Dec. 22, 1999
NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The Notre Dame hockey team (7-11-2, 4-6-2 CCHA) faces a tough task over the New Year, as the undermanned Irish look to get back on the winning track after dropping a pair of games to Princeton on Dec. 19-20 at the Joyce Center (4-3 ,4-2) … the Irish open play at the Norwest Denver Cup vs. host DU on New Year’s Eve at 7:05 p.m. (mountain time) and then will play Maine or Colorado College on Jan. 1 (consolation game at 4:05, championship game at 7:05) … the Dec. 10-11 series vs. Michigan State is ND’s only Central Collegiate Hockey Association action in a 55-day span … the Denver Cup will be aired live by WJVA radio 1580 AM (also available via the Notre Dame website at www.und.com, as are real-time stats for all home games) … consult the DU website (www.du.ed/athletics) for possible local television coverage of the Denver Cup.
RACKING UP THE MILES: Notre Dame’s 11 road trips this season cover many miles, with two trips to Denver, plus Fairbanks, Alaska, Marquette, Mich., Omaha, Neb. and Durham, N.H. … the other trips include Big Rapids/Grand Rapids, Mich., East Lansing, Mich. (2), Bowling Green, Ohio, and Columbus, Ohio … the reworked CCHA “cluster” schedule resulted in the loss of the customary short trips to Kalamazoo (Western Michigan) or Ann Arbor (Michigan).
IS YOUR LINECHART READY?: Notre Dame faced some interesting lineup choices in the Princeton series (just 10 healthy forwards and seven defensemen) and will face a similar challenge at the Denver Cup, due to the absence of three U.S. junior national team members: sophomore C Brett Henning, sophomore C/LW David Inman and freshman C Connor Dunlop … three other players missed the Princeton series due to injury or illness and their status is TBD for the Denver Cup: senior RW Joe Dusbabek (illness), junior D Ryan Clark (injury) and freshman RW John Wroblewski (injury) … prior to the Princeton series, those six missing regulars had combined for one-third of ND’s goals this season (15 of 44) and 42 of the team’s 115 points (37 percent) … seniors Ben Simon and Troy Bagne are the team’s only remaining experienced centers, with other center options for the Denver Cup including a quartet of junior wingers: Jay Kopischke (he centered the third line in the Princeton series), Ryan Dolder, Matt Van Arkel and Chad Chipchase.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS: ND scored the first goal in each of the losses to Princeton, after heading into the series with a 20-2-4 record over the past two seasons when scoring first (now 5-2-1 this season) … despite some solid penalty-kill moments this season, ND has fallen victim to some costly opponent PPGs, as seven of the 10 Irish margins of defeat have been due to opposing PPGs (including the last three losses) … six of ND’s last 10 games have been decided by one goal (the Irish are 3-3 in those games) … ND’s four 1st-period goals in the 5-1 win over Vermont (Nov. 28) were its most in 25 games, since scoring four times in the 1st vs. UAF on Feb. 6, 1999 (a 5-2 win) … the Irish are 3-2-1 in first games of CCHA series this season (1-4-1 in the second games) … Notre Dame’s 5-3 comeback win over UMass made the Irish 2-9-1 this season when the opponent scores first and 2-9-0 when facing a two-goal deficit (now 2-10-0) … ND scored a season-high three PPGs in that game (5-for-12 in the series) … ND’s seven wins have featured seven different game-winning goalscorers … ND was riding a 28-for-30 penalty streak before allowing Princeton four PPGS in its final 14 chances of the series … the Irish are 16-6-4 (.692) in their last 26 regular-season home games, with three losses by one goal … ND has allowed 22 first-period goals (3.30 GAA for 60 minutes), compared to just 34 goals allowed in the second and third periods combined (2.55 GAA) … the Irish are 21-0-3 during the past two seasons when leading at the second intermission (5-0-0 this season) and 16-2-2 when ahead at the first break (4-2-0) … the eight goals in the UMass series are the most by ND in consecutive games this season … ND had allowed just five goals in the previous five games before the 4-1 loss at MSU on Dec. 5 (followed by 15 goals allowed in the UMass and Princeton series) … junior RW Ryan Dolder (GWG, 2 GWA) is the only Irish player with more than two game-winning points this season (a total of 13 players have scored or assisted on the seven GWGs this season) … ND’s 2.78 team goals-against average is on pace to challenge the team record set in 1998-99 (2.61) … prior to the 4-1 first period vs. Vermont, the Irish had been outscored 13-4 in the first period this season (now 22-15, with an 18-17 opponent edge in the second, 17-16 ND edge in the third) … ND has scored 0-2 goals in 11 of 20 games (five games with three, one with four, three with five) … ND’s last eight OT games have produced seven ties and one loss (0-1-5 in ’98-’99).
