12 game: October 21, 2011 (South Bend, IN)

Key players: D Sean Lorenz, sr.; F Billy Maday, sr.; D Sam Calabrese, jr.; G Mike Johnson, jr.; F Nick Larson, jr.; F Riley Sheahan, jr.; F Jeff Costello, so.; D Stephen Johns, so.; F Anders Lee, so; D Kevin Lind, so.; F Bryan Rust, so.; F T.J. Tynan, so.; F Mike Voran, so.; D Robbie Russo, fr.; D Andrew Ryan, fr.; F Peter Schneider, fr.; F Austin Wuthrich, fr.

Hockey at Notre Dame actually precedes Knute Rockne by a few years, as the Fighting Irish first put a team on ice in 1913, playing three games. That first season, however, was not followed by a second until 1920, when the earliest hockey in South Bend had its heyday for eight years.

This early incarnation of the Irish had its best year in 1922, when they won 8 of 9 games, including an undefeated record against other universities, including Michigan, Michigan State, and what is today Michigan Tech. The freshman goaltender on that team was Jim Crowley, one of the famed "Four Horsemen," but Rockne put an end to his hockey career when he was told to focus on football. The hockey program faded out after a 3-7-1 season in 1927.

Sporadic attempts to restart hockey in South Bend took place between the 1930s and the 1960s, but nothing stuck until a club team found footing in the early 1960s. That laid the foundation for a return to varsity hockey in 1968, when the team played the first of three seasons as an independent before joining the WCHA as the conference's 10th team in 1971.

In the WCHA, the Irish were never top dog, but they did put together a few decent seasons, finishing second on the conference table in 1973 and 1977. After 10 seasons in the conference, the Irish joined a breakoff faction that included Michigan, Michigan State, and Michigan Tech in joining the CCHA in 1981, a conference that had been a fairly minor group of programs to that point.

The move did not exactly propel hockey at Notre Dame to bigger and better things. After a fourth place finish in the 11-team league in 1982, the Irish tumbled to eighth in 1983 and following the season, the university announced that they would no longer be sponsoring varsity hockey, a decision that would put a growing program that had produced a Hobey Baker finalist just a year prior behind the eight ball for a good 20 years.

The Irish continued play in 1984 as a club team, and returned to varsity the next season as a non-scholarship independent team, still under the tutelage of Lefty Smith, the man who had been behind the bench in South Bend since the return of varsity hockey in the late 1960s. During their time as an independent program in the 1980s, the Irish were playing mostly club teams and lower division sides.

Ric Schafer became the program's second coach in 1987, immediately guiding the team to its best season it would see in the independent ranks, putting up a 27-4-2 record, but again, the team was playing schools like Arizona and Michigan-Dearborn. Following that season, however, Schafer began scheduling an increasing number of CCHA teams as he prepared the team to return to scholarships and, ultimately, the league itself, which they did in 1992.

The return to the CCHA was the first step, but the climb to the top was slow and difficult. Through most of the 1990s, the Irish struggled to stay out of the league's basement. Schafer stepped aside in favor of Irish alum Dave Poulin in 1995, but the team endured six straight losing seasons in their return to the CCHA, and 10 losing seasons in their first 11 through 2002.

Arguably, the first true rise of Notre Dame as any kind of college hockey power began in 2004, as the team reached 20 wins against a full D-I schedule for the first time since 1982, and earned an NCAA berth for the very first time, falling in the first round to Minnesota.

From that high, the drop to the valley was immediate - the Irish won just 5 games in the 2004-05 season, their lowest total in the program's modern history, which ended Poulin's tenure in South Bend. The school's choice of replacement left little doubt that the school intended to put a new emphasis on hockey: Jeff Jackson, who guided Lake Superior State to three consecutive national championship games in the early 1990s (winning two) took over, and the effect was almost immediate.

Jackson had the Irish back in the NCAA tournament in just his second season, as Notre Dame won a school-record 32 games in 2007 on their way to their first CCHA regular season and tournament titles. 24 wins in 2008 were enough to send the Irish to the NCAA tournament for a second straight year. Despite a low seed, the Irish blazed a trail through the tournament, making their first Frozen Four appearance with a 5-4 overtime victory over Michigan before falling 4-1 to traditional rivals Boston College in the national championship.

A second CCHA title came down in 2009, but the Irish fell victim to the mass upsets that swept the NCAA tournament that season, losing to Bemidji State in the first round.

After a step back in 2010 with a losing season, 2011 was expected to be a rebuilding year as the Irish roster was loaded with young players, but those expectations went out the door pretty quickly as the young talent proved more than capable of not only excelling on the ice, but leading the team to heights no one expected. Led by the freshman duo of T.J. Tynan (who went on to win the national rookie of the year award) and Anders Lee, the Irish lit up their schedule last season, losing back-to-back games only twice during the regular season en route to a second place finish. In the NCAA tournament, they successfully navigated a pair of tough Hockey East foes in Manchester, taking down a high-flying Merrimack team before defeating the homestanding UNH Wildcats for their second-ever trip to the Frozen Four. There, they gave eventual national champions Minnesota-Duluth a solid game before falling 4-3.

Notre Dame is still young, but the difference this year is that those young players played like veterans during their freshman years. Tynan and Lee were the team's top two scorers last season, both pumping in more than 20 goals and adding 20 assists, but the potential hardly ends there. Riley Sheahan was one of the final cuts from the Canadian World Junior Championship team last season. Billy Maday, Nick Larson, and Jeff Costello each added at least 10 goals last year as the Irish put up a Top 10 national showing offensively with only 3 games all season in which the team didn't score at least twice. 13 returning players had at least 10 points on the campaign, and they're joined by three freshmen coming from the renowned US Under-18 program in Russo, Ryan, and Wuthrich.

The Irish defense wasn't much to crow about last year, as games involving Notre Dame tended to be higher scoring affairs, but it was enough to get the job done more often than not given the way the offense was clicking. Mike Johnson was the man in net for the Irish and unless something radical happens, he should be the starter again this season. His numbers weren't standout - 2.62 GAA, .904 save percentage, but when your team's pumping pucks on the other team's net with frequency, the opposition isn't down there shooting on you as frequently.

Notre Dame may be one of the best, if not the best team on the Engineers' schedule this season. As a program, they have made serious strides in the last 10 years and are now only missing a national championship as the final step. Given the amazing talent seen in the class that will be entering their sophomore season in 2011-12, it's hard to see them not competing for one again during their stay in South Bend.

Unusual for a long trip, the Engineers will play Notre Dame just once in a Friday matchup at Notre Dame's Compton Family Ice Arena (which opens in October, meaning the Engineers will be one of the first opponents there). Why? Well, in part, because attention at Notre Dame is focused on one place in October: football. The Irish take on USC the next day at Notre Dame Stadium in one of the most historic college football rivalry games out there, the Battle for the Jeweled Shillelagh. For that reason, if you can make it out to South Bend for the game, it is highly recommended. You may not have a better chance to see a brand new hockey arena and a renowned college rivalry in the same weekend, even though the Engineers are sure to be solid underdogs in Indiana.