Jackson names captains

With the season quickly approaching, Notre Dame announced a brand new trio of captains Wednesday.

Irish coach Jeff Jackson named junior center Steven Fogarty as team captain, while senior right wing Peter Schneider and junior left wing Sam Herr will serve as alternate captains. They replace a quartet of graduated captains, Jeff Costello, Bryan Rust, T.J. Tynan and Stephen Johns, the last three of whom were alternate captains.

Fogarty said he plans to apply many of the lessons he learned from his former teammates and captains.

“[We want to emulate] the way they went about their business,” Fogarty said. “I was fortunate enough to room with Jeff Costello, so I got to see how he carries himself or handles himself in different situations. Off the ice, he was a real smart guy; he was a good citizen, ... and then on the ice, he was one of our hardest workers, if not the hardest.”

Fogarty and Schneider bring prior leadership experience to their new posts. Fogarty captained Edina High School in Minnesota to the state semifinals during his senior year, and Schneider has been an alternate captain for Austria’s Under-18 and Under-20 teams in several international tournaments.

Fogarty said the best leadership strategy he knows is always giving 100 percent effort.

“I’m more of a lead-by-example kind of guy,” Fogarty said. “I’ve always been kind of a quiet, quiet guy, but obviously now that I'm a captain, I’m going to need to get out of my comfort zone at times and speak up. I try to do things the right way ... and always be one of the hardest workers."

All three players made significant contributions last year for the Irish. Fogarty notched three goals and eight assists in 33 games while also excelling on faceoffs. Herr had the third-most goals for the Irish, with 14 in 40 games and also added 13 assists. Schneider was a steady presence on the ice in 39 games and recorded eight goals and eight assists last year. He also was named to the Hockey East All-Academic team.

Fogarty said he is confident the three can work together to help this young Irish team start the season right.

“We all kind of complement each other well,” Fogarty said. “Peter [Schneider] is kind of that rah-rah guy, ... and Sam [Herr]’s a little bit of both, [rah-rah and lead by example]. It’s kind of a group thing — we’re not going to make any decisions without ... talking to each other.”

The first duty facing the captains is getting the Irish ready for Oct. 5 when Notre Dame faces Waterloo in an exhibition matchup at Compton Family Ice Arena.