# 2020–21 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's ice hockey season

The 2020–21 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's ice hockey season was the 61st season of play for the program and the 4th season in the Big Ten Conference. The Fighting Irish represented the University of Notre Dame and were coached by Jeff Jackson, in his 16th season.

## Season

As a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic the entire college ice hockey season was delayed. Because the NCAA had previously announced that all winter sports athletes would retain whatever eligibility they possessed through at least the following year, none of Notre Dame's players would lose a season of play. However, the NCAA also approved a change in its transfer regulations that would allow players to transfer and play immediately rather than having to sit out a season, as the rules previously required.
Notre Dame had an up and down season, routinely following up stellar performances with disappointing efforts. The team hovered around the bottom of the top-20 for most of the season and were never more than 2 games away from a .500 record. After alternating multi-game winning streaks through January and February, Notre Dame was ranked #19 and there was belief that the Irish could make the NCAA Tournament despite being just 14–12–2. A solid performance in their conference tournament would definitely improve the team's chances, and with the Fighting Irish hosting the entire tournament their odds were even better. Unfortunately, the team laid an egg in the opening game against Penn State and lost 3–6.
Notre Dame could only watch and hope but when St. Lawrence won the ECAC Tournament it appeared that the door had shut on Notre Dame's season. In less than 24 hours everything changed; St. Lawrence's head coach tested positive for COVID-19 the following day and the team was forced to withdraw from the national tournament. The ECAC automatic bid was given to Quinnipiac (who were likely to make the tournament anyway), opening up one more spot in the bracket. The final open spot came down essentially to how schools performed against the best teams in their conference; Notre Dame splitting their season series against Michigan and Minnesota gave them the edge and the Fighting Irish received the final at-large bid.
While the team's selection was not without controversy, the Fighting Irish lost the ability to prove they were the right choice when members of the team tested positive for COVID-19. Because their withdrawal happened two days before the game had been scheduled, there was no opportunity for another team to be installed as a replacement and the match was declared a 'no contest'.
Brady Bjork, Ryan Carmichael and Christian DiCesare sat out the season.

## Departures

| Player | Position | Nationality | Cause |
| Cal Burke | Forward | United States | Graduation (signed with Colorado Eagles) |
| Tory Dello | Defenseman | United States | Graduation (signed with Grand Rapids Griffins) |
| Mike O'Leary | Forward | Canada | Graduation (signed with Hartford Wolf Pack) |
| Jack MacNab | Forward | United States | Transfer to Holy Cross |
| Cale Morris | Goaltender | United States | Graduation (signed with Rockford IceHogs) |
| Cam Morrison | Forward | Canada | Graduation (signed with Chicago Blackhawks) |

## Recruiting

| Player | Position | Nationality | Age | Notes |
| Brady Bjork | Forward | United States | 21 | Mequon, WI |
| Jake Boltmann | Defenseman | United States | 18 | Edina, MN; selected 80th overall in 2020 |
| Zach Plucinski | Defenseman | United States | 20 | Eagle River, AK |
| Ryder Rolston | Forward | United States | 18 | Birmingham, MI; selected 139th overall in 2020 |
| Grant Silianoff | Forward | United States | 19 | Edina, MN |
| Landon Slaggert | Forward | United States | 18 | South Bend, IN; selected 79th overall in 2020 |

## Roster

As of January 3, 2021.

## Standings

2020–21 Big Ten ice hockey Standingsvte :
| | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record |
| | GP | W | L | T | OTW | OTL | 3/SW | PTS | PT% | GF | GA | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA |
| #8 Wisconsin † | 24 | 17 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 52 | .722 | 92 | 52 | 31 | 20 | 10 | 1 | 118 | 80 |
| #7 Minnesota * | 22 | 16 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 48 | .727 | 69 | 44 | 31 | 24 | 7 | 0 | 117 | 64 |
| #9 Michigan | 20 | 11 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 32 | .550 | 69 | 45 | 26 | 15 | 10 | 1 | 91 | 51 |
| #17 Notre Dame | 24 | 12 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 41 | .542 | 65 | 53 | 29 | 14 | 13 | 2 | 84 | 78 |
| Penn State | 18 | 7 | 11 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 20 | .389 | 48 | 68 | 22 | 10 | 12 | 0 | 65 | 81 |
| Ohio State | 22 | 6 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 20 | .273 | 39 | 82 | 27 | 7 | 19 | 1 | 53 | 101 |
| Michigan State | 22 | 5 | 16 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 15 | .250 | 32 | 70 | 27 | 7 | 18 | 2 | 40 | 77 |
| Championship: March 16, 2021 † indicates conference regular season champion * indicates conference tournament champion Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll |||||||||||||||||||

