Notre Dame Fighting Irish - Official Athletics Website

Irish Brace For Series With Michigan State

Updated Dec. 2, 1999

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Notre Dame hockey team (5-7-2, 3-5-2 CCHA) returns to Central Collegiate Hockey Association play this week with a Sat.-Sun., home-and-home series versus league-leading and fifth-ranked Michigan State (Dec. 4 at ND, Dec. 5 at MSU, both at 7:05) … the Irish returned from a 13-day break from competition by earning a split in the Silver Anniversary Conference Classic at the University of New Hampshire, dropping a hard-fought, 2-1 game to UNH before downing Vermont, 5-1 … the ND-MSU games will be carried live in South Bend by WJVA 1580 AM (also available via the Notre Dame athletic web site, at www.und.com).

SCHEDULE NOTES: The Irish played just four CCHA games in November (only two total home games) while the MSU series will be ND’s only CCHA action in a 55-day span … the Irish close out the pre-Christmas schedule with non-league series vs. UMass and Princeton before taking part in the Norwest Denver Cup, vs. DU on New Year’s Eve and Maine or Colorado College on Jan. 1 … Notre Dame and MSU are part of the same four-team CCHA “cluster”, which includes Alaska Fairbanks and Nebraska Omaha (teams play four games vs. teams in their cluster, two at home and two on the road) …the Irish and Spartans will not meet again until the final week of the regular season (March 3 at ND, March 4 at MSU).

CRAZY EIGHTS: Six players sit atop the Notre Dame scoring charts, with eight points each … junior LW David Inman has seven goals and one assist while four Irish players have 3G-5A: senior C Ben Simon, junior LW Dan Carlson, senior RW Joe Dusbabek and sophomore C Brett Henning … freshman C Connor Dunlop rounds out the crowded group of scoring leaders, with 2G-6A.

A PATRIOTIC GROUP: This weekend’s series will reunite 11 players who were part of the inaugural two seasons with the USA Hockey National Team Development Program … five current Notre Dame players are products of the USA developmental experience, including sophomore C Brett Henning and freshman RW Michael Chin (both in 1997-98) and three freshmen who spent the past two years training with the USA program in Ann Arbor, Mich., as members of the under-17 and under-18 national teams: C Connor Dunlop, D Paul Harris and RW John Wroblewski (D Evan Nielsen was invited to join the developmental program in 1998-99 but elected to return to The Taft School for his senior season) … Michigan State’s six playes who honed their skills in the USA program include: sophomore Fs Adam Hall and Joe Goodenow, sophomore Ds Andrew Hutchinson and Jon Insana, freshman F Troy Ferguson and freshman D John Michael Liles … both of Notre Dame’s early signees-defensemen Neil Komadoski and Brett Lebda-are current members of the National Team Development Program … MSU also signed a current USA developmental program defenseman (Joey Hope) … the only other USA developmental players who signed early with CCHA teams were forwards Michael Komisarek (Michigan) and K.J. Umberger (Ohio State).

PLAYING ON THE WORLD STAGE: Notre Dame junior LW Dan Carlson and two MSU players-junior G Joe Blackburn and sophomore F Adam Hall-were members of the USA junior national team that competed at the 1998-99 World Junior Championship (held Dec. 26-Jan. 5 in Winnipeg, Manitoba) … former MSU All-America center Mike York played alongside current Irish senior forwards Ben Simon and Joe Dusbabek on the 1997-98 USA junior national team (York and Simon also were members of the silver medal-winning squad in 1996-97) … three Notre Dame players were named to the 1999-2000 USA junior national team on Dec. 1: sophomore LW David Inman, sophomore C Brett Henning and freshman C Connor Dunlop (freshman RW John Wroblewski also was under consideration) … all of the above four players except for Inman were members of the USA National Team Development Program … Inman is a native of Toronto, Ont., but holds joint citizenship (he was born in New York City and his mother is a U.S. citizen) … two MSU players were named to the U.S. 1999-2000 junior national team: Hall and freshman D John Michael Liles (sophomore D Andrew Hutchinson and freshman G Ryan Miller also were considered).

