Dec. 4, 2000

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HERE COME THE REDHAWKS: Notre Dame and Miami meet for the second time this season with a pair of games at the Joyce Center on December 8-9…face-off both nights is set for 7:05 p.m…the Irish go into the weekend looking to snap a six-game winless streak (0-4-2) that has them tied for 11th in the CCHA standings with a 3-9-3 overall record and a 1-5-2 mark in league play…Miami comes into the weekend series as one of the hottest teams in the nation having won seven of its last eight games…when the Irish left Oxford, Ohio back on November 4, the RedHawks were 1-5-2 on the season…five weeks later, the RedHawks are 8-6-2 overall and 5-4-1 in the CCHA, good for sixth with 11 points…Miami reeled off six straight wins before splitting last weekend with Western Michigan…following this week’s games, the Irish travel to Nebraska-Omaha (12-19 and 12-20) and then close out December at the R.P.I. Christmas Tournament on December 29-30…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 REDHAWKS: The Fighting Irish and the RedHawks met twice in November with Notre Dame winning 5-2 on November 3 before tying Miami, 1-1 in overtime on November 4…Notre Dame and Miami have met 31 times in the all-time series with the RedHawks holding an 17-9-5 edge in the all-time series…since ND rejoined the CCHA in 1992-93, Miami is 15-5-5 versus the Irish…at the Joyce Center, Miami is 7-5-4 all-time…despite holding the all-time edge in the series, Miami has struggled as of late versus the Fighting Irish…Notre Dame is unbeaten in the last five meetings (3-0-2) and is 4-1-3 in the last eight games going back to the 1997-98 season…at the Joyce Center, ND is 2-0-2 in the last four games…last season, the two teams met at Notre Dame with the Irish winning 5-2 before battling to a 2-2 tie in the second meeting…

A LOOK BACK AT NOVEMBER 3-4: The Irish were 1-0-1 in their two-game series at Miami…on Friday night, Notre Dame scored twice on the power play and got 31 saves from Tony Zasowski (So., Darien, Ill.) to take a 5-2 decision…the Irish got goals from John Wroblewski (Neenah, Wisc.), Rob Globke (Fr., West Bloomfield, Mich.), Brett Henning (Jr., Huntington, N.Y.), Dan Carlson (Sr., Edina, Minn.) and Ryan Dolder (Sr., Hutchinson, Minn.) in the win…Carlson had a season-high three-point game (1g, 2a) while Dolder (1g, 1a) and Connor Dunlop (So., St. Louis, Mo.) with two assists, each picked up two points…Miami outshot Notre Dame 33-23 on the night…on Saturday, November 4, Carlson scored his second goal of the weekend just 16 seconds into the contest while Zasowski made 26 saves on the night, including three, game-saving stops late in the third period…ND was outshot 27-22 in the tilt…

THE COACHES: Notre Dame head coach Dave Poulin owns a 74-108-25 mark (.418) in his sixth season at Notre Dame…Poulin is 5-7-4 in 16 meetings with the RedHawks including 2-3-3 at the Joyce Center and 3-4-1 at Miami…a 1994 graduate of Miami, head coach Enrico Blasi is in his second season at his alma mater and owns a 21-26-5 record…Blasi is 0-2-2 versus Notre Dame…

SCOUTING THE REDHAWKS: Miami University hockey information can be found at www.MURedHawks.com…additional information on Notre Dame, Miami and the CCHA is also available on the CCHA website at ccha.com…

IRISH AT LAKE SUPERIOR: Notre Dame dropped two to the Lakers at Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. – 2-1 on December 1 and 4-1 on December 2…in the 2-1 loss, the Irish struggled to get their offense in gear as they mustered just 11 shots in the first two periods…ND finally got on the board at 15:20 of the third period when Dan Carlson deflected Brett Lebda’s (Fr., Buffalo Grove, Ill.) long shot past goaltender Jayme Platt for his third goal of the year on the power play…the Irish were outshot in the game, 27-24…goaltender Kyle Kolquist (Sr., Duluth, Minn.) made 25 saves in the loss…ND’s streak of killing penalties ended at 24 as the Lakers got a power play goal at 19:59 of the first period…the Irish were just one-for-10 on the power play in the contest…on Saturday night, the Irish gave up a season-high 48 shots on goal, including 20 in the first period on the way to a 4-1 loss…ND trailed just 1-0 after the first period, but gave up three second period goals to the Lakers…the lone Irish goal came with just 52 seconds left in the game as Michael Chin (So., Urbana, Ill.) redirected a Chad Chipchase (Sr., Clinton, Ont.) pass by Platt to snap the shutout…Kolquist made a career high 33 saves in the first two periods and saw Jeremiah Kimento (Jr., Palos Hills, Ill.) takeover in the third period where he made 11 saves…Notre Dame had 33 shots in the game…Lake Superior went one-for-six on the power play while the Irish were 0-for-5 in the game…the 20-first period shots were the most the Irish had given up in a period this season, having given up 17 in a period to both Northeastern and Northern Michigan…Irish penalty killers have now killed 32 of 34 penalties since October 27….

