Notre Dame’s Ellis named Big Ten Hockey’s First Star of Week

Junior forward Max Ellis of Notre Dame’s eighth-ranked team was named Big Ten Hockey’s First Star of the Week after his performance in last weekend’s sweep of No. 1 Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Ellis, who grew up in Canton, Michigan, 17 miles from Yost Ice Arena where the Irish beat the Wolverines twice in overtime, tallied three goals, including the game-winner, in Saturday’s 5-4 victory. In Friday’s 3-2 victory, the 5-foot-9, 165-pound speedy right wing had an assist on Ryder Rolston’s game-winning goal.

Because of Ellis’ efforts, the Irish (10-3 overall, 4-2 Big Ten for 10 points for fourth place) moved up to No. 8 in both the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine (coaches) and USCHO.com (media) rankings. 

Notre Dame will have the weekend off this week because Friday’s game against visiting Boston College was postponed due to COVID-19 issues with the Eagles. Ellis and the Fighting Irish resume play Dec. 3-4 against No. 17 Ohio State at the Lefty Smith Rink in the Compton Family Ice Arena.

Ellis currently leads the Irish in goals with 10 goals and 18 points while his eight assists are tied for the team lead. The point total already surpasses the 16 points (five goals, 11 assists) Ellis scored in 24 games as a sophomore last season.

Freshman forward Matthew Knies of Minnesota and sophomore defenseman Jimmy Dowd Jr. of Penn State were named the Big Ten’s Second and Third Stars, respectively, after their teams split last weekend’s series in Minneapolis.

Ellis is the second Notre Dame player to receive Big Ten honors this season. Grad-transfer (from Cornell) goaltender Matthew Galajda won Third Star honors Oct. 26 and Nov. 16.

BIG TEN STANDINGS

(Conference)

Pts, GP, W-L-T, OW-OL, SW, GF-GA

Michigan 17, 8, 5-3-0, 0-2, 0, 32-19

Minnesota 16, 8, 5-3-0, 0-1, 0, 26-19

Ohio State 12, 6, 4-2-0, 0-0, 0, 19-11

Notre Dame 10, 6, 4-2-0, 2-0, 0, 19-14

Michigan State 9, 6, 3-3-0, 0-0, 0, 15-20

Wisconsin 5, 8, 2-6-0, 1-0, 0, 14-28

Penn State 3, 6, 1-5-0, 0-0, 0, 13-27

(Overall, W-L-T, .Pct, GF-GA)

Michigan 10-4-0, .714, 58-34; Minnesota 8-6-0, .571, 47-38; Ohio State 7-3-0, .700, 34-17; Notre Dame 10-3-0, .769, 48-25; Michigan State 8-5-1, .607, 35-35; Wisconsin 4-10-0, .286, 24-48; Penn State 7-6-0, .538, 43-42.

Tuesday, Nov. 23 schedule

Penn State at St. Thomas, late

Wednesday, Nov. 23 schedule

Penn State at St. Thomas, 8 p.m.

Friday, Nov. 25 schedule

Boston College at Notre Dame, postponed

Mercyhurst at Ohio State, 5 p.m.

Minnesota at North Dakota, 8 p.m.

Niagara at Michigan, 7:30 p.m.

Clarkson at Wisconsin, 8 p.m.

Saturday, Nov. 26 schedule

Mercyhurst at Ohio State, 5 p.m.

Clarkson at Wisconsin, 7 p.m.

Niagara at Michigan, 7 p.m.

Minnesota at North Dakota, 7 p.m.