Notre Dame Fighting Irish - Official Athletics Website

Hockey Hosts Alaska Fairbanks For Two-Game Series

Nov. 9, 1999

The Notre Dame hockey team (2-6-2, 1-5-2 CCHA) returns home for a two-game series with Alaska Fairbanks, with the Irish still searching for greater consistency after picking up one point last week at Nebraska Omaha (2-2, 3-5) …
the Irish are tied with UAF and UNO for ninth in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association standings, two points behind Bowling Green, Lake Superior and Miami …
the UAF games will be carried live in South Bend by WJVA 1580 AM (also available on realaudio via the Notre Dame athletic web site, at www.und.com) …
the Irish are in the midst of playing just four CCHA games in November (and only two home games), with an upcoming bye week followed by a trip to New Hampshire for games vs. UNH and Vermont.

AROUND THE HORN:
The Irish rank ninth in the CCHA for overall goals per game (2.40), seventh in goals allowed (3.20), fourth in power-play pct. (.169), 11th in penalty-kill pct. (.787) and first in fewest penalty minutes/gm (15.60) …
sophomore LW David Inman is tied for seventh in the CCHA with six goals (he totaled 10 in ’98-’99) …
Notre Dame scored twice in the first period of last week’s 5-3 loss at UNO, after totaling just one first-period goal in the first nine games (on 75 first-period shots) …
senior LW Andy Jurkowski has a point in four of the last five games, including goals vs. Ferris State, Miami and UNO (he had 2G-4A in 70 career games prior to this season) …
Tyson Fraser and fellow senior D Nathan Borega have skated together in 70 career games (three straight) …
Notre Dame has scored power-play goals in eight of 10 games this season while 10 of the team’s total 24 goals have come on the PP …
senior C Troy Bagne scored his fourth career goal (and second career CCHA goal) in the 2-2 tie at UNO …
freshman G Tony Zasowski followed up his CCHA rookie-of-the-week honor by stopping 37 of 39 shots in the 2-2 tie at UNO …
Notre Dame was 2-for-13 on the PP in the UNO series, including a pair of ailed 5-on-3 chances that spanned a combined 2:28 …
senior C Ben Simon scored a PPG in the 2-2 tie at UNO, for his first point since recording a goal and assist in the season-opening series versus Michigan (Simon also had 2A in the 5-3 loss at UNO) …
prior to the first UNO goal of the series, the Irish had stopped 16 straight opponent PPs, after allowing three PPGs in both losses to Ferris State …
Notre Dame has scored two or fewer goals in six of 10 games (two games with three, one with four, one with five) …
Notre Dame’s five goals in the UNO series included three from unexpected sources: Bagne (4 career goals in 103 games), Jurkowski (5 in 80) and Fraser (7 in 100) …
Notre Dame’s last eight OT games have produced seven ties and one loss (0-1-5 in 1998-99).

THE BOUNCE-BACK FACTOR:
Notre Dame’s ’98-’99 season was defined by a series of improved outcomes in the second game of weekend action, including wins over North Dakota and Northern Michigan and a tie with Michigan. The Irish this season have managed just one point in the second game of four CCHA series (0-3-1, outscored 17-8), compared to a 1-2-1 in opening games (outscored 13-11). A dropoff in special teams production has played a key role in Notre Dame’s second-game series production this season (see chart and additional text on p. 3).

THEY’RE CALLED SPECIAL FOR A REASON:
Timely power-play goals have played a role in Notre Dame’s 2-6-2 start, with four margins of defeat caused by opponent PPGs while the Irish PP has yet to provide a winning margin. Other factors such as a shortage of first-period goals (3) and a lack of consistent goalscorers (just one player with four-plus) have led to the slow start (see chart and additional text on p. 3). Notre Dame’s 24 goals this season are just two more than the line of Brian Urick (8), Ben Simon (5) and Aniket Dhadphale (9) had totaled through the first 10 games of the 1998-99 season.

