Christiaan Minella Class: Junior Hometown: Aurora, CO High School: Peters Township (McMurray, PA) Height / Weight: 6-2 / 209 Position: Right Wing Birthdate: 07/05/1985 Last Team: Sioux City Musketeers (USHL)

Earned second monogram at Notre Dame during his sophomore year in 2007-08 ... hard-working player who will look to become a regular in the Irish lineup this season .... strong skater with an accurate shot ... uses his size and strength to bring a physical presence to the Notre Dame lineup ... strong at both ends of the ice and is a tenacious forechecker ... physical, hitting style of play opens the ice for his linemates ... strong in front of the net and good in the corners ... played in 26 games during `07-'08 and recorded two assists from his right wing position ... has played in 47 games in his first two seasons, scoring one goal with seven assists for eight points ... came to Notre Dame after playing three seasons for the Sioux City Musketeers of the United States Hockey League (USHL) ... served as team captain of the 2005-06 Sioux City team ... one of three Pittsburgh natives on the Irish roster, joining senior Christian Hanson (Venetia) and freshman Patrick Gaul (Upper St. Clair) ... played junior hockey for the Pittsburgh Amateur Penguins and the Pittsburgh Hornets ... teammate of Hanson's with the Hornets in 2002-03 ... one of nine players from Pittsburgh area to play hockey at Notre Dame, joining Gaul, Hanson, Stewart Carlin (`06-'08), Mike Leherr (`86-90), Tom Mooney (`84-'88), Tom Myers (`68-'69), Tom Parent (`84-'85) and John Roselli (`68-'71) ...one of 15 former USHL players on the Notre Dame roster ... signed with the Irish in early-signing period (Nov. of `05).

AS A SOPHOMORE: Saw action in 26 games, recording a pair of assists ... had 14 penalties resulting in 28 minutes ... was +2 on the season ... set up Justin White's goal at 9:20 of the second period versus Rensselaer in the championship game of the Rensselaer Holiday Tournament ... goal cut R.P.I. lead to 3-2 in game Irish would win 4-3 ... assisted on Christian Hanson goal in second period of CCHA third-place game against Northern Michigan ... goal gave Notre Dame a 1-0 lead on the way to a 2-1 loss ... played in eight postseason games with one assist.

AS A FRESHMAN: Saw action in 21 games for the Irish, scoring one goal and adding five assists for six points ... picked up nine penalties for 18 minutes ... had 16 shots on goal and was +1 for the season ... sat out the first nine games of the season, making his debut on Nov. 11 in 4-0 win over Bowling Green ... scored first collegiate goal at 9:04 of the first period, giving Notre Dame a 2-0 lead ... goal came in his first game on his first shot at the collegiate level ... first Irish player to do that since Tim Wallace `06 scored in his first game on the first shot at Minnesota-Duluth (Oct. 11, 2002) ... picked up his first assist the following week in 4-1 win over Ohio State ... had first multiple-point game of his career with two assists in 6-2 win at home versus Alaska on Dec. 3 ... final assist of the season came in game one of CCHA quarterfinals against Alaska on March 9 ... in two postseason games had one assist for one point.

PREP & PERSONAL: Graduated from Peters Township High School in McMurray, Pa. ... played both baseball and hockey at Peters ... member of two Pennsylvania State hockey championship teams (`02 and `03) ... teammate of Christian Hanson at Peters in `01-'02 ... was all-conference and all-city in `02-'03 ... member of Team Pittsburgh in his junior and senior year ... selected to play on high school all-star team (`02-'03) ... played junior hockey for the Pittsburgh Amateur Penguins and the Pittsburgh Hornets ... teammate of Hanson's with the Hornets in 2002-03 ... played three seasons with the USHL's Sioux City Musketeers ... had seven goals and 11 assists in his rookie year (2003-04) ... in second season, helped Musketeers to second place in Western Division, scoring seven goals and 15 assists for 22 points ... served as team captain of the 2005-06 Sioux City team ... posted best numbers of his career with 24 goals (13th best in the USHL) and 14 assists for 38 points ... had eight power-play goals and four game winners ... closed out his career with four goals and one assist in his last two games with two of the goals being game winners ... full name is Michel Christiaan Minella ... son of Daniel and Melissa Minella ... born July 5, 1985 in Cincinnati, Ohio ... marketing major in the Mendoza College of Business.

Minella's Career Statistics