Feb. 24, 2004
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- The Game: Notre Dame (15-11-4/11-10-3) vs. University of Michigan Wolverines (21-8-1/16-5-1)
- Date/Site/Times: Fri.-Sat, Feb. 27-28, 2004 – Joyce Center (2,713) – 8:05 p.m. (Fri.)/7:05 p.m. (Sat.)
- Broadcast Information: Television: Friday night’s game will be televised live via College Sports Television (CSTV) with Steve Schlanger and Dave Starman calling the action. Game time is 8:05 p.m.
- Radio: All Notre Dame games can be heard live on ESPN Radio 1620, South Bend’s SportsCenter. Mike Lockert, “the voice of Irish hockey” calls all the action with Tom Nevala handling the color commentary. Irish hockey can also be heard live via the internet at www.und.com.
STRETCH DRIVE: Notre Dame enters the final two weeks of the regular season looking to grab one of the six home-ice spots in the first round of the CCHA playoffs. The Irish come into this weekend’s home series versus #4/#4 Michigan one point out of sixth place with an 11-10-3 league record, one point behind sixth-place Western Michigan with one game in hand. Notre Dame, 15-11-4 overall, has 25 points to Western’s 26. The Irish are two points behind fifth-place Alaska Fairbanks (27) with two games in hand on the Nanooks and five points behind fourth-place Ohio State (30) with a pair of games in hand on the Buckeyes. Michigan comes into the weekend ranked fourth in the nation with a 23-8-1 overall record and is in first in the CCHA with an 18-5-1 league record, good for 37 points. The Wolverines have a four-point lead on second-place Michigan State with two games in hand. Michigan needs any combination of three points this weekend (Michigan wins or ties or Miami losses or ties) to clinch the regular season title. Friday night’s game will be televised live by College Sports Television (CSTV) with opening faceoff set for 8:05 p.m. Saturday’s game is Senior Night for the Irish as they honor their seven-man Class of 2004 in pregame ceremonies. Faceoff on Saturday is 7:05 p.m.
REMAINING GAMES: Here’s the remaining schedules for the 12 CCHA teams:
Michigan (4): at ND, at ND, at MSU, vs. MSU (JLA)
Michigan St. (2): UM, vs. UM (at JLA)
Miami (4): WMU, WMU, OSU, at OSU
Ohio State (2): at MIA, MIA
Alaska Fairbanks: (2): at UNO, at UNO
Western Michigan (3): at MIA, at MIA, BGSU
Notre Dame (4): UM, UM, at LSSU, at LSSU
No. Michigan (4): at BGSU, at BGSU, FSU, FSU
Ferris State (4): LSSU, LSSU, at NMU, at NMU
Bowling Green (3): NMU, NMU, at WMU
Lake Superior (4): at FSU, at FSU, ND, ND
Nebraska-Omaha (2): UAF, UAF
IRISH VS. WOLVERINES: The Feb. 27th game between Notre Dame and Michigan will be the 100th all-time meeting in the series. In the first 99 contests, Michigan holds a 55-39-5 edge. At Notre Dame, the Wolverines are 18-17-2. Since the Irish returned to the CCHA in 1992-93, Michigan is 29-4-3 versus Notre Dame, including 9-2-2 at the Joyce Center. Last season, the two teams split a pair of games at Yost Arena with Michigan winning 4-2 and the Irish taking a 4-3 win in the second game of the series. In the last four meetings at the Joyce Center, the Irish are 0-3-1. Notre Dame’s last home win versus Michigan came Jan. 30, 1999 in a 3-2 victory. In the last 10 meetings between the two schools, the Wolverines are 6-2-2 versus the Irish.
HALL OF FAMER: The Philadelphia Flyers will induct Notre Dame hockey coach Dave Poulin into their Hall of Fame on Wednesday, March 3 prior to the start of their game with the Nashville Predators. Poulin played eight seasons with the Flyers (1982-83 to 1989-90) and served as captain of the team from 1984-85 to 1989-90. In his eight seasons, Poulin recorded 161 goals with 233 assists for 394 points and was a three-time all-star (1986, 1987 and 1988). During his six seasons as captain, Poulin helped lead the Flyers to three Patrick Division titles and two Wales Conference championships. “”I am thrilled. It really came very unexpectedly,” said Poulin. “Certainly when you read the names of the players that are in there, I am certainly flattered and humbled to be included in that group. I’m the fourth player from my peer team so to speak to be there – with Mark Howe, Timmy Kerr and Brian Propp being the other three. We had such a great run and had so much fun while we were doing it, that to be joining those guys in that grouping is a tremendous, tremendous honor.”