CHECKING THE BOXSCORES: Despite an 0-4-0 start in the CCHA, Notre Dame is 3-1-2 in its last six CCHA games and tied for eighth place, just four points out of fourth and six points out of third … the Irish rank 10th in the CCHA for overall goals per game (2.43), 5th in goals allowed (2.64), 5th in power-play pct. (.160), 9th in penalty-kill pct. (.815) and 1st in fewest penalty minutes/gm (15.71) … sophomore LW David Inman is tied for 7th in the CCHA with seven goals (he totaled 10 in ’98-’99).

INSIDE THE NUMBERS: Notre Dame’s 2.61 team goals-against average is on pace to challenge the team record set in 1998-99 (2.60) … prior to the 4-1 first period vs. Vermont, the Irish had been outscored 13-4 in the first period this season (14-11 edge in the second, 12-12 in the third) … the 3-2 win over UAF on Nov. 13 (2 PPGs) was the first this season where a PPG helped provide ND’s winning margin, with four loss margins by opponent PPGs (ND’s 9-1-2 start in ’98-’99 included a 3-0 mark in games decided by PPGs) … the 3-2 win over UAF was Notre Dame’s first victory this season in the second game of a CCHA series (0-3-1 previously), with the following dropoffs on the second night of the five CCHA series this season: goals allowed (total of 13 in first games, 19 on second night, avg. of 2.6 to 3.8), PK pct. (drop from .848 to .765) and PP pct. (.156 to .133) … Notre Dame’s 4-6-2 start stood in stark contrast to the record-setting 9-3-2 opening in ’98-’99, with the most notable dropoffs coming in goals per game (3.9 to 2.4), PP pct. (.274 to .160) and first-period goals (15 to 8) … only two current Irish players have four-plus goals, compared to seven players with four-plus goals after 14 games in ’98-’99 … senior C Ben Simon (34G-72A) is the only current player with 70-plus career points, compared to four 70-plus scorers through 14 games in ’98-’99.

AROUND THE HORN
Freshman G Tony Zasowski has turned in six strong starting performances (19-save shutout, plus five other games with 2G allowed) while suffering just one rough game (five GA at UNO) … Zasowski’s stats as a starter: 3-2-2, 2.10 GAA and .925 save pct. (he ranks 8th overall in the CCHA with a 2.31 GAA, which would best the Irish record of 2.58 set by Forrest Karr last season) … senior LW Andy Jurkwoski (4G-3A)-who moved up from the D this season-has surpassed his career scoring total of six points (2G-4A in 70 games, including 18 games as a freshman F) … Jurkowski (4) and sophomore LW David Inman (7) are the only Irish players with more than 3G this season … senior D Sean Seyferth has made the most of his recent chances, leading the team in plus-minus (+5) while recording 1G-1A in the 5-1 win over Vermont (he had 1G-1A in the last two seasons combined) … senior D Sean Molina is tied for second on the squad in plus-minus (+4), after ranking second on the ’98-’99 squad (+13) … Molina has totaled just 31 career penalties while playing the most games (120) of any current Irish player (he is averaging 3.9 games per penalty for his career) … Molina is tied for second on the 1999-2000 team with five assists, equaling his total from ’98-’99 and one shy of his career-best season total (6, in ’97-’98) … senior C Ben Simon is averaging just 1.6 shots/gm this season (21 in 13 games), compared to 3.1 in ’98-’99 (113 in 37) and 2.8 over his first three seasons (287 in 104).

SLAP SHOTS: Notre Dame’s four first-period goals in the 5-1 win over Vermont (Nov. 28) are its most in 25 games, since scoring four times in the first period vs. Alaska Fairbanks on Feb. 6, 1999 (a 5-2 win) … Notre Dame has allowed just five goals in its last four games (0 vs. UAF, 2 vs. UAF, 2 vs. UNH, 1 vs. Vermont) … the Irish have scored PPGs in 10 of 14 games this season … the Irish are 17-5-4 in their last 26 regular-season home games … Notre Dame has scored two or fewer goals in eight of 14 games (three games with three, one with four, two with five) … Notre Dame’s last eight OT games have produced seven ties and one loss (0-1-5 in 1998-99).

