Notre Dame Fighting Irish - Official Athletics Website

Hockey Returns To Action Friday Night At The Joyce Center

Dec. 18, 2001

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HOCKEY FOR THE HOLIDAYS:
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish hockey team will return to action on Friday, Dec. 21 when they play host to the USA Under-18 team in an exhibition game at the Joyce Center. Faceoff is 7:05 p.m. For the Irish, who are in the midst of final exams, the game will be their first since Dec. 8 when they lost a 4-2 decision at Bowling Green. The United States team is coming off a split last weekend versus Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), a Division III team at Ann Arbor, Mich.. RIT won 4-2 on Dec. 14 with the USA team taking a 7-1 win on Saturday, Dec. 15. Notre Dame will then break for Christmas before traveling to Princeton for non-league games on Fri.-Sat., Dec. 28-29. Friday’s game will be played at Princeton’s Hobey Baker Rink while Saturday’s game will be the first college game ever played at the Sovereign Center in Trenton, N.J. After going 0-4-2 through the month of October, Notre Dame has turned things around, putting together a 5-3-2 mark through November and early-December. Over the last eight games, the Irish are 4-2-2. With the off week, the Irish slid from fourth to sixth in the CCHA standings. They are now tied with Northern Michigan and Ohio State with 13 points in 12 league games. Notre Dame is one point behind Alaska Fairbanks and Nebraska-Omaha in fourth with 14 points and two behind third-place Ferris State with 15 points. Michigan is five points ahead in second and Michigan State is eight ahead in first. Notre Dame has two games in hand versus Alaska Fairbanks, Nebraska-Omaha and Michigan State, one game in hand on Michigan and three versus Ferris State.

NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM:
The U.S. Under-18 team will visit the Joyce Center on Dec. 21 for its first meeting with the Irish. The Under-18 team, based in Ann Arbor, Mich., comes into the game with a 12-11-4 record after a weekend split with RIT. The U.S. team lost 4-2 on Dec. 14. After falling behind 2-1 after one period, Patrick Eaves scored to tie the game at 2-2 in the second period. RIT scored two third-period goals to take the 4-2 win. Tim Roth made 18 saves for the U.S. squad in the loss. On Dec. 15, the Under-18 team fired 64 shots on goal in a 7-1 win. Eaves led the team with a third-period hat trick and added an assist for a four-point game. Brett Stirling scored a pair of goals and Matt Carle and Mark Stuart added single goals in the win. Goaltender James Howard made 28 saves for the U.S. team in the win. Offensively, the Under 18 team is led in scoring by Eaves (15-10-25 in 24 games). Sterling is second (13-11-24 in 22 games) and Ryan Kesler is third with (6-16-22 in 27 games) is third. Howard is 2-4-1 in goal with a 1.86 goals against and a .926 save percentage. Roth is 5-4-2 on the year with a 3.26 average and a .885 save percentage. The Under-18 team has played eight games this season versus Division I opponents and is 1-5-2 in those contests. They have defeated Ohio State and earned ties with Lake Superior State and Air Force while losing to Michigan Tech, Michigan, Denver, Yale and Cornell. The team is also scheduled to face Bemidji State, St. Cloud State, Harvard, Fairfield, UMass-Amherst, Holy Cross and Findlay while also playing games versus teams in the North American Hockey League (NAHL) and the United States Hockey League (USHL). For more information on the USA Under-18 team, check their website at usahockey.com.

PATRIOTIC GROUP:
The Notre Dame hockey team is no stranger to the National Team Development Program (NTDP) which includes the Under-18 and Under-17 teams. Nine members of this year’s Irish hockey roster have come through the National program. In fact, Notre Dame and the University of Minnesota currently have the most NTDP alums (9). For the Irish, that group includes injured senior forward Brett Henning, four members of the junior class – forwards Michael Chin, Connor Dunlopand John Wroblewski and defenseman Paul Harris – plus three sophomores: center Rob Globke and defensemen Neil Komadoski and Brett Lebda. From Notre Dame’s freshman class, defenseman Derek Smith played for the Under-18 team during the 2000-01 campaign.

HEAD COACH DAVE POULIN:
Irish head coach Dave Poulin is now in his seventh season behind the Notre Dame bench. He owns an 86-128-33 (.415) overall record and is 62-94-29 (.414) in CCHA contests.

