Feb. 19, 2001

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OFF TO ALASKA: The Notre Dame Fighting Irish take their playoff chase north to Fairbanks, Alaska this week for a pair of games with the Alaska-Fairbanks Nanooks on Feb. 23-24 with game times both night at 11:05 p.m. EDT … with four games remaining on the 2000-2001 regular season schedule, the Irish enter the week tied for the final playoff spot with Bowling Green as each team checks in with a 5-14-5 record in CCHA play, good for 15 points … Alaska-Fairbanks is in ninth place with a 7-13-6 league record, good for 20 points … the games versus Notre Dame are the Nanooks’ final regular season league games … the Irish are coming off a week where they played just one game (2/16), a 4-4 tie at the University of Michigan’s Yost Arena … the tie was the first regular season point by the Irish at Yost since Oct. of 1982 … Notre Dame is now 8-21-6 on the regular season while Alaska-Fairbanks is 9-15-6 overall … UAF is coming off a weekend split at home with Miami as the Nanooks defeated Miami, 5-2 on Friday, before falling 3-2 on Saturday evening … following the Alaska-Fairbanks series, the Irish close out the regular season with a home-and-home series versus Western Michigan … the Irish travel to Kalamazoo on Mar. 2 and then return home for Senior Night on Sat., March 3 … this weekend’s games will not be aired on radio, but can be heard via the internet at the Notre Dame website at www.und.com or at the Alaska-Fairbanks site of www.uaf.edu/athletics.

THE PLAYOFF RACE: Heading into this weekend’s CCHA games, Michigan State, Michigan, Miami, Ohio State, Nebraska-Omaha, Western Michigan and Northern Michigan have all clinched playoff spots … that leaves Ferris State, Alaska-Fairbanks, Notre Dame, Bowling Green and Lake Superior fighting for the final three spots … the standings for the final spots look like this:

IRISH VERSUS ALASKA-FAIRBANKS: The two teams have met 25 times in the all-time series with the series tied at 12-12-1 … since Notre Dame returned to the CCHA in `92-’93, the Irish have an 11-6-1 edge in those 18 games ..Notre Dame is 7-0-1 in the last eight meetings versus the Nanooks and 10-2-1 over the last four years …at Fairbanks all-time, the Irish are just 4-9-1, but 4-4-1 since `92-’93 and 3-1-1 in the last five games at the Carlson Center … last season, the teams met four times with Notre Dame going 3-0-1 … the Irish won 1-0 and 3-2 at the Joyce Center and followed with a 2-1 win at Fairbanks before tying the final game, 3-3.

THE COACHES: Notre Dame head coach Dave Poulin owns a 79-120-28 mark (.410) in his sixth season at Notre Dame…Poulin is 11-4-1 versus Alaska-Fairbanks during his six years with the Irish …Alaska-Fairbanks head coach Guy Gadowsky is in his second season at Alaska-Fairbanks and has a 15-40-9 (.305) record … he is 0-3-1 versus the Irish.

SCOUTING ALASKA-FAIRBANKS: Hockey information on the University of Alaska-Fairbanks in available at www.uaf.edu/athletics … additional information on Notre Dame, Alaska-Fairbanks and the CCHA is also available on the CCHA website at ccha.com.

MICHIGAN RECAP: The Irish broke through for their first regular season point at Michigan’s Yost Arena since Oct. of 1982 with a 4-4 tie on Feb. 16 versus the Wolverines … the Irish were 0-13-0 in regular season games and just 1-17-0 including playoff games since that win in 1982 … to gain the tie, Notre Dame battled back from a 4-1 second period deficit … for the fourth consecutive game, Notre Dame scored first taking a 1-0 lead on Rob Globke’s (West Bloomfield, Mich.) power play goal at 7:12 of the first period … Michigan would score four times in the second period with three goals coming on power plays as the Wolverines fired 24 shots in the second stanza at ND’s Tony Zasowski (So., Darien, Ill.) … Jeff Jillson and Josh Langfeld each scored twice in the period to give Michigan the 4-1 lead … defenseman Evan Nielsen (So., Evanston, Ill.) started the Irish comeback as he scored his second breakaway goal in as many games at 15:22 of the second period … in the third, David Inman (Jr., Toronto, Ont.) made it 4-3 with a power play goal at 6:32 for his ninth goal of the year … defenseman Brett Lebda (Fr., Buffalo Grove, Ill.) capped the comeback scoring a shorthanded goal at 10:43 of the period, his sixth goal of the season … from there, Zasowski took over holding off Michigan, equalling a career-high by making 40 saves in the game … Notre Dame was outshot on the night, 44-26 … Michigan was 3-for-8 on the power play while the Irish were 2-for-5.