TESTING THE D-DEPTH: In its last 70 games (dating back to Feb. 6, 1998), ND has played without at least one of its top four defensemen 54 times, going 26-22-6 … the top four D missed a combined 39 games last season, yet the Irish still set the school record for goals-against average (2.61) … games missed by Irish defensemen in the last 70: junior Ryan Clark (28, final 24 games of 1998-99 and five games this season, including last four), senior Tyson Fraser (18, five last season, first UAF game this season), senior Nathan Borega (16, eight to open ’98-’99, first Miami game this season), senior Sean Molina (2, UNO series this season) and 1999 graduate Benoit Cotnoir (two, early in ’98-’99).
SURGES AND DROPOFFS: The Irish are 0-4-0 this season when playing the first game of non-conference weekend action (losses to Providence, New Hampshire, UMass and Princeton) but 3-1-0 in the second games (wins over Union, Vermont and UMass, loss to Princeton) … on the flip side, the 3-2 win over Alaska Fairbanks is Notre Dame’s only victory this season in the second game of a CCHA series (1-4-1), with the following dropoffs on the second night of the five CCHA series this season: goals allowed (13 in first games, 23 on second night, avg. of 2.2 to 3.8), PK pct. (drop from .865 to .795) and PP pct. (.139 to .105) … Notre Dame’s 7-11-2 start stands in contrast to its 12-6-2 opening in ’98-’99, with the most notable dropoffs coming in goals per game (3.5 to 2.5), PP pct. (.233 to .156) and first-period goals (17 to 15) … only two current Irish players have six-plus goals, compared to six players with six-plus goals after 20 games in ’98-’99 … senior C Ben Simon (37G-76A) is the only current player with 70-plus career points, compared to four 70-plus scorers through 20 games in ’98-’99.
DENVER CUP NOTES
Notre Dame junior D Ryan Clark is a native of Littleton, Colo., a graduate of Arapahoe High School and one of a handful of Colorado natives ever picked in the NHL draft, a group which includes current Boston Bruins goaltender John Grahame (whose father Ron is an assistant athletic director at DU) and current Denver defenseman Jesse Cook … Clark was born in Edmonton, Alberta, and moved with his family to Colorado when he was six years old … his father Walter and older brother Greg passed on their love of hockey to Clark, whose youth teams included the Littleton Hockey Association and Team Colorado (he then played junior hockey in the United States Hockey League, with Sioux City and the Lincoln Stars) … Clark’s youth coaches included two former NHL players: Mike Christie (who was captain of the Colorado Rockies) and Lynn Powis (Chicago Blackhawks) … Notre Dame also played at DU in the early-season IceBreaker Tournament, losing 2-1 to Providence in the first official college game at the Magness Arena … Notre Dame also beat Wisconsin last season in the Kohl Center dedication game (2-1) … another CCHA team, Lake Superior, played in the Denver Cup last year, along with DU, CC and Boston College.
