March 6, 2001

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NOTRE DAME FALLS SHORT IN PLAYOFF BID

  • Irish Drop Season Finale To Western Michigan, 7-2, And Miss Playoffs By One Point
  • Dan Carlson Finishes 20th On All-Time Scoring List With 132 Career Points
  • Freshman Defenseman Brett Lebda Named To CCHA All-Rookie Team

ROUGH ENDING:
The Notre Dame hockey team saw the 2000-01 season come to an end in disappointing fashion as the Irish were eliminated from the CCHA playoffs in the final game of the regular season … Notre Dame went into the final weekend needing any combination of three points – wins and ties for the Irish or losses and ties by Bowling Green and Lake Superior State … on Friday, March 2, the Irish won 5-4 at Western Michigan while Bowling Green was defeating Ferris State, 1-0, in overtime and Lake Superior was losing, 4-3, versus Northern Michigan … that loss eliminated the Lakers and it came down to the final game on Saturday with ND needing just one point to clinch the spot … Bowling Green did not cooperate as the Falcons downed Ferris State, 3-2, while Notre Dame was losing to Western Michigan, 7-2 … that moved Bowling Green into ninth place with 22 points while Alaska-Fairbanks was 10th with 21 … the loss snapped Notre Dame’s six-game unbeaten streak (4-0-2) to give the Irish a final record of 10-22-7 overall and 7-15-6 in CCHA play for 20 points and 11th place overall … this marks the first time since the 1996-97 season that Notre Dame has not made the CCHA Tournament.

SENIOR NIGHT:
Six members of the Notre Dame hockey team played their final game on Saturday night … the class includes (career stats included): goaltender Kyle Kolquist (8 gp, 0-5-2, 3.28 gavg., .902 sv%), defenseman Ryan Clark (120 gp, two goals, 13 assists, 15 points), forward Matt Van Arkel (139 gp, 20 goals, 16 assists, 36 points), forward Chad Chipchase (127 gp, 18 goals, 12 assists, 30 points), left wing Dan Carlson (158 gp, 52 goals, 80 assists, 132 points) and right wing Ryan Dolder (142 gp, 33 goals, 37 assists, 70 points) … Chipchase and Carlson served as alternate captains while Dolder was the team captain for the 2000-01 season.

WESTERN MICHIGAN RECAP:
On Friday night (3/2), Notre Dame ran its unbeaten streak to six games (4-0-2) with a 5-4 win at Western Michigan … David Inman (Jr., Toronto, Ont.) led the Irish with a goal and two assists while Rob Globke (Fr., West Bloomfield, Mich.) added a goal and an assist in the win which kept the Irish alive in their chase for the CCHA’s final playoff spot … after falling behind 1-0 early in the first period, Inman got his 11th of the year at 6:18 to even the score at 1-1 … Connor Dunlop (So., St. Louis, Mo.) made it 2-1 just 15 seconds into the second stanza on a breakaway goal … after Jeff Campbell scored a power play goal for Western to tie the game at 11:05, the Irish scored twice … Globke put Notre Dame ahead at 11:37 with his 17th of the season … defenseman Neil Komadoski (Fr., Chesterfield, Mo.) made it 4-2 as he converted a centering pass from Inman for his second of the season at 14:56 … Western cut the lead to 4-3 heading into intermission when Chad Kline scored at 15:25 … in the third, the Broncos tied the game at four on Mike Bishai’s power play goal at 6:29 … just 1:11 later, Ryan Dolder (Sr., Hutchinson, Minn.) took a centering pass from Dan Carlson (Sr., Edina, Minn.) and drilled it past goaltender Jeff Reynaert for the game winner … Jeremiah Kimento (Jr., Palos Hills, Ill.) made 33 saves in the game for the Fighting Irish while Reynaert had 23 … Western was 2-for-7 on the power play while Notre Dame was 0-for-6 …on Saturday night, Western Michigan jumped out to 4-0 and 7-1 leads on the way to the 7-2 win that eliminated the Irish from the playoffs … Ryan Crane and Bishai each scored a pair of goal and Campbell had a goal and three assists in the Bronco victory … Reynaert made 42 saves in goal for Western Michigan as the Irish outshot the Broncos, 44-41, on the night … Aaron Gill (Fr., Rochester, Minn.) and Sam Cornelius (Jr., Edina, Minn.) scored for the Irish … Kimento made 34 saves in the Notre Dame goal as the Irish outshot Western by a 44-41 margin.