USA…USA…USA::
Notre Dame center Rob Globke and defenseman Brett Lebda have been named to the 2001-02 U.S. National Junior Team that will play in the World Junior Championships in the Czech Republic from Dec. 25 – Jan. 4. For Globke, this is his second trip as he was a member of last year’s team that finished fifth. He had two goals and no assists in the seven games. The Irish have had at least one player on the National Junior team in each of the last six years and along with Boston College have had 11 players in that period. Globke and Lebda will miss five games for the Irish – the USA Under-18 game, two with Princeton and two with Michigan.

PENALTY SHOTS:
After not being involved with a penalty shot either for or against for over two seasons, Notre Dame has had two called this season. On Dec. 8 at Bowling Green, Irish goaltender Morgan Cey stopped BG’s Greg Day at 9:52 of the second period. That was the first penalty shot called against the Irish since Mar. 13, 1999 when Matt Eisler stopped Michigan’s Bill Muckalt in a 4-2 Notre Dame win in the CCHA playoffs. Earlier this season (Oct. 12), sophomore Rob Globke scored on a penalty shot versus Union College’s Brandon Snee at 3:41 of the third period in the 7-4 loss to Union College. That was the first penalty shot by an an Irish player since Feb. 5, 1998 when Brian Urick was stopped by Ohio State’s Jeff Maund.

INMAN-GLOBKE-CHIN:
Irish coach Dave Poulin assembled the line of David Inman, Rob Globke and Michael Chin just prior to the Lake Superior series and the trio paid instant dividends. In the 7-0 shutout, they combined for two goals and five assists. The following night the threesome had three goals and one assist. Versus Bowling Green, the trio combined for two goals and five assists and seven points. In the 4-2 loss, the group combined for 19 shots on goal. In four games together, the new Irish line has seven goals, 11 assists and 18 points. They have 47 shots on goal and are +15.

CAREER BESTS:
Michael Chin, Yan Stastny and Tom Galvin all had career-best games in the 6-3 win over Bowling Green (Dec. 7). Chin (a goal and two assists) and Stastny (three assists) each had career-high three-point games. Galvin had the first two-goal game of his career.

END OF THE LINE:
Notre Dame goaltender Morgan Cey had his shutout streak snapped at 17:44 of the second period in the 6-3 win over Bowling Green. Cey had not been scored on since the 6:20 mark of the third period on Nov. 17 at Western Michigan, a total of 111:24. Included in those totals was his first career shutout versus Lake Superior State (7-0) on Dec. 1. Four of the last seven goals that Cey has surrendered have been power play goals.

DANDY DUNLOP:
With his goal and two assists in the weekend series at Bowling Green, junior center Connor Dunlop now has season highs for assists (15) and points (20) in this his third season at Notre Dame. His previous assist total was 13 set as a freshman in 1999-00 and his best point total was 19 set last season. Dunlop is tied for fifth in the CCHA in scoring with five goals and 15 assists for 20 points and his 15 assists tie him for fourth among the league leaders.

THE IN(MAN) THING:
Senior forward David Inman is in the midst of the best season of his Notre Dame career. He ranks second on the team in scoring with eight goals and 10 assists for 18 points which ranks him eighth in the CCHA scoring race. The 10 assists equal his career-high set in both his freshman and sophomore seasons. His 18 points are just two off his career-best of 20 set during those two years. The Toronto, Ont. native also had a career-high 10 shots on goal in the Dec. 8 game at Bowling Green. On Nov. 2, he recorded the second four-point game of his career in the 5-4 Irish win at Northern Michigan. The first time came on Feb. 12, 2000 when he turned in a four-point effort (2g-2a) versus Nebraska-Omaha. In the 7-0 win over Lake Superior State, Inman continued his strong play this season with a goal and two assists. For his career, he now has five two-goal games and six games with two assists.

GALVIN-IZED:
Defenseman Tom Galvin continues to be an offensive threat on the Irish blueline after scoring a pair of goals and adding an assist in the weekend series versus Bowling Green. Galvin had the first two-goal game of his career on Dec. 7 versus the Falcons, getting the game-winner early in the second period. He now has three goals and eight assists for 11 points, all career-highs. He leads Notre Dame defensemen in scoring and is tied for seventh among CCHA blueliners.

