Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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ND SPORTS BY DOUGLAS FARMER D espite featuring 10 freshmen, in- cluding a first-year goaltender, the most important growth for Notre Dame this season may come from its returning players. Take sophomore center Vinny Hi- nostroza, for example. Hinostroza notched eight goals and 24 assists in his freshman campaign, quickly establishing himself as an of- fensive threat whenever he was on the ice. That produc- tion prompted Irish head coach Jeff Jackson to move Hinostroza onto the second line so far this season — with mixed results. "The biggest adjustment is that somebody needs to step up to play in a top-two line role, and that requires responsibilities, not just offensively, but defensively," Jackson said before Notre Dame took on Lake Superior State Oct. 17 and 18, looking for its first win of the season. "He's being forced to defend more because he's playing against the other team's top lines. "Defense isn't necessarily his forte. We don't want him to be a defensive player, but he's going to have to de- fend well enough that he can create offense. Offense comes from defense for the most part." Hinostroza knows as much, but the adjustment period is still taking lon- ger than either he or Jackson would like. In Notre Dame's 0-2 showing at the season-opening Ice Breaker Tour- nament at the Compton Family Ice Arena, the second line never created the consistent offensive threat Jackson would like. Hinostroza man- aged just one assist and four shots on goal in the losses to Rensselaer (3-2) and Minne- sota Duluth (3-0). "Vinny has the track record of being a point guy, putting points on the board," Jackson said. "But he can't be getting 55 points and be a minus-55. We want him to become a great player." A year ago, on the third or fourth line, Hinostroza could get away with some laziness on defense. Now, fac- ing an opponent's best or second-best threat, any inefficiency can prove costly. Rather than loop around to reverse directions, Hinostroza and Jackson both said he (as well as many other Irish skaters in the first week- end, according to their head coach) needs to stop and pop back the other direction. Every movement matters. "He has to get acclimated to playing against better players," Jackson said. "And that's not just offensively, but defensively." In order to stay on a top line, Hi- nostroza will need to return to last season's scoring form, especially while Notre Dame waits for one of its two goalies — sophomore Chad Katunar Defense To Offense VINNY HINOSTROZA