GLOBKE NAMED ROOKIE OF THE WEEK: Freshman center Rob Globke (West Bloomfield, Mich.) was named the CCHA Rookie of the Week for the second time this season on Feb. 11 … he was also honored following the second week of the season in October … Globke had a career high three-point game (two goals, one assist) in ND’s 3-2 win over Bowling Green on Feb. 9 and added an assist in the 5-3 win on Feb. 10 … Globke had his second career two-goal game in the 3-2 win and also collected the game winning goal in the third period … on the season, Globke currently leads the team with 15 goals and ranks fourth in scoring with 22 points (15 goals and seven assists) … he leads Notre Dame with two game-winning goals this season … his 15 goals are the most by a Notre Dame freshman since the 1984-85 season when Mike McNeill scored 16 and Tom Mooney had 19 …Globke has 11 points (8 goals, 3 assists) in 12 games since returning from the World Junior Championships in Moscow on Jan. 12.

DAN CARLSON NEWS AND NOTES: Senior left wing Dan Carlson (Sr., Edina, Minn.) continued his red-hot play in the second half of the season as set up David Inman’s power play goal in the 4-4 tie at Michigan … Carlson now leads the Irish in scoring with career highs in assists (23) and points (37) to go along with his 14 goals … on Feb. 10, Carlson became Notre Dame’s all-time leader in games played as he played in his 153rd game, passing defenseman John Schmidt (1978-82) who played in 152 games during his career … with a shorthanded goal at Ohio State (2/2), Carlson is now tied for fourth in that category with six and needs just one more shorthander to tie three others for the all-time school lead … Carlson also needs just one more goal (49g, 78a) to become the 28th player in school history to record 50 goals/50 assists in his career.

INJURY REPORT: Left wing Brett Henning (Jr., Huntington, N.Y.) has announced his decision to retire from playing hockey due to a disc condition in his cervical spine…the condition materialized due to a trauma sustained in the second Lake Superior State game (12/2)…Henning has missed the last 20 games…the Irish have lost 60 man-games to injuries or illness this season.

RED HOT LINE: For 14 games, the Irish line of Dan Carlson, Aaron Gill (Fr., Rochester, Minn.) and Ryan Dolder (Sr., Hutchinson, Minn.), all Minnesota natives, carried the Irish from Dec. 19 through Feb. 2 at Ohio State … the trio scored in 11 of its 14 games together and had a nine-game streak snapped versus Michigan (1/23) … in 14 games together, the line collected 19 goals and 25 assists for 44 points…Carlson led the group with nine goals, 10 assists and 19 points, Dolder follows with six goals, eight assists and 14 points and Gill had four goals, seven assists and 11 points.

STREAKERS: Dan Carlson owns a six-game point streak going into the Alaska-Fairbanks series (2/23-24) … Carlson now has four goals and five assists for nine points during that streak … Rob Globke has a three-game point streak (3-3-6) and Connor Dunlop (So., St. Louis, Mo.) has a three-game point streak (2-1-3) … Ryan Dolder has points in two consecutive games (1-3-4) … Evan Nielsen has a two-game points streak (2-1-3) and has points in three of his last four games (2-3-5)

SEVEN AND COUNTING: Goaltender Tony Zasowski has started seven consecutive games for the Fighting Irish going back to Jan. 27 at Yale … in his last three starts, Zasowski is 2-0-1 with a 2.92 goals against and a .913 save percentage … in his seven consecutive starts, Zasowski is 3-3-1 with a 4.25 goals against and a .877 save percentage … on the year, he has made 20 starts and has a 5-11-3 record with a 3.99 goals against and a .878 save percentage.

CAREER YEAR: Senior right wing Ryan Dolder is closing out his collegiate career in fine fashion…heading into this week’s action, Dolder has career highs in goals (14), assists (18) and points (32) … his previous best at Notre Dame came last season when he had 10 goals and 14 assists for 24 points…he is currently second on the squad in scoring (14-18-32) and is tied for 12th in the CCHA scoring race … Dolder picked up the first shorthanded goal of his career at Western Michigan (1/13) and then got his second a week later versus Ohio State (1/20)…he is tied for the team lead with 12 multiple point games this season including a two assist game at Michigan (2/16).