LEBDA SELECTED TO CCHA ALL-ROOKIE TEAM:
Freshman defenseman Brett Lebda (Buffalo Grove, Ill.) has been selected to the Central Collegiate Hockey Association’s All-Rookie Team for the 2000-01 season … the rookie defenseman finished the season as the CCHA’s highest scoring rookie defenseman with seven goals and 19 assists for 26 points … good for second among all CCHA defensemen in the scoring column trailing only Michigan’s Jeff Jillson (10-18-28) … included in Lebda’s seven goals were two power play goals, two shorthanded goals and a game-winning goal … the offensive-minded defenseman finished third on the team with 112 shots on goal … in December, the 5-10, 195-pound blueliner became the first Notre Dame player to score five points in a game since 1994 when he had a goal and four assists in a 7-3 Irish win at Nebraska-Omaha … a product of the U.S. Under-18 Developmental Team, Lebda is the fifth Notre Dame player to be named to the CCHA All-Rookie Team joining David Inman (1998-99), Mark Eaton (1997-98), Joe Dusbabek (1996-97) and Jamie Ling (1992-93) … Lebda is joined on the team by goaltender Dan Ellis (Nebraska-Omaha), defenseman Mike Komisarek (Michigan) and forwards Jeff Campbell (Western Michigan), Dave Steckel (Ohio State) and R.J. Umberger (Ohio State).

HONORABLE MENTION:
Forwards Aaron Gill (11-15-26) and Rob Globke (17-9-26) were honorable mention choices for the CCHA All-Rookie Team … they finished the season tied for fourth among all league freshmen with 26 points … Globke’s 17 goals were second among freshmen to Western Michigan’s Jeff Campbell who had 23.

STREAKERS:
Several Notre Dame streaks came to an end in the 7-2 loss to Western Michigan … ND’s six-game unbeaten streak (4-0-2) was snapped … Dan Carlson’s second, nine-game point streak (7-7-14) was snapped … Carlson scored in 18 of Notre Dame’s last 21 games (12-16-28) … defenseman Evan Nielsen (So., Evanston, Ill.) saw his five-game scoring streak (2-4-6) stopped and and Brett Lebda’s four game streak (2-5-7) also ended.

DAN CARLSON NEWS AND NOTES:
Senior left wing Dan Carlson (Sr., Edina, Minn.) closed out his Notre Dame career by leading the Irish in scoring for the second season in a row … Carlson collected 17 goals and 25 assists for 42 points … the 17 goals equals Carlson’s career high while his assists (25) and points (42) are career bests … he is the first Notre Dame player to score 40 points in a season since the 1998-99 campaign when Ben Simon had 42 (18-24) … on Feb. 10, Carlson became Notre Dame’s all-time leader in games played (158), passing defenseman John Schmidt (1978-82) who played in 152 games during his career … Carlson finishes his career ranked 21st in goals (52), tied for 22nd in assists (80) and 20th in points with 132 … he also finishes his career fourth in shorthanded goals (6), 13th in power play goals (19) and is tied for eighth in game-winning goals (9) .. Carlson is also one of 28 players in Notre Dame history to record at least 50 goals and 50 assists in his career.

IN THE CLUTCH:
All 17 of Dan Carlson’s goals this season have been scored in CCHA league games … the senior left wing is tied for second with two others for the league goal scoring lead behind Western Michigan’s David Gove and Miami’s Jason Deskins who each scored 18 league goals in league play.

