Feb. 11, 2003
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- Date/Site/Times: Fri.-Sat., Feb. 14-15 – Bowling Green Ice Arena (5,000) – 7:05 p.m.
- Broadcast Information: Notre Dame hockey will be simulcast live on WDND South Bend’s ESPN Radio 1620 and WDNV 1490 with Mike Lockert calling all the action. Irish hockey can also be heard live via the internet at www.und.com.
GAME TWO: Notre Dame goes on the road for the first time in over a month (Jan. 10-11 at Ferris State) when the Irish travel to Bowling Green for a pair with the Falcons on Feb. 14-15. Notre Dame had last weekend off (Feb. 7-8) and begin the stretch drive with eight more regular season games (three at home, five on the road). The Irish will look to discover a winning formula versus Bowling Green as they are in the midst of a nine-game winless skid (0-6-3). Notre Dame comes into the weekend with a 9-13-6 overall record and is 7-10-3 in the CCHA, good for 17 points and 10th-place. The Irish are three points behind eighth-place Nebraska-Omaha and Alaska Fairbanks (20 points) and four behind seventh-place Northern Michigan (21 points). Notre Dame is five points behind fifth-place Miami and Western Michigan. The Irish have four games in hand versus Nebraska-Omaha and Alaska Fairbanks as both schools have played 24 league games. Notre Dame has two games in hand with Miami (22 games) and is even in games with the rest of their competition in the battle for sixth-place and the final home playoff spot. Since Jan. 1, Notre Dame is 1-6-3 and coming off a tie (3-3) and a loss (2-0) to Ohio State on Jan. 31-Feb. 1. Bowling Green comes into the weekend with a 7-17-2 record and a 4-14-2 mark in the CCHA. The Falcons are currently 11th in the league standings with 10 points. Bowling Green is 4-4 in its last eight games and 4-5-1 since Jan. 1. The Irish return home following this weekend’s series to host Lake Superior at the Joyce Center on Feb. 21-22 in a pair of 7:05 p.m. games.
IRISH VERSUS FALCONS: Notre Dame and Bowling Green have met twice this season (Dec. 7-8) with the Irish taking 6-3 and 5-2 verdicts at the Joyce Center. Bowling Green leads the all-time series with a 29-28-6, but the Irish have won four straight and are 8-1-1 in the last 10 meetings with the Falcons. At Bowling Green, the Falcons have a 19-10-1 record versus the Irish. Last year, the two teams split a weekend series at Bowling Green in December with the Irish winning 6-3 on Friday night before dropping a 4-2 decision on Saturday. Since the 1998-99 season, the Irish are 3-2-1 in six games at the Bowling Green Ice Arena.
SCOUTING THE FALCONS: Bowling Green is 4-4-2 this season at home, including a 2-2-1 mark in five home contests since Jan. 1. First-year coach Scott Paluch’s team is led offensively by forward Mark Wires who leads the Falcons in scoring with 11 goals and 10 assists for 21 points, including a team-best six power-play goals. He is followed by forward Steve Brudzewski (10-9-19) and defenseman Kevin Bieksa (6-13-19). In goal, sophomore Jordan Sigalet has a 5-8-2 record with a 3.44 goals-against average and a .910 save percentage in 15 games. Senior Tyler Masters is 2-9-0 with a 5.12 goals-against average and a .874 save percentage. Bowling Green is 24-for-129 (18.6%) on the power play and has surrendered 32 power-play goals in 134 chances against for a 76.1% penalty-killing ratio. For more information on the Falcons, check the Bowling Green website at www.bgsufalcons.com.
LAST TIME OUT: The Irish have not played since Feb. 1 when they were shutout by Ohio State, 2-0, at the Joyce Center. Mike Betz made 23 saves to blank the Irish for the first time at home since Northern Michigan’s Craig Kowalski did it on Jan. 12, 2001, a span of 20 consecutive home games. Notre Dame’s Morgan Cey (So., Wilkie, Sask.) made 41 saves for the Irish giving up just a goal in the first period and one in the second. The Irish were 0-for-8 on the power play, while Ohio State was 1-for-6. In Friday’s game (Jan. 31), Dave Steckel scored for Ohio State with 4.7 seconds left in the contest for a 3-3 tie. The Irish had rallied from a 2-0 deficit on goals by Kyle Dolder (Jr., Hutchinson, Minn.), John Wroblewski (Sr., Neenah, Wis.) and Brett Lebda (Jr., Buffalo Grove, Ill.) to lead 3-2 after two periods. Dolder and Wroblewski scored on the power play, while Lebda’s goal was shorthanded. For the night, Ohio State outshot Notre Dame 40-33. Cey finished with 37 saves while Betz made 30 for the Buckeyes. Ohio State was 1-for-11 on the power play while Notre Dame was 2-for-6.