HOCKEY HUMANITARIAN AWARD: Irish right wing Ryan Dolder was nominated for the 2001 Hockey Humanitarian Award in December, but was not selected to the list of five finalists in late January … the award will be presented at the 2001 Frozen Four in Albany, N.Y. the weekend of Apr., 5-7…the award is presented annually to the college hockey player, male or female from Division 1, 2 or 3, who has made a difference off the ice as well as on, to the team, to the program, to the school, and to the community in which the player lives…Dolder, a senior, is one of four players from the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) to be nominated for the award…he joins Alaska-Fairbanks’ Ryan Reinheller, a 2000 finalist for the award, Michigan State’s Damon Whitten and Nebraska-Omaha’s Jason Cupp among the 12 nominees.

CCHA HUMANITARIAN AWARD: Irish right wing Ryan Dolder was also nominated for the Mike and Marian Illitch Hockey Humanitarian Award for the league’s top citizen based on their contributions off the ice as well as on, to his team, his program, his school, and his community. The award is named in honor of Mike and Marian Ilitch, owners of the Detroit Red Wings, who have both played integral roles in the growth of the CCHA and college hockey.

BEST FOR DUNLOP: Sophomore left wing Connor Dunlop scored his career-best 17th point of the season in the tie with Michigan … Dunlop has career highs in goals (6) and points (17) …last season, the crafty forward had three goals and 13 assists in his rookie campaign …in his last three games, Dunlop has moved from center to left wing with Aaron Gill and Ryan Dolder and has two goals and an assist … the captain of the U.S. Junior National team at the Junior World Championships has scored two goals with six assists in 12 games since his return in January.

LEBDA FOR THE DEFENSE: Freshman defenseman Brett Lebda (Buffalo Grove, Ill.) continued his strong rookie season with a goal and an assist in the 4-4 tie with Michigan (2/16) … Lebda’s third period shorthanded goal was the game-tying marker, his sixth of the year and second shorthanded … he comes into the Alaska-Fairbanks series tied for third in the CCHA among defensemen in scoring with 21 points (6g, 15a)…he trails Michigan’s Jeff Jillson (10-18-28), Nebraska-Omaha’s Greg Zanon (9-14-23) and is tied with Northern Michigan’s Jimmy Jackson (4-17-21)…Lebda’s 21 points leads all CCHA freshmen defensemen…his 21 points are the most by an Irish rookie defender since Mark Eaton recorded 29 points (12g, 17a) in the 1997-98 campaign…Lebda had a career night (Dec. 20) in just the 19th game of his Notre Dame career as he collected a goal and four assists in the 7-3 win over Nebraska-Omaha…the four assists were the most by a Notre Dame player in a game since Oct. 21, 1994 when Jamie Ling had five assists versus Waterloo…the five-point game was also the most by an Irish player since Ling racked up seven points (2g, 5a) versus Waterloo…the rookie blueliner had three points (1g, 2a) versus Ferris State…his goal came on the power play (second of the year) in the 3-2 loss with just 17 seconds left to send the game into overtime…at Yale (1/28) Lebda had a goal and an assist in ND’s 4-3 win.

BY THE NUMBERS: The Irish are 2-0-1 in their last three games, 3-2-1 in their last six games, 3-5-2 in their last 10 and 4-7-3 since Jan. 1 … the Jan. 12 win versus Western Michigan was also the first for the Irish at the Joyce Center since Oct. 20 when they knocked off Northeastern, 6-4…the win snapped an 0-9-1 winless skid on home ice…the Irish are 3-1-1 in their last five home games.

MORE NUMBERS: The Irish have scored the first goal of the game in four consecutive games (2-1-1) and just 12 times in the first 35 games and are 6-3-3 when they score first … versus Bowling Green (2/3) the Irish won for the first time all season when they were tied or trailed going into the third period … before the 5-3 win, ND was 0-21-3 when tied or trailing after two periods of play.

TURNING ON THE POWER: After struggling on the power play all season long, the Irish have begun clicking with the man-advantage … in their last four games, ND has scored five power play goals in 20 chances for a 25.0% success rate … for the year, the Irish have 24 power play goals in 204 chances for and 11.5% success rate.