INJURY REPORT:
Left wing Brett Henning (Jr., Huntington, N.Y.) has announced his decision to retire from playing hockey due to a disc condition in his cervical spine…the condition materialized due to a trauma sustained in the second Lake Superior State game (12/2)…Henning missed the final 23 games…the Irish lost 63 man-games to injuries or illness this season.

HOT IRISH:
Notre Dame’s six-game unbeaten streak (4-0-2) that ended with the 7-2 loss to Western Michigan was the longest for the Fighting Irish since a six-game streak (5-0-1) that ran between Jan. 3 to Jan. 22, 1999 … the last time a Notre Dame team went seven games without a loss was the 1991-92 season when the Irish were 6-0-1 between Nov. 16 and Dec. 6 … that streak included two forfeits by the University of Maine for using an ineligible player … the last time Notre Dame went seven or more without a loss in actual games was the 1987-88 season when that team won 14 games in a row between Dec. 11 and Feb. 13 … the Irish played as an independent team that year.

JEREMIAH TO THE RESCUE:
Junior goaltender Jeremiah Kimento played in four consecutive games to end the 2000-01 season including making the final three starts of the year … Kimento was 2-1-1 in that span and finished the year with a 5-7-2 record with a 3.60 goals against and a .882 save percentage.

EIGHT IS ENOUGH:
Goaltender Tony Zasowski had his streak of eight straight starts stopped on Feb. 24 versus Alaska-Fairbanks … the sophomore goaltender started the previous night and played 40 minutes versus the Nanooks, but left in the third period with blurred vision after two goal mouth collisions … in his last four starts, Zasowski was 2-0-1 with a 3.20 goals against average and a .903 save percentage … in his eight consecutive starts going back to Jan. 27 at Yale, Zasowski was 3-3-1 with a 4.26 goals against and a .877 save percentage … on the year, he has made 21 starts and has a 5-11-3 record with a 4.01 goals against and a .876 save percentage.

CAREER YEAR:
Senior right wing Ryan Dolder closed out his collegiate career in fine fashion … Dolder finished with career highs in goals (15), assists (19) and points (34) … his previous best at Notre Dame came as a junior (1999-2000) when he had 10 goals and 14 assists for 24 points…he finished second on the squad in scoring (15-19-34) this season and was tied for 11th in the CCHA scoring race … Dolder picked up the first shorthanded goal of his career at Western Michigan (1/13) and then got his second a week later versus Ohio State (1/20)…he is second on the team with 12 multiple point games this season including a two assist game at Michigan (2/16) … the game winning goal versus Western Michigan was his first of the season.

HOCKEY HUMANITARIAN AWARD:
Irish right wing Ryan Dolder was nominated for the 2001 Hockey Humanitarian Award in December, but was not selected to the list of five finalists … the award will be presented at the 2001 Frozen Four in Albany, N.Y. the weekend of Apr., 5-7…the award is presented annually to the college hockey player, male or female from Division 1, 2 or 3, who has made a difference off the ice as well as on, to the team, to the program, to the school, and to the community in which the player lives…Dolder, a senior, is one of four players from the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) to be nominated for the award…he joins Alaska-Fairbanks’ Ryan Reinheller, a 2000 finalist for the award, Michigan State’s Damon Whitten and Nebraska-Omaha’s Jason Cupp among the 12 nominees.

CCHA HUMANITARIAN AWARD:
Irish right wing Ryan Dolder was also nominated for the Mike and Marian Illitch Hockey Humanitarian Award for the league’s top citizen based on their contributions off the ice as well as on, to his team, his program, his school, and his community. The award is named in honor of Mike and Marian Ilitch, owners of the Detroit Red Wings, who have both played integral roles in the growth of the CCHA and college hockey.

BEST FOR DUNLOP:
Sophomore left wing Connor Dunlop (St. Louis, Mo.) had career highs in goals (7) and points this season (19) … last season, the crafty forward had three goals and 13 assists in his rookie campaign …in his last seven games, Dunlop has moved from center to left wing with Aaron Gill and Ryan Dolder and has three goals and and two assists … the captain of the U.S. Junior National team at the Junior World Championships, Dunlop has scored three goals with seven assists in 16 games since his return in January.