STREAKING IRISH:
Rob Globke has a four-game point-streak (3-3-6) … Connor Dunlop has a four-game streak (2-5-7) … defenseman Tom Galvin has points in five straight (2-4-6) and in seven of his last eight games (2-8-10) … Michael Chin had his eight-game career-high point streak (6-5-11) stopped on Dec. 8 … he had also scored goals in four of his last five games … Aaron Gill (So., Rochester, Minn.)has points in six of his last eight games (2-5-7).

ON THE OFFENSIVE:
After 12 CCHA league games, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish lead the league in scoring with and average of 3.83 goals per game. That puts the Irish 0.40 goals ahead of second-place Michigan State in the goal scoring department. In 16 games overall, the Irish rank third among CCHA teams with 3.44 goals per game, just 0.03 behind second-place Ferris State and 0.09 behind league-leading Michigan State. After scoring just 12 goals in their first five games (2.40 gpg), the Irish have scored 43 goals in their last 11 games (3.91 gpg). Over their last four games the Irish have scored 20 goals (5.0 per game).

PENALTY KILLING PROWESS:
The Irish penalty killers killed off the first seven Bowling Green power play chances on Dec. 7 before giving up a pair of man-advantage goals. Prior to that, Notre Dame had killed off 23 consecutive shorthanded situations including four five-on-threes going back to the Nov. 17 game at Western Michigan. For the season, Notre Dame has killed 86 of 100 penalties for an 86.0% success rate. That ranks the Irish second in the CCHA and ninth in the country.

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
Defenseman Evan Nielsen (Jr., Evanston, Ill.) was selected the CCHA’s Defensive Player of the Week for the week ending Dec. 2. Nielsen anchored a Notre Dame defense that turned in a 7-0 shutout and a 5-2 win over Lake Superior State, allowing just 39 shots in the two games. He was also part of a penalty-killing unit that killed off 14 consecutive Laker power play chances. The Irish captain also joined the offensive attack scoring a goal and adding an assist in the 7-0 win. For the weekend, Nielsen was a +5. He is the first Notre Dame player to take defensive player of the week honors since Feb. 20, 2000 when Tony Zasowski was selected for the honor.

GLOBKE GOALS:
Sophomore forward Rob Globke snapped a 10-game personal goal-scoring drought in the weekend series with Lake Superior. After scoring two goals on Oct. 12 versus Union College, the Irish sniper did not score a goal until the Dec. 1 game with the Lakers when he picked up a goal and an assist. In the Dec. 2 game, Globke found the back of the net twice for his second multiple-goal game of the season. On the year, Globke now has five goals and six assists for 11 points.

SHARE THE WEALTH:
Versus Lake Superior State, the Irish spread the offense around in both weekend wins. In Saturday’s 7-0 shutout win, 12 different players picked up points led by David Inman’s three-point (1g, 2a) night. In Sunday’s 5-2 win, 11 different players made the scoresheet with Rob Globke (2 goals) and Connor Dunlop (2 assists) leading the way.

CEY CAN YOU SEE:
Freshman goaltender Morgan Cey recorded his first Notre Dame shutout by making 20 saves in Notre Dame’s 7-0 win over Lake Superior (12/1). The shutout was the first by an Irish goaltender since Dec. 4, 1999 when Tony Zasowski blanked Michigan State, 1-0. The shutout was the 27th in Notre Dame history and the 10th by an Irish goaltender in CCHA play. The 7-0 margin of victory was the largest shutout by an Irish goaltender against a CCHA team.

WROBO ON THE OFFENSIVE:
Notre Dame center John Wroblewski has always been known for his defensive skills, but this season, he has gone on the offensive. The Neenah, Wis., native scored his career-best fifth goal of the season in the 4-2 loss to Bowling Green (12/8). He now has career highs for goals (5) and points (9) this season, while equalling his career-best in assists with four.

MICHAEL THE MAGNIFICENT:
Junior right wing Michael Chin has regained his scoring touch for the Irish this season. Despite having his career-high eight-game scoring streak (6-5-11) in the 4-2 loss to Bowling Green, Chin ranks third in team-scoring with 12 points (6g, 6a). He also had a career-best three-point game (1g, 2a) in the Dec. 7, 6-3 win at Bowling Green. Twice this season (at Ohio State and at Western Michigan), Chin has scored the game-tying goal in 4-4 ties. Chin’s best season was his freshman year (’99-’00) when he scored six goals with seven assists for 13 points.

