Opening statement
Late this past offseason, the Providence Bruins opted to sign an undrafted, Stockholm-raised Notre Dame alumnus for the coming campaign.
With that, Calle Ridderwall will vie for a spot on the P-Bruins depth chart with fellow college graduates Carter Camper and Kyle MacKinnon. And he will join Colby Cohen as another recent Frozen Four clutch performers (See: 2008, Notre Dame vs. Michigan and 2009, Boston University vs. Miami) to subsequently enroll in Bruce Cassidy’s capstone project.
2010-11 Highlights (With Notre Dame)
• Placed third on the Fighting Irish leaderboard with 16 goals and five power-play strikes, despite missing five of the team’s 44 games.
• Singlehandedly outscored Boston College for a 2-1 Notre Dame victory Oct. 23.
• Inserted his first career shorthanded goal and added an assist as part of a 6-2, Nov. 19 win over Michigan State.
• Had a hand in four goals, including a playmaker hat trick, as part of Notre Dame’s 10-2 throttling of Canisius on Dec. 29.
• Took only three minor penalties in his last 18 games, including none in any of his last six.
• Charged up four goals and five points in eight postseason outings, including the last goal of the Fighting Irish season in a 4-3 Frozen Four semifinal loss to Minnesota-Duluth, the eventual national champions.
• Set up former Providence College defenseman and Notre Dame captain Joe Lavin’s eventual clincher to beat Lake Superior State, 4-2, in the rubber game of the best-of-three CCHA quarterfinals.
2010-11 Lowlights
• Fell short of his career-high point total of 32 (set as a sophomore in 2008-09) for the second consecutive season.
• Took a five-minute major for boarding with 3:37 left in the third period of a Nov. 20 clash with Michigan State.
• Went five games without a point between Nov. 26 and Dec. 11.
2011-12 Outlook
Like so many other fresh U.S. college graduates and job-seekers flowing in from other corners of the world, Ridderwall may find a tight job market in the dressing room at The Dunk. But depending on how smoothly he translates his scoring touch from the NCAA to the AHL, there ought to be at least a semi-regular position for him on game nights in Providence.