IRISH ON THE WEB: Both games of the Notre Dame-Michigan series will be available through live video streaming to subscribers of College Sports Pass on Notre Dame’s athletic website, UND.com. Friday’s video streaming will be the actual CSTV broadcast that begins at 8:05 p.m. Saturday’s streaming will be a one-camera video feed live from the Joyce Center, beginning at 7:05 p.m. College Sports Pass, features year-round premium content for a monthly fee of $6.95. Quarterly and annual subscriptions are also available. Fans can go to http://und.ocsn.com/multimedia/nd-multimedia.html to subscribe.
SENIOR NIGHT: Notre Dame will honor its senior class of 2004 prior to Saturday nights game with Michigan. The class includes four defensemen and two forwards and one senior manager. The defensemen include: Tom Galvin (Miller Place, N.Y.), Neil Komadoski (Chesterfield, Mo.), Brett Lebda (Buffalo Grove, Ill.) and T.J. Mathieson (Clarksville, Md.). The forwards are Aaron Gill (Rochester, Minn.) and Rob Globke (West Bloomfield, Mich.). The senior manager is Jesse Kirkpatrick (Crete, Ill.). This group, along with the junior class has a chance to be the first Notre Dame players to make three consecutive trips to the CCHA Super Six.
SPECIAL SPECIAL TEAMS: Since giving up a power-play goal at 10:26 of the first period at Northern Michigan on Jan. 23, Notre Dame has killed 33 consecutive opponent power plays (57:30 minutes) over a seven-game, two-period span. Included in that run were nine power plays in the weekend series with Ferris State. For the season, the Irish have killed 121 of 136 opponent chances. Of the 15 power-play goals surrendered, 10 have come in five games (two in each game). Over the remaining 25 games, the Irish have given up just five other power-play goals. Notre Dame has killed 89.0% of opponent power plays this season to lead the CCHA and rank third-best in the nation. Notre Dame’s all-time best penalty killing rate at the Division I level is 86.1% and was set during the 1969-70 season.
HOT GOALTENDER: Freshman goaltender David Brown (Stoney Creek, Ont.) is back in his early-season groove over his last seven starts. The talented puckstopper has given up just nine goals in those seven games (beginning on Jan. 10 vs. Bowling Green). In the seven games, Brown is 5-1-1, has played 423:06 minutes with a 1.28 goals-against average and a .959 save percentage, stopping 209 of 218 shots. For his strong month of January, Brown received honorable mention for Hockey Commissioners Association (HCA) rookie-of-the-month honors. For the year, Brown is 11-5-3 with a 2.08 goals-against average and a .930 save percentage.
UNDER-18 TEAM REUNION: The Notre Dame-Michigan series is a U.S. National Developmental Team reunion of sorts as the two teams combined have 16 former members of the national program. The Irish have eight former members – seniors Rob Globke, Neil Komadoski and Brett Lebda, junior Derek Smith, sophomore Tim Wallace and freshmen Noah Babin, Michael Bartlett and Josh Sciba. Michigan’s lineup also features eight alums, juniors Dwight Helminen, Eric Nystrom, Eric Ryznar and Eric Werner, sophomore Al Montoya and freshmen Mike Brown, T.J. Hensick and Matt Hunwick.
300 AND COUNTING: Notre Dame’s 4-2 win on Feb. 13 over Ferris State was the 300th win in the history of the Joyce Center. Notre Dame is now 301-245-42 (.549) on home ice.
THE WEEK AFTER: In each of the last four seasons following the February bye week, the Irish have had successful weekends upon their return to action the following week. Last year, the Irish swept a pair of games at Bowling Green. In 2001-02, the Irish swept a series at Lake Superior State. In 2000-01, the Irish tied and won at Alaska Fairbanks. A schedule change that year had the Irish play one game at Michigan in the off-week, where they tied the Wolverines at Yost Arena. In 1999-2000, the Irish followed the bye week with a home tie versus Michigan State and a loss at Michigan State. The Irish are 5-1-2 in games following the bye week since 1999-2000.
HOME SWEET HOME: The weekend sweep of Ferris State ran Notre Dame’s home unbeaten streak to 12 games (10-0-2). The last time the Irish lost on home ice came on Oct. 17, a 5-3 loss to Bowling Green. For the year, the Irish are 10-1-2 at the Joyce Center. The 10 wins are the most for the Irish at home since the 1999-2000 campaign when Notre Dame was 11-7-3 at the Joyce Center. The Irish have two more regular-season home games this year.
