ND SPORTS
BY DOUGLAS FARMER
A
year ago, even the Irish veterans
felt somewhat like rookies in Notre
Dame's debut season in the Hockey
East Conference. This season, 10 fresh-
men, a group that was ranked as the
fourth-best recruiting class nationally
by OTB.com, nearly outnumber the up-
perclassmen, and infuse the Irish with
youth and energy.
Four years ago, Notre Dame and
head coach Jeff Jackson experienced a
similar surge of youth, with 12 fresh-
men on the roster.
"Obviously it's a different group of
kids, so you're never sure if it's go-
ing to be similar or not, but it took a
little bit longer from an adjustment
standpoint early in the year for us to
get that chemistry that we rely upon
to be successful," Jackson said during
Notre Dame's media day Sept. 29. "On
the other side of that, that group was
Youth Skates In For Hockey Team
One of Notre Dame's few seniors, assistant captain Peter Schneider will need to exert heavy influence over
a team with 10 freshmen, including a possible rookie starting goalie.
PHOTO BY JOE RAYMOND
