Way back during the 1983-84 season, the Notre Dame hockey team that had been demoted to club status won 15 straight games.
Seven years later (1990-91), first-year Lake Superior State Jeff Jackson, who would win two national titles there, led a personal-record 15-game winning streak while the Lakers actually went 28 straight games without a defeat.
This weekend against Big Ten rival Wisconsin, Notre Dame (18-3-1) and Jackson will attempt to set team and individual records in winning streaks with 16 while putting the nation’s longest current winning streak of 15 on the line (although in the 2008-09 campaign the Irish went unbeaten over 20 games with a 17-0-3 mark).
Game one versus the Badgers (11-11-3) will be played at 7:35 p.m. ET on Friday, Jan. 19, at home, while game two will be at the United Center in Chicago at 3:05 p.m. ET on Sunday, Jan. 21. Both will be telecast on NBC Sports Network Chicago Plus.
The series also begins the second cycle in the seven-team Big Ten, where the Irish went an unprecedented 12-0-0 during the first cycle against Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State, Penn State and Wisconsin. In the Dec. 8-9 series at Madison, the Irish swept the Badgers 3-2 and 6-2.
Eight of the victories during the 15-game winning streak have been by one goal, including identical 2-1 scores versus Michigan two weeks ago when the Irish last played.
“The biggest challenge we’re going to have is retribution every weekend, because everybody that we’ve played, we’ve beaten,” Jackson said. “There will be an even higher level of motivation by the opponent — and it’s not like any of those games were easy.
“…We’ve had a lot of one-goal games in there, we’ve had come-from-behind wins. It’s been different every night, but it’s going to be a bigger challenge the second time through. And this is the time of year when teams elevate … start competing for position in the standings, competing to get into the NCAA Tournament, everything is magnified even more so in the second half of the year.”
The ensuing two weekends especially will be difficult when the Irish have to travel to No. 13 Minnesota (Jan. 26-27) and No. 12 Penn State (Feb. 2-3).
Other Battles
There are three other elements Notre Dame must contend with, along with Wisconsin.
One is that since the Dec. 8-9 series with the Badgers, the Irish have had only one other series (Michigan on Jan. 5 and 7), and then had a bye last weekend.
“We’re trying to simulate game situations to be competitive because it’s really hard to keep your edge when you’re playing two games in six weeks,” Jackson said. “That’s my biggest concern going into the weekend — just trying to be refocused and get back to playing consistent hockey.”
Second is the motivational aspect opponents have of beating No. 1.
“We already have a target on our back just with the ND on our chest,” Jackson chuckled. “… The rankings are immaterial at this point in the season, but everybody looks at it and talks about it, so everybody is looking to knocking off the No. 1 team, it doesn’t matter if it’s us or St. Cloud, or Clarkson, or Denver, whoever…
“I’m sure there will be other teams No. 1 before the end of the season, so we just have to focus on being No. 1 on Friday night.”
Finally, Jackson consistently has maintained that just because the Irish have a 15-game winning streak doesn’t mean they are playing at an optimal level — specifically on offense — to win the NCAA Tournament.
“I’ve constantly been hammering our guys about the need for us to get better,” Jackson said. “We won a number of those games by our goaltending, our penalty killing and our defensive corps. We want to make sure that we’re getting better at possessing the puck more, because we’re getting out-shot in a lot of games.”
The three aspects Jackson said especially need upgrade are coming out of their zone, playing faster in the neutral zone and cycling the puck more consistently so they can have possession and in turn more scoring attempts.
‘We’ve been good at times, but I don’t think we’ve been great on a regular basis,” Jackson said. “We’ve relied a lot on our goaltending and defense.”
Defense & Cale Morris
Spearheading the Irish efforts this year has been sophomore goaltender Cale Morris, who leads the nation in saves (586) — a reflection of opponents often out-shooting Notre Dame — and saves percentage (.956), and is No. 2 in goals against average per game (1.47).
Morris has started each game during the current 15-game winning streak, posting a 1.33 goals-against average and a .962 save percentage to go along with four shutouts.
Notre Dame’s run to the Final Four last spring was propelled by scoring machine Anders Bjork and goaltender Cal Petersen, both of whom turned pro after their stellar junior seasons. Without them, the Irish weren’t projected to be contenders, but they have long since been a program under Jackson, not merely a team.
“I knew replacing Anders would be a little easier than replacing Cal because you can always get more production out of guys as they get older — by aggregate, make up the 20 goals he scored, not one guy, but several scoring more,” Jackson said. “It’s happening.
“We expected our goal-tending to be good, but it’s been beyond good.”
During the 15-game winning streak, senior forward Jake Evans (16 points on four goals and 12 assists) and sophomore forward Cal Burke (14 points on 10 goals and four assists) have paced a balanced attack that has seen 12 players total at least five points, and 14 score at least two goals.
Evans is the lone Irish player represented among the top 50 scorers in Division I hockey (tied for 13th), a testament to the team balance but also the need for more overall production.
The Irish defense ranks third nationally while assisting Morris. The veteran trio of senior Jordan Gross and juniors Dennis Gilbert and Bobby Nardella headline the corps, and sophomore Andrew Peeke during Christmas break was named to the U.S. National Junior Team Roster that went 7-2 and won the Bronze Medal Jan. 5 by defeating the Czech Republic.
“Our defensive depth is really strong,” Jackson said. “We’ve tried to up the ice time, which has allowed them to stay actively involved in the game with four guys regularly on the power play and another couple guys or four guys that are killing penalties on a regular basis. It plays into their strengths, and that’s probably helped us with those guys staying in the game … we have so much ability back there that it was important to take advantage of it the right way.”
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