GLOBKE GOALS:
Rob Globke’s 17 goals this season are the most by an Irish freshman since 1984-85 when Tom Mooney had 19 … Irish head coach Dave Poulin holds the school record for goals by a freshman with 28 during his first season (1978-79) … the high scoring right wing was named a CCHA honorable mention all-rookie team selection … after returning from the World Junior Championships, Globke had 10 goals and five assists for 15 points in 16 games.

LEBDA FOR THE DEFENSE:
Freshman defenseman Brett Lebda scored seven points in his last five games on the way to making the CCHA All-Rookie Team … during the last five games Lebda followed up his goal (game tying) and assist game at Michigan (2/16) with two assists in the 4-4 tie at Alaska-Fairbanks and a goal (game winner) and an assist in the 3-1 Irish win … he finished second in the CCHA among defensemen in scoring with 26 points (7g, 19a)…he trails only Michigan’s Jeff Jillson (10-18-28) … Lebda’s 26 points leads all CCHA freshmen defensemen…his 26 points are the most by an Irish rookie defender since Mark Eaton recorded 29 points (12g, 17a) in the 1997-98 campaign…Lebda had a career night (Dec. 20) in just the 19th game of his Notre Dame career as he collected a goal and four assists in the 7-3 win over Nebraska-Omaha…the four assists were the most by a Notre Dame player in a game since Oct. 21, 1994 when Jamie Ling had five assists versus Waterloo…the five-point game was also the most by an Irish player since Ling racked up seven points (2g, 5a) versus Waterloo…the rookie blueliner had three points (1g, 2a) versus Ferris State…his goal came on the power play (second of the year) in the 3-2 loss with just 17 seconds left to send the game into overtime…at Yale (1/28) Lebda had a goal and an assist in ND’s 4-3 win.

PENALTY LEADERS:
Two members of the 2000-01 Irish set the Notre Dame record for penalty minutes in a season … the previous single season mark was 104 minutes and was held by Brett Bruininks (`94-’95/44 penalties – 104 minutes) and Brent Chapman (’85-’86/46 penalties – 104 minutes) … those two were passed by Brett Lebda (37/109 minutes and Neil Komadoski (45/106 minutes) … Komadoski was four penalties off the school record for penalties in a season (49 – held by Steve Ely and set in 1984-85).

BY THE NUMBERS:
The Irish were 2-1-2 in their last five games, 4-1-2 in their last seven games, 5-3-2 in their last 10 games and 6-8-4 since Jan. 1 … the Irish were 3-2-1 in their last six home games after breaking a 10-game winless streak (0-9-1) on Jan. 12 versus Western Michigan.

FRESHMEN LEADERS:
Freshmen Rob Globke, Brett Lebda and Aaron Gill finished the season tied for fourth among all CCHA freshmen scorers … Lebda was selected to the All-Rookie team while Globke and Gill were selected honorable mention … all three collected 26 points on the season … Globke finished with 17 goals and nine assists, Gill had 11 goals and 15 assists and Lebda had seven goals and 19 assists for his 26 points … Lebda is the top scoring rookie defenseman in the league…Globke is second in goals among freshmen with 17 …they all trail Western Michigan’s Jeff Campbell who has 23-24-47 in 34 games this season and ranks sixth in league scoring…

OVERTIME NUMBERS:
Notre Dame’s 4-4 tie with Alaska-Fairbanks (2/23) marked the ninth time this season that the Irish played an overtime game … ND was 1-1-7 in those games…Notre Dame’s 3-2 overtime loss to Ferris State (Jan. 6) snapped ND’s 14-game unbeaten streak in overtime games (3-0-11)…the OT loss by the Irish was the first since March 5, 1999 when they fell at Miami…ND had also gone 14 overtime games without a loss at home (3-0-11), not dropping a game in overtime at the Joyce Center since a Nov. 17, 1996 loss to Mankato State…

