Is it ever going to happen under Jackson?
by Holtz Era (2019-03-30 20:46:07)

I thought we’d have two NC’s by now. I know it’s not easy, but he’s not getting any younger.


Jackson is a treasure with or without another title.
by MobileIrish  (2019-03-31 01:41:32)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

His press conferences show he loves his players and the University. He always complements the home crowd and the difference the band makes.

He may win multiple additional titles. He may not. As other more astute fans would say, there is an arbitrariness to a single elimination tournament. Coach Jackson puts ND in a position to win. That’s not nothing.


Would like to add a few offensive weapons....
by Wolfetone  (2019-03-31 08:22:31)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

Need some goalscorers....


I mentioned this a couple of times while watching
by wearendhockey  (2019-03-31 10:04:20)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

the two games. The program has obviously done quite well playing a puck possession style of game with a patient, cycle the puck and score opportunistic goals approach in the offensive end. But having an explosive scoring threat or a great finisher might be what we are missing.

The most capable offensive players we've had in the Jackson era happened to play here at a time when this team didn't have the chops to win it all. Lucia was a great college hockey finisher and Lee could and does score goals at any level of the game he finds himself in.

From 2007-2011 we saw two Frozen Fours and 6 NCAA wins. But then from 2012-2016 we failed to win a single NCAA game with a lot of NHL "talent." Now in the last 3 seasons we seemed to have found the right mix again, 2 Frozen Fours, another title game, and 6 NCAA overall wins.

But one thing all but one of our NCAA games have in common is they are both tight, and low scoring. Almost all of our wins are 1 goal games and 6 of them took overtime. Teams rarely blow out their opponents in NCAA tournament play, but seeing teams play with 2 and 3 goal leads is not unheard of. In our tournament history -- 23 games to date -- we've had a multiple goal lead for well under a game's worth of time, and the last time it happened was in 2008. That stress wears on you, and even when you win, carries over.

But one thing true now is that Jackson has said he doesn't necessarily want to go after the ultra high end recruit any longer because the one-and-dones and the never-gonna-show-up-on-campus have spooked him. He has said when they look at the kids from the USNDT program they pay closer attention to the kids flying under the radar. Well often the kids he might shy away from are the ones who can finish, who have NHL-level shots. The kind who turn an efficient, puck possessing offense into one that can pot two or three goals in a short period of time, taking a 1 goal nail-biter and turning it into a three goal 3rd period lead.

I guess I don't know if it really matters all that much. For the last few seasons I have been loudly preaching about how this tournament is a ridiculous crapshoot, and anybody can win. I still believe that. Of the 6 teams left, 2 have never won, one has a title so old I don't even remember it, and 2 have only recently become members of the champions fraternity. Only Denver has a decades long pedigree as a blue-blood, and even they wandered in the desert for 30 seasons before becoming a fixture in the national tournament again in the early 2000s. But then their teams in the last decade and a half have had that mix of goaltending and explosive scoring. 8 of their last 10 NCAA wins have been by more than two goals. Must be nice.


As I think you suggest, the elite finishers ...
by BIGSKYND  (2019-03-31 10:58:15)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

are now going to be the guys who either don't show up or who stay for one year. York is struggling because guys like Kreider and Gaudreau are no longer going to hang around. He's had Milano and Bracco stiff him at the last moment and Wahlstrom (predictably) has bolted after one even though he really didn't show much this year. BU has encountered the same problem. During that time the NHL has become a game where more and more 18- and 19-year-olds with scoring and skating skills can come in and start, and get the entry level issue out of the way with one game. So the challenge is harder - find guys "under the radar" who still have enough hands and wheels that they can become scorers.


If it doesn't it will have a lot more to do with
by Wearendhockey  (2019-03-30 21:19:01)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

the insane randomness of this tournament than it will anything else. Notre Dame could have had 3 or 4 titles in the last dozen years. I follow this entire sport (not just Notre Dame) and I have no idea who is going to win any game anymore. This tournament is won by the team playing 4 good games at the right time. An Atlantic Hockey team will win a title before Notre Dame's football team wins another one.


He has 4 years until he’s older than York’s last title
by DakotaDomer  (2019-03-30 20:50:03)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

There’s a thousand reasons it could happen under Jackson and the only reason it might not is he has a finite # of years left.

Until he has 4 bad years in a row he’s our coach and we’re exceptionally lucky to have him.


The CHN article after the Clarkson game was really
by NH74Domer  (2019-03-30 22:00:09)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

interesting. Casey Jones was quoted as saying that Jackson threw a defensive alignment at them that they had never seen on film before, that it caught them by surprise and took time for them to adjust.

This is what great coaches do and something that I can't ever recall being said about our football coach.


I thought Clarkson played a fantastic game
by DakotaDomer  (2019-03-30 22:17:21)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

And it took absolutely everything to beat them

And it showed today


Yep *
by BIGSKYND  (2019-03-30 21:37:24)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post


Your last line says a lot. Prior to Jackson, ND was a
by other_guy  (2019-03-30 21:25:28)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

non-entity on the national scene.Lefty's Rink was non-existent!


Let's back off Lefty a little ...
by BIGSKYND  (2019-03-31 11:05:05)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

Hey got it started. And with miniscule resources he took us as a startup and made the program competitive. He also put a few guys in the NHL at the time. The problems came in the '80's when the unfortunate/stupid decision was made to blow it up to club status. And none of this is in any way a knock at Jackson, who is the reason the program is, as York said a few years back, "one of the usual suspects". I'm simply saying that I have no problem with saluting the guy who got it off the ground originally.


No offense to Lefty
by nihilist in golf pants  (2019-03-30 22:39:50)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

but I liked it better when this board was called Jackson's rink. Lefty was a true old-time ND man, but he never had the Irish as a consistent title contender they way Jackson has recently. He is a class act, he wins a lot, and he teaches.

MM and the fencing coach have brought titles to ND. After that, no current ND coach has had Jackson's level of success. I'd agree with the poster who says that the lack of a title has more to do with the randomness of winning 4 straight games against top tier hockey teams.

I am optimistic about our team as long as JJ is at the helm.


Return to Jackson’s Rink
by aguirretwog  (2019-03-30 23:19:42)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

I agree wholeheartedly. I was there in the Lefty era and although there was much to be proud of then Jackson has brought ND hockey to an entirely different level - NC or no NC he deserves our recognition and gratitude.


Love Jackson, but Lefty did a lot with a little
by realmccoy  (2019-03-31 10:06:39)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

There was very little university support of hockey during Lefty’s time. The rink sucked. It was a small time program, but he kept the flame burning. Hiring Jackson was part of the increased support of hockey. His success is due, at least in part, to that increased support, which also elevated the program and made recruiting easier.


There were so many impediments to this program becoming
by wearendhockey  (2019-03-31 18:56:42)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

big time when Lefty was here. There were times when Tim McNeill was recruiting when Lefty was the only one coaching. There was no support staff to speak of in the first decade and a half (until the downgrade to club status) with people like McNeill and trainer John Whitmer pulling all sorts of double duty.

The decision to pull recruiting and scholarships for a year when Title IX compliance became an issue in the late 70s was a blow from which the program would not recover from, really, until Poulin got here. He couldn't coach particularly well, but he brought back some excitement and at least some of the possibility of what hockey COULD be here. But in the late 70s and the 2 seasons in the CCHA students and the surrounding public had a hard time paying good money to watch a product that the university didn't care about.