On Sunday at noon, Soldier Field hosts NCAA outdoor hockey action in the Hockey City Classic. #12 Notre Dame hockey vs. #3 Miami-Ohio. Here’s more videos, pics from the rink. The Fighting Irish are the only team that could be considered “local” of the four playing. The Badgers and Gophers will meet in the night cap.
The last time Notre Dame played Miami at Soldier Field the result was very much in the Fighting Irish favor. Of course, that was a different Miami (FL) and it was in college football. However, that event, like ND college basketball playing as a #2 seed at the United Center in the 2011 NCAA Tournament, showed that Fighting Irish fans will come to the Chi. So expect a big turnout for Notre Dame hockey as well.
Yes, the home of the Chicago Bears is really hosting hockey! And the Chicago Blackhawks are excited about it too. Ambassador Denis Savard and front office man Jay Blunk were on hand for the announcement of the event.
There was big news surrounding a Notre Dame hockey player preceding this event:
Notre Dame junior defenseman Jared Beers has been suspended from the team indefinitely due to an off-campus incident that occurred on Sunday, Feb. 3.
Pretty funny that his name is Beers isn’t it? Well, I guess he just joins the recent tradition of Fighting Irish drunken criminal activity: Michael Floyd, Tommy Rees, Carlo Calabrese, DaVaris Daniels
Well, I guess Beers won’t be there when ND plays in the Hockey City Classic, the Fighting Irish players will be sporting special jerseys from an era when Notre Dame hockey played all its games outdoors–the club era from 1963 to 1968.
During that time, prior to Irish hockey getting Division I status for the 1968-69, the Notre Dame club program played all its games outdoors at South Bend’s Howard Park Rink. The Reebok jerseys were designed using photos of games played during the club era. They are blue with white shoulders and a gold neck and contain a white-blue-gold striping pattern on the elbows and around the bottom.
The name IRISH is displayed down the diagonally down the front of the sweater and is trimmed in white. The throwback Notre Dame hockey jerseys have a string tie at the neck just like hockey sweaters from that era. The jersey will have just one number and that’s on the back in gold and trimmed in white. Inside the tail of the jersey is a commemorative patch with the name of the teams and the date of the game.
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