MARGIN OF VICTORY:
The seven goals scored by Notre Dame in the 7-0 shutout of Lake Superior State is the largest margin of victory the Irish have ever had in a CCHA contest. The seven-goal win was the biggest by Notre Dame since a 10-2 win over St. Francis Xavier on Oct. 14, 1994.

TURNING ON THE POWER:
The Irish are 12 for 80 on the power play this season (15.0%). Over the last eight games, Notre Dame is nine-for-45 (20.0%) with the man-advantage. For the first time in almost two seasons (54 games), the Irish turned in back-to-back games with two or more power play goals. Notre Dame was two-for-10 versus Ferris State (Nov. 9) and followed with a two-for-seven performance on (Nov. 10). The last time the Irish scored two or more power play goals in back-to-back games was Feb. 12 and Feb. 18, 2000. Notre Dame was four-for-10 versus Nebraska-Omaha (Feb. 12) and two-for-three versus Bowling Green (Feb. 18). David Inman leads the team with five power play goals while Aaron Gill has three and Brett Lebda, Connor Dunlop, Alex Lalonde and John Wroblewski each have one.

WCHA TOP 50:
Irish hockey great Bill Nyrop has been selected to the WCHA’s Top 50 all-time players list that will be announced throughout the 2001-02 season, the 50th anniversary of the league. Nyrop was included in the first list of 10 players announced on Nov. 29. The Irish were members of the WCHA from 1971 through 1981. Nyrop played at Notre Dame from 1970-74 and was Notre Dame’s first All-American – selected first team All-America and second team all-WCHA following the 1972-73 season. During his Notre Dame career, he played in 132 games with 17 goals and 72 assists for 89 points. Selected in the fourth round of the 1972 NHL Entry Draft, he played on three Stanley Cup championship teams (1976, 1977 and 1978) with the Montreal Canadiens. He died at the age of 43 in December of 1995.

CENTRAL SCOUTING RATINGS:
The National Hockey League’s Central Scouting Service has released it’s preliminary rankings of college players who are eligible for the 2002 Draft which will be held in Toronto, June 22-23. Five Notre Dame players are among the 15 CCHA players listed in the top 50 collegiate players. Forward Rob Globke was ranked second behind Boston University’s Ryan Whitney. Defenseman Brett Lebda is ranked 36th, forward Alex Lalonde is ranked 40th, center Yan Stastny is ranked 42nd and defenseman Joe Zurenko is ranked 46th. The entire list can be found at centralscouting.nhl.com.

FIVE IN A ROW:
Goaltender Morgan Cey started the first five games of his Notre Dame career to become the first Irish freshman to start the first five games of his career since Greg Louder (1990-94) played the first five contests of the 1990-91 season. Cey and Louder are the last two rookies to start a season opener in goal at Notre Dame. Cey made 28 saves in a 2-1 loss to Union College on Oct. 11. Louder made 36 saves in a 7-2 loss at Minnesota on Oct. 23, 1990. Cey’s streak was stopped after five games when junior Tony Zasowski made his first start of the season versus Northeastern. Louder went on to start all 33 games that season, missing just 30 minutes of play, while turning in a 16-15-2 record. For the year, Cey has started 13 of Notre Dame’s 16 games on the season.

ONE FOR ZASOWSKI:
Goaltender Tony Zasowski picked up his first win of the season in Notre Dame’s 5-2 win over Lake Superior State. The junior goaltender made 17 saves. The start versus the Lakers was his third of the season. He recorded ties at Northeastern (Oct. 27) and versus Ferris State (Nov. 10). For the year, Zasowski is 1-0-2 with a 2.53 goals against average and a .900 save percentage.

BRONCO BUSTER:
The Western Michigan Broncos bring out the best in Notre Dame defenseman Neil Komadoski (So., St. Louis, Mo.). In the 4-4 tie (Nov. 16), Komadoski picked up the second multiple-point game of his career (two assists) with both coming versus Western Michigan. Last season, Komadoski had a pair of assists in the Jan. 12 game. In his career, the rugged defenseman has a goal and four assists for five points in six games versus the Broncos.

