On Frozen Blog

There’s a head coach working miracles in South Bend these days, but his name isn’t Charlie. It’s Jeff Jackson, who in his second season guiding the Fighting Irish is turning the college hockey world upside down with his victories on and off the ice.

The Irish opened their season October 13 by smashing Minnesota State 6-1 at home. They dropped the rematch in Mankato the next night, 3-2 in overtime. But with their labor this weekend, they’re a strong candidate to debut in the top 10 rankings nationally tomorrow. On Friday night, in Boston against no.1-ranked Boston College, Jackson’s charges annihilated the Eagles 7-1. Last night, in Providence, they crushed Tim Army’s Friars 6-1. In four games, that’s 21 goals scored and 6 surrendered.

Impressive stuff, but the moreso when you consider the conditions Jackson inherited. In 2004-05, the Irish went 5-27-6 in Head Coach Dave Poulin’s final season. Although he finished wretchedly, ex-Cap Poulin, most believe, made something close to a silk purse out of a sow’s ear in his tenure. Notre Dame’s Joyce Athletic and Convocation Center rink has fewer than 3,000 seats — all of them of the portable metal bleacher variety — and is partitioned off in the cavernous JACC by a large blue curtain. In such conditions it’s metaphysically impossible to secure even mediocre ice, and sure enough, the South Bend sheet is reputed to be about the worst in all of college hockey. Poulin at one point had Zach Parise in for recruiting visit, but the hottest prospect in the land then got one look at the rink and said “Thanks but no thanks.”

Jackson began his tenure last year by hiring Paul Pooley, who worked as Jackson’s assistant in a remarkable three-year run of glory the two enjoyed at Lake Superior State from 1992-94. In those years the Lakers were 93-27-13, won the CCHA tournament title in ‘92 and ‘93, and appeared in the Frozen Four title game all three years. (They won it all in ‘92, beating Wisconsin, and again in ‘94, besting BU.) During his six years leading the Lakers, Jackson produced 12 All-Americans. He is one of only 12 coaches to win multiple NCAA championships. In 2005-06, using virtually the identical roster Poulin had during the previous season’s meltdown, Jackson won 13 games.

Pooley left Lake St. and spent 11 years as the head man at Providence before rejoining Jackson in South Bend last year. He and fellow assistant Andy Slaggert, whom Jackson retained from Poulin’s staff, have formed a powerful one-two punch on the recruiting trails in little more than a year.

InsideCollegeHockey.com ranked Jackson’s first recruiting class the 13th best in the country,a ranking that this morning appears modest. The early season Irish scoresheet is glutted by big numbers from the newcomers. The class Jackson’s hauled in for next autumn, by all appearances, will be ranked either no.1 or no. 2 in the country. He’s tapped into his deep roots with the U.S. National Team Development Program, where he served as national coach and senior director upon the program’s founding in 1996.

Jackson went into CCHA enemy territory and secured commitments from Michigan natives Brad Phillips, Ian Cole, and Teddy Ruth — all three elite talents and part of the U.S. Under-18 national team. Goaltender Phillips has been described by his teammates as possessing “ridiculous” talent, while Cole is one the best American blueliners of his birth year. And the blue-chip talent pool is growing exponentially: U.S. Under-17 forward Patrick Gaul of Pittsburgh, an Irish commitment for the 2008 class, is described by Ron Rolston, head coach of the Under-18 team, as “one of the best in his recruiting class.”

“As far as [Jackson's] reputation in the game and ability to coach and win championships,” Rolston said, “just having somebody of that stature will help recruiting. And the name — everyone knows in Canada, the States — everyone has heard of Notre Dame.”

But the real head-turning recruiting victory occurred on September 19, when Jackson secured a commitment from high school freshman Cam Fowler, whom some scouting services have ranked as the no. 1 player his age in all of North America. The Notre Dame Observer student newspaper last month called Jackson’s recruits for 2007-09 the “Magnificent 7.”

The worry and woe among CCHA foes this fall is palpable. Jackson’s team this year was forecast to finish no better than middle of the conference pack, but seniors David Brown (Penguins), one of the top five goalies in the country, and big-bodied blueliner Wes O’Neill (Islanders) are off to strong starts, and the freshmen are scoring in bunches and playing with the poise of upperclassmen. Jackson is aggressively and successfully recruiting in regions Wolverines and Spartans thought they’d had wrought iron fencing around, and a big-time infusion of game-breaking talent is on its way to campus.

The Fighting Irish hockey program will never shoulder aside the big game on the South Bend campus, but it’s long been viewed as possessing tantalizingly untapped potential. Jackson is making full use of its allure: his hockey recruits are seated in the big shrine on autumn Saturdays, witnessing up close all the dazzling drama scripted by Coach Weis. For the rest of the CCHA, the thought of the miracle worker at Lake State today armed with the vast cachet of South Bend has to invite the disquieting sense that a sleeping giant has been awakened.