Brett Blatchford Class: Senior Hometown: Temperance, MI High School: St. Francis de Sales (Toledo, OH) Weight: 198 Position: Defenseman Birthdate: 06/05/1986 Last Team: Texas Tornado (NAHL)

Three-time monogram winner for the Irish on defense ... has been a key contributor on the Notre Dame blue line in each of his three seasons ... smart, intelligent player ... strong skater with the ability to move the puck in transition ... has worked hard to improve his defensive zone play ... has good hockey instincts to go with excellent stick skills ... competitive player who comes to play every night ... has been a quarterback on the Notre Dame power play throughout his career ... has a strong, accurate shot that sets forwards up for deflections and rebounds in front ... will look to shoot more from his spot on the point ... played in all 40 assists games in 2008-09, dishing out a career-high 25 assists ... assist total was tops among Irish defensemen and tied for second on the team ... had 14 power-play assists to tie for the team lead with Kevin Deeth ... has played 115 career games, scoring two goals with 52 assists for 54 points ... joined the Notre Dame roster after playing three seasons with the Texas Tornado of the North American Hockey League (NAHL) ... one of six players - along with senior Tom O'Brien (Mahoning Valley), junior Ryan Guentzel (Southern Minnesota), sophomores Nick Condon (St. Louis) and Eric Ringel (Mahoning Valley) and freshman Mike Johnson (St. Louis) - to join the Irish after playing in the NAHL ... one of five Michigan natives on the Notre Dame roster along with fellow senior Kyle Lawson (New Hudson) and juniors Ian Cole (Ann Arbor), Brad Phillips (Farmington Hills) and Ben Ryan (Brighton) ... joined the Irish in the late-signing period (spring `06) along with Dan Kissel and Tom O'Brien.

AS A JUNIOR: Played in all 40 games with no goals and 25 assists to rank second among Irish defensemen in scoring with 25 points ... whistled off the ice 10 times for a total of 28 minutes in penalties ... was +12 on the season to tie for third overall and third among defensemen ... turned in six games with two or more assists ... held to just one point in first five games before turning in back-to-back, two-assist games at Northern Michigan (Oct. 31-Nov. 1) ... closed out three-game point streak with an assist in 4-1 win at Boston College ... had streak broken at Providence before starting on career-high five-game point streak (0g, 8a) ... picked up three assists in tie and win at home versus Lake Superior (Nov. 14-15) ... had one assist in 5-1 win over Bowling Green (Nov. 21) ... equaled career high three-point and three-assist game in 9-1 win at Bowling Green (Nov. 22) ... closed streak with an assist in 4-1 win over Western Michigan ... closed the first half with two assists in 4-3 win over Bowling Green (Dec. 13) ... picked up assists in wins over Union and Minnesota-Duluth in Shillelagh Tournament ... held off the scoresheet for six games before assisting on Calle Ridderwall's overtime game winner versus Ohio State (Feb. 6) ... turned in back-to-back assist games in weekend sweep of Northern Michigan (Feb. 13-14) ... held to one assist until CCHA championship game ... had a pair of assists in 5-2 win over Michigan ... set up Billy Maday goal that cut Wolverines lead to 2-1 in second period ... added a second helper on Calle Ridderwall's game-tying goal at 1:15 of the third period ... had a season-best +3 for the game ... closed the season with an assist on Dan Kissel's goal in NCAA Tournament loss to Bemidji State ... in five postseason games had three assists.

AS A SOPHOMORE: Played in 45 games with no goals and 12 assists for 12 points to finish fourth among Irish defensemen in scoring ... had seven penalties for 14 minutes ... was -2 for the year ... got the season off to a fast start with assists in four of the team's first five games ... assisted on Mark Van Guilder power-play goal in season-opening, 4-1, loss to Wisconsin in the Lefty McFadden Invitational (Oct. 12) ... helped set up Van Guilder's game-winning ppg in 4-0 win over Mercyhurst in third-place game of McFadden Invitational (Oct. 13) ... ran scoring streak to three games with an assist on Garrett Regan's power-play goal in 4-3 win over Denver in home opener ... assisted on an Evan Rankin goal in 3-2 win at Ferris State (Oct. 19) ... picked up fourth power-play assist on a Rankin power-play marker in 4-1 win over Lake Superior State (Nov. 2) ... selected to the all-tournament team at the Rensselaer Holiday Tournament ... had five shots on goal and was +1 as the Irish won the tournament for the first time ... had a three-game point streak (0g, 3a) from Nov. 30 through Dec. 1 ... snapped a seven-game pointless streak with an assist in 5-4 win over Nebraska-Omaha (Nov. 30) ... assisted on an Ian Cole power-play goal versus Mavericks in 5-0 win on Dec. 1 ... had a strong series at Princeton with one assist in 4-2 win on Dec. 7 and was +4 in the weekend sweep ... set up Ryan Thang's game-tying goal with 38 seconds left in 1-1 tie with Michigan State (Jan. 13) ... went nine games without a point before setting up an Erik Condra power-play goal in 2-2 tie with Ohio State on Feb. 23 ... picked up one assist in the CCHA playoffs against Ferris State and added his 12th assist of the year in the 7-3 victory over New Hampshire in the NCAA West Regional ... played in nine postseason games with two assists.

AS A FRESHMAN: Played in 30 games in his rookie season, scoring twice with 15 assists for 17 points ... had one game-winning goal ... had eight penalties for 16 minutes ... recorded 29 shots on goal ... was +9 on the year ... picked up a point in his first collegiate game, assisting on a Kevin Deeth power-play goal in 3-2 loss at Minnesota Sate on Oct. 14 ... recorded second assist of the year in 4-2 win at Ohio State on Nov. 3 ... scored first collegiate goal at 9:44 of the third period to snap a 1-1 tie and on the way to a 3-1 home win versus Alaska on Dec. 2 ... that started him on a four-game point streak (1g, 5a) ... picked up an assist in 6-2 Irish win over Alaska (Dec. 3) ... had career-high three-point and three-assist game in 7-3 win over Michigan (Dec. 8) ... closed streak with one assist in 4-3 win over the Wolverines at home on Dec. 10 ... added second multiple-point game with two assists in 6-2 win at Robert Morris ... scored second goal in second period of 3-0 win at Western Michigan (Jan. 20) ... closed the season on a three-game point streak with assists versus Michigan, Alabama-Huntsville and Michigan State ... in four postseason games had three assists for three points.

PREP & PERSONAL: Graduated from St. Francis de Sales High School in Toledo, Ohio ... spent three seasons with the North American Hockey League's (NAHL) Texas Tornado ... led all NAHL defensemen in scoring in 2005-06 with three goals and 46 assists for 49 points in 54 games ... his 46 assists were third-best in the league as he helped lead Texas to first place with a 42-12-4 record ... in 13 postseason games, added two goals and five assists ... was a member of three consecutive Robertson Cup champions as the top Junior A team in the country ... was named first team all-NAHL and received the NAHL academic achievement award following the season ... selected to the all-tournament team at the 2005 Chowder Cup Tournament ... in `04-'05, collected four goals with 21 assists for 25 points ... added three goals and eight assists in 12 playoff games, including setting up the game-winning goal in the national championship game ... played in two NAHL all-star games in `05 and `06 ... had one goal and six assists in his rookie year (`04-'05) ... finished career as Texas Tornado's all-time assist leader (90) ... full name is Brett Michael Blatchford ... has one brother ... son of John and Denise Blatchford ... born June 5, 1986 in Toledo, Ohio ... has a double major in psychology and sociology in the College of Arts and Letters..

Blatchford's Career Statistics