SCOUTING MSU (www.msuspartans.com): Michigan State has opened with an 11-4-0 record (10-2-0 CCHA), after splitting at home last week in the College Hockey Showcase (5-1 loss to Wisconsin, 6-2 win over Minnesota) … MSU leads the CCHA in overall defense (1.73 goals allowed/gm) and PP pct. (.891) while ranking 4th in scoring (3.47), 4th in PK (.868) and 8th in fewest penalty minutes/gm (22.40) … senior F Shawn Horcoff leads the CCHA with 26 total points (6G-20A) while sophomore F Adam Hall ranks fifth (12G-6A) … Hall (CCHA-best four game-winning goals) is tied with NMU’s Roger Trudeau for first on the CCHA goalscoring charts (16) while Horcoff leads the CCHA in assists (20) … the Spartans have a potent goaltending duo in the form of freshman Ryan Miller (5-1-0, 1.40 GAA, .934 save pct., 3 shutouts) and junior Joe Blackburn (6-3-0, 2.04, .905. 1 shutout) … MSU returned 15 of 24 letterwinners from its ’98-’99 team that went 29-6-7, won the CCHA regular-season title and lost to New Hampshire in the NCAA semifinals (5-3) … MSU’s top returning players include two All-Americans in senior D Mike Weaver (1G-6A) and Blackburn (21-5-7, 1.55, .928) while Horcoff (12G-25A) is the top returning scorer … the Spartans’ top losses included Hobey Baker Award finalist Mike York (22G-32A)

THE ND-MSU SERIES: Michigan State holds a 43-27-5 series edge versus Notre Dame (26-12-1 at home, 16-15-4 at ND), dating back to 1921 … the Spartans own a 16-1-3 series edge since the Irish rejoined the CCHA in 1992-93, with Notre Dame breaking through for a 6-1 win at MSU on Nov. 1, 1997, ending a 17-game Irish winless streak (0-14-3) vs. the Spartans … MSU beat Notre Dame 4-1 for the ’81-’82 CCHA Tournament title (current Irish coach Dave Poulin was captain of that Notre Dame team) … the Irish have lost their last 12 games where the winning goal was scored in the final minute of regulation or overtime, including a 4-3 loss at Michigan State on Dec. 6, 1997, when Mark Loeding scored with 0:54 left in the third period.

THE ’98-’99 SERIES: All three games between Notre Dame and MSU in 1998-99 were played in a 15-day span (all on Friday nights), with the Feb. 5 game (2-2) representing the first between the teams in nearly 15 months … MSU won the next two games of the 1998-99 series (1-0 at ND on Feb. 12, 3-1 at MSU on Feb. 19) … those two defeats and a 1-0 loss to Ferris State comprised a frustrating scoreless drought for the Irish that spanned nine periods, 204 minutes of game time and 92 shots on goal … the 2-2 tie included early PPGs by MSU’s Rustyn Dolyny and Bryan Adams, followed by a Benoit Cotnoir power-play shot from the blue line and Ben Simon’s rebound goal in the second period (off a shot by Aniket Dhadphale) … Forrest Karr had 23 saves for the Irish, Joe Blackburn 26 for MSU … a week later, Blackburn had 21 saves while Adams converted on a 2-on-2 pass from York for the game’s only scoring (Karr finished with 24 saves) … the series finale included 25 saves from Blackburn, two PPGs by Adams and a third-period goal from Jeff Kozakowski … Notre Dame defenseman Andy Jurkowski ended the Irish drought with a third-period shot from the right point (Karr totaled 23 saves) … the game included 74 penalty minutes by ND and 71 by MSU, with a combined 115 PIMs coming on a scuffle between the teams in the final minute … Blackburn stopped 71 of the 74 shots he faced during the series while helping thwart 11 of 12 Irish power plays (the MSU power play was 4-for-10 in the series).