RED HOT LINE:
For 14 games, the Irish line of Dan Carlson, Aaron Gill (Fr., Rochester, Minn.) and Ryan Dolder (Sr., Hutchinson, Minn.), all Minnesota natives, carried the Irish from Dec. 19 through Feb. 2 at Ohio State … the trio scored in 11 of its 14 games together and had a nine-game streak snapped versus Michigan (1/23) … in 14 games together, the line collected 19 goals and 25 assists for 44 points…Carlson led the group with nine goals, 10 assists and 19 points, Dolder followed with six goals, eight assists and 14 points and Gill had four goals, seven assists and 11 points.

IRON MEN:
Senior right wing Ryan Dolder (Hutchinson, Minn.) finished his Notre Dame career having played in 103 consecutive games including all 42 games in 1999-00 and all 39 this season … senior left wing Dan Carlson (Edina, Minn.) is the only other player to have played in every game in each of the last two seasons and finished with 101 consecutive games played … Carlson played in 158 of a possible 160 games in his Notre Dame career (missing two while at the ’98-’99 World Juniors).

CLOSING THE DEAL:
With the 5-4 win at Western Michigan (3/2), Notre Dame continued its success in games that the Irish lead after two periods … ND is unbeaten in its last 51 games when holding a lead at the second intermission (43-0-8, including 11-0-3 in 1999-2000) … the Irish are 8-0-3 in 2000-01 when leading after two periods…the last time ND lost after holding a second-intermission lead was Jan. 9, 1998, in the second of three games at Alaska-Fairbanks … UAF’s Sean Fraser tied the game (2-2) with a power-play goal in the third minute of the final period before Chris Kirwan converted a breakaway with 0:45 left in overtime … the Irish also are 27-3-5 since the 1998-99 season when leading at the first intermission (10-1-1 in 1999-2000 and 7-1-2 in 2000-2001).

NOT SO SWEET HOME:
Notre Dame finished the season with a 5-11-2 record at the Joyce Center … that is the worst mark for the Irish at home since a 5-12-1 home record in the 1996-97 season …in the two previous seasons, the Irish were a combined 23-10-6 (.667) on home ice … since the building opened, ND is 278-230-35 (.544) in 543 home games…

40 SAVES TIMES 2:
Sophomore goaltender Tony Zasowski turned in his second 40-save game of his career in the 4-4 tie with Michigan (2/16) … in that game, Zasowski faced 24 shots in the second period, making 20 saves … his first career 40-save game came in Notre Dame’s 4-3 win over Yale on Jan. 28…the 40 saves were the most by an Irish goaltender since Matt Eisler made 44 versus Michigan in a 3-1 loss on Feb. 17, 1997…Zasowski’s 40 saves was also the most by an Irish goaltender in a Notre Dame victory since Eisler kicked out 40 St. Cloud State shots in a 5-2 Notre Dame win on Jan. 24, 1997…

U.S. JUNIOR NATIONALS:
Connor Dunlop and Rob Globke were selected to the 2001 U.S. Junior National hockey team that finished fifth at the World Junior National Tournament in Moscow, Russia…this marks the fifth consecutive year that Notre Dame has had a representative on the U.S. team…in all, the Irish have had eight players play in the World Junior Championships: Jack Brownschidle (1976-77, 78-79), Ben Simon (1996-97, 97-98), Joe Dusbabek (1997-98), Dan Carlson (1998-99), Brett Henning (1999-2000), David Inman (1999-2000), Dunlop and Globke…

SHOT MARKS:
The 51 shots on goal surrendered by the Irish to Michigan (1/23) were the most given up by Notre Dame this season and the most the Irish have given up in a game since March 10, 1995 when they gave up 53 shots at Bowling Green…the previous high this season was 48 by Lake Superior State (12/2)…Michigan’s 24-shot second period on Feb. 16 is the most the Irish have given up in a period this season surpassing Lake Superior’s 20 shot first period on Dec. 2, 2000.

