Last Friday night proved to be a memorable night for the six Notre Dame seniors. The Joyce Center faithful along with the seniors' families celebrated the storied careers of these young men. The CCHA Regular Season Championship Banner was unfurled. The team jubilantly posed with the CCHA regular season trophy as well. While both serve as reminders of the program's rise to excellence, The Irish hope to add to their collection in the playoffs.

You also can't forget the passing of longtime radio broadcaster Mike Lockert, the "voice of the Fighting Irish." He was honored as well.

There also was a game on Friday night, if you could call it that. Notre Dame thoroughly manhandled Michigan State 5-0 on national TV thanks to a first period onslaught of four goals and stellar defensive play.

Michigan State, perhaps already looking to next season, started freshman goalie Drew Palmisano instead of senior Jeff Lerg. His inexperience became apparent quite early. Off an MSU turnover, Senior Erik Condra scored a relatively soft goal only two minutes into the game.

Another senior put another one on the board for Notre Dame, as Justin White scored at 9:41 of a feed from hardworking freshman Patrick Gaul. Another freshman, Billy Maday, absolutely blasted one past Palmisano from the point at  17:01 on the power play. Condra scored his second of the period a minute later to give the Irish a commanding 4-0 lead after the first period.

Needless to say, the Spartans vastly improved their defensive play in front of Palmisano, weathering a 12 shot barrage. Notre Dame only managed one more goal from fan favorite Christiaan Minella in the third period to give ND a solid 5-0 victory.

While the offense clearly showed a deadly potential, you can't forget to praise the defensive play. Senior Jordan Pearce posted his second consecutive shutout, while the defenders only allowed 15 shots on goal.

The game on Saturday in East Lansing was much closer. The Irish had yet to win at MSU in the Jackson era. Senior goalie Jeff Lerg almost continued the streak as he singlehandedly kept the Spartans in the game with 35 saves. Unfortunately, State's offense continued to sputter.

Erik Condra scored his third of the weekend with 5 seconds remaining in the first period, a period where the Irish outshot MSU 16-3. It's nice to see his scoring touch returning, especially in the absence of Ryan Thang.

The lopsidedness continued in the second period, yet it was MSU's Jay Sprague who got one past Pearce to break his shutout streak and tie the game at 1.

Thankfully, Christian Hanson scored seven minutes into the third and the defense held on to a 2-1 lead the rest of the way to sweep the Spartans and win their first at Munn in the Jackson era.

Jeff Lerg's 35 save performance was enough to make him the CCHA's all time saves leader, passing legendary Western Michigan goalie and former NHLer Glenn Healy.

Notre Dame closed the season with a record of 27-5-3, going 21-4-3 in the CCHA. Their 48 points put them 8 clear of second place Michigan. ND will have this weekend off and wait the lowest remaining seed for a best of 3 playoff series at the JACC March 13-15.

-JR