OPPONENT SERIES
Denver is 32-9-2 all-time vs. Notre Dame, including a 20-1-1 mark at home … Notre Dame was a 10-year member of the WCHA (1971-81), with just one game vs. DU since ’81 (a 6-1 home win for the Pioneers on Dec. 30, 1992) … the Irish were 1-7 vs. DU during the playing career of current ND head coach Dave Poulin (’78-’82) … DU beat the Irish in the first round of the WCHA playoffs in 1972 and ’78 … former Notre Dame player Don Lucia left Colorado College prior to this season to become head coach at Minnesota … first-year CC coach Scott Owens is the former junior hockey coach of Irish freshman RW Michael Chin, with the 1999 USHL champion Des Moines Buccaneers (who are now coached by former 14-year Notre Dame assistant coach Tom Carroll) … ND leads the CC series, 25-16-1 … the Irish and Tigers are old WCHA rivals but have not played since ND left for the CCHA after the 1980-81 season … ND was 4-5-1 vs. CC during playing career of Dave Poulin (1978-82) … ND leads the Maine series 2-1-0, but the two wins were by forfeit (actual scores were Maine wins, 5-1 and 6-3, in 1991-92 at Maine) … the last meeting was a 4-1 Maine win in 1994-95, at the LA. Forum for Great Western Freeze-Out … if ND plays Maine, the Irish will have completed a two-year stretch of games that saw them face the six teams that combined to win nine of the 10 NCAA titles during the 1990s (all but Boston University, with other games vs. Michigan, Northern Michigan, Lake Superior, Wisconsin and North Dakota)
FRIEND OR FOE?
Several Notre Dame players could face former teammates this week: ND senior C Ben Simon and senior RW Joe Dusbabek and CC forward Toby Peterson (1997-98 U.S. National Junior Team) … Simon and Tigers D Dan Peters (1998-99 U.S. National Junior Team) … Irish senior D Andy Jurkowski, DU’s Judd Staus and three CC players: RW K.J. Voorhees, D Brent Voorhees and Peters (Omaha Lancers) … ND junior LW Dan Carlson and Maine F Barrett Heisten (1998-99 U.S. National Junior Team) … Heisten and Maine teammate Doug Janik were members of the U.S. National Team Development Program, as were five current Notre Dame players: sophomore C Brett Henning, freshman RW Michael Chin, freshman C Connor Dunlop, freshman D Paul Harris and freshman RW John Wroblewski … ND junior D Ryan Clark and Tigers RW Berek Nelson (Lincoln Stars) … Henning and CC’s Chris Hartsburg (Cambridge Winterhawks) … ND freshman LW Jake Wiegand and CC’s Trent Clark (Lincoln Stars) … Irish freshman G Tony Zasowski, CC’s Hartsburg and DU’s Chris Paradise and James Armstrong (Omaha Lancers).
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).
AROUND THE HORN
Senior C Ben Simon has points in each of the last five games (3G-4A) and 113 career points (37G-76A) in 123 games … Simon notched his third career two-goal game in the win over UMass (he has yet to record a hat trick) … Simon has 10 points (4G-6A) in the last seven games (five in first 12) … Simon is averaging just 2.3 shots/game this season (43 in 19 games), compared to 3.1 in ’98-’99 (113 in 37) and 2.8 over his first three seasons (287 in 104) … junior RW Ryan Dolder was recognized by the ND coaching staff for his emerging leadership by being named the team’s third alternate captain on Dec. 1 … Dolder has 3G-3A in the last six games, including the game-winner vs. MSU (1-0) … senior LW Andy Jurkowski has skated in 72 straight games (longest by any current ND player) … Jurkowski posted the first multi-point game of his career in the 4-3 loss to Princeton (2A) and currently is tied for fourth on the team with 10 points (4G-6A, he had 2G-4A in 70 games over his first three seasons, as mostly a defenseman) … sophomore LW David Inman leads the Irish with seven goals but has just one in his last seven games played … senior RW Joe Dusbabek has five points (1G-4A) in his last six games and nine (3G-6A) in his last 10 games played (dnp vs. Princeton due to illness) … junior F Jay Kopischke has totaled three points in his last three games played (2G-1A), after totaling just nine in his first 77 career games … freshman RW Michael Chin’s goal in the 4-3 loss to Princeton represented his first point in eight games … senior C Troy Bagne has two goals in 11 games played this season, after totaling just three in his first three seasons (99 games).
FROM THE BLUE LINE
Senior D Sean Molina scored in the 4-3 loss to Princeton on Dec. 19, for his first career goal (in his 125th career game played and 104th shot on goal) … Molina is tied for third on the squad in plus-minus (+3), after ranking second on the ’98-’99 squad (+13) … Molina has totaled just 33 career penalties (two in the last 10 games) while playing the most games (126) of any current Irish player (he is averaging 3.8 games per penalty for his career) … Molina is tied for seventh 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 D Tyson Fraser’s assist vs. UMass was his 50th career point (8G-43A) and marked his 45th career game with a goal or assist … freshman D Evan Nielsen has 2G-1A in the last three games.