SERIES SCORERS: Notre Dame senior C Ben Simon (4G-1A) is the only Irish player with multiple career goals or multiple career points vs. Michigan State, with the rest of the veterans combining for just three career goals (one each by junior LWs Dan Carlson and Chad Chipchase and senior LW Andy Jurkowski) and four career assists (one each by senior RW Joe Dusbabek, senior Ds Sean Molina and Tyson Fraser and junior RW Matt Van Arkel) vs. the Spartans … Simon and Jurkowski are the only current Notre Dame players who have lit the lamp during the last four games vs. MSU … Simon’s first career goal came in the 15th game of the 1996-97 season, a last-minute 4-3 loss at Munn Ice Arena on Dec. 6, 1996 (Simon opened his career with no goals on his first 31 shots but has 21 goals on 113 shots during the past two seasons) … Simon has missed two of the nine MSU games during his career (both in 1996-97), due to a game misconduct vs. St. Cloud State (forcing him to miss the 3-0 home loss to MSU on Jan. 28) and a coach’s decision in the 3-2, season-ending loss at MSU … Irish junior D Ryan Clark played in just two of the six games vs. MSU during the past two seasons, due to a coaches decision after the Oct. 31, 1997 loss (he did not play in the 6-1 Irish win on Nov. 1) and a midseason shoulder injury that forced him to miss all three MSU games last season.

FRIEND OR FOE?: Several Notre Dame and MSU players are former teammates (in addition to the former USA teammates listed on p. 1) … ND senior D Nathan Borega and MSU junior LW Sean Patchel played together on the Vernon (B.C.) Vipers while Irish senior D Tyson Fraser and MSU senior C Sean Horcoff were members of Team British Columbia … ND freshman LW Jake Wiegand holds the unique distinction of having played junior hockey with Michigan State junior G Joe Blackburn (Compuware Ambassadors) and Michigan sophomore G Josh Blackburn (Lincoln Stars).

RECAPPING THE CONFERENCE CLASSIC: Notre Dame faced an early deficit vs. UNH, after goals by Josh Prudden and Eric Lind in a 67-second span, but the Irish held a 16-4 edge in shots during the second period while having four power-play chances in the period … Connor Dunlop’s goal cut the lead to 2-1 shortly before the second intermission but the Irish failed to net the equalizer vs. Ty Conklin (25 saves) … Notre Dame shook off its first-period struggles the next night by scoring four goals in the first 12 minutes vs. Vermont while sophomore Jeremiah Kimento (24 saves, 1 GA) had a strong outing in his first start in more than a month … the early Irish goals came from Joe Dusbabek, Dan Carlson, Sean Seyferth and David Inman … the Irish added to their 4-1 first-period lead on 5-on-3 goal by Ben Simon in the second period … 10 Irish players had a goal or assist in the 5-1 win.

WHO’S HOT?: Senior LW Andy Jurkowski (points in 7 of the last 9 games, 4G-3A) … senior RW Joe Dusbabek (points in 5 of the last 7 games, 3G-4A) … sophomore C Brett Henning (points in 4 of the last 5 games, 2G-4A).

FINDING THE NET: The 5-1 win over Vermont halted several short goalscoring slumps for the Irish … senior C Ben Simon snapped a three-game point drought while sophomore LW David Inman also ended a three-game point drought (he had just one goal in the previous six games) … junior LW Dan Carlson ended a four-game point drought and six-game goal drought in the Vermont win.

ROAD WARRIORS: Notre Dame has posted wins in 21 road arenas during the five-year tenure of head coach Dave Poulin (19 in the past two-plus seasons) … the Irish could add Ohio State’s Value City Arena to that list, with games on Feb. 4-5 … the previous two seasons saw Notre Dame 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 … Notre Dame owns three road wins over Wisconsin during the Poulin era, all at different sites: Milwaukee’s Bradley Center, the Dane County Coliseum and the Kohl Center dedication game … 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 … Notre Dame has recent neutral-site wins at the Univ. of Minnesota (vs. Brown), the Univ. of Denver (vs. Union) and the Univ. of New Hampshire (vs. Vermont) … Van Andel Arena (two losses to Ferris State) is one of six facilities in which a Poulin-coached Irish team has played but not posted any wins, with the others being: Princeton (two losses in ’96-’97), BC (loss and tie), Illinois Chicago (loss in ’96-’97), the Palace at Auburn Hills (loss to Michigan in ’96-’97) and the Omaha Civic Auditorium (tie and loss vs. UNO).

Waiting for the Wakeup Calls
Unlike the 1998-99 season-when Notre Dame bounced back repeatedly in the second game of a weekend-the Irish have tailed off in the second game of their CCHA series this season.

