Nov. 20, 2000
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BACK TO ACTION: The Fighting Irish hockey team will look to start making some noise in the CCHA standings this weekend as they return to action after a 14-day break in the schedule…the Irish, whose next eight games come versus CCHA opponents, face-off on November 24-25 versus the Northern Michigan Wildcats who are currently tied for third place in the CCHA standings…Notre Dame last played on November 10th, dropping a 5-3 decision to top-ranked Boston College at the Joyce Center…Northern is 6-4-3 overall and 4-4-2 in league play, good for ten points in the league standings…the Wildcats come to Notre Dame after splitting a weekend series with Upper Peninsula rival, Lake Superior State…NMU won in Marquette on Friday (11/17), 4-3 and then dropped a 2-1 decision on Saturday (11/18) at Sault Ste. Marie…following this week’s games, the Irish travel to Lake Superior (12-1 and 12-2), host Miami (12-8 and 12-9) and then travel to Nebraska-Omaha (12-19 and 12-20)…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 559-454-65 (.549) over 28 seasons…Comley picked up his 500th win at Northern Michigan last Friday night in the Wildcats, 4-3 win over Lake Superior…in 25 seasons at Northern Michigan, Comley is 500-408-62 (.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 last played on November 10th versus top-ranked Boston College at the Joyce Center…ND fell to the Eagles, 5-3, 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 stonewalled the Irish 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.) has missed the last nine games after suffering a shoulder injury in the first period of the Boston College (10/13) game…
- 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 the Miami game (11/3) and has missed 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…
MINNESOTA PIPELINE: The Notre Dame hockey program has a longstanding tradition of being led by players from Minnesota, dating back to the leaders of the program’s first varsity era during the 1920s?notably St. Paul native Paul Castner (also an All-America football runningback at Notre Dame and an accomplished lefthanded pitcher at ND) and goaltender Tom Lieb, who also coached the Irish during those early seasons (Lieb was a bronze medal winner at the 1924 Olympic discus competition in Paris and was a right tackle on Knute Rockne’s 1921-22 Notre Dame football teams, helping them compile an 18-2-1 record during that span) … since the program returned to varsity status in 1969, the Irish have seen 79 Minnesota natives earn varsity hockey letters (see p. 27 of the 2000-01 Notre Dame hockey media guide for a full listing) … the current Irish squad includes eight Minnesota natives while the more noteworthy former Irish players from Minnesota have included 1973 All-American D Bill Nyrop (Edina), G Dick Tomasoni (’68-’72, Chisholm), W Don Jackson (’74-’78, Bloomington), D John Friedmann (’76-’80, St. Paul) and John Schmidt (’78-’82, St. Cloud) and RW Brian Urick (’95-’99, Minnetonka) … the current Irish players from Minnesota include senior RW and team captain Ryan Dolder (Hutchinson), senior LW and alternate captain Dan Carlson (Edina), senior LW Jay Kopischke (Alexandria), senior G Kyle Kolquist (Duluth) and junior D Sam Cornelius (Edina) … three ND newcomers also hail from Minnesota: junior LW Jon Maruk (Eden Prairie), freshman C Aaron Gill (Rochester) and freshman F Kyle Dolder (Hutchinson). FRIEND OR FOE?: Several ND and Minnesota players are past teammates: ND senior LW Dan Carlson and Minnesota D Jordan Leopold played on the 1998-99 USA National Junior Team, with Leopold and current Minnesota sophomore C Jeff Taffe then skating on the 1999-2000 USA National Junior team that also included three current Irish players: junior F Brett Henning, junior C David Inman and sophomore C Connor Dunlop … four players?Leopold, Gophers junior G Adam Hauser, Henning and current Irish sophomore RW Michael Chin?were teammates on the inaugural USA National Team Development Program (NTDP) squad, in 1997-98 … Taffe also is a product of the NTDP, where his two-year teammates included Dunlop and two other current ND sophomores: RW John Wroblewski and D Paul Harris … four current freshmen on the two squads also are products of the NTDP (most overlapped with the above players): Minnesota F John Waibel, Irish RW Rob Globke and ND defensemen Neil Komadoski and Brett Lebda … ND sophomore G Tony Zasowski played on the Green Bay Gamblers alongside Minnesota senior F Aaron Miskovich … Irish junior LW Jon Maruk and Minnesota freshman F Matt Koalska helped the USHL’s Twin City Vulcans win the 1999-2000 national junior-A title.