BETWEEN THE PIPES
Freshman G Tony Zasowski ranks 8th overall in the CCHA with a 2.54 GAA, which would best the Irish record of 2.58 set by Forrest Karr last season … Zasowski turned in a shutout streak of 130:36, spanning 54 minutes of the 2-1 loss at UNH and the first 76 minutes of the MSU series … sophomore Jeremiah Kimento (2.84) ranks 11th in the CCHA … ND’s team GAA of 2.78 could challenge the team record (2.61 ,set in 1998-99) … Zasowski (19 saves vs. UAF, 24 vs. MSU) is the second ND goalie with two solo shutouts in the same season (Karr shut out OSU and Miami in ’98-’99) … Kimento posted a 19-save shutout vs. Union, marking the first time that the Irish have shut out three opponents in the same season … Notre Dame is one of three schools with a pair of goalies in the CCHA’s top-11 GAA leaders, along with Michigan State (Ryan Miller, 1st, 1.20, Joe Blackburn, 5th, 1.92) and Northern Michigan (Dan Ragusett, 3rd, 1.65, Duane Hoey, 7th, 2.51) … junior G Kyle Kolquist made his first career start (and second career appearance) in the 4-2 loss to Princeton, with 21 saves and just one even-strength goal allowed.
AT THE MIDPOINT: Despite an 0-4-0 start in the CCHA, Notre Dame is 4-2-2 in its last eight CCHA games and tied for ninth place, just four points out of fourth … the Irish rank 10th in the CCHA for overall goals/gm (2.45), 6th in goals allowed (2.80), 6th in power-play pct. (.156), 9th in penalty-kill pct. (.829) and 1st in fewest penalty minutes/gm (16.20) … sophomore LW David Inman is tied for 14th in the CCHA with seven goals in 18 games played (he totaled 10 in ’98-’99) while senior C Ben Simon is tied for fourth in the CCHA with five power-play goals in 19 games played.
AVOIDING THE SIN BIN: Notre Dame’s low team goals-against average (2.71) is due in large part to a surging penalty-killing unit (.821, with a 28-for-30 streak before allowing four PPGs in the Pricneton series) and the CCHA’s least-penalized squad (7.7 penalties and 16.20 penalty minutes/gm, leading to just 5.6 opponent PP chances/gm) … since ranking as the CCHA’s most-penalized team in ’95-’96 (11.31 penalties/gm), the Irish were the CCHA’s least-penalized teams in ’96-’97 (8.69 pen./gm) and ’97-’98 (6.37) and the third-least penalized in ’98-’99 (8.40) … the Irish penalty minutes balooned in the Princeton series, with 23 penalties for 54 minutes in the series-including 12 for 32 in the first game (ND’s most penalty minutes all season and second-most penalties of the year, since 15 vs. Ferris State on Oct. 24) … Notre Dame’s more disciplined players this season have included sophomore RW John Wroblewski (2 penalties), senior LW Andy Jurkowksi (3, 22 in 90 career games), senior C Ben Simon (4, compared to 30-31-31 in the past three seasons), and sophomore C Brett Henning (3, 18 in 56 career games) … senior D Sean Molina has 7 penalties this season and just 33 in 126 career games … senior D Nathan Borega had just 16 penalties as a sophomore and 13 as junior but already has totaled 20 in 19 games played this season.