## Schedule and Results

| Date | Time | Opponent$^#$ | Rank$^#$ | Site | TV | Decision | Result | Attendance | Record |
| Regular season ||||||||||
| November 13 | 7:06 PM | vs. Wisconsin | #20 | Compton Family Ice Arena • Notre Dame, Indiana | NBCSN | St. Cyr | L 0–2 | 0 | 0–1–0 (0–1–0) |
| November 14 | 7:06 PM | vs. Wisconsin | #20 | Compton Family Ice Arena • Notre Dame, Indiana | NHL Network | St. Cyr | L 3–5 | 0 | 0–2–0 (0–2–0) |
| November 27 | 7:05 PM | at #4 Michigan | | Yost Ice Arena • Ann Arbor, Michigan | | Bischel | W 3–2 | 0 | 1–2–0 (1–2–0) |
| November 28 | 7:04 PM | at #4 Michigan | | Yost Ice Arena • Ann Arbor, Michigan | | Bischel | W 2–1 | 0 | 2–2–0 (2–2–0) |
| December 3 | 7:06 PM | vs. #20 Arizona State* | #16 | Compton Family Ice Arena • Notre Dame, Indiana | NHL Network | Bischel | L 3–6 | 0 | 2–3–0 |
| December 4 | 7:06 PM | vs. #20 Arizona State* | #16 | Compton Family Ice Arena • Notre Dame, Indiana | NBCSN | St. Cyr | W 5–4 | 0 | 3–3–0 |
| December 12 | 7:06 PM | vs. #14 Ohio State | #15 | Compton Family Ice Arena • Notre Dame, Indiana | NBCSN | St. Cyr | W 3–0 | 0 | 4–3–0 (3–2–0) |
| December 13 | 5:06 PM | vs. #14 Ohio State | #15 | Compton Family Ice Arena • Notre Dame, Indiana | NBCSN | St. Cyr | W 2–3 | 0 | 4–4–0 (3–3–0) |
| December 19 | 6:36 PM | vs. Michigan State | #16 | Compton Family Ice Arena • Notre Dame, Indiana | NBCSN | Bischel | T 1–1 $^{SOW}$ | 0 | 4–4–1 (3–3–1) |
| December 20 | 5:06 PM | vs. Michigan State | #16 | Compton Family Ice Arena • Notre Dame, Indiana | NBC Sports Chi | Bischel | L 3–4 $^{OT}$ | 0 | 4–5–1 (3–4–1) |
| January 9 | 6:36 PM | vs. Arizona State* | #18 | Compton Family Ice Arena • Notre Dame, Indiana | | St. Cyr | W 5–4 | 74 | 5–5–1 |
| January 10 | 5:06 PM | vs. Arizona State* | #18 | Compton Family Ice Arena • Notre Dame, Indiana | | Bischel | L 3–5 | 0 | 5–6–1 |
| January 15 | 7:05 PM | at #1 Minnesota | | 3M Arena at Mariucci • Minneapolis, Minnesota | | Bischel | W 3–2 | 116 | 6–6–1 (4–4–1) |
| January 16 | 5:00 PM | at #1 Minnesota | | 3M Arena at Mariucci • Minneapolis, Minnesota | | St. Cyr | W 2–1 | 0 | 7–6–1 (5–4–1) |
| January 21 | 6:36 PM | vs. #8 Michigan | #16 | Compton Family Ice Arena • Notre Dame, Indiana | | St. Cyr | L 1–5 | 136 | 7–7–1 (5–5–1) |
| January 22 | 6:36 PM | vs. #8 Michigan | #16 | Compton Family Ice Arena • Notre Dame, Indiana | | St. Cyr | L 1–3 | 138 | 7–8–1 (5–6–1) |
| January 28 | 6:04 PM | at Penn State | | Pegula Ice Arena • University Park, Pennsylvania | | St. Cyr | L 1–2 $^{OT}$ | 175 | 7–9–1 (5–7–1) |
| January 29 | 6:04 PM | at Penn State | | Pegula Ice Arena • University Park, Pennsylvania | | St. Cyr | W 3–2 $^{OT}$ | 194 | 8–9–1 (6–7–1) |
| February 5 | 4:34 PM | at Ohio State | | Value City Arena • Columbus, Ohio | | St. Cyr | W 6–1 | 0 | 9–9–1 (7–7–1) |
| February 6 | 1:34 PM | at Ohio State | | Value City Arena • Columbus, Ohio | | St. Cyr | W 8–1 | 0 | 10–9–1 (8–7–1) |
| February 12 | 7:36 PM | vs. #5 Minnesota | | Compton Family Ice Arena • Notre Dame, Indiana | | St. Cyr | L 0–3 | 79 | 10–10–1 (8–8–1) |
| February 13 | 5:36 PM | vs. #5 Minnesota | | Compton Family Ice Arena • Notre Dame, Indiana | | Bischel | L 0–3 | 80 | 10–11–1 (8–9–1) |
| February 19 | 8:04 PM | at #5 Wisconsin | | Kohl Center • Madison, Wisconsin | | St. Cyr | L 4–2 | 0 | 10–12–1 (8–10–1) |
| February 20 | 5:04 PM | at #5 Wisconsin | | Kohl Center • Madison, Wisconsin | | St. Cyr | T 5–5 $^{SOW}$ | 0 | 10–12–2 (8–10–2) |
| February 26 | 6:00 PM | at Michigan State | | Munn Ice Arena • East Lansing, Michigan | | St. Cyr | W 2–0 | 103 | 11–12–2 (9–10–2) |
| February 27 | 3:00 PM | at Michigan State | | Munn Ice Arena • East Lansing, Michigan | | St. Cyr | W 2–0 | 103 | 12–12–2 (10–10–2) |
| March 5 | 7:51 PM | vs. Penn State | | Compton Family Ice Arena • Notre Dame, Indiana | | St. Cyr | W 5–2 | 104 | 13–12–2 (11–10–2) |
| March 6 | 5:36 PM | vs. Penn State | | Compton Family Ice Arena • Notre Dame, Indiana | | St. Cyr | W 7–1 | 113 | 14–12–2 (12–10–2) |
| Big Ten Tournament ||||||||||
| March 14 | 12:05 PM | vs. Penn State* | #19 | Compton Family Ice Arena • Notre Dame, Indiana (Big Ten Quarterfinal) | BTN | Bischel | L 3–6 | 166 | 14–13–2 |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||||||
| March 27 | 1:00 PM | vs. #2 Boston College | #18 | Times Union Center • Albany, New York (NCAA Northeast Regional semifinal) | ESPNews | Cancelled due to COVID-19 protocols | Cancelled due to COVID-19 protocols | Cancelled due to COVID-19 protocols | Cancelled due to COVID-19 protocols |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from USCHO.com Poll. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||||||

