Wake up Maggie, I think Bo's got something to say to you

It's a bit past late September, and I already am back at school, but I just wanted to give a pointer over to a new college hockey blog. This one is from ncaa.com, and its author is a Notre Dame '03 alumnus who should be updating several times a week once the season ramps up (and in whose honor I've titled this post). Enjoy!

NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey blog

Lucky that life has been good to you so far

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are
CCHA Regular Season Champions

With Notre Dame's 1-0 win over the University of Nebraska - Omaha this evening, they have clinched the regular season title in the CCHA for the second time in program history (and the second time in three years ... thanks Jeff Jackson!).

Now on to the Mason Cup to see if we can't repeat the double-up from the 2006-2007 season. And still hanging in the balance is the NCAA tournament seeding, at the hands of the ever fickle Pairwise; there's no time to rest on one's laurels, the Irish need to keep winning.

Having been an English literary graduate ...

I was told there would be no math. (Okay, that's not true. I'm not an English major, in fact I toil in a rather math-intensive field. But Douglas Adams never said jack about that. And that doesn't stop the CCHA magic number from being tedious to calculate, nor the PWR from being near-inexplicable)

After tonight's game 1 out in Omaha (Billy, you're turning into a Calle, don't stop it?) here's where Notre Dame stands with regards to winning their second-ever CCHA regular season championship:
-- ND moves to 42 points in the league with 3 games remaining.
-- UM moves to 36 points in the league with 3 games remaining, so they can get to 42 points.
-- MU stays at 36 points in the league with 3 games remaining, so they can get to 42 points.

So our magic number versus Miami is one point (a failure to win by Miami or even a single tie for us). We have to beat them outright, because in order to be in the position in which we were to tie in points, Miami would have to win three straight and ND lose three straight, which would give them the first CCHA tiebreaker (league wins) 19-18.

Versus Michigan, our magic number is also 1 point, because we have to beat them outright because they would beat us in the first tiebreaker (21-18).

"Go Irish At Least Get A Point Versus Mavericks!" doesn't quite have the right cadence, though.

He may not have gone where he intended to go (update) ...

I passed along the links from my last post to Chris over at WCHB and he said he'd try to run down any confirmation. Apparently he didn't get any vigorous denials, because he's running with it as well: Fowler Likely Gone To OHL.

Re-"Damn it".

He may not have gone where he intended to go ...

A USA Today column and a Hockey News update indicate that Cam Fowler may have committed to the Windsor Spitfires of the OHL. This would indicate he's bypassing college, where he had previously signed an LOI to attend Notre Dame, in order to play major junior, forgoing all NCAA eligibility.

Losing Fowler, long regarded as one of the best players in the world for his age, would be a major blow. On one hand simply landing such a player's commitment, even if he ends up not showing up on campus gave Jeff Jackson's Fighting Irish program some visibility with other high-end recruits. On the other hand, with Ian Cole a possibility to leave after this year given his outstanding sophomore campaign (in addition to the possible departures of Kyle Lawson and Teddy Ruth, who are also good pro prospects), the Irish blueline that seemed incredibly stacked may suddenly become a shallow point if the worst case happens regarding possible defections.

To paraphrase, on whichever hand: "damn it".

Let's prepare to grapple with the ineffable itself

... the concept, much like Faith, or True Love, the concept of a real, live Notre Dame hockey arena:

Official University Press Release

As usual Kabong was right on. How exciting; definitely sounds like the basic plan was the Goggin plus some extra seating. And who can complain? The Goggin is a beautiful facility and has helped Miami jump from just another midwestern school that plays hockey to a member of the "New Two" to challenge the "Big Two" of the CCHA.

A good, friendly and egalitarian place to meet

Some thoughts about the plan as laid out in the last entry, hopefully more eloquent this time than "holy crap!" ...

Of course it's good for the hockey program to have a shiny new arena; it also gives Jackson a tangible plan, both for encouraging him to stick around and for allowing him to continue to amp up recruiting efforts now that we're routinely competing with the powers of college hockey for recruits.

