The holiday break in college hockey presents an interesting dichotomy for teams. For teams that have played well and exceeded preseason expectations it can be a nervous time, as coaches and players fear that a few weeks off can bring on some rust that stops a hot team in its tracks. But for teams that haven’t quite come out of the gate as expected, it’s a welcome rest and a time to regroup mentally before the push to tournament time in March.

Jeff Jackson

After being projected near the top of the CCHA to begin the season, Notre Dame is one of the latter teams – a club hoping that some time off can help it regain lost confidence after falling to the depths of the CCHA’s offensive rankings in its first 18 games.

While the Fighting Irish still find themselves in the top half of the league standings, their anemic 2.00 goals scored per conference game is the lowest average in the CCHA. And while Alaska proved last year that defense can keep a team competitive, near misses and inconsistency have taken a mental toll on Notre Dame’s forwards.

“For the first six weeks we were challenged because we were not scoring goals consistently,” coach Jeff Jackson said. “It got to the point where some of our guys started losing confidence offensively. We were averaging two goals a game and we’re a better offensive team than that.”

Before the team gets almost three weeks off they face one more challenge: a home-and-home series against and equally frustrated Michigan team. And while Notre Dame isn’t in any way looking past a rivalry series that could go a long way in boosting either squad’s confidence, Jackson is hoping a solid performance this weekend and a few weeks off can help his players clear their minds.

“Maybe the Christmas break will be good for us mentally,” Jackson said. “At some point it’s a confidence issue, and some guys are working hard but not working smart. It’s like a baseball player who is in a (hitting) slump – he can’t let it affect the other parts of his game.”

After scoring 10 goals in three games before last weekend’s series at Miami, it seemed that the Irish offense might have finally turned the corner. But a slew of injuries on the blue line, including anchor Ian Cole sitting out last Saturday’s game, has the Notre Dame defense short-handed. That forced forwards to play back on the blue line and complicated its offensive bounce back – resulting in the first goal-less weekend of Jackson’s tenure in South Bend.

Against Michigan this week, the Irish will again be shorthanded on defense, and the focus will be on managing the transition game with forwards who are used to being on the receiving end of exit passes rather than dishing them out.

“It’s going to be a matter of making sure that we do a good job protecting the puck,” Jackson said. “We have to make sure that we don’t turn the puck over with forwards on defense leading our transition.”

With the offense running on empty and an inexperienced blue line, goaltending – an area of concern for Notre Dame headed into this year – will be in the spotlight. Despite public concerns about the tandem of Brad Phillips and Mike Johnson before the season, Jackson was confident in his netminding duo and he has been pleased with their play thus far.

“Going into the season, (goaltending) was the biggest question mark about our team,” Jackson said. “In reality, that has been one of the least parts of our concerns. Brad and Mike are playing well, and they have done a good job but are put under a lot of pressure when one mistake can cost them the game.”

If the holiday break can help heal the Irish defense and revive the offense, Johnson – a freshman who has notched an impressive .940 save perecentage – and Phillips look like they can be in the position to help their team regain a spot in the league’s top four and contend for a playoff title.

And as impractical as the offensive bounceback may seem, the struggles are eerily reminiscent of Jan. and Feb. 2008 when Notre Dame couldn’t seem to find the back of the net against anyone other than Bowling Green. That year, remember, the Irish got hot at just the right time, averaging five goals per game en route to the national championship game.