ONE SMALL, HAPPY CLUSTER:
Notre Dame continues play in its four-team CCHA “cluster”, which also includes Nebraska-Omaha and Michigan State (Dec. 4 at home, Dec. 5 at MSU) …
due to the new format, the Irish will not play at Michigan, Western Michigan, Lake Superior or Miami in he 1999-2000 regular season while the following teams will not travel to the Joyce Center: Ferris State, Northern Michigan, Ohio State and Bowling Green.

NO, NO NANOOKS:
UAF leads the all-time series, 12-9-0, but Notre Dame has captured the last three series (7-2-0) …
ND dominated in ’98-’99 (6-2, 6-1, 5-2, at home), outshooting the Nanooks 119-65 while going 7-for-18 on the power play, 12-for-12 on the penalty kill …
Notre Dame has won five of its last six vs. UAF, with a 239-127 shot edge (average of 40-21) and a 12-for-34 PP in those games (.353) …
top Irish career scorers vs. UAF: senior C Ben Simon (8 games, 3G-10A), senior RW Joe Dusbabek (9, 3-6) and junior LW Dan Carlson (6, 3-4).

SCOUTING UAF (www.uaf.alaska.edu):
Alaska Fairbanks has opened with a 3-7-0 record (2-6-0 CCHA), after dropping a series last week with Michigan State (1-5, 0-3) …
UAF opened with six straight home games, versus Ohio State (2-4, 5-1), Alaska Anchorage (3-1, 1-3) and Michigan (4-2, 1-4) before dropping a pair at Bowling Green (2-8, 4-5) …
UAF ranks 10th in the CCHA for scoring (2.30 goals/gm), ninth in goals allowed (3.60), ninth in power-play pct. (.113), third in penalty-killing pct. (.878) and 11th in fewest penalty minutes per game (24.80) …
top early scorers for UAF include senior LW Nathan Rocheleau (3G-4A), sophomore D Aaron Grosul (2G-5A), sophomore F Bobby Andrews (3G-3A) and sophomore D Daniel Carriere (4G-1A) …
freshman Lance Mayes has played 514 of 600 minutes in the UAF nets, with a 3-6-0 record, 3.16 GAA and .908 save pct. …
UAF returned 20 of 26 letterwinners from its 1998-99 team that went 11-22-1 and finished eighth in the CCHA (8-21-1) …
UAF’s top returning scorers from ’98-’99 include junior C Jim Lawrence (8G-14A), junior D Darren Tiemstra (4G-5A) and senior C Kerry Hafele (8G-11A) …
the Nanooks’ top losses include LW Chris Kirwan (14G-12A), RW Jamie Coady (10G-9A) and G Ian Perkins (9-15-1, 3.67 GA, .894 save pct.) …
first-year Alaska Fairbanks head coach Guy Gadowsky is a 1989 graduate of Colorado College and spent the previous three seasons as head coach of the Fresno Falcons of the West Coast Hockey League …
Gadowsky replaced former Notre Dame goaltender Dave Laurion, who resigned after the ’98-’99 season (his sixth year at UAF).

RECAPPING THE ’98-’99 ND-UAF SERIES

at ND 6, UAF 2 (1/15/99) – Aniket Dhadphale and Dan Carlson each scored twice as Notre Dame won while playing without regulars Ben Simon (delayed CCHA suspension), Tyson Fraser (injured) and Ryan Clark (rehabilitation) …
UAF jumped ahead on Pat Hallett’s goal but the Irish went on to score the next five goals, with Dhadphale’s PPG and a Chad Chipchase goal providing a 2-1 lead at the first intermission …
Carlson and Dhadphale scored in the second period, with PPGs from Carlson and Brett Henning extending the lead in the third period …
the Irish amassed a 43-22 edge in shots and went 3-for-7 on the power play …
Forrest Karr made 20 saves in the winning effort.

