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.

And it took absolutely everything to beat them

And it showed today

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.