# 2008–09 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's ice hockey season

The 2008–09 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's ice hockey team represented the University of Notre Dame in the 2008–09 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season. Their regular season began on October 11, 2008, against Denver and concluded on February 28, 2009, against Michigan State Spartans. Note Dame finished first in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association and advanced to the 2009 CCHA men's ice hockey tournament where they defeated Michigan 5–2 in the championship game. Notre Dame was given the top seed in Midwest Region and second seed overall for the 2009 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament. In the opening game of the tournament, the Fighting Irish lost 5–1 to Bemidji State. They played their home games at the Edmund P. Joyce Center, and were coached by Jeff Jackson. Notre Dame's assistant coaches included Paul Pooley, Andy Slaggert, and Mike McNeill. Their athletic director was Jack Swarbrick. Games were broadcast over the radio on local ESPN Radio (AM1580), and were reported on by local newspaper the South Bend Tribune and Notre Dame's student newspaper The Observer.

## Rankings

| Poll | Pre | Wk 1 | Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 | Wk 5 | Wk 6 | Wk 7 | Wk 8 | Wk 9 | Wk 10 | Wk 11 | Wk 12 | Wk 13 | Wk 14 | Wk 15 | Wk 16 | Wk 17 | Wk 18 | Wk 19 | Wk 20 | Wk 21 | Wk 22 | Wk 23 | Wk 24 | Final |
| USA Today | 3 | 4 | 8 | 8 | 13 | 12 | 9 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| USCHO.com | – | 4 | 8 | 8 | 13 | 12 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | – | – | 2 |

## Standings

2008–09 Central Collegiate Hockey Association standingsvte :
| | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall |
| | GP | W | L | T | SW | PTS | GF | GA | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA |
| #4 Notre Dame†* | 28 | 21 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 48 | 95 | 52 | 40 | 31 | 6 | 3 | 135 | 69 |
| #5 Michigan | 28 | 20 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 98 | 51 | 41 | 29 | 12 | 0 | 145 | 84 |
| #2 Miami | 28 | 17 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 40 | 89 | 57 | 41 | 23 | 13 | 5 | 128 | 89 |
| Alaska | 28 | 0^ | 28^ | 0^ | 0^ | 34 | 54 | 51 | 39 | 0^ | 39^ | 0^ | 74 | 68 |
| Ohio State | 28 | 13 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 33 | 87 | 85 | 42 | 23 | 15 | 4 | 143 | 119 |
| Northern Michigan | 28 | 11 | 12 | 5 | 3 | 30 | 72 | 73 | 41 | 19 | 17 | 5 | 111 | 103 |
| Western Michigan | 28 | 9 | 13 | 6 | 2 | 26 | 75 | 86 | 41 | 14 | 20 | 7 | 111 | 130 |
| Nebraska–Omaha | 28 | 8 | 13 | 7 | 3 | 26 | 62 | 76 | 40 | 15 | 17 | 8 | 98 | 103 |
| Ferris State | 28 | 9 | 14 | 5 | 2 | 25 | 58 | 68 | 38 | 12 | 19 | 7 | 90 | 105 |
| Lake Superior State | 28 | 7 | 15 | 6 | 1 | 21 | 73 | 86 | 39 | 11 | 20 | 8 | 110 | 115 |
| Michigan State | 28 | 7 | 17 | 4 | 3 | 21 | 43 | 85 | 38 | 10 | 23 | 5 | 62 | 118 |
| Bowling Green | 28 | 8 | 19 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 60 | 96 | 38 | 11 | 24 | 3 | 89 | 131 |
| Championship: Notre Dame † indicates conference regular season champion * indicates conference tournament champion Final rankings: USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Top 15 Poll ^ Alaska was retroactively required to forfeit all wins and ties due to player ineligibilities. ||||||||||||||||

## Schedule and results

* Green background indicates shootout/overtime win (conference only) or win (2 points).
* Red background indicates regulation loss (0 points).
* White background indicates overtime/shootout loss (conference only) or tie (1 point).
2008–09 Game Log :

## Player statistics
### Skaters

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus–minus; PIM = Penalty minutes
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Erik Condra | 40 | 13 | 25 | 38 | 0 |
| Calle Ridderwall | 40 | 17 | 15 | 32 | 20 |
| Christian Hanson | 37 | 16 | 15 | 31 | 0 |
| Kevin Deeth | 40 | 4 | 27 | 31 | 0 |
| Billy Maday | 39 | 16 | 14 | 30 | 28 |
| Ben Ryan | 39 | 12 | 15 | 27 | 34 |
| Ian Cole | 38 | 6 | 20 | 26 | 62 |
| Brett Blatchford | 40 | 0 | 25 | 25 | 30 |
| Kyle Lawson | 40 | 4 | 19 | 23 | 0 |
| Ryan Thang | 33 | 10 | 9 | 19 | 0 |
| Garrett Regan | 40 | 7 | 11 | 18 | 0 |
| Dan Kissel | 37 | 6 | 11 | 17 | 14 |
| Christiaan Minella | 38 | 9 | 7 | 16 | 32 |
| Justin White | 38 | 9 | 6 | 15 | 14 |
| Ryan Guentzel | 40 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 20 |
| Ted Ruth | 36 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 48 |
| Sean Lorenz | 40 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 18 |
| Patrick Gaul | 15 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| Luke Lucyk | 38 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Richard Ryan | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nick Condon | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Eric Ringel | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; TOI = Time on ice; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average; G = Goals; A = Assists; PIM = Penalty minutes
| Player | GP | TOI | W | L | T | GA | SO | Sv% | GAA | G | A | PIM |
| Jordan Pearce | 39 | 2326 | 30 | 6 | 3 | 65 | 8 | .931 | 1.68 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Tom O'Brien | 2 | 81 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | .920 | 1.47 | 0 | 0 | 0 |