CARLSON TO THE RESCUE:
Senior left wing Dan Carlson jolted the Irish offense to life in the 7-3 win over Nebraska-Omaha (12/20) with his first career hat trick and first career four-point (3g, 1a) games…Carlson also picked up the game winner and a shorthanded goal in the game…his hat trick was the first by a Notre Dame player since November 13, 1998 when Aniket Dhadphale scored three at Bowling Green.

ROOKIE DUO:
Rob Globke (17 goals) and Aaron Gill (11 goals) are the first Irish duo to have 10 or more goals since 1997-98 when defenseman Mark Eaton had 12 and Dan Carlson had 11…Eaton would have been a member of this year’s senior class if he had not opted to turn pro with Philadelphia following his freshman year.

THREE WITH 25:
Three members of the Irish freshman class have scored 25 or more points this season … Rob Globke (17-9-26), defenseman Brett Lebda (7-19-26) and Aaron Gill (11-15-26) all finished the year with 26 points … that group marks the first time since the 1978-79 season that Notre Dame has had three freshmen with 25 or more points in a season … the trio of freshmen in 1978-79 were Dave Poulin (59), Jeff Logan (30) and John Schmidt (26).

FIVE GOAL OUTBURST:
Notre Dame’s five-goal, second period outburst versus Northeastern (10/20) marked the first time that the Irish have scored five goals in a period since November 2, 1996…that night at Bowling Green, ND scored five, third period goals to pull out a 7-5 win versus the Falcons…a year ago, Notre Dame only scored six or more goals in a game once, a 7-4 win over Nebraska-Omaha on Feb. 12th.

SEVEN GOAL OUTBURST:
The seven goals scored by Notre Dame in the 7-3 Irish win over UNO (12/20) was the most goals scored by ND this season…in fact, ND had scored just five goals in its previous five games…the last time the Irish scored seven or more goals in a game came on Feb. 12, 2000 in a 7-4 win at home versus Nebraska-Omaha…

A SPECIAL PLAYER:
Dan Carlson has played a key role on both special-teams units during his Notre Dame career … he finished his career tied for fourth with six shorthanded goals and was 13th all-time with 19 power play goals.

STANDING ROOM ONLY:
The standing room only crowd of 2,749 at the Notre Dame-Boston College game on November 10 was the largest crowd to watch a Notre Dame home hockey game since March 3, 1995 when a sellout crowd of 3,310 saw the Irish defeat Illinois-Chicago, 5-2…the capacity of the Joyce Center was reduced to 2,667 the following season (1995-96) when new seating was installed…this year, seating has increased to 2,713 due to relocation of the band…since capacity became 2,667 for the 1995-96 season, Notre Dame has played in front of 38 sellout crowds at the Joyce Center….

THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT:
In 39 games this season, Irish newcomers (seven freshman, one transfer) showed their abilities by contributing to the ND attack with 37 goals and 57 assists for 94 of the team’s 261 points…that amounts to 35.6% of the goals, 36.3% of the assists and 36.0% of the team’s points…Rob Globke (West Bloomfield, Mich.)with (17g, 9a), Aaron Gill (Rochester, Minn.), with (11g, 15a) and Brett Lebda (Buffalo Grove, Ill.) with (7g, 19a) each finished with 26 points … they are followed by Neil Komadoski (Chesterfield, Mo.) with (2g, 5a), Jon Maruk (Eden Prairie, Minn.) with (0g, 5a) and Tom Galvin with (0g, 4a).

CENTURY MARK:
Junior center David Inman (Toronto, Ont.) played in his 100th career game on Feb. 2 at Ohio State and has now played in 107 in his first three seasons at Notre Dame … he joins five Irish seniors who played 100+ games during their careers … senior defenseman Ryan Clark (Littleton, Colo.) played in 121 games in his career …senior center Chad Chipchase (Clinton, Ont.) played in 127 during his career…right wing Matt Van Arkel played in 139 overall while Ryan Dolder finished with 142 games played and Dan Carlson saw action in 158 during his career.