Notre Dame has totaled just three points in the second game of its CCHA series while seeing a drop in its average scoring (2.4 to 2.2) and shots (25.6 to 23.3), with the power-play efficiency also lower (.156 to .133, 5 PPGs to 4).

Defensively, the Irish have allowed one more goal per game in the final game of the weekend (2.6 to 3.8), with the penalty kill dropping from .848 to .765 (5 PPGs allowed to 8).

In ’98-’99, the Irish were 9-5-4 on the first game of a weekend, 8-7-1 in the second (highlighted by a 2-2 tie vs. Michigan, a 4-3 win at North Dakota, 2-1 win over Northern Michigan).

1999-2000 1st Game 2nd Game
W-L-T 2-2-1 1-3-1
Goals (Avg.) 12 (2.4) 11 (2.2)
PPGs 5 4
PPGs All. 5 8
GA (Avg.) 13 (2.6) 19 (3.8)
Shots/Goal 10.8 10.6
PP Pct. .156 .133
PK Pct. .848 .765
Shots (Avg.) 25.6 23.3

LAMP LIGHTERS
Notre Dame entered 1999-2000 with five players who had 15-plus career goals to their credit (68.8 pct. of the entire team’s career goals) but those players have combined for just 32.3 pct. of the current goal total (11 of 34), as senior C Ben Simon, senior RW Joe Dusbabek, junior LW Dan Carlson each have three goals while junior RW Matt Van Arkel has two (junior LW Chad Chipchase has not scored in seven games played) … the unexpected scoring boosts this season have included 4G from senior LW Andy Jurkowski (he had two previous goals in his ND career), plus 3G from sophomore C Brett Henning (he had four during his entire freshman season) and two from senior D Tyson Fraser (he had five in his first three seasons combined).

The Irish continue to look for offensive boosts, after graduation losses of RW and team captain Brian Urick (16G-25A in ’98-’99), LW power-play ace Aniket Dhadphale (18-11) and All-America D Benoit Cotnoir (7-18) … senior C/LW Ben Simon (35 career goals, 72 assists) is the team’s most accomplished scorer while sophomore C/LW David Inman has seven of the 34 Irish goals this season … Inman has 13 points (10G-3A) in the last 17 regular-season games while junior RW Ryan Dolder has eight (4G-4A) in the last 18 … freshman C Connor Dunlop it tied for the team scoring lead with eight points, including assists on four of the team’s five goals at the IceBreaker … Notre Dame’s trio of junior LWs-Dan Carlson, Chad Chipchase and Jay Kopischke-are due for a scoring breakthrough, as that threesome has combined for just five goals in Notre Dame’s last 30 games … Carlson’s goal in the 3-2 CCHA playoff win over Northern Michigan represented his only goal in 21 games (before his recent PPGs vs. Ferris State and Miami and a nifty goal vs. Vermont) while Chipchase’s crucial goal in the ’98-’99 season finale at Miami (4-2) marks his only goal in his last 23 games played … Kopischke has not scored since Jan. 30, 1998, spanning 48 games played … senior RW Joe Dusbabek could provide a huge scoring lift for the Irish, after scoring 13 goals during his big freshman season (he has eight goals, plus 27 often timely assists, in 64 games over the past three years and heads into the MSU series with 3G-4A in the last seven games) … sophomore C Brett Henning had one goal in a 19-game span before netting goals vs. Union, Miami and UAF (he has 3G in the last 11 games and 2G-4A in the last seven) … junior RW Matt Van Arkel’s goals vs. Union and Miami extended his history of strong early-season play (19 of 25 career points before New Year’s).

EARLY ROOKIE HONORS: Notre Dame produced two early CCHA rookie-of-the-week honorees, with center Connor Dunlop (St. Louis, Mo.) honored by the CCHA on Oct. 18 while goaltender Tony Zasowski (Darien, Ill.) was recognized on Nov. 1 for his strong series vs. Miami … Zasowski made 58 saves in the series (5-2, 2-2) and helped stop all 14 MU power plays … Zasowski (3-2-2 overall, 2.30 GAA, .916 save pct.) became the first freshman to start in net for the Irish since Matt Eisler made his first career start in the second game of 1994-95 … Dunlop assisted on four of Notre Dame’s five goals (including all three PPGs) in the IceBreaker Tournament … he had the primary assists on third-period goals by Matt Van Arkel and Brett Henning that helped clinch the win over Union (4-0) while also assisting on David Inman’s first goal in that game … Dunlop had a SHG in the 5-3, season-opening loss to Michigan (becoming the first Irish freshman to score in a CCHA opener since Brian Urick’s four-goal game in the 7-4 win at UAF in ’95) … Dunlop is tied for the Irish season scoring lead, with eight points (2G-6A), including the lone Notre Dame goal in the 2-1 loss at No. 8 UNH.