Alaska-Fairbanks     1    0    1    -    2Notre Dame           2    2    2    -    6

1st:
UAF 1. Hallett (Lawrence, Zinger) 1:34, ND 1. Dhadphale (Carlson, Inman), PP, 11:14, ND 2. Chipchase (Hagkull) 13:34.

2nd:
ND 3. Carlson (Urick, Henning) 16:23, ND 4. Dhadphale (Molina, Dusbabek) 19:07.

3rd:
ND 5. Carlson (Urick, Cotnoir), PP, 0:37, UAF 2. Coady (Grosul), 4-4, 3:40, ND 6. Henning (Cotnoir), PP, 4:31.

Saves:
UAF – Chris Marvel 11 15 11 – 37
ND – Forrest Karr 6 6 8 – 20

Power Play:
UAF 0-5, ND 3-7.

Penalties:
UAF 9 for 18:00, ND 7 for 14:00.

ND 6, at UAF 1 (1/16/99) – Five different players scored goals as Notre Dame completed the weekend sweep …
Aniket Dhadphale received a game misconduct penalty just four minutes into the game …
Chad Chipchase scored two goals and added an assist to pace a balanced attack for the Irish, who outshot Fairbanks 35-22 …
nine different players had at least one point and five players had multiple points …
the Irish power play scored twice in seven chances …
the Nanooks averted the shutout when Chris Kirwan scored with 10:54 to play.

Alaska-Fairbanks        0    0    1      -    1Notre Dame              2    2    2      -    6

1st:
ND 1. Simon (Dusbabek), PP, 5-3, 6:31, ND 2. Urick (Henning), SH, 7:58.

2nd:
ND 3. Chipchase (Simon, Urick) 0:34, ND 4. Chipchase (Carlson, Cotnoir), 4-4, 18:40.

3rd:
UAF 1. Kirwan (Wynia, Zinger) 9:06, ND 5. Dusbabek (Van Arkel, Seyferth), PP, 11:53, ND 6. Van Arkel (Chipchase) 15:06.

Saves:

       UAF - Ian Perkins   12   7  10  -  29
ND - Forrest Karr 5 10 6 - 21

Power Play:
UAF 0-3, ND 2-7.

Penalties:
UAF 9 for 18:00, ND 5 for 21:00.

at ND 5, UAF 2 (2/6/99) – Notre Dame exploded for four first-period goals for the season sweep …
Notre Dame’s four first-period goals came on 26 shots …
the Irish dominated the season series, holding a 17-4 scoring edge while outshooting the Nanooks 119-65 over the three games …
Notre Dame’s special teams posted a 7-for-18 power play in the series while killing all 12 Nanook man-up advantages over the course of the three games …
Ben Simon and Brian Urick each had a goal and two assists in the series finale …
Joe Dusbabek’s goal gave him six points in a seven-game stretch.

Alaska-Fairbanks   1    1    0    -    2   Notre Dame         4    1    0    -    5 

1st:
ND 1. Urick (Simon, Carlson), 5-3, 6:18, UAF 1. Wynia (Reinheller, Tiemstra) 8:43, ND 2. Dhadphale (Fraser, Urick), PP, 10:38, ND 3. Cotnoir (Simon) 13:16, ND 4. Dusbabek (Cotnoir, Carlson) 19:38.

2nd:
UAF 2. Kirwan (unassisted), 4-4, 7:46, ND 5. Simon (Urick, Dhadphale) 14:41.

Saves:

       UAF - Ian Perkins    22    8    6  -  36  
ND - Forrest Karr 5 7 7 - 19

Power Play:
UAF 0-4, ND 2-4.

Penalties:
UAF 6 for 12:00, ND 6 for 12:00.

FRIEND OR FOE?:
Notre Dame senior D Nathan Borega is a former teammate of four UAF players: senior RW Sjon Wynia (Vernon Vipers), junior RW Scott McIlroy (Anchorage Northstars), sophomore F Jake Flora and freshman G Dirk Menard (both Colony HS).