PENALTY KILLING: While the power play has started to fire on all cylinders, the penalty killing has struggled in the second half of the year … ND has given up 10 power play goals in 24 chances (58.3%) over the last four games including three to Michigan (2/16) and three at Ohio State (2/3) … After going through the middle portion of the schedule killing penalties at a 91.7% success rate, Notre Dame’s penalty killers have fallen on hard times … since Jan. 6 versus Ferris State, the Irish have given up at least one power play goal in 12 consecutive games…the Irish penalty killing has been up and down this season:

40 SAVES TIMES 2: Sophomore goaltender Tony Zasowski turned in his second 40-save game of his career in the 4-4 tie with Michigan (2/16) … in that game, Zasowski faced 24 shots in the second period, making 20 saves … his first career 40-save game came in Notre Dame’s 4-3 win over Yale on Jan. 28…the 40 saves were the most by an Irish goaltender since Matt Eisler made 44 versus Michigan in a 3-1 loss on Feb. 17, 1997…Zasowski’s 40 saves was also the most by an Irish goaltender in a Notre Dame victory since Eisler kicked out 40 St. Cloud State shots in a 5-2 Notre Dame win on Jan. 24, 1997…

FRESHMEN LEADERS: Freshmen Aaron Gill, Rob Globke and Brett Lebda are ranked among the top 10 rookie scorers in the CCHA…Gill (10-15-25) is ranked fifth among all rookies while Globke (15-7-22) is tied for sixth and Lebda (6-15-21) ranks eighth … Lebda is the top scoring rookie defenseman in the league…Globke is third in goals among freshmen …they all trail Western Michigan’s Jeff Campbell who has 21-18-39 in 30 games this season and ranks sixth in league scoring…

OVERTIME NUMBERS: Notre Dame’s 4-4 tie with Michigan (2/16) marked the eighth time this season that the Irish have played overtime…ND is 1-1-6 in those games…Notre Dame’s 3-2 overtime loss to Ferris State (Jan. 6) snapped ND’s 14-game unbeaten streak in overtime games (3-0-11)…the OT loss by the Irish was the first since March 5, 1999 when they fell at Miami…ND had also gone 14 overtime games without a loss at home (3-0-11), not dropping a game in overtime at the Joyce Center since a Nov. 17, 1996 loss to Mankato State…

U.S. JUNIOR NATIONALS: Connor Dunlop and Rob Globke were selected to the 2001 U.S. Junior National hockey team that finished fifth at the World Junior National Tournament in Moscow, Russia…this marks the fifth consecutive year that Notre Dame has had a representative on the U.S. team…in all, the Irish have had eight players play in the World Junior Championships: Jack Brownschidle (1976-77, 78-79), Ben Simon (1996-97, 97-98), Joe Dusbabek (1997-98), Dan Carlson (1998-99), Brett Henning (1999-2000), David Inman (1999-2000), Dunlop and Globke…

SHOT MARKS: The 51 shots on goal surrendered by the Irish to Michigan (1/23) were the most given up by Notre Dame this season and the most the Irish have given up in a game since March 10, 1995 when they gave up 53 shots at Bowling Green…the previous high this season was 48 by Lake Superior State (12/2)…Michigan’s 24-shot second period on Feb. 16 is the most the Irish have given up in a period this season surpassing Lake Superior’s 20 shot first period on Dec. 2, 2000.

CARLSON TO THE RESCUE: Senior left wing Dan Carlson jolted the Irish offense to life in the 7-3 win over Nebraska-Omaha (12/20) with his first career hat trick and first career four-point (3g, 1a) games…Carlson also picked up the game winner and a shorthanded goal in the game…his hat trick was the first by a Notre Dame player since November 13, 1998 when Aniket Dhadphale scored three at Bowling Green…the shorthanded goal was the fifth of his career and moves him into eighth on the all-time shorthanded list…

FIVE GOAL OUTBURST: Notre Dame’s five-goal, second period outburst versus Northeastern (10/20) marked the first time that the Irish have scored five goals in a period since November 2, 1996…that night at Bowling Green, ND scored five, third period goals to pull out a 7-5 win versus the Falcons…a year ago, Notre Dame only scored six or more goals in a game once, a 7-4 win over Nebraska-Omaha on February 12th…

IRON MEN: Senior right wing Ryan Dolder (Hutchinson, Minn.) has now played in 99 consecutive games and was one of just two Notre Dame players to play in all 42 games last season…the other was senior left wing Dan Carlson (Edina, Minn.) who has now played in 97 consecutive games and 154 of 156 games in his three-plus years at Notre Dame (missing two while at the ’98-’99 World Juniors).

