Nov. 13, 2000
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- Freshman Right Wing Rob Globke Continues Strong Rookie Season
- Irish Fall To Top-Ranked Boston College 5-3 At Joyce Center
IRISH TAKE TIMEOUT:
The Notre Dame hockey team takes a 14-day break and will return to action with a weekend series versus the Northern Michigan Wildcats on November 24-25 at the Joyce Center. Face-off both nights is set for 7:05 p.m….the Irish, 3-6-2 overall and 1-2-1 in league play, will look to rebound from their November 10 loss to top-ranked Boston College (5-3)…Northern Michigan comes into this week’s action with a 5-3-3 record on the year while the Wildcats are 3-3-2 in CCHA play…they’ll play twice this week with a home-and-home series with Lake Superior State…all 2000-01 Irish hockey games, with the exception of ND’s games at Alaska-Fairbanks (2/23 and 2/24) will be broadcast on WHLY radio (1620 AM) with the play-by-play also available via the internet at www.und.com…
IRISH VERSUS WILDCATS:
Notre Dame and Northern Michigan have met 17 times in the all-time series with Northern holding a 9-5-3 advantage…at the Joyce Center, the Wildcats own a 6-4-1 edge in the 11 games played and are 3-1-2 versus the Irish in Marquette….Notre Dame is 0-3-1 in the last four meetings against NMU….the last time the Irish beat Northern Michigan was on March 12, 1999 in the first game of that year’s CCHA quarterfinals…the two teams met just twice last season at Marquette with the Irish tying the first game, 2-2, before dropping the second contest, 6-0…ND’s last win in Marquette was on February 20, 1998 (0-1-2 since then)….
THE COACHES:
Notre Dame head coach Dave Poulin owns a 74-105-24 mark (.424) in his sixth season at Notre Dame…Poulin is 5-3-3 in 11 games versus the Wildcats since their return to the CCHA for the 1998-99 season…Northern Michigan head coach Rick Comley, a 1972 graduate of Lake Superior State and the only hockey coach in Northern Michigan’s 25-year hockey history, heads into this week with a career record of 558-453-65 (.549) over 28 seasons…in 25 seasons at Northern Michigan, Comley is 499-407-62 (.548)…versus the Irish, Comley-coached teams are 9-5-3 in 18 meetings, but just 3-5-3 since the Wildcats returned to the CCHA in 1998…
IRISH UPDATE:
Notre Dame played just once last week falling to top-ranked Boston College, 5-3, on November 10th in front of a standing room only crowd of 2,749 at the Joyce Center…after Boston College scored at the 1:10 mark of the first period, the Irish evened the score at 12:10 of the period on Rob Globke’s (Fr., West Bloomfield, Mich.) power play goal…the goal was Globke’s team-best sixth of the season…the goal was setup by senior Dan Carlson (Edina, Minn.) who recorded the 99th point of his career with the assist…in the second period, Boston College would build a 4-1 lead before Notre Dame answered back…freshman center Aaron Gill (Rochester, Minn.) got one back at 14:34 of the second period via the power play for his second goal of the season…Jake Wiegand (So., Northville, Mich.) scored one second after a Notre Dame power play ended at 9:39 of the third period and the Irish were back in the game…senior right wing Matt Van Arkel (Richton Park, Ill.) set up Wiegand’s goal up with some brilliant puck handling in front of the BC goal after John Wroblewski (So., Neenah, Wisc.) won a big face-off deep in the Eagle zone….ND would have several chances following Wiegand’s goal, but BC goaltender Scott Clemmensen was a stonewall on his way to 34 saves and the win…Hobey Baker candidate Brian Gionta added a shorthanded goal for the Eagles’ 5-3 margin of victory…in the game, ND goaltender Tony Zasowski (Darien, Ill.) made 27 saves on the night as Notre Dame outshot Boston College 37-32 in the game…Notre Dame was two-for-nine on the power play while stopping BC’s potent power play on all seven chances…the game marked Notre Dame’s fifth matchup against a nationally-ranked team this season…the Irish are 0-5-0 in those games…
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS:
Northern Michigan hockey information can be found at www.nmu.edu/athletics….