TWO FOR THE CENTURY MARK: Seniors Rob Globke and Aaron Gill each went over the 100-point mark in their careers during the 2003-04 season. This marks the first time since the 1998-99 season that two Notre Dame players crashed the Irish “Century Club.” That season, Brian Urick and Aniket Dhadphale each recorded the 100th point of their careers. This season, Globke became the 40th player in Notre Dame hockey history to go over 100 points in his career with two assists versus Western Michigan (Dec. 6). His assist in the 4-2 win over Ferris State (Feb. 13) ties him for 32nd all-time with Ray DeLorenzi with 114 points. Globke is just one of 18 players in school history to have 60 or more goals in a season and now is tied for 16th all-time with 65 career goals. Gill made it 41 players on the list with his goal on Feb. 6 at Miami. For his career, Gill now has 44 goals and 58 assists for his 102 career points. He is second in scoring this season with 12 goals and 17 assists for 29 points.
GOLDEN GLOBKE: Senior right wing Rob Globke is tied for fourth in the CCHA with 16 goals this season and leads the Irish with 16 goals and 14 assists for 30 points. He is just six points off his career-high of 36 (21g, 15a) set last season. He has led the Irish in goals in two of his first three seasons. Globke was named the CCHA offensive player of the week for the week ending Jan. 18. At Wisconsin, Globke accounted for two goals and two assists and was +2 for the weekend as the Irish tied (2-2) and downed the fourth-ranked Badgers (3-1). Globke was the first Notre Dame player to receive offensive player of the week honors since Dan Carlson (’01) was named on Feb. 7, 2000.
GAME-WINNING GLOBKE: Rob Globke picked up his CCHA-leading fifth game-winning goal of the season in the 3-1 win over Wisconsin on Jan. 18. He ranks second in the country with the five game-winners. For his career at Notre Dame, Globke now has 13 game-winning goals. That ties him for first on the all-time game-winning goal list with Brian Urick (’99) and current head coach Dave Poulin who recorded 13 game winners from 1978-82.
ON THE SIDELINES: Notre Dame defenseman Derek Smith (Jr., Marysville, Mich.) is sidelined indefinitely with post-concussion syndrome. He has not played since suffering a concussion on Jan. 4, 2003.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Defenseman Tom Galvin was selected as the CCHA’s defensive player of the week for the week ending Feb. 15. Galvin had a goal and three assists and was +3 on the weekend as the Irish swept Ferris State. The senior blueliner was on the ice for six Notre Dame goals in the series and just one for Ferris State. He assisted on one goal in the 4-2 win on Feb. 13 and then had a career-high three-point game (1g, 2a) in the 4-1 win on Feb. 14. He also played a key role in helping Notre Dame’s penalty killers kill all nine Ferris State power plays on the weekend.
GOALS FROM DIFFERENT SOURCES: Going into the Ferris State series, the Irish had scored 15 goals in their previous eight games. Of those 15 goals, 12 came off the sticks of Rob Globke (Sr., West Bloomfield, Mich.), Aaron Gill and Mike Walsh (So., Northville, Mich.). Versus Ferris State, the Irish scored eight goals with only Aaron Gill scoring on the weekend. Sophomore Matt Amado had his first goal since Dec. 5. T.J. Jindra had his first since Nov. 21 and Josh Sciba had his second in three games in Friday’s game. On Saturday, Tom Galvin had his first goal of the season. Neil Komadoski had two goals (first since Nov. 8) and the first two-goal game of his career and Mike Bartlett had his first since Dec. 6.
GILL GOALS: Senior center Aaron Gill has scored six goals in his last nine games. He scored twice in Notre Dame’s 2-2 tie at Wisconsin (Jan. 17) and then added a single goal in the 4-3 overtime loss at Northern Michigan (Jan. 23). He gave the Irish a 1-0 lead versus UAF (Jan. 30) after being stopped on Jan. 24 in the 1-0 shutout loss at Northern Michigan. Goal number five came in the 5-2 loss at Miami on Feb. 6 and he added his 12 of the season in the 4-2 win over Ferris State. He leads the Irish with seven power-play goals on the season. Gill is second in scoring for the Irish with 12 goals and 17 assists for 29 points. His assists and points are career highs.
TWO-FOR-TWO: Freshman T.J. Jindra’s (Faribault, Minn.) short-handed goal in the Feb. 13 game versus Ferris State was his second goal of the season and also was his second game-winning goal of the year. His previous game-winning goal came on Nov. 21 versus Lake Superior State.