SEVEN GOAL OUTBURST: The seven goals scored by Notre Dame in the 7-3 Irish win over UNO (12/20) was the most goals scored by ND this season…in fact, ND had scored just five goals in its previous five games…the last time the Irish scored seven or more goals in a game came on Feb. 12, 2000 in a 7-4 win at home versus Nebraska-Omaha…

A SPECIAL PLAYER: Dan Carlson has played a key role on both special-teams units during his Notre Dame career and could become the fifth player to rank among Notre Dame career top 10 for both power-play goals and shorthanded goals … Carlson needs six PPGs to crack that ND career top-10 list (nine shy of fifth) while his six career shorthanded goals tie him for 4th in ND history, one back of the record (7) shared by three players.

RISING TO THE TOP: Senior LW Dan Carlson is one of the top returning scorers in the CCHA, as his 35 points in 1999-2000 (17G-18A) ranked sixth among current CCHA players, behind Western Michigan’s David Gove (18G-28A), Michigan State’s Adam Hall (26G-13A), Miami’s Pat Leahy (16G-22A), MSU’s Rustyn Dolyny (18G-19A) and Ferris State’s Kevin Swider (15G-21A). Those six players are among the league’s top players again this year: t1 – Gove (21-33-54), 9 – Carlson (14-23-37), t15 – Swider (14-17-31), t15 – Dolyny (10-21-31), t19 – Leahy (10-19-29) and t30 – Hall (15-10-25)…

STANDING ROOM ONLY: The standing room only crowd of 2,749 at the Notre Dame-Boston College game on November 10 was the largest crowd to watch a Notre Dame home hockey game since March 3, 1995 when a sellout crowd of 3,310 saw the Irish defeat Illinois-Chicago, 5-2…the capacity of the Joyce Center was reduced to 2,667 the following season (1995-96) when new seating was installed…this year, seating has increased to 2,713 due to relocation of the band…since capacity became 2,667 for the 1995-96 season, Notre Dame has played in front of 37 sellout crowds at the Joyce Center….

HIGH SCORING FRESHMAN: Globke’s 15 goals this season are the most by an Irish freshman since 1984-85 when Mike McNeill had 16 and Tom Mooney had 19 … Irish head coach Dave Poulin holds the school record for goals by a freshman with 28 during his first season (1978-79).

ROOKIE DUO: Center Aaron Gill scored his 10th goal of the season on Feb. 3 at Ohio State giving the Irish a pair of freshmen with 10 or more goals in his their rookie years…he and Rob Globke (15) are the first Irish duo to have 10 or more goals since 1997-98 when defenseman Mark Eaton had 12 and Dan Carlson had 11…Eaton would have been a member of this year’s senior class if he had not opted to turn pro with Philadelphia following his freshman year.

THREE WITH 20: With his two-point game at Michigan, defenseman Brett Lebda has reached the 20-point plateau (6-15-21) this season to give the Irish three freshmen with 20 or more points this season … Lebda joins Aaron Gill with 25 (10-15) and Rob Globke with 22 (15-7) … this gives Notre Dame three freshmen with 20 or more points for the first time since the 1989-90 season when Curtis Janicke (31), Sterling Black (25) and Dan Sawyer (22) each had 20 or more points.

THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT: Through the first 35 games of the season, the Irish newcomers (seven freshman, one transfer) have shown their abilities by contributing to the ND attack with 32 goals and 50 assists for 82 of the team’s 226 points…that amounts to 35.5% of the goals, 36.8% of the assists and 36.3% of the team’s points…Aaron Gill (Rochester, Minn.) leads the way with (10g, 15a), Rob Globke with (15g, 7a) is second, followed by Brett Lebda (Buffalo Grove, Ill.) with (6g, 15a), Neil Komadoski (Chesterfield, Mo.) with (1g, 5a), Jon Maruk (Eden Prairie, Minn.) with (0g, 5a) and Tom Galvin with (0g, 3a).