LAMP LIGHTERS:
Notre Dame continues to look for boosts to its offense, after graduation losses of RW and team captain Brian Urick (16G-25A in ’98-’99), LW power-play ace Aniket Dhadphale (18-11) and All-America D Benoit Cotnoir (7-18) …
senior C/LW Ben Simon (34 career goals, 70 assists) is the team’s most accomplished scorer while sophomore C/LW David Inman has six of the 24 Irish goals this season …
Inman has 11 points (9G-2A) in the last 15 regular-season games while junior F Ryan Dolder has six (3G-3A) in the last 14 …
freshman C Connor Dunlop it tied for the team scoring lead with seven points, including assists on four of the team’s five goals at the IceBreaker …
Notre Dame’s trio of junior LWs-Dan Carlson, Chad Chipchase and Jay Kopischke-are due for a scoring breakthrough, as that threesome has combined for just four goals in Notre Dame’s last 26 games …
Carlson’s goal in the 3-2 CCHA playoff win over Northern Michigan represented his only goal in 21 games (before his recent PPGs vs. Ferris State and Miami) while Chipchase’s crucial goal in the ’98-’99 season finale at Miami (4-2) marks his only goal in his last 23 games …
Kopischke has not scored since Jan. 30, 1998, spanning 45 games played …
senior RW Joe Dusbabek could provide a huge scoring lift for the Irish, after scoring 13 goals during his big freshman season (he has seven goals, plus 25 often timely assists, in 64 games over the past three years, including a 16-game goal drought that ended with a pair of PPGs in the Miami series) …
sophomore C Brett Henning had just one goal in his previous 19 games before scoring in the recent win over Union and the tie vs. Miami while junior RW Matt Van Arkel’s goals vs. Union and Miami have extended his history of strong early-season play (19 of his 25 career points have come before New Year’s Day).

EARLY ROOKIE HONORS:
The Notre Dame hockey team produced its second CCHA rookie-of-the-week three weeks, as freshman goaltender Tony Zasowski (Darien, Ill.) was recognized on Nov. 1 for his strong series vs. Miami (center Connor Dunlop was honored by the CCHA on Oct. 18) …
Zasowski made 58 saves in the series while allowing four goals (5-2, 2-2) and helping stop all 14 MU power plays …
Zasowski became the first freshman to start in net for the Irish since Matt Eisler made his first career start in the second game of 1994-95 …
Dunlop (St. Louis, Mo.) assisted on four of Notre Dame’s five goals (including all three PPGs) in the IceBreaker Tournament …
he had the primary assists on third-period goals by Matt Van Arkel and Brett Henning that helped clinch the win over Union (4-0) while also assisting on David Inman’s first goal in that game …
Dunlop also assisted on Tyson Fraser’s PPG in the 2-1 loss to Providence and had a shorthanded goal in the 5-3, season-opening loss to Michigan (becoming the first Irish freshman to score in a CCHA opener since Brian Urick’s four-goal game in the 7-4 win at UAF in ’95) …
Dunlop is tied for the Irish scoring lead, with seven points (1G-6A).

SIMON REACHES 100:
Notre Dame senior C Ben Simon (Shaker Heights, Ohio) has earned preseason CCHA “player of the year” honors from Hockey News …
Simon registered a goal and assist in the season-opening Michigan series, giving him 100 points (32G-68A) in 111 career games (he had 1G-2A in last week’s series at UNO) …
Simon is the fourth Irish player to reach 100 points in the five-year tenure of head coach Dave Poulin, joining ’96 graduate Jamie Ling (51-102) and ’99 grads Brian Urick (57-69) and Aniket Dhadphale (61-44) …
Simon needs 17 more goals to become the 29th Notre Dame player ever to total 50-plus goals and 50-plus assists …
he is 28 points shy of cracking Notre Dame’s top-20 career scoring list and needs 27 more assists to crack that top 10 list.

