Printer-Friendly Format     E-mail this article     The irish have added three more players to the 2008-09 freshman recruiting class. Nick Condron, Kyle Murphy and Richard Ryan will join the squad in September.

 
Irish Add Three Players To Incoming Hockey Class For 2008-09 Season

Nick Condon, Kyle Murphy and Richard Ryan to join roster for coming year.

July 2, 2008

Notre Dame, Ind. - University of Notre Dame hockey coach Jeff Jackson announced today that defenseman Nick Condon (Wausau, Wis.) and forwards Kyle Murphy (Fairhaven. N.J.) and Richard Ryan (Toronto, Ont.) will join the Irish hockey roster in September for the start of the 2008-09 season, giving Notre Dame a seven-man freshman class.

The trio of players joins four players who signed national letters-of-intent in the fall of 2007 - Patrick Gaul (F, Pittsburgh, Pa.), Sean Lorenz (D, Littleton, Colo.), Billy Maday (F, Burr Ridge, Ill.) and Eric Ringel (D, Hinckley, Ohio).

In making the announcement, Jackson said, "The additions of Nick Condon, Kyle Murphy and Rich Ryan rounds out a talented group of players that will join our team in the fall. We feel strongly that this recruiting class gives us another strong class of top players to continue to build the tradition of Irish hockey."

Condon is a 5-10, 170-pound left shooting defenseman who will join Lorenz and Ringel as freshmen blueliners for the Irish. A slick-skating defenseman with good stickhandling skills, he split time during 2007-08 between Marquette and St. Louis in the North American Hockey League (NAHL). In 42 games with Marquette, he had three goals and 29 assists before being traded at the deadline to St. Louis where he had a goal and five assists in eight games for the Bandits who went on to win the 2008 Robertson Cup title. The steady defenseman was selected to play in the `07-'08 NAHL Top Prospects Tournament and had an assist in three games for the South team. In his first season in the NAHL (2006-07) with Marquette, Condon had one goal and 10 assists in 52 games for Marquette. He is the older brother of Minnesota recruit Nate Condon.

Murphy joins the Irish after finishing his career at Shattuck St. Mary's School in Faribault, Minn. A 5-10, 175-pound left wing, Murphy is a hard-working, tenacious player who brings speed to the lineup. He finished the season ranked seventh in scoring at Shattuck with 24 goals and 31 assists for 51 points in 62 games. He went on to add two goals with three assists for five points in six games as the Sabres won the USA Hockey 18-and-Under Tier I championship. A native of Fairhaven, N.J., he is the younger brother of former Boston College standout Ryan Murphy.

Ryan is a 6-0, 183-pound left wing from Toronto, Ont., who has played the last three seasons for the St. Michael's Buzzers of the Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League (OPJHL). The Buzzers alternate captain in 2007-08, Ryan was second in scoring with 28 goals and 53 assists for 81 points in 48 games this season. He collected eight power-play goals, two short-handed tallies and five game winners. Ryan helped lead St. Mikes to a 43-4-2 record in the OPJHL South Division. He added three goals and seven assists for 10 points in 10 playoff games as the Buzzers fell to Markham in the semifinals. Ryan won the OPJHL's "Most Gentlemanly Player" award this season and was selected to play in the OPJHL Junior A all-star game. In 2006-07, he played in 36 games with 18 goals and 14 assists for 32 points, picking up seven power-play goals, two short-handed and three game winners. In his first season (2005-06), Ryan collected 16 goals with 17 assists for 33 points on the year.

Class of 2008-09
Player           Pos.  Birthdate   Ht.   Wt.  S/C    Hometown/2007-08 Team 
Nick Condon	  D    1/26/87     5-10  170  Left   Wausau, Wis./St. Louis Bandits (NAHL)
Patrick Gaul      C    2/27/90     5-8   170  Left   Pittsburgh, Pa./U.S. Under-18 Team
Sean Lorenz       D    3/10/90     6-1   185  Right  Littleton, Colo./U.S.Under-18 Team
Billy Maday      RW    2/25/88     5-11  165  Right  Burr Ridge, Ill./Waterloo Black Hawks
Kyle Murphy      LW    5/11/90     5-10  175  Left   Fairhaven, N.J./Shattuck St. Mary's
Eric Ringel       D    4/4/90      6-2   190  Right  Hinckley, Ohio/Mahoning Valley (NAHL)
Richard Ryan     LW    6/11/88     6-0   183  Left   Toronto, Ont./St. Michael's Buzzers (OPJHL)