60 Days. 60 Teams. 600 Words (or Less): Notre Dame

Notre Dame

2018-19 Record: 23-14-3 (11-11-2, 2nd in Big Ten)
Head Coach: Jeff Jackson, 15th Year
Top returning scorer: Cal Burke (12G-18A)
Top returning goaltender: Cale Morris (Sr.)

Only Cale Morris can make a .930% save percentage seem like an off-year.

The Fighting Irish goaltender regressed slightly to the mean after his Mike Richter Award-winning 2017-18 season (AKA the one where it became apparent no goaltender will ever win the Hobey). So did Notre Dame, going from the national championship game to losing in the NCAA regional championship.

If it's difficult to go two steps in college football circles without discussing Notre Dame, you almost need to be in South Bend or an undersized walk-on football player to hear the Fighting Irish's recent run of success discussed. Back-to-back Frozen Fours were followed up by Notre Dame winning its second straight Big Ten conference tournament title.

However, Jeff Jackson's biggest under-the-radar win would be getting back Morris for his senior season. He's not alone. Cam Morrison also returns instead of signing with Colorado.

What's New: A home-and-home series with Boston College. Really.

Notre Dame and Boston College plan on attending each other's rinks on the weekend of December 6-8. That despite being separated by four states and 900 miles. It makes the home-and-home series with Bowling Green the week before seem almost like a trip down I-80 to grab some sugar and Waffle House. The Fighting Irish also play a home-and-home series with Western Michigan, but not Michigan as has been the case in recent years.

Incoming freshman forward Trevor Janicke was selected by the Vancouver Canucks in the fifth round of June's NHL Draft. The Maple Grove native is one of two first-year Minnesotans on the Notre Dame roster (Medina's Ryan Bischel), continuing the state's pipeline straight out to Compton Family Ice Arena. Among the eight first-year players are five forwards, two D and Bischel in goal.

Besides several seniors like Dylan Malmquist finally graduating, the Fighting Irish suffered one early departure. Defender Andrew Peeke signed with Columbus following his junior season.

Closing Thoughts: At this point, the rest of the Big Ten knows what to expect from Notre Dame. It'd be kind to say the Fighting Irish is not the most flashy team, but that's exactly how the gold-helmeted group finds success. The team plays a suffocating system and one that keeps shutting down an offensive-friendly conference. (Other than the 9-1 loss at Penn State.) It's no surprise to see Jeff Jackson's team lead the conference in goals against per game (2.27) or have the second-best PK (81.9%).

Notre Dame loses its top defensive pair in Bobby Nardella and Peeke, however, everyone else on the blue line comes back. For all the defensive talk, I'm intrigued whether another underclassman takes off like Colin Thiessen and Michael Graham did the past two seasons. Graham, who led all Big Ten freshmen in goals, was a force in the second half with 11 of his 12 goals happening after mid-January.

Adding them, along with Morrison and Cal Burke to the returning goaltender and defensive core quietly keeps Notre Dame in the Big Ten and national conversation. That's the way to expect a team backed by Morris. Nothing gets past the now-senior.

As another school mentioned frequently, #HockeyNeedsMoreCale. Notre Dame agrees wholeheartedly and, for for a final year, happily (re)takes up the mantle.

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