January 19, 1999

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Notre Dame freshman center Brett Henning (Huntington, N.Y.) has been named the Central Collegiate Hockey Association rookie of the week, after playing a key role in the Irish weekend sweep of Alaska Fairbanks (6-2, 6-1).

In the first game versus UAF on Jan. 15, Henning moved up from the third to the first line as a replacement for junior Hobey Baker candidate Ben Simon (who was serving a delayed one-game CCHA suspension). Henning led the charge and registered an assist on sophomore left wing Dan Carlson’s second-period goal that held up as the game-winner. He later scored his first power-play goal of the season and third overall in the third period, giving the Irish a 6-1 lead.

In the second game vs. UAF, Henning again set up the game-winner by providing the primary assist on the first career shorthanded goal by senior right wing Brian Urick, giving the Irish a 2-1 second-period lead.

For the season, Henning has three goals and six assists as one of four Irish skaters to appear in all 22 games. He has totaled just nine penalties and owns a positive plus-minus ratio (+2).

The Notre Dame hockey team (14-6-2)-riding a five-game winning streak after a sweep of Alaska Fairbanks (6-2, 6-1)-remains among the top 10 of both major national polls, marking the 16th straight weeks that the Irish have been ranked among the top 10 of each poll, with a high ranking of fourth in both polls on Nov. 16 (when the team was 8-1-2).

The Irish remained eighth in the U.S. College Hockey Online poll and ninth according to the USA Today/American Hockey Magazine poll. North Dakota retained the top spot in both polls while Maine is now second in both. Michigan State is third in the USCHO and fourth in UT/AHM while New Hampshire is third and second, respectively. The fourth through sixth teams in both polls are Michigan, Boston College and Colorado College, with Princeton ranking eighth in UTAHM and ninth in USCHO. Rensselaer holds down 10th in both polls.

Notre Dame’s 1998-99 season has included a 3-2-2 record vs. teams ranked in the national top 10 at the time of the game. The Irish opened with a 2-1 win at then-No. 10 Wisconsin, in front of nearly 14,000 fans at the Kohl Center dedication game, before posting a home win over then-No.9 Ohio State (3-0), a 5-5 tie at former No.1 Boston College and a 2-2 home tie with then-No. 8 Michigan. The Wolverines won the rematch a week later, 1-0 in Ann Arbor.

Notre Dame heads to the Michigan upper peninsula this week for games at Northern Michigan and Lake Superior, with the next home game slated for Jan. 30 vs. Michigan (tickets sold out for that game in late December). A limited number of tickets are left for the Feb. 5 home game vs. Michigan State. Notre Dame’s other remaining home games include Alaska Fairbanks (Feb. 6), Ferris State (Feb. 13) and Northern Michigan (Feb. 26-27).

U.S. COLLEGE HOCKEY ONLINE POLL (1/18/99)

            Team (1st-Place)   Record   Points   Previous        1.   North Dakota (30)  17-2-1   300       1    2.   Maine              16-2-4   251       3        3.   Michigan State     19-3-3   241       2        4.   New Hampshire      17-4-1   217       4    5.   Michigan           16-5-2   157       5           6.   Boston College     13-7-2   133       6              7.   Colorado College   15-8-1   114       7    8.   NOTRE DAME         14-6-2   105       8    9.   Princeton          11-4- 1   59       9   10.   Rensselaer         13-5-1    42      10

Others Receiving Votes: Colgate 9, Alaska Anchorage 5, Ferris State 5, Michigan Tech 4, St. Lawrence 4, Ohio State 3, Denver 1.

USA TODAY/AMERICAN HOCKEY MAGAZINE POLL (1/18/99)

         Team (1st-Place)   Record   Points   Previous    1.   North Dakota (9)   15-2-1   99        1    2.   Maine              14-2-4   82        2        3.   New Hampshire      15-4-1   75        4    4.   Michigan State (1) 18-3-2   80        3        5.   Michigan           15-4-2   51        5           6.   Boston College     12-5-2   51        5              7.   Colorado College   15-6-1   48        7    8.   Princeton          11-3-1   21        8    9.   NOTRE DAME         12-5-2   20        9   10.   Rensselaer         11-5-0   11       --

Others Receiving Votes: Colgate 4, Ferris State 1. Teams in italics are opponents on Notre Dame’s 1998-99 schedule.

NOTRE DAME WEEK-BY-WEEK IN THE NATIONAL HOCKEY POLLS

          ND RECORD   USCHO     USA TODAY10/5       1-0-0      (17)      no poll10/12      3-0-0      no poll   (11)10/19      5-0-0       8         7   10/26      6-1-0       9         711/2       6-1-0       8         711/9       7-1-1       6         611/16      8-1-2       4         411/23      9-2-2       5         811/30      9-3-2       6         712/7       9-5-2      10        1012/14      9-5-2       9         912/21      9-5-2      no poll   no poll12/28      9-5-2       9        no poll1/4       10-6-2       9         91/11      12-6-2       9         81/18      14-5-2       8         9
(   ) = received votes