RISING PROSPECTS:
Two members of Notre Dame’s freshman class, Rob Globke (Fr., West Bloomfield, Mich.) and Neil Komadoski (Fr., Chesterfield, Mo.) are ranked among the top U.S. College players by the NHL’s Central Scouting…midseason report ranks Globke third among Division I college players and 21st among North Americans…Komadoski is rated 15th among college players and 86th among North Americans…Komadoski is eligible for the 2001 draft while Globke would have to opt-in to be selected in 2001…

ONE TIMERS:
ND’s 9-0 loss to Michigan (1/23) was the second time this season that the Irish have been blanked…the first came on Dec. 19, a 1-0 shutout at Nebraska-Omaha…the Irish have been held to one goal or less in nine games this season (0-8-1)…

DID YOU KNOW:
According to the CCHA, the average height and weight for a player in the league is six-foot tall and 188-pounds…Notre Dame’s average team height is 72.04 inches – just over six-feet tall – which ranks the Irish fifth in the league in that department…ND is the biggest team in the league weight-wise as the Irish tip the scales at an average of 195.96-pounds per player…

Bloodlines:
Four current members of the Notre Dame hockey program-junior F Brett Henning, junior LW Jon Maruk, sophomore C Connor Dunlop and freshman D Neil Komadoski-hold a unique connection, as each of their fathers enjoyed a lengthy career in the National Hockey League (see p. 39 of the 2000-01 Notre Dame media guide for photos from their playing days).

  • Lorne Henning played nine seasons with the New York Islanders (’72-’81) and has spent the past 15 years as an assistant and head coach in the NHL. An original member of the Islanders, Henning compiled 73G-111A as a forward over his 543-game career and played a major role in a four-year Stanley Cup dynasty (’80-’83). Henning served as an assistant with the Islanders from ’80-84 and ’87-’94, as head coach for the Minnesota North Stars (’85-’87) and the Islanders (’94-’95), and as a Chicago Blackhawks assistant from ’95-’98 before returning in ’98-’99 to the Islanders, as associate coach.
  • Dennis Maruk played 14 NHL seasons-with the California Seals (’75-’76), Cleveland Barons (’76-’78), Minnesota North Stars (’78-’79, `83-’88) and the Washington Capitals (’78-’83)-and finished as the NHL’s fourth-leading scorer in 1982 (60G-76A) while compiling 878 career points (356G-522A) in 888 games.
  • Blake Dunlop played 11 seasons in pro hockey (’73-’84), including NHL stints with the Minnesota North Stars (’73-’77), Philadelphia Flyers (`77-’79), St. Louis Blues (`79-’84) and Detroit Red Wings (’83-’84), while totaling 130G-274A in 550 career NHL games.
  • Rounding out the quartet is Neil Komadoski, Sr., who played eight NHL seasons as a defenseman with the Los Angeles Kings (’72-’78) and the St. Louis Blues (’77-’80), totaling 16G-76A and 632 penalty minutes in 501 career games.

Academic All-Americans:
Notre Dame is the nation’s only Division I hockey program to produce a GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-American during each of the past four seasons, with C Steve Noble earning second-team honors in 1996-97 and first-team honors in ’97-’98, followed by G Forrest Karr in ’98-’99 (second team) and LW Andy Jurkowski in 1999-2000 (third team) … senior left wing Dan Carlson and junior center David Inman are candidates for the 2000-01 season.

Double (OT) Dip:
Current Irish senior Dan Carlson turned in a rare feat during a three-week stretch of the 1999-2000 season, as the speedy left wing scored in overtime to beat both Western Michigan (4-3) and Ohio State (2-1) … that marked just the second time-and the first in 28 years- that an ND player has scored two overtime goals in the same season, as then-junior winger Paul Regan scored overtime goals in 1971-72 versus Michigan Tech (6-5) and Cornell (5-4).