HEADING FOR SWEDEN: Three Notre Dame players currently are training with the U.S. National Junior Team that will compete in the World Junior Championship (Dec. 26-Jan. 4 in Sweden), marking the fourth consecutive year that Irish players have been members of the prestigious 22-player team … the invitees include sophomore C Brett Henning (Huntington, N.Y.), sophomore C/LW David Inman (Toronto, Ont.) and freshman C Connor Dunlop (St. Louis, Mo.)-the most players from any school on the U.S. team … the team assembled Dec. 13 in West Point, N.Y., and was introduced between periods of the N.Y. Rangers-L.A. Kings game on Dec. 15 … the threesome will rejoin Notre Dame in time for the Jan. 7-8 Lake Superior series … Inman’s mother Straughn is a U.S. citizen and he holds joint citizenship … Inman was one of the final two forwards cut from the ’98-’99 U.S. team … Henning and Dunlop have past experience playing for U.S. national teams, as members of the National Team Development Program that trains in Ann Arbor, Mich. … Notre Dame is one of five schools that have placed players on the National Junior Team during each of past four years … current Irish senior C Ben Simon played on the USA’s silver medal-winning team in ’96-’97 and was joined on the USA squad in ’97-’98 by senior RW Joe Dusbabek while junior LW Dan Carlson was a member of the ’98-’99 junior national team … Boston College leads the way with nine selections to the National Junior Team during the past four years, followed by Notre Dame (7), Minnesota (6) and Michigan State (6) … six different Notre Dame players have been named to the team in the last four years (second to BC’s seven.
RECAPPING THE PRINCETON SERIES (Dec. 19-20, 3-4, 2-4): The teams traded goals in the first game before Princeton notched the game-winner on Dave Schneider’s 5-on-3 goal with 5:17 left to play … despite its missing firepower, the Irish received goals from unlikely sources, with freshman RW Michael Chin and senior D Sean Molina notching their first career goals while senior C Troy Bagne scored his fifth … those three goalscorers previously had combined for just four goals in 236 combined career games played … the game featured two goals that were scored in the first minute of periods (one by each team) and a pair of goals in the final minute of periods (both by the Tigers) … PU enjoyed a 36-24 edge in shots on goal, with Jeremiah Kimento making 32 saves … the Irish led 1-0 and 2-1 in the second game of the series, but the Tigers used three power-play goals and a 38-save night from Dave Stathos to complete the sweep of Notre Dame … the Irish were 1-for-11 on the power-play in the second loss, despite 24 PP shots on goal (the Irish PP was 1-for-17 in the series, with the goal coming 5-on-3) … after giving up an early goal to junior LW Dan Carlson in the first period, Stathos stopped 34 of the next 35 Irish shots … the Irish scored first in both of the losses … freshman D Evan Nielsen scored to give the Irish a 2-1 lead midway through the second period … ND entered the series as the lowest-penalized team in the CCHA (15 PIM/gm) but totaled 54 in the two games (season-high 32 in the first).
LAMP LIGHTERS: Notre Dame entered 1999-2000 with five players who had 15-plus career goals (68.8 pct. of the team’s career goals) but those players have combined for just 31.3 pct. of the current total (15 of 48): senior C Ben Simon (6), junior LW Dan Carlson (4), senior RW Joe Dusbabek (3), junior RW Matt Van Arkel has (2) and junior LW Chad Chipchase (0) … unexpected scoring boosts have come from senior LW Andy Jurkowski (4), sophomore C Brett Henning (3), junior RW Ryan Dolder (5), senior D Tyson Fraser (2) and senior C Troy Bagne (2) … Simon (career 37G-76A) is the team’s most accomplished scorer while sophomore C/LW David Inman has seven goals this season and 15 points (10G-5A) in his last 21 regular-season games … ND’s trio of junior LWs-Carlson, Chipchase and Kopischke-are due for a scoring breakthrough, as that threesome has combined for just eight goals in Notre Dame’s last 36 games (Carlson 5, Kopishcke 2, Chipchase 1) … senior RW Joe Dusbabek could provide a huge scoring lift, after scoring 13 goals during his big freshman season (he has eight goals, plus 29 often timely assists, in 66 games over the past three years and heads into the Denver Cup with 3G-6A in his last 11 games) … sophomore C Brett Henning had one goal in a 19-game span but now has 3G in his last 15 games (2G-4A in his last 11) … junior RW Matt Van Arkel has scored 20 of his 26 career points before New Year’s.
CENTURY MAN: Senior C Ben Simon (Shaker Heights, Ohio)-who earned preseason CCHA “player of the year” honors from Hockey News -registered 1G-1A in the season-opening Michigan series, giving him 100 points (32G-68A) in his 106th game … Simon has pushed his career total to 113 points (37G-76A) in 123 games and 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 13 more goals to become the 29th ND player to total 50-plus goals and 50-plus assists … he is 18 points shy of cracking ND’s top-20 career scoring list and needs 21 assists to crack that top 10 list.