The hockey program won't continue to grow without community support, so what better way to engender community support than by putting the facility within easy range of use by the community. That allows the possibility of rec leagues, St. Joe's High, and other things currently cramped in the schedule of the Ice Box to play there. It will be good to have the rink up year-round for the team, as well as for the community as hockey and other ice sport enthusiasts. Anything the University can do to reach out and include the community can't hurt with overall T&G relations anyway.

The location not only reaches out to the community by being on the edge of campus, it is in a place easily accessible to the DPAC, Eddy Street Commons, Irish Green (or whatever they call that proposed park), and new Snite. This is an added attraction with respect to making a feasible "neutral zone" attractive to both students and the community.

The second rink is a luxury that if on a budget I would have said we could avoid, but is another solid component of any plan. Having two sheets makes this even more palatable even during hockey season when the varsity team might get a little antsy about having their new facility take on all-comers (though certainly there is public access in the current rink). It also allows for booking the facility for camps, competitions, etc. which would allow additional continued expansion of the Notre Dame hockey brand. As mentioned, it also leaves open the future possibility of the addition of a NCAA women's ice hockey team, which is a natural demographic fit for Notre Dame athletics.

The price seems reasonable considering what all it entails -- Miami's new Goggin went for more than $32,000,000 and that was several years ago now and almost a quarter smaller. I don't have many doubts it'll be adequately shiny and spiffy looking to be attractive and enticing for recruits, donors to the program, and future coaching candidates.

So, sight unseen -- and to be honest, I'd probably be happy enough with any plan that gets them out of a temporary rink with temporary stands in the north dome -- I like it. It'll be a good day for Irish hockey when it's announced, and a great day for Irish hockey when the Fighting Jeff Jacksons can actually move in.

It is a mistake to think you can solve any major problems just with potatoes.

... but $50,000,000? That's no small potatoes.

At the risk of irritating the good folks over at NDNation let me quote verbatim a post from over there so that if it scrolls off the board it isn't lost. Mike Coffey '91, yes, that very same one from a whole day ago, has confirmed with sufficient sources to meet his criteria for releasing what he's heard about the new hockey arena plan:

The plan, as it was described to me, is for a standalone facility where the Tower Lot is right now. It will occupy the space where Edison used to be prior to its relocation, and will be across the street from the Eddy Street Commons hotels, although a bit to the east of it. It will be kitty-corner across the street from the new Technology Center.
The facility will have two ice sheets, which will be used not only for practice (and a possible women's hockey team) but for public use as well. Planned seating is between four and five thousand.
Ground will be broken about a year from now, with a planned finish in time for the 2011-12 season.
The cost will be close to $50m, but they've secured most (if not all) of the financing, with special thanks to the previous anonymous donor for making another strong contribution. They've kept the cost down by using a design-and-build strategy (similar to how they did the Gug), which is where the same company does the building design and construction rather than having the architecture and build done separately. This is expected to knock $10 to $15m off the cost, and (hopefully) represents a sea change in ND's thinking of how these things will be done going forward.

Holy crap! This plan, which sounds as though Notre Dame actually has made a commitment to a bar-none first-class facility, is amazing. I suppose I should couch that with some sort of "if it happens" language, but quite honestly I trust Mike enough to know that he wouldn't be exaggerating nor leading us on in any way intentionally. I'll try to come up with some commentary on this, but at the moment I'm almost at a loss for words because of the magnitude of this news, to say nothing of the change it represents in the perceived aggressiveness of the athletic department leadership.

Spirits were brave, the stakes were high.

NDNation, specifically proprietor Mike Coffey '91, seems to think that not only did the Board of Trustees approve upgrades for hockey facilities when they met this week, they may have approved a stand-alone facility outside the north dome. This of course would be monumental news for the program, as Jackson has been recruiting his ass off against the big boys already -- imagine what a first-class facility would do instead of the worst facility in a power conference!

Where does this come from? Well here are his comments from Jackson's Rink:
"I really really like Jack Swarbrick. You guys really really will too. Really really." And in a reply assuming that it was the BoT's acceptance of an idea for a basketball practice facility in the empty space remaining after the hockey arena upgrade, he added: "The empty space ...of which there may be a hell of a lot more than first thought."

So, um, stay tuned?