HOMECOMING: Sophomore goaltender Tony Zasowski returns to Omaha this weekend where he turned in a stellar junior hockey career with the Omaha Lancers of the United States Hockey League (USHL). The Darien, Illinois native played two seasons in Omaha (?96-’97 and ?97-’98) helping the Lancers to the USHL’s Clark Cup finals in 1998-99 while being named USHL goaltender of the year. He set Lancer records for wins in a season (35-11 in ?98-’99) and career (50-17), shutouts in a season (5 in ?98-’99) and career (6), and save percentage in a season (.918 in ?98-’99) and career. He set the USHL mark in ?98-’99 for wins and shutouts in a season and he topped the USHL with a league best 1.96 goals against average in his final year. A midseason groin injury cut short his first year in Omaha where he was 15-6 with a 2.49 GAA and a .913 save percentage.
PP PERSONNEL: For the second consecutive season, Notre Dame must replace three graduated players from its first power-play unit: C Ben Simon (10 PPG-10 PPA), RW Jo Dusbabek (5 PPG-11 PPA) and D Tyson Fraser (2 PPG-10 PPA) … those three players combined for 40 percent of ND’s PPGs last season (17 of 43) and 60 percent of the PP points (48 of 80) … the two returners from the first PP unit are senior LW Dan Carlson (9 PPG-11 PPA) and senior RW Ryan Dolder (4 PPG-10 PPA) … top candidates to move into the first PP unit in 2000-01 include junior C David Inman, sophomore C Connor Dunlop and sophomore D Evan Nielsen … three 1999 graduates were members of the 1998-99 Irish PP unit that ranked second in the CCHA (19.1 percent): D Benoit Cotnoir (3 PPG-8 PPA), LW Aniket Dhadphale (9 PPG-5 PPA) and RW Brian Urick (6 PPG-11 PPA) … those three combined for nearly half of the Irish power-play goals in 1998-99 (18 of 38, .474) while totaling 42.9 percent of the PP points (42 of 98).
Balance Over Big Shot: While Notre Dame has produced just a handful of recent 20-goal scorers, the Irish featured one of the CCHA’s top-scoring fivesomes in 1999-2000, as five ND players were bunched among the CCHA’s top-50 scorers heading into the final week: junior LW Dan Carlson (finished with 17G-18A), senior RW Joe Dusbabek (8G-19A), junior RW Ryan Dolder (10G-14A), senior C Ben Simon (13G-19A) and sophomore LW/C David Inman (13G-7A, 32 GP) … only Michigan (9) headed into March with more players at 20-plus points.TOUGH SLATE: Notre Dame’s 39-game schedule includes as many as 14 games versus teams ranked in the U.S. College Hockey Online preseason top-20 poll … the 40-voter panel of coaches and media tabbed Michigan second (behind North Dakota) and Boston College fourth (behind Wisconsin), with other ND opponents on that top-20 list including Michigan State (5th), St. Lawrence (6th), Minnesota (11th), Nebraska Omaha (13th), Lake Superior (14th) and Rensselaer (19th) … ND will face Michigan, BC, MSU and LSSU twice each while playing UNO 2-3 times (RPI is a potential opponent, at the RPI Christmas Tournament) … the first half of the Irish schedule is particularly challenging, as it will include as many as 12 games versus ranked teams prior to New Year’s Day (all except the Jan. 23 and Feb. 16 games versus Michigan) … ND opened versus Minnesota, then plays BC and possibly a potential game versus UNO at the Maverick Shootout … the fourth week of the season then will feature the two-game home series with Michigan State … ND also could play as many as 14 games versus teams ranked in the USA Today American Hockey Coaches Association preseason poll: Michigan (2nd), MSU (4th), BC (5th), SLU (8th), Minnesota (12th), LSSU (13th), UNO (14th) and Northern Michigan (tied for 17th-most votes). NEW COACHING FACE: Craig Brown is the newest member of the Notre Dame hockey coaching staff, serving as volunteer goaltender coach for 2000-01 …Brown was a regular in the nets at Western Michigan for four seasons (1990-94) and was named to the all-CCHA honorable mention team as a sophomore in 1991-92 … he still owns Broncos records for save percentage in a season (.907 in ?93-’94, good for sixth in the nation) and a career (.899) while also owning both WMU goals-against-average records (2.86 in ?93-’94-which ranked seventh nationally?plus a 3.33 GAA for his career) … Brown’s freshman season in 1990-91 saw him post a 17-13-2 record while contributing four assists (most ever by a WMU goaltender)… he was named WMU rookie of the year after helping that ’90-’91 squad reach the CCHA semifinals and closed his career in 1993-94 by posting a 14-5-2 record on a Western Michigan team that advanced to the NCAAs … Brown?ranks third in the Broncos record book for career victories (53-36-10) … he was named to the CCHA’s All-Academic squad for 1993-94 … a ninth-round NHL entry draft selection by the L.A. Kings, Brown spent his five-year pro career in the East Coast Hockey League, as a member of the Pensacola Ice Pilots and the Nashville Knights from 1994-99 … his career honors included team rookie of the year and MVP, plus ECHL-leading totals in victories and minutes played for 1994-95 … Brown served as a player assistant coach in 1997 and led Pensacola to the 1998 ECHL Championship Finals … a native of Scarborough, Ontario, he played with the Wexford Raiders of the Toronto Metro Junior B League (which also produced current Irish junior C David Inman) … Brown resides in Mishawaka with his wife Deanna and two-year-old son Carson (the couple is expecting a daughter in October).
