The last time Notre Dame hockey traveled to Minneapolis, they pulled off a surprise.
The Irish’s upset of Minnesota in the first round of the Big 10 tournament last March shocked the college hockey world. Its memory still lingers as Notre Dame hits the road for its first conference road series against Minnesota.
This weekend, there will be fewer dramatic surprises. Instead, a get-right series awaits both the Irish (3-4-1, 0-2 Big 10) and Golden Gophers (2-7-1, 0-2 Big 10) at Mariucci Arena, with both teams trying to climb back towards a wining record.
It’s no secret that Minnesota is off to a rough start this year. Playing one of the most challenging non-conference schedules in the nation, the Gophers managed just two wins through their first eight games. Last weekend, they were swept by rival Wisconsin to open Big 10 play.
Notre Dame, meanwhile, continues to climb back from 2025’s last-place finish in the conference. They dropped below .500 for the first time since the season’s opening weekend after regulation and shootout losses to Michigan last weekend.
In that way, each team enters the weekend vulnerable, but the Irish should have less cause for concern if they can clean up their act. For Notre Dame, discipline has been a subject of concern through the season’s first eight games. The Irish are currently averaging 18.1 penalty minutes per game, seventh most nationally.
“Discipline has been a topic of conversation since [Arizona State],” Irish head coach Brock Sheahan said Wednesday. “It definitely cost us the game [last] Friday. It put a lot of stress on Nick [Kempf] and our penalty-kill, which has been really good. If we don’t do that, I think we are going to be in a good spot in that Friday night game.”
In that 5-3 loss to the Wolverines, Notre Dame racked up 56 minutes in penalties, including 31 minutes before the game was half old. Michigan, with the nation’s best power-play, capitalized, scoring four times on the man advantage.
“It’s unacceptable,” Sheahan said immediately after the loss Friday. “And it’s unfortunate, because when you watch the five-on-five play, it’s really good. Like, really good.”
Consistency at five-on-five remains a work in progress for the Irish. But Sheahan has found promise in the potential of discipline and consistency, “Watching the games on video, it’s a lot closer to how I imagine we’re capable of playing all the time, and if we can do that over the course of the season, I think we will win more games than we lose, and our guys are starting to see that.”
This weekend, the mandate for Notre Dame is simple.
“How fast can we get to our game, and how long can we do it for?”