FOUR-POINT WEEKEND:
Sophomore defenseman Tom Galvin (So., Miller Place, N.Y.) scored as many points in two games versus Ferris State (Nov. 9-10) as he did in 26 games last year. Galvin turned in the first two multiple-point games of his career with a pair of assists in each contest. Last season, the 5-9, 187-pound blueliner had four assists for the year. Galvin leads Notre Dame defensemen with three goals and eight assists for 11 points.

CAREER FIRSTS:
T.J. Mathieson (So., Clarksville, Md.) and Kyle Dolder (So., Hutchinson, Minn.) each scored their first collegiate goals in the 5-2 win over Ferris State (11/9). For Dolder, his goal was also the first game-winning goal of his career. Defenseman Tom Galvin also had the first multiple point games of his career collecting two assists in each of the Ferris State games (11/9 and 11/10). Goaltender Tony Zasowski (Jr., Darien, Ill.) recorded the first assist of his Notre Dame career when he helped set up Brett Lebda’s second period goal in the 3-3 tie with Ferris State (11/10).

FOUR BY FOUR:
Connor Dunlop’s four-point and four-assist game on Nov. 2 at Northern Michigan were career-bests for the junior center. The four-point game extended his point-scoring streak to a personal-best of five consecutive games (1-9-10). The last Notre Dame player to get four assists in a game was defenseman Brett Lebda, who had four assists in a five-point game at Nebraska-Omaha on Dec. 20, 2000. PERANI CUP STANDINGS:
Perani’s Hockey World is the CCHA’s sponsor of the league’s “Three Stars of the Game.” Members of the media are asked to select the game’s three stars for which points are accumulated – 1st Star gets five points, 2nd Star gets three and 3rd Star gets one. Here are the standings for Notre Dame players in CCHA games only:

LEBDA FOR THE DEFENSE:
Sophomore defenseman Brett Lebda turned in the first two-goal game of his career in the 5-4 win over Northern Michigan. For the offensive-minded blueliner, the two goals were his first of the season. In the win over Northern, Lebda also had a career-high 10 shots on goal, passing his previous best of eight set in his rookie year versus Niagara at the Maverick Stampede.

PENALTY MARK:
With 24 penalties for 78 minutes in the loss to Northern Michigan, the Irish set school records for both penalties and minutes. The previous record for penalties was 22 at Michigan State (3/4/00). The previous penalty-minute record was 77 and was also set versus Northern Michigan on Dec. 12, 1981. Rob Globke (So., West Bloomfield, Mich.) led the Irish with six penalties for 31 minutes. He received a game-disqualification penalty in the post-game penalty-parade and will have to sit out the first game versus Ferris State on Friday night.

IRON MEN:
Sophomore defenseman Brett Lebda (So., Buffalo Grove, Ill.) is Notre Dame’s current iron man has he has now played in 55 consecutive games in his Irish career. He follows graduated right wing Ryan Dolder who finished his Notre Dame career having played in 103 consecutive games over a three-season period including every game in 1999-00 and 2000-01. Dolder’s teammate, Dan Carlson was the only other Irish player to played in every game over his last two seasons. Carlson finished his career playing in 101 consecutive games. For his career, Carlson played in 158 of a possible 160 games. The only two he missed came while playing at the World Junior Championships in 1998-99.

CLOSING THE DEAL:
After going 50 games (42-0-8) without losing when taking a lead into the third period, the Irish lost two in a row with a third-period lead. The losses at Ohio State (10/21) and Boston College (10/26) snapped the 50-game unbeaten string that went back to Jan. 9, 1998. Prior to this season, that was the last time the Irish lost when leading after two periods. In that game, 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. Since the loss at Boston College, the Irish are now 4-0-0 in games that they lead after two periods of play.

BAD ENDINGS:
Notre Dame has struggled in the third period this season giving up 19 goals while scoring just 13. Eleven of the goals came in three games as the Irish surrendered five third-period goals in a 7-4 loss to Union College (Oct. 12), four third-period goals to Boston College in a 4-1 loss (Oct. 26) and two third-period goals in a 3-2 loss at Ohio State (Oct. 21).