SIMON REACHES 100: Notre Dame senior C Ben Simon (Shaker Heights, Ohio) has earned preseason CCHA “player of the year” honors from Hockey News … Simon registered a goal and assist in the season-opening Michigan series, giving him 100 points (32G-68A) in his 106th career game … he added 1G-2A in the series at UNO and had 1G-2A vs. Vermont, for a career total of 106 points (34G-72A) in 117 games … Simon is the fourth Irish player to reach 100 points in the five-year tenure of head coach Dave Poulin, joining ’96 graduate Jamie Ling (51-102) and ’99 grads Brian Urick (57-69) and Aniket Dhadphale (61-44) … Simon needs 16 more goals to become the 29th Notre Dame player ever to total 50-plus goals and 50-plus assists … he is 25 points shy of cracking Notre Dame’s top-20 career scoring list and needs 25 more assists to crack that top 10 list.

HOMESTANDERS: In its last 26 regular-season home games, Notre Dame is 17-5-4 with a 93-53 scoring edge (two 7-1 wins, one 9-5 win) … Notre Dame’s last 17 home wins have included 10 by three goals or more … despite opening the ’98-’99 season with a 10-0-2 mark at home, the Irish are just 5-5-2 in their last 12 home games (including the CCHA playoff series with Northern Michigan) and have been outscored 34-28 in those games.

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

New Challenges …
Notre Dame’s 5-7-2 start to the 1999-2000 season stands in stark contrast to the record-setting 9-3-2 opening in ’98-’99. The Irish have shown a considerable dropoff in goals per game (3.9 to 2.4), shots per game (30.1 to 25.5), power-play goals (20 to 13) and first-period goals (15 to 8) while the Irish are averaging 10.1 shots/goal (7.8 last season).

A big part of the Irish success in ’98-’99 was the PP unit, which operated at a .274 efficiency during the first 14 games and provided the winning margin in three early wins (the PP is hitting at a still-respectable .160 this season). By comparison, Notre Dame’s .815 penalty kill produced just one loss due to opponent PPGs through the first 14 games of ’98-’99 while the .815 unit this season has given up PPGs that have provided the margin in four Irish losses.

Defensively, the Irish are allowing one more goals per game this season (2.4 to 2.6) and have allowed four-plus goals in five games (just three in first 14 games of ’98-’99).

David Inman (7) and Andy Jurkowski (4) are the only current Irish players with four-plus goals, compared to seven at this point in ’98-’99: Aniket Dhadphale (9), Brian Urick (9), Ben Simon (7), Matt Van Arkel (5), Inman (6), Chad Chipchase (5) and Dan Carlson (4). Simon (34G-72A) is the only current player with 70-plus career points (Joe Dusbabek is next, with 21G-35A), compared to four 70-plus scorers through 14 games in ’98-’99 (Simon 79, Dhadphale 92, Urick 106 and Benoit Cotnoir 71).

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

After 14 Games 1998-99 1999-2000
W-L-T 9-3-2 5-7-2
Goals (Avg.) 54 (3.9) 34 (2.4)
Power-Play Goals 20 13
PPGs Allowed 15 15
Goals All. (Avg.) 34 (2.4) 37 (2.6)
Shots Per Goal 7.8 10.1
Power-Play Pct. .274 .160
Penalty Kill Pct. .815 .815
Shots (Avg.) 30.1 25.5
Players w/ 4+ Goals 7 2
Pl. w/ 70+ Career Pts 4 1
Games w/ 4+ GA 3 5
First-Period Goals 15 8
Wins by PPGs 3 1
Losses by PPGs 1 4