The Big Ten hockey season is underway, and the past two days featured one of the more intense series to date, putting Michigan, who came into the series 4-0-0 and ranked fourth on the USCHO DI Polls up against unranked Notre Dame. Notre Dame took the series sweep, winning 3-2 on Friday and 2-1 on Saturday. Before the series, we had the opportunity to sit down with Notre Dame center and Islanders’ prospect Jake Pivonka, their 2018 fourth-round pick, to talk about his time before and at Notre Dame, and his future with the Islanders.

Growing up With a Hockey Dad

Jake Pivonka was born into a sports family. His father, Michal, defected to the United States from Czechoslovakia in 1986, when his NHL career began with the Washington Capitals, the team that drafted him in 1984. Little did he know, this would start an NHL career spanning 13 seasons and over 800 games. Despite the fact that it was his father who was the NHL forward, it was his mother that first put him in the sport.

“It was actually my mom that put me in hockey, but once I got into it a bit and he realized that I liked the sport a lot, he took me under his wing and started teaching me what he knew.” It was to his benefit, too, as Jake started his playing days as a forward, and has spent the majority of his time playing the position that his father spent his career playing, center.

Despite playing the majority of his youth hockey in Illinois, he spent the start of his life in another part of the country. “I was in Florida growing up, so I liked Tampa (Bay Lightning) a lot, and I always took a liking to Washington (Capitals) too because my dad played there.” With him growing up in Florida, he had the opportunity to watch and cheer for some of the top players during that time. “When I was little (Vincent Lecavalier) was dominant, same with Martin St. Louis.”

Pivonka’s father Michal was born in Kladno, Czechoslovakia, and with that came the opportunity for Jake and his siblings to acquire dual citizenship. It won’t be beneficial in his hockey endeavors as his rights belong to the United States based on previous tournaments he participated in with the US.

Prior to his time at the University of Notre Dame, Pivonka spent two seasons with the United States National Development Team Program (USNTDP) in Plymouth Township, Michigan. “It was really fun. It’s a little different than anywhere else you play juniors because you’re with your age group for those two years, you’ve got the same coach, nothing really changes. It was nice from that perspective, with your own age group you just feel a little more comfortable. Obviously, the schedule was a lot like it is at Notre Dame. It’s pretty intensive with workouts and training, so I think it prepared me a bit for college.”

Throughout youth hockey, Pivonka had opportunities to play with and against another Islanders prospect, Michigan State defenseman Christian Krygier, on some occasions. “I played with Christian at a couple tournaments at (US) NTDP where he was called up, and, growing up, I played against him a ton in youth hockey. His dad and my dad were pretty close friends, so we’ve known the family for a long time.” Michal Pivonka and Todd Krygier were teammates on the Washington Capitals for parts of six seasons in the 1990s.

Being a Part of Fighting Irish Hockey

Jake Pivonka verbally committed to the University of Notre Dame at the age of 14 as a high school freshman. “With playing youth hockey in Chicago, we always had tournaments all around the area, and Notre Dame would host quite a few of them. From an academic standpoint, I knew I wanted to challenge myself, I didn’t just want to go through the motion, I wanted to try and get an education that would challenge me. From a hockey standpoint, there’s not really any better facilities than Notre Dame, it’s super modern and up-to-date. The coaching staff is great, so it felt like a good fit, especially being close to home, allowing my parents to come to every home game, which is a nice little way to give back for all the times they drove me around when I was younger.”

When it comes to Notre Dame hockey, one common aspect for the past 16 seasons has been Head Coach Jeff Jackson behind the bench. Jackson is a coaching legend in the sport, starting his coaching career in 1986 with Lake Superior State as an assistant, then becoming head coach there before moving onto the Guelph Storm of the Ontario Hockey League. After that, he spent time as an assistant coach on Steve Stirling’s Islanders’ coaching staff, before joining Notre Dame in 2005.

Pivonka has the same high praise that all proteges of Jackson do. “(Working with Jackson) has been good, no doubt. The guy has so many years of experience, he’s been coaching for the majority of his life, so he definitely knows the game, he studies the game, he’s dialed in at all times. It’s been good to see the game through his eyes, breaking it down more than you would think.”

For Jake Pivonka, it is less about a teammate that he has learned the most from over his hockey journey more than a player that he has had the privilege to help get better while he does the same for Pivonka. “I’ve played with Spencer Stastney, who’s my year here at Notre Dame for about 11 years including youth hockey. I don’t know if I’ve learned anything from him, but he’s been one of my best friends through all of it. We went to school together, we played youth hockey together, we played at the (US) NTDP together, so we basically grew up as brothers.”