CENTURY MARK: Junior center David Inman (Toronto, Ont.) played in his 100th career game on Feb. 2 at Ohio State and has now played in 103 in his career … he joins five other Irish players with 100+ games in his career … senior defenseman Ryan Clark (Littleton, Colo.) played in his 100th career game versus Miami (Dec. 9) and has now played in 117 games in his career …senior center Chad Chipchase (Clinton, Ont.) played in his 100th career game versus the Northeastern Huskies (10/21) and has now played in 126 during his career…right wing Matt Van Arkel played in his 100th career game versus Minnesota and has now played in 135 overall…the remainder of that group includes Dan Carlson (154) and Ryan Dolder (138).

RISING PROSPECTS: Two members of Notre Dame’s freshman class, Rob Globke (Fr., West Bloomfield, Mich.) and Neil Komadoski (Fr., Chesterfield, Mo.) are ranked among the top U.S. College players by the NHL’s Central Scouting…midseason report ranks Globke third among Division I college players and 21st among North Americans…Komadoski is rated 15th among college players and 86th among North Americans…Komadoski is eligible for the 2001 draft while Globke would have to opt-in to be selected in 2001…

ONE TIMERS: ND’s 9-0 loss to Michigan (1/23) was the second time this season that the Irish have been blanked…the first came on Dec. 19, a 1-0 shutout at Nebraska-Omaha…the Irish have been held to one goal or less in nine games this season (0-8-1)…

Closing The Deal: Notre Dame’s win versus Bowling Green on Feb. 9 (3-2) continued its success in games that the Irish lead after two periods…ND is now unbeaten in its last 49 games when holding a lead at the second intermission (42-0-7, including 11-0-3 in 1999-2000) … the Irish are 7-0-2 in 2000-01 when leading after two periods…the last time ND lost after holding a second-intermission lead was Jan. 9, 1998, in the second of three games at Alaska-Fairbanks … UAF’s Sean Fraser tied the game (2-2) with a power-play goal in the third minute of the final period before Chris Kirwan converted a breakaway with 0:45 left in overtime … the Irish also are 26-3-4 since the 1998-99 season when leading at the first intermission (10-1-1 in 1999-2000 and 4-1-1 in 2000-2001).

NOT SO SWEET HOME: Notre Dame is now 3-1-1 in its last five games at home after starting the season with a 2-9-1 mark at the Joyce Center … for the year, the Irish are 5-10-2 record at homeon the Joyce Center ice…prior to the Jan. 12 win over Western Michigan, the Irish were 0-9-1 in their previous ten home games…Notre Dame was 23-10-6 (.667) from 1998-2000 at the Joyce Center and improved that to 25-10-6 (.683) before the ten-game winless skid…since the building opened, ND is 278-229-35 (.545) in 542 home games…

DID YOU KNOW: According to the CCHA, the average height and weight for a player in the league is six-foot tall and 188-pounds…Notre Dame’s average team height is 72.04 inches – just over six-feet tall – which ranks the Irish fifth in the league in that department…ND is the biggest team in the league weight-wise as the Irish tip the scales at an average of 195.96-pounds per player…

Bloodlines: Four current members of the Notre Dame hockey program-junior F Brett Henning, junior LW Jon Maruk, sophomore C Connor Dunlop and freshman D Neil Komadoski-hold a unique connection, as each of their fathers enjoyed a lengthy career in the National Hockey League (see p. 39 of the 2000-01 Notre Dame media guide for photos from their playing days).

• Lorne Henning played nine seasons with the New York Islanders (’72-’81) and has spent the past 15 years as an assistant and head coach in the NHL. An original member of the Islanders, Henning compiled 73G-111A 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.
• Dennis Maruk played 14 NHL seasons-with the California Seals (’75-’76), Cleveland Barons (’76-’78), Minnesota North Stars (’78-’79, `83-’88) and the Washington Capitals (’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.
• Rounding out the quartet is Neil Komadoski, Sr., who 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.

Academic All-Americans: Notre Dame is the nation’s only Division I hockey program to produce a GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-American during each of the past four seasons (as part of the fall-winter at-large program), with C Steve Noble earning second-team honors in 1996-97 and first-team honors in ’97-’98, followed by G Forrest Karr in ’98-’99 (second team) and LW Andy Jurkowski in 1999-2000 (third team).