INJURY REPORT: 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 seven games… Defenseman Paul Harris (So., Ridgefield, Conn.) injured his shoulder versus Northern Michigan (11/24) and has missed the last three games… Center Connor Dunlop (So., St. Louis, Mo.) missed both games at Lake Superior State due to a viral infection…the Irish have lost 31 man-games to injuries or illness this season…

PENALTY KILLING PROWESS: The Fighting Irish saw their consecutive penalty killing streak snapped at 24 in a row on December 1 at Lake State…the Irish gave up two power play goals on 11 chances on the weekend and have now killed 32 of 34 (90.6%) opponent man-advantages since October 27th…the Irish had gone the entire month of November (five games) without giving up a power play goal…following the Michigan State game on October 27, ND had given up 15 power play goals on 48 chances (68.8% penalty killing efficiency)…going into the Miami weekend, the Irish have given up 17 power play goals in 82 chances for a 79.3% penalty killing efficiency…

KOLY THE GOALIE: Senior goaltender Kyle Kolquist made his first two starts of the season at Lake Superior and just the second and third of his career…Kolquist made 25 saves in a 2-1 loss on December 1 and then made a career high 33 stops in just 40 minutes of the 4-1 loss on December 2…Kolquist has played in three consecutive games for the Irish this season after seeing action in just two games (69:09) in his previous three seasons…on November 25, the Duluth, Minn. native took over in relief versus Northern Michigan and made 27 saves to help the Irish salvage a 3-3 tie…before last weekend’s starts at Lake Superior, Kolquist’s only other start came on December 20, 1999 at home verus Princeton (21 saves, 4-2 loss)…in three games this season, the veteran goaltender is 0-2-1 with a 2.86 goals against average and a .924 save percentage…

SHOT MARKS: The 48 shots on goal surrendered by the Irish to Lake Superior State were the most given up by Notre Dame since January 2, 1999 when North Dakota took 44 versus the Irish…the 20 shots taken by Lake Superior in the first period were a season high this season passing the 17 that were given up to Northeastern (10/21) and Northen Michigan (11/25)…

IRON MEN: Senior right wing Ryan Dolder (Hutchinson, Minn.) has now played in 79 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 134 of 137 games in his three-plus years at Notre Dame (missing two while at the ’98-’99 World Juniors)…Carlson needs to appear in 19 more games to break John Schmidt’s ND record for career games played (152, ’78-’82).

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…the November report ranks Globke fourth overall while Komadoski is 18th…Komadoski is eligible for the 2001 draft while Globke would have to opt-in to be selected in 2001…13 of the top 40 players ranked are from the CCHA including three of the top four…

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 February 12th…

THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT: Through the first 15 games of the season, the Irish newcomers (seven freshman, one transfer) have shown their abilities by contributing to the ND attack with 11 goals and 17 assists for 28 of the team’s 89 points…that amounts to 30.6% of the goals, 32.1% of the assists and 31.5% of the team’s points…Rob Globke leads the way (7g, 4a), followed by Aaron Gill (Rochester, Minn.) with (3g, 4a), Brett Lebda (Buffalo Grove, Ill.) with (1g, 5a), Jon Maruk (Eden Prairie, Minn.) with (0g, 3a) and Tom Galvin with (0g, 1a)…

ONE TIMERS: After scoring just once in each game at Lake Superior State, Notre Dame has now been held to just one goal in three of its last four and four of its last six games…on the season, the Irish have scored just one goal in a game six times…ND is 0-5-1 when held to one goal in a game…

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 scorer through the first 15 games of the season with six goals and six assists for 12 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 five multiple point games this season…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) and added another goal and assist game versus Northern Michigan (11/25)…

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 was the first Irish player to receive this honor since Tony Zasowski was named rookie of the week for the week ending January 24, 2000…

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….

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 10 games this season and owns a team-best +4…he is currently out of the lineup with a shoulder injury…

STOPPING THE PUCK: Junior 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…he also saw action in each of ND’s first seven games…versus Lake Superior State (December 2), Kimento saw his first action since October 27 versus Michigan State, when he played the entire third period in relief of Kyle Kolquist…he made 11 saves without giving up a goal to the Lakers…

FOUR IN A ROW…After not playing in five straight games (Oct. 13 – Oct. 26), sophomore goaltender Tony Zasowski made six consecutive starts through the November 25 game versus Northern Michigan…in that six-game span (318:45), Zasowski is 1-3-1 and has given up 16 goals on 158 shots for a 3.01 goals against average and a .899 save percentage…On the season, Zasowski is 1-5-1 with a 3.68 goals against and a .882 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…

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 23-3-4 since the 1998-99 season when leading at the first intermission (10-1-1 in 1999-2000 and 1-1-1 in 2000-2001).

OVERTIME NUMBERS: Notre Dame is unbeaten in overtime in its last 14 overtime games going 3-0-11 since the beginning of the 1999-2000 season…the Irish are 1-0-3 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 14 home overtime games (3-0-11)…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: The two games with Northern Michigan (11/24 and 11/25) concluded ND’s run of eight of 10 games at home…during that 10-game span, the Irish were 3-5-2, including 2-4-2 in the eight home games…Notre Dame is 25-15-4 (.614) in the last three seasons at the Joyce Center…since the building opened, ND is 275-224-34 (.548) in 533 home games…

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).

CENTURY MARK: Senior defenseman Ryan Clark (Littleton, Colo.) has now played in 98 career games at Notre Dame…he needs to play in two 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 109 during his career…right wing Matt Van Arkel played in his 100th career game versus Minnesota and has now played in 113 overall…the remainder of that group includes Dan Carlson (134), Ryan Dolder (117) and Jay Kopischke (115).

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).

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).

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 six PPGs to crack that ND career top-10 list (nine shy of fifth) while his four career shorthanded goals rank 11th in ND history, three back of the record shared by three players.

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) started the season with the AHL’s Providence Bruins before being sent to Trenton (ECHL) 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.

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 farm 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…

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).

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: Notre Dame has five players on its current roster that 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.

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.