POWER-PLAY POINTS: The Irish recored their fifth game this season with two power-play goals in the 4-1 win over Ferris State on Feb. 14. The Irish have scored at least one power-play goal in 21 of their 30 games this season.
DEFENSIVE DUO: Notre Dame’s defensive duo of Neil Komadoski and Tom Galvin turned in career-high three point games in the 4-1 win over Ferris State on Feb. 14. Komadoski recorded a pair of power-play goals (his first two-goal game) and added an assist for his three points. Galvin had one goal and two assists for his three-point night. On the weekend, Komadoski was on the ice for seven of Notre Dame’s eight goals and just one for Ferris State. Galvin was on the ice for six of eight Notre Dame goals and just one for the Bulldogs. On the year, the duo is tied for the team lead in scoring among defensemen with 18 points. Komadoski has four goals and 14 assists while Galvin checks in with one goal and 17 assists.
LEBDA’S LINE: Senior defenseman Brett Lebda continues to make his move on the top 10 scoring spot among Irish defensemen. He goes into the Michigan weekend with five goals and 11 assists for 16 points this season. For his career, Lebda now has 25 goals and 52 assists for 77 career points. Notre Dame has had 10 defensemen in its history record 80 or more points in their careers. Lebda needs just three more points to move into the top 10. He trails Steve Curry (1970-74) who had 80 points (19g, 61a) and Benoit Coitnoir (1995-99) is ninth with 88 points (28g, 60a).
TERRIFIC TRIO: Notre Dame’s corp of senior defensemen continues to have a strong final season for the Irish. Neil Komadoski (4-14-18) and Tom Galvin (1-17-18) lead the trio with 18 points (0-15-15). Brett Lebda (5-11-16) follows with 16 points. Not surprisingly, during their Notre Dame careers, all three defenders have led the Irish defensemen in scoring in one season. Lebda (7-19-26) led as a freshman, Galvin (4-19-23) led as a sophomore and Komadoski (1-23-24) led last year.
BARN BURNERS: Three of Notre Dame’s games in January came down to final-second decisions. On Jan. 31, Brett Lebda scored with 28.5 seconds left for a 2-2 tie with Alaska Fairbanks. On Jan. 23, Northern Michigan’s Darin Olver scored with 34 seconds left in overtime to give the Wildcats a 4-3 win. On Jan. 9, Bowling Green’s James Unger scored with 28 seconds left in overtime to give the Falcons a 5-4 win.
OVERTIME HEARTBREAK: Notre Dame is now 0-2-4 this season in six games that have gone to overtime. Prior to the Jan. 9, 5-4 overtime loss at Bowling Green, the Irish had gone eight straight overtimes with the game ending in a tie (0-0-8) between last season and the early part of the current campaign. Notre Dame’s last regular-season overtime win was Jan. 25, 2002 at Miami, a 4-3 win. Since that win, the Irish are 1-3-10 in overtime with the one win and one of the losses coming in the CCHA playoffs. Since the start of the 1999-2000 season, the Irish have been involved in 39 overtime games and are 5-4-30 in those contests.
ONE-GOAL GAMES: Five of Notre Dame’s games in January were decided by one goal with the Irish going 2-3-0 in those games. After winning their first three one-goal games (all three being 1-0 wins), the Irish dropped three in a row (two in overtime and one by a 1-0 score). The Irish are 4-3 this season in one-goal decisions. Notre Dame has been involved in four 1-0 games this season and is 3-1 in those contests.
PUTTING THE “P” IN POWER: Sophomore left wing Mike Walsh is quickly becoming one of the top power forwards in the CCHA. He scored his 10th goal of the season in the 3-2 win over Alaska Fairbanks. The goal was his fourth game-winning goal of the year and the fifth of his career. The four game winners ties him for second in the CCHA and seventh in the nation. Walsh believes that the quickest way to get from point A to point B is a straight line as he barges and charges to the net. After battling through an injury and illness filled freshman year, Walsh has become a key contributor to the Irish attack. With10 goals and nine assists, he is third on the team with 19 points. Four of his 10 goals this season are game winners. For his career, Walsh has scored 11 goals with five of them being game-winning goals.
2003-04 IRISH AWARD WINNERS:
David Brown – CCHA rookie of the week
(Oct. 19, Nov. 1, Dec. 2)
CCHA defensive player of the week
(Jan. 12)
HCA rookie of the month (October)
Honorable mention HCA rookie of the
month (January)
Morgan Cey – All-tournament team at Everblades
Collegiate Hockey Classic (Dec. 28)
Tom Galvin – CCHA defensive player of the week
(Feb. 15)
Rob Globke – CCHA offensive player of the week
(Jan. 19)
Neil Komadoski – Nominee for college hockey’s
Humanitarian Award
LEAGUE LEADERS: Notre Dame and Michigan are one-two in the CCHA for the fewest goals given up per game. Notre Dame has given up just 71 goals in 30 games for a 2.366 goals-against per game. Michigan has given up 76 goals in 32 games for a 2.375 goals-against per game.
