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Notre Dame Hockey: Irish Look to Finish Season Strong

By Jack Leniart

ST PAUL, MN - APRIL 05: Jake Evans #18 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish is congratulated by teammates Andrew Peeke #22 and Cam Morrison #26 after Evans scored in the second period against the Michigan Wolverines during the semifinals of the 2018 NCAA Division I Men's Hockey Championships on April 5, 2018 at Xcel Energy Center in St Paul, Minnesota. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
ST PAUL, MN - APRIL 05: Jake Evans #18 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish is congratulated by teammates Andrew Peeke #22 and Cam Morrison #26 after Evans scored in the second period against the Michigan Wolverines during the semifinals of the 2018 NCAA Division I Men's Hockey Championships on April 5, 2018 at Xcel Energy Center in St Paul, Minnesota. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /
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We are now a couple of weeks past the midway point of the regular season, and the Notre Dame hockey team has a record of 10-7-3. The Irish will need to finish the season strong if they want to return to the NCAA Tournament.

It looked like the sky was the limit for the Notre Dame hockey team early in the 2019-2020 season. The Irish started the season 8-1-1 and climbed all the way up to third in the USCHO rankings.

Notre Dame was looking like the favorite to win the Big Ten (for the third year in-a-row). Then, out of nowhere, they tripped like Doug Dorsey learning to use figure skates in the 1992 film The Cutting Edge.

The Irish had a six-game losing streak during which they allowed a total of 27 goals. They fell to fourth in the Big Ten standings and 15th in the USCHO rankings.

The day after their sixth-straight loss may have been a turning point for this Notre Dame team. It was the second game of their weekend series against Penn State and their final game before the winter/holiday break.

In that game, the Irish shut out the Nittany Lions on their way to a 3-0 victory. Head coach Jeff Jackson and his team were able to refocus, and they went into the break with some momentum and hope.

Notre Dame kicked off the new year with a home-and-home against Western Michigan last weekend. The Irish played the Broncos to a draw in South Bend and then got a nice win up in Kalamazoo.

We’re a bit past the midway point of the season now and Notre Dame is sitting at 10-7-3 with 14 games remaining on their regular season schedule.

They will have a great opportunity to move up in the conference standings because all 14 of those games are against Big Ten opponents and eight of them will be played in South Bend.

To give themselves a good chance to make the NCAA Tournament with an at-large bid, the Irish probably need to win at least nine of their remaining regular season games.

Unfortunately, if you look back at how Notre Dame has closed out the last four regular seasons, they have been trending in the wrong direction. Here are their records in the final 14 games of the last four seasons:

  • 2016: 9-4-1
  • 2017: 8-3-3
  • 2018: 7-6-1
  • 2019: 6-6-2

Pay no attention to those unfavorable numbers. Here is a much better statistic: Notre Dame is undefeated in the last two Big Ten Tournaments.

Even if the Irish stumble to the finish line of the regular season, they can still earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament by winning the Big Ten Tournament.

The Notre Dame hockey team faces a tall task, but they are certainly up to the challenge. The Irish have made the NCAA Tournament each of the last four seasons. They made it to the Frozen Four in 2017 and all the way to the championship game in 2018.

Next. 2 Most Exciting Irish Football Games in 2020. dark

There are plenty of reasons for Irish fans to be excited about the next few months of cawlidge hawkey.

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