FEELING A DRAFT: Five current Notre Dame players have been selected in the National Hockey League draft since 1997…the five include – seniors Jay Kopischke (8th round, L.A. Kings) and Ryan Clark (9th round, N.Y. Islanders), both taken in the 1997 draft… juniors David Inman (2nd round, New York Rangers) and Brett Henning (9th round, New York Islanders) were both selected in the 1999 draft and sophomore Evan Nielsen (8th round, Atlanta Thrashers) was chosen in the 2000 draft…just two other teams in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association-Michigan (7) and Michigan State (6)-have more draft picks on their 2000-2001 rosters than Notre Dame.

USHL VETERANS: Notre Dame’s 2000-01 roster-and particularly the freshman class-has plenty of experience with the United States Hockey League, as each of the five scholarship freshman-and junior newcomer Jon Maruk (Twin City Vulcans)-played in the USHL last season … all told, 17 different ND players have skated in the USHL, as members of that league’s traditional programs or the USA Hockey Under-18 Team … that group includes senior D Ryan Clark and sophomore LW Jake Wiegand (Lincoln Stars), senior LW Jay Kopischke (North Iowa Huskies), senior RW Ryan Dolder and Maruk (Twin City Vulcans), sophomore RW Michael Chin and freshman F Kyle Dolder (Des Moines Buccaneers) and sophomore G Tony Zasowski (Omaha Lancers) … Chin also played one year with the USA program, as did nine other current Irish players (see note below).

PATRIOTIC GROUP: Notre Dame’s current roster includes 10 players who have past experience with USA Hockey, as members of the National Team Development Program (NTDP) and/or the National Junior Team … Notre Dame’s current total of eight NTDP alums is the most at any Division I school … that group includes junior F Brett Henning and four members of the sophomore class-RWs Michael Chin and John Wroblewski, C Connor Dunlop and D Paul Harris-plus a trio of freshmen: RW Rob Globke and D Neil Komadoski and Brett Lebda … senior LW Dan Carlson played with Team USA at the 1998-99 World Junior Championship while Henning, Dunlop and junior C David Inman played with the USA at the 1999-2000 World Juniors … four Irish players-Dunlop, Globke, Komadoski and Wroblewski-remain among the top candidates for the USA’s 2000-01 National Junior Team while a pair of 2000 Irish graduates-center Ben Simon and RW Joe Dusbabek-played for the USA at the World Juniors in ’96-’97 (Simon) and ’97-’98 (Simon and Dusbabek).

TAKING IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL: During the past three seasons, the Notre Dame hockey program has sent several players to the professional ranks, with 10 of those recent players competing in 2000-01 … D Mark Eaton-who signed a free agent contract with the Philadelphia Flyers – had a solid 1998-99 season with the Philadelphia Phantoms of the American Hockey League and played 27 games with the Flyers in 1999-2000 before being traded to the Nashville Predators is with their IHL affiliate in Milwaukee … former Irish center and ’96 graduate Jamie Ling is currently with the Dayton Bombers where he serves as a player assistant coach … RW Brian Urick (’99) is with the Edmonton Oilers’ AHL team in Hamilton, Ont…LW Aniket Dhadphale (’99) started the season with the AHL’s Providence Bruins before being sent to Trenton (ECHL) while another ’99 graduate, D Benoit Cotnoir, is with the Mobile (Ala.) Mystics of the ECHL for his second year … five 2000 graduates likewise are active in pro hockey … C Ben Simon was in the camp of the Atlanta Thrashers and played in several preseason games before being assigned to the IHL’s Orlando (Fla.) Solar Bears … RW Joe Dusbabek attended the San Jose Sharks preseason camp and has joined the ECHL’s Roanoke Express … D Sean Molina tried out with the Chicago Wolves and has signed on with the ECHL’s Trenton (N.J.) Titans … D Nathan Borega currently is a member of the ECHL’s Louisiana Ice Gators while D Sean Seyferth has split time in the ECHL with the Dayton Bombers and the Wheeling Nailers.

Double (OT) Dip: Current Irish senior Dan Carlson turned in a rare feat during a three-week stretch of the 1999-2000 season, as the speedy left wing scored in overtime to beat both Western Michigan (4-3) and Ohio State (2-1) … that marked just the second time-and the first in 28 years- that an ND player has scored two overtime goals in the same season, as then-junior winger Paul Regan scored overtime goals in 1971-72 versus Michigan Tech (6-5) and Cornell (5-4).