BEATING THE BEST: Notre Dame’s 1-0 shutout win at Boston College on Oct. 24 came versus the Eagles while they were ranked first in the nation in the USA Today/American Hockey Magazine poll. The last time the Irish beat a top-ranked team came on Jan. 3, 1999 when they won 4-3 at North Dakota.
IRISH WINS VERSUS #1 TEAMS:
10/24/03 – at Boston College, 1-0
1/3/99 – at North Dakota, 4-3
11/10/78 – at Minnesota, 3-2
1/13/78 – vs. Denver, 5-3
1/18/74 – vs. Michigan Tech, 7-1
2/24/73 – vs. Wisconsin, 8-5
2/23/73 – vs. Wisconsin, 4-3
The last time the Irish faced a top-ranked team prior to Oct. 24 was on Nov. 10, 2000 when they played Boston College. Notre Dame lost that game by a 5-3 score.
IRISH SHUTOUTS: Prior to last season’s CCHA playoffs when Morgan Cey recorded back-to-back shutouts versus Miami, Notre Dame had never recorded back-to-back shutouts. Since Cey did it last March, both freshman David Brown (three in a row) and Cey have turned the trick this year. Notre Dame’s six shutouts are a single-season school record. The previous best was 1999-2000 when the Irish had three shutouts (Tony Zasowski had two and Jeremiah Kimento had one).
SCORELESS STREAKS: Morgan Cey (Jr., Wilkie, Sask.) saw his consecutive minutes of scoreless hockey come to an end at 158:53 when D’Arcy McConvey scored at 10:27 of the second period on Jan. 9. The streak was the longest of Cey’s career, passing his previous best of 149:17 (set between Mar. 14-20, 2003 in the CCHA playoffs). Cey’s 158:53 is the second longest in Irish history behind David Brown’s mark of 193:27 set this past October between Oct. 17-Nov. 8.
RISING TO THE OCCASION: With Morgan Cey sidelined twice this season due to knee injuries, freshman goaltender David Brown has played in 21 games with outstanding results. In 19 starts, Brown is 11-5-3 with a CCHA-leading 2.08 goals-against average and a .930 save percentage. Four of his 11 wins have been shutouts. He had an eight-game unbeaten streak (6-0-2) snapped on Dec. 6 in a 6-4 loss at Western Michigan. During his streak which covered nine games, Brown had a 1.96 goals against (17 goals in 521:30 minutes and a .932 save percentage (232 saves). Included in those nine games were three consecutive shutouts between 10/18 and 10/31. For good measure, Brown also threw in a fourth shutout on Nov. 14 versus the U.S. Under-18 team that does not count in the statistics. He also was named CCHA rookie of the week three times, CCHA defensive player of the week once, the Hockey Commissioner’s Association (HCA) national rookie of the month for October and an honorable mention pick for HCA rookie of the month in January.
ALL GOOD THINGS MUST END: Irish goaltender David Brown saw his streak of three consecutive shutouts end in the Nov. 8 game versus Michigan State. Jim Slater’s goal at 7:12 of the first period ended his consecutive-minute streak at 193:27. That is a new Notre Dame record. The last time Brown had given up a goal was on Oct. 17 versus Bowling Green with 4:22 left in the third period. He followed with shutouts versus Bowling Green (Oct. 18), Boston College (10/24) and Nebraska-Omaha (10/31).
HCA ROOKIE OF THE MONTH: Notre Dame freshman goaltender David Brown was selected as the Hockey Commissioner’s Association (HCA) national collegiate rookie of the month for the month of October. Brown had an October to remember as he recorded a Notre Dame school record three consecutive shutouts in his first four career starts and a school-record shutout string of 193:27 consecutive minutes. His three shutouts also set a Notre Dame record for shutouts in a season. For the month, the 5-11, 188-pound puck stopper was 3-2-0 with a CCHA-leading 1.15 goals-against average and a .946 save percentage to go with the three shutouts. Among his three shutouts was a 1-0, 27-save performance on Oct. 24 versus the top-ranked Boston College Eagles at Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill, Mass. The three shutouts came versus Bowling Green (10/18), Boston College (10/24) and Nebraska-Omaha (10/31). He has been selected as the CCHA rookie of the month three times this season (10/19, 11/2, 12/1) and defensive player of the week once (1/12). Brown was also received honorable mention for HCA rookie of the month honors in January.