FOR OPENERS:
Notre Dame’s 2-1 season-opening loss to Union College on Oct. 11 makes the Irish 17-18-0 in season openers in the 35 years of hockey during the modern era at Notre Dame. Notre Dame is 0-3 in its last three season openers with the last win coming on Oct. 2, 1998, a 2-1 win over Wisconsin in the first game played at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wis. Notre Dame is also 20-15 in its first 35 home openers. The Irish opened with a win at home last season, a 2-1 overtime win versus Wayne State.

FIVE-GOAL PERIOD:
Union College exploded for five third-period goals in the 7-4 win over the Irish on Oct. 12. The last time the Irish surrendered five goals in a period was on Nov. 20, 1998 when Western Michigan scored five goals in the third period of a 9-5 Notre Dame victory.

Bloodlines:
Four current members of the Notre Dame hockey program – senior forward Jon Maruk, junior center Connor Dunlop, sophomore defenseman Neil Komadoski and freshman forward Yan Stastny – hold a unique connection, as each of their fathers enjoyed a lengthy career in the National Hockey League. Dennis Maruk played 14 NHL seasons-with the California Golden Seals (’75-’76), Cleveland Barons (’76-’78), Minnesota North Stars (’78-’79, ’83-’88) andthe 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.

Neil Komadoski, Sr., 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.

Rounding out the quartet is Peter Stastny who played 15 seasons in the NHL with the Quebec Nordiques (’80-’90), the New Jersey Devils (’90-’93) and the St. Louis Blues (’93-’95) is currently the 23rd all-time scorer in league history with 450 goals, 789 assists and 1,239 points in 997 games. A six-time NHL all-star, Stastny is the highest scoring European-born player in NHL history and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1998. The 1981 NHL rookie-of-the-year, Stastny is currently a special assignment scout for the St. Louis Blues and will serve as general manager for the 2002 Czech Olympic team.

Notre Dame’s NHL connection doesn’t stop there. Senior Brett Henning who suffered a career-ending neck injury last season is the son of former NHL player and coach Lorne Henning who played nine seasons with the New York Islanders (’72-’81) and has been involved in coaching over the last 15 years. An original member of the Islanders, Henning compiled 73 goals and 111 assists 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.

Freshman forward Alexander “Newsy” Lalonde also has NHL lineage as he is a distant relative of NHL pioneer and Hall of Famer, Edouard “Newsy” Lalonde. Lalonde played for the Montreal Canadiens and the New York Americans between 1917 and 1927 for a total of six seasons in which he scored 124 goals and 41 assists for 165 points in 99 games.

NEW FACE:
Freshman forward Ryan Mundt (Edgartown, Mass.) has been added to the Irish roster for the 2001-02 season. The 5-7, 150-pound Mundt played last season at Martha’s Vineyard High School where he led the team in scoring with 36 goals and 37 assists for 73 points. He is that school’s all-time leading scorer. He made the team after trying out in the preseason.

UNDERGRADUATE ASSISTANT COACH:
Senior Brett Henning (Huntington, N.Y.) has been named an undergraduate assistant coach with the Notre Dame hockey team. Henning was a three-year regular for the Irish but was forced to retire from hockey after suffering a neck injury last September. A center iceman, Henning played in 89 games for the Irish with eight goals and 15 assists for 23 points. He recorded 30 penalties for 60 minutes and had four power play goals and one game winner.

HOMETOWNS:
The 2001-02 Notre Dame hockey team features players from nine states and three Canadian provinces – Alberta, Ontario and Saskatchewan. In the six-year tenure of head coach Dave Poulin, the Notre Dame hockey letterwinners have hailed from 20 different states and provinces – those listed below, plus: Alaska, British Columbia, Colorado, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Prince Edward Island and Quebec.

Academic All-AmericanS:
Notre Dame is the nation’s only Division I hockey program to produce a Verizon/CoSIDA Academic All-American during each of the past five seasons (as part of the fall-winter at-large program). Dan Carlson kept the streak going in 2000-01 by earning third team honors with a 3.49 gpa and a double major in finance and computer applications. He joins two-time selection Steve Noble who took second-team honors in 1996-97 and first-team honors in ’97-’98, goaltender Forrest Karr who was a second teamer in ’98-’99 and left wing Andy Jurkowski who was a third team selection in 1999-2000.