Pivonka said that the best part of being a Fighting Irish hockey player is the tradition. “Notre Dame is such a known college across all sports, primarily football, but the culture the school is built on. It’s old-fashioned, it’s a place that everyone knows, so why would you not want to play for them?”. His best moment came early in his NCAA career, winning the Big Ten Championship against Penn State in his freshman year.”

The Big Ten, in general, is tough to play in as their fans are as rowdy as anyone in sports, college or professional, and for Pivonka, he has one arena that sticks out as the toughest. “I would say Penn State (Pegula Ice Arena). Yost (Ice Arena, University of Michigan) is more fun, the students are super engaged, but at Penn State, you have that entire wall of students staring at you the entire time, so I’d say Penn State just because of how loud it gets.”

Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, Pivonka’s training regimen was adjusted, and at the end of the Big Ten tournament. “I didn’t take a whole lot of time off, with rinks being closed I couldn’t skate, and gyms were closed as well at the time, so in terms of training, it was mainly plyometrics, running, making sure I was eating right because I couldn’t get on the ice as often. Rollerblading was a big hit across the entire hockey community, and I have a net about ten minutes away from me at a roller rink I always go to.”

Being a Member of the Islanders’ Organization

Jake Pivonka was drafted by the New York Islanders in 2018 in the fourth round (103rd overall). With regards to the pre-draft experience, he hadn’t had much of an idea of what was going to happen. “I honestly had no clue (that the Islanders were going to draft me). I met with a few teams at the combine, but I don’t recall whether I met with the Islanders or not, so it was kinda a shock to me when they chose me, but obviously, it was all joy from there on out. The (combine) was intense. You had to be aware of what was going on at all times, you had to know where you had to be. The testing is a given that it’s going to be hard, but the interviews themselves, some were more serious, some were more lighthearted. It was a challenging weekend mentally, but we got through it.”

His initial reaction to getting the call from the Islanders was self-explanatory. “It was just excitement. I can’t really put it any other way, it’s what you grew up hoping to happen, just to get selected in the NHL Draft, so it was a dream come true for me there, and obviously, to be a part of such a great organization now, I couldn’t be happier.”

Pivonka’s first development camp with the Islanders shortly after getting drafted was a little different than the rest but overall was a great experience. “It was good, I was in summer school at the time, so I couldn’t go to the entire week of development camp. I was only able to get out there for two-and-a-half days or so. I went to one practice, one five-on-five scrimmage, and one three-on-three/four-on-four type scrimmage. Seeing Trotzy (Head Coach Barry Trotz) around the rink was interesting because my dad knows him. They knew each other when he (Jake’s father Michal) was playing, so it was an interesting experience, the first time for me being around that level of players aside from (US) NTDP and tournaments.” To the extent of what Michal told his son about Trotz, he didn’t give much inside to how he would be as a coach, but he said that he was a good guy and that’s all that was important there.

He’s been able to catch a little more Islanders hockey recently. “School is pretty demanding here, so I don’t have loads of free time, but it was nice when we had the bubble and hockey being on every night, we’d sit down every evening and watch one or two games and then head to bed, so I’ve been watching quite a bit.”

He has also stayed in contact with the Islanders organization. “I’d say (I speak to them) about once a month If I had to do on average, reaching out with the Islanders’ development staff. They’ve made it clear that they are always here to talk if I need or want to talk about hockey, so they have made themselves readily available to me.”

There are a few things that Pivonka wants to focus on this year. “Obviously, skating can always improve with how good people in the NHL skate, and just finding space and time to use my shot more often. Those are probably the two major points I am trying to hit on.”

Pivonka shared some advice, some that he’s received, and some that he’s giving. He said that the best advice he’s ever gotten was from his father, “Amongst other things, he has said it’s not going to be easy. He recognized that when I was little, my dream was to play in the NHL, but he always reminded me that it wasn’t going to be easy and that if you think you’re working hard one day, there is definitely someone else out there trying to outwork you, so just keeping that mindset that you always have to outwork your opponents.”

Finally, as he has progressed from youth hockey to the NCAA, and on the cusp of a contract, he had some advice to give to people aspiring to make the same jump as he did. “Just have fun, honestly. Focus on what sets you apart from other players and try and become the best at a certain part of the game, and then work your way through all your other weaknesses in the game. You want to become a well-rounded player that can play in any situation, but if you’re doing this all and you’re not having fun while you’re doing it, then what’s really the point? Just make sure you’re loving the game and cherishing the moments you have with your teammates.”

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