Aug. 9, 2011
Notre Dame, Ind. – Two members of Notre Dame’s four-man contingent to the 2011 U.S. National Junior Evaluation Camp – defenseman Stephen Johns (So., Wampum, Pa.) and forward T.J. Tynan (So., Orland Park, Ill.) – are among a group of 29 players who will remain at the camp to begin international play on Wednesday, August 10 versus Sweden in Lake Placid, N.Y.
The camp, which began on Saturday, August 6 with 44 players, saw the coaching staff cut the two squads to 29 for the remainder of the camp that will include two games with Sweden (Aug, 10 and Aug, 13) and one with Finland (Aug. 11). Sophomore forward Bryan Rust (Novi, Mich.) and freshman defenseman Robbie Russo (Westmont, Ill.) were among the 15 players released from the camp on Tuesday morning.
All four Notre Dame players were on the Blue squad for the opening of camp that included two games with the USA White team and one with Sweden.
Tynan helped the USA White squad to a 2-1 mark, scoring two goals with one assist in the three games.
In the opening game on Saturday, the Blue team took a 4-3 win over the White with Tynan getting the game-tying goal in the third period to make it 3-3. On Sunday, Aug. 7, the White squad prevailed, 4-2, with Tynan’s third-period goal cutting the Blue lead to 3-2. On Aug. 8, the Blue squad knocked off Sweden, 4-3 in overtime. Tynan set up a third-period power-play goal at 12:56 to give the U.S. a 3-2 lead.
The remaining schedule:
Wed., Aug. 10 USA Practice 9:00 - 10:00 a.m. Finland Practice 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. USA vs. Sweden 4:00 p.m.Thurs., Aug. 11 Finland Practice 9:00 - 9:30 a.m. USA Practice 9:45 - 10:45 a.m. Sweden Practice 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. USA vs. Finland 4:00 p.m.Fri., Aug. 12 Sweden Practice 9:00 - 9:30 a.m. Finland Practice 9:45 - 10:15 a.m. USA Practice 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Finland vs. Sweden 4:00 p.m.Sat., Aug. 13 USA vs. Sweden 1:00 p.m.
SIMON GOES FROM A PLAYER TO AN ASSISTANT COACH –
Also making news for the Irish today was former Notre Dame standout Ben Simon `00 who went from the ranks of a player-coach in England to an assistant coach in the American Hockey League with the Chicago Blackhawks top farm club – the Rockford Icehogs where he will join head coach Ted Dent and assistant Steve Poapst behind the bench.
Former Irish forward Ben Simon ’00 moves to the coaching ranks as he was hired by the Chicago Blackhawks to serve as an assistant coach with their top farm team the Rockford Icehogs of the American Hockey League.
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The 33-year old Simon played his final year of professional hockey last season as the player-coach of the Sheffield Steelers of the United Kingdom’s Elite Ice Hockey League where he guided the team to the EJHL championship while finishing fifth in scoring with 27 goals and 39 assists for 66 points.
Originally selected by the Blackhawks in the fifth round, 110th overall of the 1997 NHL Entry Draft, Simon had three goals and one assist for four points to go with 47 penalty minutes in 81 career National Hockey League games over four seasons with the Atlanta Thrashers and the Columbus Bluejackets.
In 11 seasons of professional hockey, Simon played in 654 games between the AHL, IHL and ECHL, scoring 90 goals with 131 assists for 221 points. He was a member of the 2001 Turner Cup winning Orlando Solar Bears and the 2002 Calder Cup champion Chicago Wolves during his career.
The Shaker Heights, Ohio native played at Notre Dame from 1996-2000, seeing action in 144 games, scoring 44 goals with 86 assists for 130 career points. He is currently 24th on the all-time points list for the Irish.