INJURY REPORT:
Defenseman Neil Komadoski (Chesterfield, Mo.) is out indefinitely after suffering a shoulder injury in the first period of the Boston College (10/13) game. Komadoski has missed the last nine games… Defenseman Tom Galvin (Fr., Miller Place, N.Y.) suffered severed tendons in his left arm at practice on November 2nd…he underwent surgery to repair the tendons and is out indefinitely. He has missed the last three games… Center David Inman (Jr., Toronto, Ont.) suffered a concussion in the second period of Miami game (11/3)…Inman has sat out the last two games… Defenseman Paul Harris (So., Ridgefield, Conn.) suffered a shoulder injury at Miami (11/4) and missed the Boston College game….to date, the Irish have lost 22 man-games to injuries or illness this season…
ROOKIE SCORING LEADERS:
Freshman right wing Rob Globke is tied for the Fighting Irish team scoring lead with nine points (six goals, three assists)…his nine points also ties him for third among CCHA rookie scorers…he trails Western Michigan’s Jeff Campbell (10GP, 9g, 5a, 14pts) and Mike Jarmuth (9 GP, 0g, 11a, 11pts) and is tied with Michigan State’s Jeremy Jackson (9gp, 3g, 6a, 9pts)…Globke is second among rookie goal scorers in the league with six goals, trailing only Campbell who has nine…Campell is tied for sixth in the overall league scoring race, Jarmuth is tied for 10th and Globke and Jackson are tied for 20th on the season…
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 35 sellout crowds at the Joyce Center….
Notre Dame Hockey – By The Numbers
724
Career games played in the NHL by Irish head coach Dave Poulin
307
Career coaching wins by Lefty Smith, in 19 seasons at Notre Dame
152
Notre Dame record for career games played, set by defenseman John Schmidt (1978-82)
130:36
Shutout streak posted by Tony Zasowski, spanning 1999-2000 games versus New Hampshire and Michigan State (2)
104
ND record for career goals, set by Greg Meredith (1976-80) after scoring twice in his final game to best (see new note) …
103
Previous Irish career goals record, set by Eddie Bumbacco (1970-74)
86
Consecutive games played by Andy Jurkowski, from 1998-2000
79
All-time Notre Dame hockey letterwinners from the state of Minnesota
59
Pick used by New York Rangers to select Notre Dame’s David Inman in second round of 1999 NHL Draft
47
Saves posted by Matt Eisler in 3-0 win over Ohio State on Oct. 25, 1996 (most ever in a Notre Dame shutout)
32
Consecutive seasons spent working with the Notre Dame hockey program by current athletic trainer John Whitmer (covering all but the first season of the program’s modern era)
20
States and provinces represented among list of letterwinners during six-year tenure of head coach Dave Poulin (1995-present)
+15
Improvement in CCHA standings by Notre Dame from the 1996-97 to ’97-’98 seasons
15
Jersey number worn by noteworthy Irish players such as Paul Regan, Eddie Bumbacco, Dave Poulin and Brian Urick
10
Players on current Notre Dame roster who have played with USA Hockey (on the National Team Development Program or World Junior Championship team)
9
Jersey number worn by noteworthy Irish players such as Don Fairholm, Steve Schneider, Bill Rothstein, Curtis Janicke and Ankiet Dhadphale
6’6”
Tallest player in Notre Dame hockey history-defenseman Davide dal Grande (1992-96)
6:50
Quickest hat trick in Notre Dame history, by Sterling Black in 1973
5
Number of NHL draft picks on 2000-01 Notre Dame roster
4.0
Semester GPA posted 11 times by Notre Dame hockey players during past six years
2.56
Tony Zasowski’s Irish record season goals-against-average (1999-2000)
0
Combined goals scored by Notre Dame and Miami on Dec. 10, 1994-the CCHA’s first scoreless tie CCHA Coaches Poll (1st-place votes) Points
BACK IN ACTION:
Defenseman Ryan Clark (Sr., Littleton, Colo.) returned to the Notre Dame lineup versus Boston College after missing four games due to a viral infection…
SHOOTING THE PUCK:
After firing a season-high 42 shots on October 27 versus Michigan State, the Irish were held to just 45 shots in the weekend series at Miami…on Friday (11/3), Notre Dame had 23 shots on goal in the 5-2 win and on Saturday (11/4), the Irish got just 22 shots in the 1-1 tie…for the season, the Irish have outshot the opposition five times while being outshot five times…ND is 2-3-1 when it has more shots in a game and 1-3-1 when the Irish outshoot the opposition…on the season, ND is averaging 30.7 shots per contest…
IRISH FIRSTS:
Sophomore left wing Jake Wiegand (Northville, Mich.) scored his first goal of the season in the loss to Boston College…he was set up on the play by senior Matt Van Arkel (Richton Park, Ill.) who recorded his first assist of the year…
KOPISCHKE FOR THE DEFENSE:
With three defensemen, Neil Komadoski, Tom Galvin and Paul Harris, out of the lineup due to injuries and illness, Coach Dave Poulin has gone to his forwards to fill the opening on the Irish blueline…senior forward Jay Kopischke (Alexandria, Minn.) moved back to defense after playing the first 106 games of his career at forward and has played well for the Irish…Kopischke has picked up two assists while turning in a +1 in his five games as a defenseman…
CLOSING THE DEAL:
Notre Dame has built an impressive record in games that the Irish lead after two periods of play….ND is unbeaten in its last 44 games when holding a lead at the second intermission (38-0-6, including 11-0-3 in 1999-2000) … the Irish are 3-0-1 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 23-2-4 since the 1998-99 season when leading at the first intermission (10-1-1 in 1999-2000 and 1-0-1 in 2000-2001).
FOUR IN A ROW:
After not playing in five straight games (Oct. 13 – Oct. 26), sophomore goaltender Tony Zasowski has gotten the call in goal for the Irish in the last four games and turned in impressive numbers…over the four-game span (242:53), Zasowski is 1-2-1 giving up 11 goals on 123 shots for a 2.72 goals against average and a .911 save percentage…On the season, Zasowski is just 1-4-1 with a 3.61 goals against and a .887 save percentage…
IRON MEN:
Senior right wing Ryan Dolder (Hutchinson, Minn.) has now played in 75 consecutive games and was one of just two Notre Dame players to play in all 42 games last season…the other was senior left wing Dan Carlson (Edina, Minn.) who has now played in 130 of 133 games in his three-plus years at Notre Dame (missing two while at the ’98-’99 World Juniors)…Carlson needs to appear in 23 more games to break John Schmidt’s ND record for career games played (152, ’78-’82).
SPECIAL TEAMS:
Notre Dame’s special teams continued to improve versus Boston College…the Irish were two-for-nine on the power play and scored their third goal just one second after a penalty expired…over the last three games, the Irish are four-for-18 (22.2%) with the man-advantage while for the season, ND is seven-for-71 (9.9%)…on the penalty killing side of the ledger, the Irish have shut out the opposition the last three games and have now killed 16 consecutive penalties…for the season, the Irish have improved from 33-of-48 (68.8%) following the Michigan State games to 49-of-64 (76.6%) following the Boston College game (11/10)….
STREAKS:
Senior left wing Dan Carlson has now scored points in three straight games (2-3-5)…Rob Globke has points in eight of his last nine games (5-3-8)….
OVERTIME NUMBERS:
Notre Dame is unbeaten in overtime in its last 13 ovetime games going 3-0-10 since the beginning of the 1999-2000 season…the Irish are 1-0-2 this season and were 2-0-8 a year ago…the last time ND lost in overtime was March 5, 1999 at Miami…Notre Dame is also unbeaten in its last 13 home overtime games (3-0-10)…the last time the Irish lost in extra time at home was November 17, 1996 when the Irish fell to Mankato State, 4-3….
HOME SWEET HOME:
After starting the season with three games at neutral sites, the Irish had eight of their next ten games at home…in that span, the Irish are 2-4-0 in the first six home games and 1-0-1 in the two road games…ND closes out its current three-game home stand on November 24-25 with a visit from the Northern Michigan Wildcats…ND’s 2-4 home record gives the Irish a 25-14-3 (.646) over the last three years at the Joyce Center…since the building opened, ND is 275-223-33 (.550) in 531 home games….