PP PERSONNEL:
Graduation took its toll on the vaunted Notre Dame power play but three crucial PP performers return while others are poised to boost their contributions. Three ’99 grads-RW Brian Urick (16-25), LW Aniket Dhadphale (18-11) and D Benoit Cotnoir (7-18)-played key roles in the ’98-’99 Irish power play that ranked second in the CCHA (19.1 pct.), with that trio collecting a combined 42 points on the PP: Cotnoir (3 PPG-8 PPA), Dhadphale (9-5) and Urick (6-11). Those three combined for nearly half of the Irish PPGs in ’98-’99 (18 of 38, .474) while totaling 42.9 percent of the PP points (42 of 98). Cotnoir set up PPGs by 17 different Irish teammates in his career and totaled 36 career PP assists and 10 PPGs (53 pct. of his 88 career points). Senior C Ben Simon (5 PPG/8 PPA in ’98-’99) is back as the team’s go-to player in man-up situations while two of the top PP point men in the CCHA also return: senior D Tyson Fraser (8 PPA in ’98-’99) and junior LW Dan Carlson (3 PPG-9 PPA).

Waiting for the Wakeup Calls
Unlike the 1998-99 season-when Notre Dame bounced back repeatedly in the second game of a weekend-the Irish have tailed off in the second game of their CCHA series this season. As the chart at right shows, Notre Dame has totaled just one point in the second game of its CCHA series while seeing a drop in its average scoring (2.8 to 2.0) and shots (24.5 to 21.3), with the power-play efficiency cut in half (.185 to .091, 5 PPGs to 2). Defensively, the Irish have allowed one more goal per game in the final game of the weekend (3.3 to 4.3), with the penalty kill dropping from .815 to .750 (5 PPGs allowed to 7). In ’98-’99, the Irish were 9-5-4 on the first game of a weekend but 8-7-1 in the second (highlighted by a 2-2 tie vs. Michigan, a 4-3 win at North Dakota and a 2-1 win over Northern Michigan).

1999-2000 1st Game 2nd Game
W-L-T 1-2-1 0-3-1
Goals (Avg.) 11 (2.8) 8 (2.0)
PPGs 5 2
PPGs All. 5 7
GA (Avg.) 13 (3.3) 17 (4.3)
Shots/Goal 8.9 10.6
PP Pct. .185 .091
PK Pct. .815 .750
Shots (Avg.) 24.5 21.3

HOMESTANDERS:
In its last 24 regular-season home games, Notre Dame is 15-5-4 with an 89-51 scoring edge (two 7-1 wins, one 9-5 win) …
Notre Dame’s last 15 home wins have included 10 by three goals or more …
despite opening the ’98-’99 season with a 10-0-2 mark at home, the Irish are just 3-5-2 in their last 10 home games (including the CCHA playoff series with Northern Michigan) and have been outscored 32-24 in those games.

TOUGH SLATE:
Notre Dame’s 39-game, regular-season schedule includes as many as 21 different opponents, with as many as 14 games vs. teams that qualified for the 12-team NCAAs in 1999. Remaining home opponents include Michigan State (Dec. 4, March 3), Massachusetts (Dec. 10-11) and Princeton (Dec. 19-20). …
The road schedule includes a pair of conference games at Michigan State (Dec. 5, March 4) and Ohio State (Feb. 4-5) and the long trip to Alaska Fairbanks (Jan. 28-29). …
The Irish will play several noteworthy tournaments, including the Norwest Denver Cup (Dec. 31-Jan. 1), with defending national champ Maine and perennial power Colorado College. Notre Dame will spend Thanksgiving weekend in the northeast, with games at the University of New Hampshire versus UNH and Vermont (Nov. 27-28).