OFFENSIVE DEFENSEMEN: In 30 games this season, Notre Dame defensemen Brett Lebda, Tom Galvin, Neil Komadoski and Wes O’Neill (Fr., Essex, Ont.) have combined for 12 goals and 49 assists for 61 points. Komadoski (4-14-18) and Galvin (1-17-18) lead the group followed by Lebda (5g, 11a) with 16. O’Neill has two goals and seven assists for nine points on the year.
MR. STEADY – CORY’S STORY: Junior right wing Cory McLean (Jr., Fargo, N.D.) is tied for third in scoring for the Irish this season with seven goals and 12 assists for 19 points. His previous best was last season when he picked up 10 goals and seven assists for 17 points. McLean has not scored a goal in his last 15 games since scoring a goal in each game of the Western Michigan series (Dec. 5-6). McLean has had a pair of four-game point streaks this season.
IRISH ON TV: With the February 27th appearance on College Sports Television, the game will mark the eighth appearance of the year for the Irish hockey team on television. For the year, Notre Dame is 5-1-1 in televised games. The Irish have appeared on CSTV three times and are 2-1-0. They are 1-0-1 on Wisconsin television, 1-0 on Fox Sports Net Fairbanks and 1-0 on Fox Sports Net Detroit.
HUMANITARIAN NOMINEE: Irish defenseman Neil Komadoski was one of 14 nominees for the prestigious College Hockey Humanitarian Award that goes to college hockey’s “top citizen.” The award for community service and leadership is presented along with the Hobey Baker Award at the NCAA Frozen Four each year. On Jan. 15, the five finalists – Patrick Foley (UNH), Dan Boeser (Wisconsin), Chanda Gunn (Northeastern), Derek Nisula (Babson) and Mark Persick (Canisius) – were selected. Komadoski has been involved in Notre Dame’s community service programs since his freshman year. He is a member of the school’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) for three years and is chairman of the SAAC community service sub-committee since the fall of 2002. He represented Notre Dame at the NCAA’s Student-Athlete Leadership Conference last May. His community service work has included participation in SAAC’s Pediatric Christmas Party in all four years since joining the Irish hockey program. He has also participated in Christmas in April (2001, 2002), Habitat for Humanity (2003) and the Downs Syndrome Buddy Walk in the fall of 2002 and 2003. He has also worked with the Robinson Community Learning Center’ Children’s Ice Skate Day in the fall of 2002 and 2003.
OH CANADA: Freshman defenseman Wes O’Neill was a member of Canada’s Under-18 Select team that played in last summer’s Under-18 Select World Cup tournament. O’Neill had a goal and four assists in helping Canada to a fourth-place finish. The former Green Bay Gambler also played for Team Ontario at the Under-17 World Championships in Feb. of 2003. There he had three goals and nine assists in six games. O’Neill was the second pick in the 2002 Ontario Hockey League (OHL) Draft by the Kingston Frontenacs. He is the highest-drafted OHL player to decide to play college hockey.
CENTRAL SCOUTING RANKINGS: The National Hockey League’s (NHL) Central Scouting has released it’s mid-term report that ranks the top 270 draft eligible skaters and the top 30 goaltenders for the 2004 NHL Entry Draft next June. Irish defenseman Wes O’Neill is ranked 19th overall, third among U.S. College players behind North Dakota’s Drew Stafford (9th) and Michigan State’s A.J. Thelen (16). Freshman forward Michael Bartlett (Morton Grove, Ill.) was ranked 211th overall and 36th among collegiate players. Goaltender David Brown is ranked 29th overall and second among collegiate goaltenders behind top-ranked Al Montoya of Michigan.
IRISH VERSUS HOCKEY EAST: For the first time since Hockey East started in 1984-85, Notre Dame has recorded a pair of wins over Hockey East conference teams. On Oct. 24, the Irish defeated Boston College at Chestnut Hill, Mass. On Dec. 28, Notre Dame took a 1-0 decision versus Maine at the Everblades College Classic. In both 1-0 shutouts, sophomore left wing Mike Walsh got the game-winning goal.
CONSECUTIVE GAME STREAK: Graduated defenseman Evan Nielsen (’03) set Notre Dame’s record for consecutive games played last season with 114 in a row from 2000-03. Coming into this weekend at Northern Michigan, seniors Rob Globke and Brett Lebda have each played in 88 consecutive games and are the leaders among active players. The only games Lebda has missed in his career came in 2001-02 when he missed four games while playing at the World Junior Championships. He has played 143 of 147 career games.