FEELING A DRAFT:
Five current Notre Dame players have been selected in the National Hockey League draft since 1997…the five include – seniors Jay Kopischke (8th round, L.A. Kings) and Ryan Clark (9th round, N.Y. Islanders), both taken in the 1997 draft… juniors David Inman (2nd round, New York Rangers) and Brett Henning (9th round, New York Islanders) were both selected in the 1999 draft and sophomore Evan Nielsen (8th round, Atlanta Thrashers) was chosen in the 2000 draft…just two other teams in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association-Michigan (7) and Michigan State (6)-have more draft picks on their 2000-2001 rosters than Notre Dame.

USHL VETERANS:
Notre Dame’s 2000-01 roster-and particularly the freshman class-has plenty of experience with the United States Hockey League, as each of the five scholarship freshman-and junior newcomer Jon Maruk (Twin City Vulcans)-played in the USHL last season … all told, 17 different ND players have skated in the USHL, as members of that league’s traditional programs or the USA Hockey Under-18 Team … that group includes senior D Ryan Clark and sophomore LW Jake Wiegand (Lincoln Stars), senior LW Jay Kopischke (North Iowa Huskies), senior RW Ryan Dolder and Maruk (Twin City Vulcans), sophomore RW Michael Chin and freshman F Kyle Dolder (Des Moines Buccaneers) and sophomore G Tony Zasowski (Omaha Lancers) … Chin also played one year with the USA program, as did nine other current Irish players (see note below).

PATRIOTIC GROUP:
Notre Dame’s current roster includes 10 players who have past experience with USA Hockey, as members of the National Team Development Program (NTDP) and/or the National Junior Team … Notre Dame’s current total of eight NTDP alums is the most at any Division I school … that group includes junior F Brett Henning and four members of the sophomore class-RWs Michael Chin and John Wroblewski, C Connor Dunlop and D Paul Harris-plus a trio of freshmen: RW Rob Globke and D Neil Komadoski and Brett Lebda … senior LW Dan Carlson played with Team USA at the 1998-99 World Junior Championship while Henning, Dunlop and junior C David Inman played with the USA at the 1999-2000 World Juniors … four Irish players-Dunlop, Globke, Komadoski and Wroblewski-remain among the top candidates for the USA’s 2000-01 National Junior Team while a pair of 2000 Irish graduates-center Ben Simon and RW Joe Dusbabek-played for the USA at the World Juniors in ’96-’97 (Simon) and ’97-’98 (Simon and Dusbabek).

TAKING IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL:
During the past three seasons, the Notre Dame hockey program has sent several players to the professional ranks, with 10 of those recent players competing in 2000-01 … D Mark Eaton-who signed a free agent contract with the Philadelphia Flyers – had a solid 1998-99 season with the Philadelphia Phantoms of the American Hockey League and played 27 games with the Flyers in 1999-2000 before being traded to the Nashville Predators is with their IHL affiliate in Milwaukee … former Irish center and ’96 graduate Jamie Ling is currently with the Dayton Bombers where he serves as a player assistant coach … RW Brian Urick (’99) is with the Edmonton Oilers’ AHL team in Hamilton, Ont…LW Aniket Dhadphale (’99) started the season with the AHL’s Providence Bruins before being sent to Trenton (ECHL) while another ’99 graduate, D Benoit Cotnoir, is with the Mobile (Ala.) Mystics of the ECHL for his second year … five 2000 graduates likewise are active in pro hockey … C Ben Simon was in the camp of the Atlanta Thrashers and played in several preseason games before being assigned to the IHL’s Orlando (Fla.) Solar Bears … RW Joe Dusbabek attended the San Jose Sharks preseason camp and has joined the ECHL’s Roanoke Express … D Sean Molina tried out with the Chicago Wolves and has signed on with the ECHL’s Trenton (N.J.) Titans … D Nathan Borega was recently traded to Pensacola after starting the year as a member of the ECHL’s Louisiana Ice Gators while D Sean Seyferth has split time in the ECHL with the Dayton Bombers and the Wheeling Nailers.