GLOBKE NAMED ROOKIE OF THE WEEK:
Freshman Rob Globke was selected as the CCHA’s Rookie of the Week for the week ending October 22nd…the 6-2, 200-pound right wing had two goals and an assist in the three games versus Wayne State and Northeastern…he is the first Irish player to receive this honor since Tony Zasowski was named rookie of the week for the week ending January 24, 2000…
CENTURY CLUB:
With his current three-game point scoring streak (2-3-5) senior right wing Dan Carlson needs just one more point to become the 38th player in Notre Dame hockey history to score 100 or more points in his career…Carlson comes into this week with 37 goals and 62 assists for 99 career points…He is currently tied for 38th on ND’s all-time scoring list.
FIVE GOAL OUTBURST:
Notre Dame’s five-goal, second period outburst versus Northeastern 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 February 12th…
THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT:
Through the first 11 games of the season, the Irish newcomers (seven freshman, one transfer) have shown their abilities by contributing to the ND attack with nine goals and 14 assists for 23 of the team’s 74 points…that amounts to 30.0% of the goals, 31.8% of the assists and 31.1% of the team’s points…Rob Globke leads the way (6g, 3a), followed by Aaron Gill (Rochester, Minn.) with (2g, 4a), Brett Lebda (Buffalo Grove, Ill,) with (1g, 3a), Jon Maruk (Eden Prairie, Minn.) with (0g, 3a) and Tom Galvin with (0g, 1a)…
THE TOP OF THE LIST:
Senior right wing Ryan Dolder has picked up where he left off last season as he is Notre Dame’s top scorers through the first 11 games of the season with five goals and four assists for nine points…last season, Dolder closed out his junior year by scoring a goal in each of the Ferris State playoff games to help the Irish to a trip to the CCHA semifinals at Joe Louis Arena…he has scored in seven of his last nine games (5-4-9)…versus Northeastern (10/20) he personally wiped out a 2-0 first period deficit as he scored a pair of goals just 19 seconds apart early in the second period…the Hutchinson, Minn. native had a goal and an assist in the 5-2 Irish win over Miami (11/3)…
MAKING THE MOST OF A CHANCE:
Sophomore defenseman Paul Harris (Ridgefield, Conn.) worked his way into the Irish lineup after battling injuries as a freshman and only playing in nine games …this season, Harris moved into the lineup at the Maverick Stampede after fellow soph Evan Nielsen (Evanston, Ill.) came down with the flu prior to the Boston College game…Harris has picked up two assists in nine games this season and owns a team-best +4…
STOPPING THE PUCK:
Sophomore goaltender Tony Zasowski (Darien, Ill.) has started ND’s last four games (the final Michigan State game, both games of the Miami series and the Boston College game) …prior to that, goaltender Jeremiah Kimento (Palos Hills, Ill.) made five consecutive starts from Oct. 14 through Oct. 26…during that streak, Kimento was 2-2-1 in the five starts with a 3.33 goals against and a .887 save percentage…
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 mdia 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 Capitols (’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.
RISING TO THE TOP:
Senior LW Dan Carlson is one of the top returning scorers in the CCHA, as his 35 points in 1999-2000 (17G-18A) rank sixth among current CCHA players, behind Western Michigan’s David Gove (18G-28A), Michigan State’s Adam Hall (26G-13A), Miami’s Pat Leahy (16G-22A), MSU’s Rustyn Dolyny (18G-19A) and Ferris State’s Kevin Swider (15G-21A).
JUNIOR JUMP:
Junior C David Inman-who had 10G-10A as a freshman and 13G-7A as a sophomore-will be hoping to be the latest in a recent trend of Notre Dame forwards who have made huge goal scoring jumps in their junior seasons … that group includes LW Aniket Dhadphale, C Ben Simon and current senior LW Dan Carlson (18G in first two seasons, 17 as a junior in 1999-2000)…through the first nine games of the season, Inman has gotten off to a fast start with four goals and two assists….among those four goals are two power play markers…the Toronto, Ont. native suffered a concussion in Friday’s (11/3) game versus Miami and did not play in the Saturday contest…
CENTURY MARK:
Senior defenseman Ryan Clark (Littleton, Colo.) has now played in 94 career games at Notre Dame…he needs to play in six more games to join five of his teammates with 100 or more games played…senior center Chad Chipchase (Clinton, Ont.) played in his 100th career game versus the Northeastern Huskies (10/21) and has now played in 105 during his career…right wing Matt Van Arkel played in his 100th career game versus Minnesota and has now played in 109 overall…the remainder of that group includes Dan Carlson (130), Ryan Dolder (113) and Jay Kopischke (111).
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 (Twin City Vulcans) 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).
A 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).
RISING PROSPECTS:
Two members of Notre Dame’s freshman class are considered top prospects for upcoming NHL drafts … defenseman Neil Komadoski was rated by NHL Central Scouting as the No. 51 prospect for the 2000 draft (even though he is not eligible for the draft until 2001) … first-year RW Rob Globke likewise could develop into a high-end draft prospect but will not be eligible for the draft until 2002.
A SPECIAL PLAYER:
Dan Carlson has played a key role on both special-teams units during his Notre Dame career and could become the fifth player to rank among Notre Dame career top 10 for both power-play goals and shorthanded goals … Carlson needs seven PPGs to crack that ND career top-10 list (10 shy of fifth) while his four career shorthanded goals rank 11th in ND history, three back of the record shared by three players.
MAKING HIS MARK:
Former Notre Dame hockey standout, Brian Urick (`99) was named the American Hockey League’s Player of the Week for the week ending October 22, 2000…Urick helped lead the Hamilton Bulldogs, the Edmonton Oilers top famr club, to three wins during the week scoring four goals with two assists for six points…he was named First Star twice, following a 6-5 win (2 G’s 2 A’s) versus Quebec and after Hamilton’s 4-3 win over Philadelphia (1 goal)…through the first eight games of the season, Urick is tied for the team lead in goals with five and has eight points…
TAKING IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL:
During the past three seasons, the Notre Dame hockey program has sent several players on to the professional ranks, with 10 of those recent players competing in 2000-01 … D Mark Eaton-who in the summer of 1998 opted to forego his final three years of college eligibility at Notre Dame and 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 prior to the start of the season … 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) had a solid preseason camp with the Edmonton Oilers and has been assigned to the AHL’s Hamilton (Ont.) Bulldogs … LW Aniket Dhadphale (’99) currently with the AHL’s Providence (R.I.) Bruins while another ’99 graduate, D Benoit Cotnoir, was in the tryout camp of the International Hockey League’s Chicago Wolves before returning to the Mobile (Ala.) Mystics of the East Coast Hockey League (he also played in Mobile last season) … 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 currently is a member of the ECHL’s Louisiana Ice Gators while D Sean Seyferth is in the ECHL with the Dayton Bombers.
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 (as part of the fall-winter at-large program), 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).
CENTURY MEN:
Senior LW Dan Carlson is on the verge of becoming the fourth ND hockey player in the last three seasons to reach 100 points…through the first 11 games, Carlson has 37G-62A for 99 points … RW Brian Urick (57G-69A) and LW Aniket Dhadphale (61G-44A) each reached 100 in the ’98-’99 season while C Ben Simon (44G-86A) reached the milestone in 1999-2000 … Carlson needs 13 more goals in his final season to join Urick and center Jamie Ling (’92-’96) as the third Irish player since 1993-and 28th overall-to reach 50G-50A in his career (he needs 23G-to become ND’s 17th 60-60 player and first since Dave Bankoske did it from 1988-93) … a 41-point season in 2000-01 would land Carlson among ND’s top-20 career scorers (Ling, with 51G-102A, is the only post-1993 player on that list, at 13th).
CLUSTER PARTNERS, PART II:
The rotating CCHA cluster schedule has yielded four games for the Irish in 2000-01 versus Ohio State, Miami and Western Michigan-with two vs. the other eight squads in the 28-game schedule … the following CCHA teams will not visit the Joyce Center in 2000-01: Alaska Fairbanks, Lake Superior, Michigan and Nebraska Omaha … the Irish will not make regular-season trips in 2000-01 to Bowing Green, Ferris State, Northern Michigan and Michigan State … ND’s 1999-2000 cluster partners were UAF, MSU and UNO, with the 2001-02 partners to include Bowling Green, Ferris State and Michigan.
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:
ND and Boston College both had four players selected in the ’97 NHL draft, most by any Division I school … the drafted players included a pair of forwards who graduated in 2000-Ben Simon (5th round, Chicago Blackhawks) and Joe Dusbabek (7th round, San Jose Sharks)-plus current seniors Jay Kopischke (8th round, L.A. Kings) and Ryan Clark (9th round, N.Y. Islanders) … four ND players have been selected in the first nine rounds of the same NHL draft just once previously, in ’75 … the 2000-01 ND hockey team includes five players that have been selected in the National Hockey League draft … in addition to Clark and Kopischke, ND’s drafted players include a pair of junior forwards who were selected in the 1999 NHL draft-David Inman (2nd round, New York Rangers) and Brett Henning (9th round, New York Islanders)-plus sophomore D Evan Nielsen (8th round, Atlanta Thrashers, 2000) … 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.
Midwest Magic:
Notre Dame continues to reap the benefits of the rapidly-improving youth hockey programs in the lower Midwest (namely Illinois and Missouri), as one-third of the current roster includes players from Illinois (6) or Missouri (2) … four of those players also are products of the USA Hockey National Team Development Program (NTDP): sophomore RW Michael Chin (Urbana, Ill.), sophomore C Connor Dunlop (St. Louis, Mo.) and first-year D Brett Lebda (Buffalo Grove, Ill.) and Neil Komadoski (Chesterfield, Mo.) … sophomore D Evan Nielsen (Evanston, Ill.) was invited to join the NTDP but returned for his senior year at The Taft School … ND’s other Illinois natives include the team’s top two returning goaltenders-junior Jeremiah Kimento (Palos Hills) and Tony Zasowski (Darien)-plus senior RW Matt Van Arkel (Richton Park). … prior to 1995, the ND hockey program had produced just eight total letterwinners from Illinois and two from Missouri.
ROAD TRIP ANYONE?:
The Notre Dame hockey program again will travel plenty of miles during the 2000-01 season, as the Irish are slated to traverse the equivalent of nearly 17,000 miles in the upcoming season-after travelling nearly 18,000 in 1999-2000 (17,907, or close to three-quarters of the Earth’s diameter) … the longer trips of 2000-01 include the season-opening game versus Minnesota, a trip to Omaha for the Maverick Shootout (plus a later series with Nebraska Omaha), an upper-peninsula visit to Lake Superior, the RPI Christmas Tournament in Troy, N.Y., a pair of games versus Yale in New Haven, Conn., and a return journey to Fairbanks, Alaska (ND’s third trip to UAF in the last four seasons) … the 1999-2000 campaign likewise included trips to Omaha and Fairbanks, plus a pair of visits to tournaments in Denver, Colo., a Thanksgiving tournament at New Hampshire and an upper-peninsula visit to Northern Michigan … here’s a breakdown of the 2000-01 trips, based on average roundtrip land mileage:
PRESEASON CCHA POLLS:
In the fall of 1999, the Central Collegiate Hockey Association coaches correctly predicted the regular-season finishes of Michigan (1st), Michigan State (2nd), Northern Michigan (3rd, ended tied for 3rd), Miami (9th, ended tied for 9th), Western Michigan (10th, ended tied for 9th) and Alaska Fairbanks (12th) while the CCHA media poll correctly predicted the finishes of NMU, Notre Dame (5th), Miami, WMU and UAF.
Heading into 2000-2001, the polls both have picked Michigan and Michigan State to repeat at the top spots. Michigan received 11 of 12 first-place votes in the coaches poll but the Spartans garnered 19 first-place votes and 467 voting points in the media poll to edge Michigan (which had 20 first-place votes and 460 points).
Nebraska-Omaha was picked third by the coaches, followed by Lake Superior, Notre Dame, Miami, Ferris State, Northern Michigan, Bowling Green, and Ohio State-while Western Michigan and Alaska-Fairbanks were predicted to finish out of the playoffs.
The media poll tabbed Lake Superior and Northern Michigan in third and fourth, followed by UNO, which received one first-place vote. Notre Dame, Bowling Green and Ferris State were next in the media poll, followed by Miami (which also received a first-place ballot), OSU, WMU and UAF.