## Scoring statistics

| Name | Position | Games | Goals | Assists | Points | PIM |
| Alex Steeves | F | 29 | 15 | 17 | 32 | 8 |
| Graham Slaggert | C | 27 | 7 | 18 | 25 | 10 |
| Landon Slaggert | C/LW | 25 | 8 | 14 | 22 | 10 |
| Nick Leivermann | D | 29 | 5 | 12 | 17 | 6 |
| Max Ellis | RW | 24 | 5 | 11 | 16 | 8 |
| Colin Theisen | LW | 27 | 8 | 6 | 14 | 49 |
| Spencer Stastney | D | 29 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 6 |
| Jesse Lansdell | F | 28 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 10 |
| Trevor Janicke | C/RW | 29 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 4 |
| Michael Graham | D | 18 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 8 |
| Jake Pivonka | C | 29 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 8 |
| Grant Silianoff | RW | 28 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 2 |
| Matt Hellickson | D | 29 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 10 |
| Nate Clurman | D | 27 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 31 |
| Solag Bakich | F | 28 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 14 |
| Ryder Rolston | C/W | 28 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 31 |
| Pierce Crawford | F | 27 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 |
| Cam Burke | C | 14 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Matt Steeves | F | 12 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Zach Plucinski | D | 20 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 10 |
| Charlie Raith | D | 25 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Nick Sanford | G | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ryan Bischel | G | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jake Boltmann | D | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Dylan St. Cyr | G | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bench | - | 29 | - | - | - | 4 |
| Total | | | 84 | 141 | 225 | 249 |

## Goaltending statistics

| Name | Games | Minutes | Wins | Losses | Ties | Goals Against | Saves | Shut Outs | SV % | GAA |
| Nick Sanford | 2 | 8:51 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1.000 | 0.00 |
| Dylan St. Cyr | 22 | 1254 | 11 | 9 | 1 | 51 | 597 | 3 | .921 | 2.44 |
| Ryan Bischel | 9 | 480 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 23 | 186 | 0 | .890 | 2.87 |
| Empty Net | - | 14 | - | - | - | 4 | - | - | - | - |
| Total | 29 | 1758 | 14 | 13 | 2 | 78 | 785 | 3 | .910 | 2.66 |

## Rankings

| Poll | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 (Final) |
| USCHO.com | 20 | NR | NR | 16 | 15 | 16 | 18 | 18 | 18 | NR | 16 | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | 19 | 20 | 18 | - | 17 |
| USA Today | NR | NR | NR | 13 | 15 | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR |
USCHO did not release a poll in week 20.

## Awards and honors

| Player | Award | Ref |
| Spencer Stastney | Big Ten Second Team | |
| Alex Steeves | Big Ten Second Team | |

## Players drafted into the NHL
### 2021 NHL Entry Draft

| Round | Pick | Player | NHL team |
| 3 | 66 | Sasha Pastujov$^†$ | Anaheim Ducks |
| 7 | 195 | Justin Janicke$^†$ | Seattle Kraken |
† incoming freshman