CAPTAINS NAMED: The Notre Dame hockey program has named its captains for the 2000-01 season, with senior RW Ryan Dolder serving as team captain while senior LW Dan Carlson and senior F Chad Chipchase will serve as the alternate team captains … Dolder has fashioned a classic story during the past three-plus years, after first joining the program as a last-minute walk-on in 1997-98 (he had received no Division I offers after playing two years of junior hockey with the Twin City Vulcans, prompting a move to Palm Springs, Calif., where he was living with his grandparents while planning to attend a local junior college and become a golf pro) … Dolder has continued to make strides during each season of his Irish career while developing into a clutch goalscorer and solid all-around player … his evolving leadership was recognized by the Irish coaches midway through the 1999-2000 season, when he was named the squad’s youngest alternate captain … Dolder heads into his senior season with 18 goals (4 PP, 4 GW) and 18 assists in 103 career games played (he had 10G-14A last season) … he has been whistled for just 29 penalties (66 minutes) in 103 career games (one penalty every 3.6 games) and takes a team-best streak of 64 consecutive games played into the 2000-01 season … Carlson ranks as the CCHA’s sixth-leading returning scorer (18G-19A as team MVP in 1999-2000) … a leading Academic All-America candidate (3.43 cumulative GPA as a finance and computer applications major), Carlson is a pivotal part of the ND special teams while his career stats include 35G-55A in 119 career games … Chipchase was selected as an alternate captain despite missing most of 1999-2000 due to a leg injury (he doubled his goalscoring from his freshman to sophomore season, when he 10G-5A).ROAD WARRIORS: Despite a 5-9-6 road record in 1999-2000 (3-6-6 on opponent ice), ND finished 3-4-3 in its final 10 road games and has turned in its share of big road wins during the past few seasons … in fact, the Irish posted wins in 22 different road arenas during the first five seasons of the Dave Poulin era (20 in the past three seasons). … the ’97-’98 and ’98-’99 seasons saw the Irish post road wins over all 10 CCHA opponents, including a 4-2 CCHA playoff win at Michigan and wins over Ohio State at the OSU Ice Arena and the off-campus Columbus Fairgrounds Coliseum (the Irish last season added a win over OSU at yet another Columbus venue, with the 2-1 OT win at Value City Arena) … ND also owns three road wins over Wisconsin during the Poulin era, at different sites: Milwaukee’s Bradley Center, the Dane County Coliseum and the Kohl Center … the Irish own road wins in the Poulin era at Mankato State, St. Cloud State, Northeastern and North Dakota?plus a 5-5 tie at Boston College and a pair of 2-2 ties last season at the Omaha Civic Auditorium and Northern Michigan’s Berry Events Center … finally, Notre Dame has posted recent neutral-site wins at the University of Minnesota (vs. Brown), the University of Denver (vs. Union) and the University of New Hampshire (vs. Vermont).
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).
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)….
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…
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)….
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.
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…
MORE GLOBKE: Freshman Rob Globke ranks among the top rookie scorers in the CCHA after his first 11 games…the Irish right wing comes into the week tied for fourth in scoring with Ohio State’s R.J. Umberger with nine points…Globke’s six goals ties him for second among rookie goal scorers with Ohio State’s Dave Steckel…
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….
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…
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: