Notre Dame Hockey
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NOTRE DAME HOCKEY 2020-21 RECORDS BOOK IRISH HOCKEY HISTORY NOTRE DAME HOCKEY THROUGH THE YEARS Notre Dame Hockey Club. Operating as a club sport, the team had a faculty Irish hockey begins its fourth season as part of the Big Ten Conference and advisor and reported to the director of intramurals and club sports, Dominic enters its 52nd season at the NCAA Division I level. Napolitano. The club began intercollegiate play in the 1963-64 season. Arrangements THE EARLY YEARS were made to play on South Bend’s artificial rink (Howard Park) and From playing on frozen lakes around the University of Notre Dame campus, campus-wide tryouts were held. Ralph Cardillo (Guelph, Ont.) served as the to an outdoor rink near Badin Hall along with South Bend’s Howard Park first captain and Paul Belliveau (Fitchburg, Mass.) notched the first goal. Rink, the Joyce Center and now the state-of-the-art Compton Family Ice Playing club teams from Northwestern, Illinois, the Michigan State junior Arena, the Notre Dame hockey program has experienced a little bit of varsity and other Midwest varsity squads, Notre Dame went 0-5-0. everything in its on-again, off-again 100-year-plus history. In 1964-65, the club program improved to 5-6-0 under the guidance of While most followers of Notre Dame’s 51-year hockey history know the coach Richard Bressler. The club also started an intramural program to give story since the program received Division I status in 1968, there are several other students access to the game of hockey. earlier chapters that were the building blocks. Prior to the start of the 1965-66 season, the University’s administration Notre Dame first played collegiate hockey with records showing an determined that hockey was to enter a “transition” period and the program informal game being played as early as 1911-12 at Culver Academy, a 7-1 was designated as a “minor sport.” That designation was assigned to help Irish win. In 1912-13, the team played a three-game schedule going 1-2-0 the program transition from a club sport to full varsity status. The hockey in what is recognized as the first full season of Notre Dame hockey. program came under the direction of Notre Dame vice-president Rev. After that early attempt to start hockey, the program took a seven-year Edmund P. Joyce, C.S.C., and athletics director Edward “Moose” Krause. hiatus, returning again in 1919-20. Two-time football All-America running The 1965-66 team began to receive funding from the athletic back Paul Castner was seen skating on Saint Mary’s Lake when Tony department and continued to play teams from the Midwest (Illinois, Gorman, a Canadian, joined him to show him some of the finer points of the Wisconsin, Ohio State) and even branched out to the East Coast, game. Before long, the duo started discussing the possibility of hockey at participating in a Christmas tournament at the Boston Garden. Under coach Notre Dame. They met with the Rev. William F. Cunningham, C.S.C., who, Jerry Paquette, the Irish were 6-9-3. according to The Dome, “was a priest who had played the game in the The program really began to take shape in 1966-67, playing mostly West. The Notre Dame lads proposed a hockey team to Cunningham who varsity-level programs while still being recognized as a club team. The Irish entered enthusiastically into the project.” played in the first collegiate hockey tournament played at Chicago Stadium Under Cunningham, who served in a variety of roles, including coach, hosted by the Blackhawks and the Wirtz family. The Irish defeated Illinois manager, secretary, advisor and trainer, and Castner who served as player- in the opening game of the tourney before falling 6-5 in the championship coach for two years and then coach following graduation, the program game to Ohio State. grew. Notre Dame also won the Air Force Invitational at the Broadmoor World In four seasons at the helm, Castner’s teams were 18-4-0 while playing Arena on the way to a 14-5-3 record. The Irish were led offensively by Phil against the likes of Michigan College of Mines (now Michigan Tech), Wittliff (Port Huron, Mich.), Belliveau, alternate captain Tom Heiden (St. Carnegie Tech, Michigan, the Michigan Aggies (now Michigan State), Paul, Minn.), captain Jim Haley (Boston, Mass.) and defensemen Eric Norri Wisconsin, Culver Academy, St. Thomas and Assumption. (Virginia, Minn.) and Frank Manning (Detroit, Mich.). Wittliff (who started While Castner led the team on ice, Cunningham played a key role off his Notre Dame career on the football team), Norri and defenseman Dean the frozen pond. According to the 1921 edition of The Dome, “Rev. W. F. Daigler (Tonawanda, N.Y.), all would go on to play on the first varsity team Cunningham, C.S.C., manager of the team for two seasons, is the man who in 1968-69. Leo Collins (Fargo, N.D.), Ernie Gargaro (Bloomfied Hills, Mich.) much of the success can be attributed. Father Cunningham is oblivious to and John Barry (Chicago, Ill.) were the team’s goaltenders. Norri and Collins ordinary difficulties and his spirit was the spirit of the team.” were both members of Notre Dame’s 1966 national championship football Castner was not the only football player to play a key role in the early days team while playing tackle and linebacker respectively. On March 16, 1967, of the Notre Dame hockey program. All-America offensive lineman Hunk it was announced that the Notre Dame hockey program would move to Anderson was the goaltender on the 1920-21 team. varsity status in 1968 at the time the new Athletic and Convocation Center Anderson was followed by one of the most famous of all Irish athletes, was set to open. Jim Crowley, who gained fame as the halfback in the Four Horseman In 1967-68, the club team played its final season – turning in a 13-3-0 backfield. Crowley was a freshman goaltender on the 1921-22 team that mark – before making the move to Division I. went 8-1, but his career was put on ice, so to speak, by legendary football coach Knute Rockne. Crowley recorded a pair of shutouts and turned in THE FIRST VARSITY YEARS a stingy 1.33 goals-against average in his lone season between the Irish The University hired Charles “Lefty” Smith as the program’s first coach for pipes. the 1968-69 season and the new Athletic and Convocation Center (later Following Castner behind the Notre Dame hockey bench was former renamed the Joyce Center) opened, giving Notre Dame its first on-campus, football All-American Tom Leib. A two-time (1921 and 1922) All-American indoor rink. at right tackle, Leib’s teams were 3-8-3 between 1923-26. Notre Dame competed as an independent from 1968-71, compiling a The team played one more season in 1926-27 under the guidance of record of 50-32-6, providing Smith three seasons to build a competitive Benjamin Dubois. That team went 3-7-1 before the program, due to lack of a program before the Irish became members of the Western Collegiate playing venue, ceased competition. Hockey Association (WCHA), beginning with the 1971-72 season. Despite sporadic attempts to revive the program from 1928 through the The Irish opened their decade of play in the WCHA with a 10-16-0 record early 1960s -- including one game in which Heisman Trophy winner Angelo and barely qualified for the conference playoffs. The following season saw Bertelli was reported to have scored four goals -- Notre Dame hockey would four years of development pay off as Notre Dame proved it was capable of not see consistent action until the 1963-64 season. skating with the top college hockey teams in the nation. A 31-goal, 65-point effort from Eddie Bumbacco (Sault Ste. Marie, THE CLUB YEARS Ont.) led the WCHA in scoring and propelled the Irish to a series sweep of A club version of hockey began an era at Notre Dame that helped the top-ranked Wisconsin. The team’s 19-9-0 conference record was good for a program eventually reach Division I status. From 1963, until its move to second-place finish in 1972-73. Division I in the 1968-69 season, the Irish sponsored a club hockey program Smith was named WCHA coach of the year, while Bill Nyrop (Edina, Minn.) that produced several of the players who would play key roles in the early and Bumbacco became Notre Dame’s first hockey All-Americans. The Irish varsity years of the program in the late ‘60s. defeated North Dakota 13-3 in a two-game, total-goal WCHA playoff series, Around 1960, students organized, and the University recognized, the but Notre Dame lost to eventual national champion Wisconsin 8-7 in the 2 8 Conference Championships • 11 NCAA Tournament Appearances • 4 NCAA Frozen Four Appearances IRISH HOCKEY HISTORY second round of the conference playoffs. The 2003-04 season saw the Irish turn in their first 20-win season (20- The Irish remained competitive in the WCHA over the next eight years 15-4) since 1987-88, with a fourth-place finish (14-11-3) in the CCHA. The but could do no better than another second-place finish in 1976-77. Several Irish played host to regional rival Western Michigan, winning the playoff Notre Dame players gained national notoriety during that time, most series two games to one. notably Jack Brownschidle (East Amherst, N.Y.), who earned All-America Notre Dame did not have much success at the CCHA Super Six, losing in honors in ’76 and ’77 and remains the Notre Dame hockey program’s only the opening game each year – to Northern Michigan (3-1) in ’01-’02 and two-time All-American.