CCHA ALL-ACADEMIC TEAM:
Notre Dame 2001 graduate and two-time team MVP, left wing Dan Carlson (Edina, Minn.) was named to the prestigious eight-player CCHA All-Academic Team for 2000-01, making Notre Dame the CCHA’s only school to produce an All-Academic honoree each of the last six seasons. Carlson led the Irish in scoring for the second consecutive season (17-25-42) and was also an honorable mention all-CCHA selection. A six-time Dean’s List student, Carlson graduated from Notre Dame with a 3.49 cumulative grade point average and a double major in finance and computer applications. Notre Dame has produced eight previous first team CCHA All-Academic selections since rejoining the CCHA in ’92-’93: Curtis Janicke and Carl Picconatto (’92-’93), Garry Gruber (’95-’96), Steve Noble (’96-’97, ’97-’98), Forrest Karr and Aniket Dhadphale (’98-’99) and Andy Jurkowski (99′-’00). During that nine-year span, only Western Michigan (10) has produced more CCHA All-Academic selections than Notre Dame’s nine.

CENTURY MEN:
Left wing Dan Carlson became the fourth Notre Dame hockey player to reach 100 points for his career in the last four seasons. He finished his career with 50 goals and 82 assists for 132 career points, good for 20th on the school’s all-time scoring list. The Edina, Minn., native joins right wing Brian Urick (57G-69A) and left wing Aniket Dhadphale (61G-44A) who each reached 100 points in the 1998-99 season and center Ben Simon (44G-86A) who reached the milestone in 1999-2000. Carlson is just the fifth Notre Dame player to score over 100 points in his career since the Irish returned to the CCHA in ’92-’93. Only center Jamie Ling (1992-96) has scored more points (51-102-153) than Carlson over the past nine seasons. David Inman is the Irish player with the best chance to reach 100 points this season. The senior forward has 40 goals and 31 assists for 71 points in his career. 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 (3). Four are products of the USA Hockey National Team Development Program (NTDP): junior right wing Michael Chin (Urbana, Ill.), junior center Connor Dunlop (St. Louis, Mo.) and freshmen defensemen Brett Lebda (Buffalo Grove, Ill.) and Neil Komadoski (Chesterfield, Mo.). Junior defenseman Evan Nielsen (Evanston, Ill.) was invited to join the NTDP but returned for his senior year at The Taft School.

Notre Dame’s other Illinois natives includes the team’s top returning goaltenders – senior Jeremiah Kimento (Palos Hills) and junior Tony Zasowski (Darien) – plus freshman defenseman Joe Zurenko (Arlington Heights). Joining Dunlop and Komadoski from the St. Louis area is freshman forward Yan Stastny (St. Louis). Prior to 1995, the Notre Dame hockey program had produced just eight total letterwinners from Illinois and two from Missouri.

WINNERS:
Two of the newest members of the Notre Dame hockey team were members of national champion teams during the 2000-01 season. Forwards Yan Stastny and Brad Wanchulak were members of junior hockey national championship teams in the United States and Canada. Stastny played for the USHL’s Omaha Lancers while Wanchulak played for the Camrose Kodiaks of the Alberta Junior Hockey League. Stastny scored six goals and added six assists in 12 postseason games as Omaha won the USHL’s Clark Cup as league champions and then followed by winning the Gold Cup as champions of junior hockey in the U.S. Wanchulak also played a key role in helping Camrose to the Canadian national title. He was the AJHL playoff Most Valuable Player helping the Kodiaks to the AJHL title. In the Royal Bank Cup, which brings together the champions of all the Canadian junior leagues, Wanchulak scored the winning goal in the championship game versus Flin Flon.

FAN FAVORITES:
Notre Dame played in front of three of the top 20 crowds ever to watch Irish hockey during the 2000-01 season. Notre Dame opened the season on Oct. 7 in the Hall of Fame Classic at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn., in front of 18,064 – the sixth biggest crowd in the history of the program. A series at Ohio State’s Schottenstein Center Feb. 2-3 produced crowds of 12,354 and 10,451, the 14th and 19th largest crowds ever to watch Notre Dame hockey. The largest crowd ever to see Irish hockey was 21,347 on Dec. 29, 1982 when Notre Dame faced Michigan in the Great Lakes Invitational at Detroit’s Joe Louis Arena. The largest regular season crowd to ever see the Irish was on Jan. 29, 1993 when 20,247 fans saw Notre Dame play Michigan at The Palace in Auburn Hills, Mich.