SCHEDULE CLARIFICATIONS:
Notre Dame will spend the Thanksgiving weekend in the northeast, with a game at New Hampshire on Sat., Nov. 27 (5:00 p.m), followed by a Sun. afternoon game vs. Vermont (at UNH), at 2:00 p.m. …
The Irish added a series vs. Princeton, after the end of finals week. Those games will be held at the Joyce Center, on Sunday, Dec. 19, and Monday, Dec. 20. …
The Denver Cup is slated for Dec. 31 and Jan. 1 (previous schedules indicated earlier dates). The Irish are scheduled to play on New Year’s Eve vs. DU at 7:35 p.m., with a New Year’s Day game vs. Colorado College or Maine (4:35/7:35).

Inside the Numbers …

? Notre Dame’s slow start to the 1999-2000 season stands in stark contrast to the record-setting 8-1-1 opening in ’98-’99. The Irish have shown a considerable dropoff in goals per game (4.1 to 2.4), shots per game (30.2 to 25.0), power-play goals (18 to 10) and first-period goals (12 to 3) while the Irish are averaging 10.4 shots/goal (compared to 7.4 last season).

? A big part of the Irish success in ’98-’99 was the PP unit, which operated at a .321 efficiency during the first 10 games and provided the winning margin in three early wins (the PP is hitting at a still-respectable .169 this season). By comparison, Notre Dame’s .857 penalty kill produced no losses due to opponent PPGs through the first 10 games of 1998-99 while the .787 unit this season has given up PPGs that have provided the margin of defeat in four games.

? Defensively, the Irish are allowing one more goal per game this season (2.2 to 3.2) and have allowed four-plus goals in five games (just one in first 10 games of ’98-’99).

? David Inman (6) is the only current Irish player with four-plus goals, compared to five at this point in ’98-’99: Aniket Dhadphale (9), Brian Urick (8), Ben Simon (5), Matt Van Arkel (4) and Inman (4). Simon (33G-70A) is the only current player with 70-plus career points, compared to four 70-plus scorers through 10 games in ’98-’99 (Simon 74, Dhadphale 92, Urick 101 and Benoit Cotnoir 70).

? The Irish also continue to search for the right forward combinations, after opening the 1998-99 season with the potent line of Urick-Simon-Dhadphale that combined for 50 points, 22 goals and nine power-play goals in the first 10 games (2.2 goals per game by that line alone, just shy of the entire 1999-2000 team’s average of 2.4).

After 10 Games 1998-99 1999-2000
W-L-T 8-1-1 2-6-2
Goals (Avg.) 41 (4.1) 24 (2.4)
Power-Play Goals 18 10
PPGs Allowed 8 13
Goals All. (Avg.) 22 (2.2) 32 (3.2)
Shots Per Goal 7.4 10.4
Power-Play Pct. .321 .169
Penalty Kill Pct. .857 .787
Shots (Avg.) 30.2 25.0
Players w/ 4+ Goals 5 1
Pl. w/ 70+ Career Pts 4 1
Games w/ 4+ GA 1 5
First-Period Goals 12 3
Wins by PPGs 3 0
Losses by PPGs 0 4

TAKING IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL:
Six recent members of the Notre Dame hockey program-including ’99 graduates Benoit Cotnoir, Aniket Dhadphale, Forrest Karr and Brian Urick-currently are pursuing their careers in pro hockey. Urick signed with the Edmonton Oilers and reported to the Hamilton (Ont.) Bulldogs of the American Hockey League. Dhadaphale and Matt Eisler (’98) made the opening-day roster with the Greensboro (N.C.) Generals in the East Coast Hockey League while Cotnoir made the roster of the ECHL’s Mobile (Ala.) Mystics. Karr was among the final cuts for the Mystics, after former Michigan State goalie Chad Alban was sent back down to Mobile (Karr recently was picked up by the ECHL’s Jacksonville Lizard Kings). Defenseman Mark Eaton-who in the summer of ’98 opted to forego his final three years at Notre Dame and signed a free agent contract with the Philadelphia Flyers-had a solid ’98-’99 season with the AHL’s Philadelphia Phantoms and is considered to be one of the top young prospects in the Flyers organization (he made the Flyers’ opening-day roster).