RIVALRY CLUSTERS: Notre Dame has split the first eight games played between cluster rivals Bowling Green and Northern Michigan, going 4-4-0. Overall, the Irish are 5-4-1 versus teams in their cluster. They are 1-0-1 versus Lake Superior State, 2-2 versus Northern Michigan and 2-2 versus Bowling Green. A year ago, the Irish were 7-4-1 in their cluster that included Bowling Green, Western Michigan and Ferris State.
DOWN BY TWO: Prior to the Nov. 29 comeback versus Northern Michigan (the Irish trailed 2-0 in a 4-2 win), last time the Irish rebounded from a two-goal deficit to win a game was on Oct. 12, 2002 when the Irish fell behind Minnesota-Duluth, 2-0, and rallied for a 5-3 win at Duluth.
SOME TRICK: Sophomore defenseman Chris Trick (Troy, Mich.) recorded his first collegiate goal in the Nov. 28, 5-1 win over Northern Michigan. He made the most of it too, as the goal came short-handed in the second period and proved to be the game winner. Trick came out of the penalty box after a Wildcat centering pass eluded the point men. Trick beat Craig Kowalski with a backhander for his first goal in 36 career games.
DIRECTOR’S CUP STANDINGS: The University of Notre Dame stands 12th in the 2003-04 United States Sports Academy Division I Director’s Cup all-sports competition sponsored by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (formerly known as Sears Directors’Cup). Fall NCAA competition earned the Irish 199 points. Michigan is first (413 points), followed by UCLA, Stanford, Maryland, BYU, North Carolina, Penn State, Washington, USC, and Wake Forest round out the top 10.
FUTURE IRISH: Dave Poulin and his hockey staff announced that four players have signed national letters-of-intent in the early-signing period to attend Notre Dame next season. The group includes three defensement and one forward.
CEY IT AIN’T SO: Goaltender Morgan Cey missed the first five games of the season after having knee surgery in July. He then missed seven games after re-injuring his knee on Nov. 7, requiring arthroscopic surgery. Prior to this season, Cey had started 71 of Notre Dame’s 79 games as a freshman and sophomore. He was 15-15-6 last season with a 2.87 goals-against average and a .912 save percentage with two shutouts. Career-wise, Cey is 33-34-10 with a 2.73 goals-against average and a .912 save percentage with six shutouts. He is sixth on Notre Dame’s all-time wins list with 33. His 2.73 goals-against average, .912 save percentage and six shutouts make him the leader in all three categories at Notre Dame.
NHL DRAFTEES: Notre Dame has three players on the 2003-04 roster that have been selected in the National Hockey League Entry Draft. Senior Rob Globke was a second-round choice of the Florida Panthers in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft. Selected 40th overall, Globke’s selection was the earliest any Notre Dame player has ever been chosen. Senior defenseman Neil Komadoski was selected in the third round of the 2001 draft by the Ottawa Senators. Sophomore left wing Mike Walsh was selected in the fifth round in 2002 by the New York Rangers.
BRAIN POWER: Senior defenseman T.J. Mathieson (Clarksville, Md.) is a candidate for Rhodes, Mitchell and Marshall Scholarships for postgraduate studies. Mathieson owns a 3.812 grade-point average in aerospace engineering in Notre Dame’s School of Engineering. He is a two-time winner of Notre Dame’s Rockne Scholar-Athlete Award. He spent the past summer working at General Electric Aircraft Engines in Cincinnati. There, he worked doing stress analysis of high-pressure turbines for commercial aircraft engines.
THE CAPTAINS: Senior center Aaron Gill will serve as the team captain for the Irish in 2003-04. As a junior, he finished fourth in scoring with 13 goals and 12 assists for 25 points. Four of his 13 goals came on the power play and he recorded his first career hat trick on Oct. 19 in an 8-5 win over Western Michigan. Serving as alternate captains this season are senior right wing Rob Globke and senior defenseman Neil Komadoski. Globke led the Irish in scoring last season with 21 goals and 15 assists for 36 points. Komadoski was Notre Dame’s top scorer from the blue line last year as he scored a goal and added 23 helpers. His 23 assists and 24 points were career-highs for the veteran defenseman.
FOURTH TIME: Morgan Cey’s back-to-back shutouts (1-0 and 5-0) versus Miami in the first round of last season’s CCHA playoffs made him the fourth goaltender to turn the trick. The others are:
1988-1989 –
Bruce Hoffort, LSSU beat Ferris State, 5-0, 3-0.
1993-94 –
Blaine Lacher, LSSU beat Ohio State, 5-0, 8-0
1999-00 –
Ryan Miller beat Notre Dame, 4-0 in semis and Nebraska-Omaha, 6-0 in finals.
PENALTY SHOTS: Notre Dame goaltender Morgan Cey has faced four penalty shots in his Irish hockey career, including three last season. On Feb. 28, in a 4-2 loss to Western Michigan, Cey stopped Bronco VinceBellissimo at 14:06 of the third period. A month earlier, Jan. 25, in a 3-3 tie with Michigan State, Cey stopped Jim Slater at 16:23 of the second stanza. His first stop in 2002-03 came on Nov. 22 at Michigan, in a 4-2 loss to the Wolverines. There, he stopped Milan Gajic at 12:36 of the second period. The first penalty shot Cey faced came during his freshman season when he stopped Bowling Green’s Greg Day on Dec. 8, 2001. That stop came in a 4-2 loss to the Falcons.
FAMILY MATTERS: After having as many as four players whose fathers played in the National Hockey League, only one remains for the 2003-04 season. That would be Neil Komadoski, Jr., whose father, 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.
ALL IN THE FAMILY: Two Irish sophomore hockey players – Rory Walsh (So., Milton, Mass.) and Mike Walsh – have fathers who attended Notre Dame. Rory Walsh’s father, Brian (’77), was an all-American hockey player for the Irish. A center iceman, the elder Walsh is Notre Dame’s all-time leading scorer after recording 234 career points on 89 goals and 145 assists. Mike Walsh’s father, Max, (’74) was an offensive lineman on the Notre Dame football team and a member of the 1973 national championship team.
FROZEN TUNDRA: The Irish have developed a pipeline with the Green Bay Gamblers of the United State’s Hockey League. Three members of the current Notre Dame team have played in the Land of Lombardi. Junior defenseman Joe Zurenko (Arlington Heights, Ill.) played there during the ’00-’01 season and freshmen blueliners Noah Babin (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) and Wes O’Neill were teammates there last year. Assistant coach Layne LeBel also spent the past two seasons with the Gamblers.
GOLD MEDAL ASSISTANT: Irish assistant hockey coach, Andy Slaggert, served as an assistant coach with USA Hockey’s gold-medal winning Under-18 Select Team in August at the World Under-18 Select tournament in the Czech Republic. The 11-year assistant at Notre Dame has been involved in coaching with USA Hockey since the 1996-97 season. This was his first time for coaching on the international level.
PATRIOTIC GROUP: Notre Dame’s current roster includes eight players who have past experience with USA Hockey, as members of the National Team Development Program (NTDP) and/or the National Junior Team. Since the program began, the Irish have had a total of 13 NTDP alums grace their roster. The current contingent includes seniors Rob Globke, Neil Komadoski and Brett Lebda, junior Derek Smith (Marysville, Mich.), sophomore Tim Wallace (Anchorage, Alaska) and freshmen Noah Babin (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.), Michael Bartlett (Morton Grove, Ill.) and Josh Sciba (Westland, Mich.)
Former Irish players Brett Henning, Paul Harris, Michael Chin, Connor Dunlop and John Wroblewski are all alums of the U.S. Developmental Program.
HOMETOWNS: The 2003-04 Notre Dame hockey team features players from 10 states and four Canadian provinces – Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and Saskatchewan. In the eight-year tenure of head coach Dave Poulin, the Notre Dame hockey letterwinners have hailed from 20 different states and provinces those listed below, plus: Colorado, Delaware, New Jersey, Wisconsin, Prince Edward Island and Quebec.
2003-04 Notre Dame Hockey
– By State or Province:
Michigan (6): Rob Globke, Derek Smith, Chris Trick, Mike Walsh, Jason
Paige, Josh Sciba
Illinois (3): Brett Lebda, Joe Zurenko, Michael Bartlett
Minnesota (3): Aaron Gill, Tony Gill, T.J. Jindra
Alberta (2): Brad Wanchulak, Matt Williams-Kovacs
Ontario (2): David Brown, Wes O’Neill
Alaska (1): Tim Wallace
British Columbia (1): Matt Amado
Florida (1): Noah Babin
Maryland (1): T.J. Mathieson
Massachusetts (1): Rory Walsh
Missouri (1): Neil Komadoski
New York (1): Tom Galvin
North Dakota (1): Cory McLean
Saskatchewan (1): Morgan Cey