FIT TO BE TIED: The 3-3 tie with Ohio State on Jan. 31 was Notre Dame’s sixth overtime game this season with all six ending in ties (0-0-6). Since the start of the 1999-2000 season, the Irish have been involved in 33 overtime games and are 5-2-26 in those contests. The last time Notre Dame won an overtime game during the regular season was on Jan. 25, 2002, a 4-3 overtime win for the Irish at Miami. The Irish had two postseason games last year decided in overtime (a 3-2 double overtime loss to Nebraska-Omaha and a 2-1 win versus the Mavericks).
NOT SO SWEET HOME: The Irish finished their recent six-game homestand with an 0-4-2 record (includes a 3-1 loss to Yale at the Allstate Arena in Chicago). For the season, Notre Dame is 4-6-3 at the Joyce Center.
ROUGH MONTH: The Irish finished January of 2003 with a 1-5-3 record. Over the past three seasons, Notre Dame is 4-15-6 during the month of January (’00-’01: 1-6-2; ’01-’02: 2-4-1; ’02-’03: 1-5-3). The last time the Irish had a winning January came in the 1999-2000 season when they were 4-2-3.
STRONG FINISHERS: While the Irish have struggled in January over the past three seasons, the Feb.-March stretch run has seen them finish strong. Over the past two seasons, the Irish are 9-6-2 to close out the year (’00-’01: 4-3-2; ’01-’02: 5-3-0). The Irish are 0-1-0 so far this February.
POWER-PLAY SPECTACULAR: Notre Dame faced a season-high 11 power-play chances by Ohio State in the Jan. 31 game with the Buckeyes. The previous high was eight by Ferris State on Jan. 11. The Irish held Ohio State off the scoreboard on 10 of the 11 chances in the game. For the weekend, the Irish killed 15 of 17 Buckeye power-play chances (88.2%). Notre Dame had its share of power plays on the weekend as the Irish were two-for-14 with the man-advantage, including 2-for-6 in the 3-3 tie and 0-for-8 in the 2-0 loss.
IRISH INJURY REPORT: Senior center Connor Dunlop (St. Louis, Mo.) missed the Feb. 1 game with Ohio State with a thigh contusion. He is a game day decision.
Derek Smith (So., Port Huron, Mich.) remains sidelined with an ankle injury suffered at Nebraska-Omaha. He has missed eight games.
CEY HEY: In his last 10 starts, Irish goaltender Morgan Cey is 1-5-4 with a 3.21 goals-against average and a .905 save percentage. In those same 10 games, the Irish have scored just 26 goals (2.60 per game).
IRON MEN: Senior defenseman Evan Nielsen has now played in 102 consecutive games going into tonight’s game versus Ohio State. Senior left wing John Wroblewski has played in 101 consecutive games. Junior defenseman Brett Lebda has played in 98 of 102 possible games in his career (46 consecutive) missing just four while playing with the U.S. Junior National team in 2001-02. The Notre Dame record for consecutive games played is 103 and was set by Ryan Dolder over three seasons.
Current Notre Dame consecutive game streaks:
Evan Nielsen – 102 games
John Wroblewski – 101 games
JUST CALL HIM THE CAPTAIN: Defenseman Evan Nielsen turned in the best weekend of his career versus Bowling Green (Dec. 7-8), collecting a pair of three-point games with a goal and two assists in each. The three-point games equal Nielsen’s career best as he has now recorded four three-point nights in his career, highlighted by a career-best five-game point scoring streak (2-7-9) from Nov. 30 to Dec. 28. LOOKING FOR A FAST START: Notre Dame is 7-0-3 this season when they score the first goal of the game. The last time the Irish scored first was on Jan. 11, a 4-4 tie at Ferris State. In their current 1-6-3 skid, the Irish have scored first just twice (Jan. 3 at Nebraska-Omaha, 5-3 win). Notre Dame is 2-13-3 when the opposition scores the first goal of the game.
CRACKING THE CENTURY MARK: With a first-period assist in the Jan. 10 game with Ferris State, senior center Connor Dunlop became the 39th player in Notre Dame history to reach the 100-point mark in his career. Notre Dame’s third-leading scorer this season with two goals and 21 assists, Dunlop added a goal and an assist in the Jan. 11, 4-4 tie. He is now tied for 35th all-time with 103 career points (21 goals and 82 assists).
ALL-TIME GAMES LIST: Senior defenseman Evan Nielsen is on pace to finish among the top three players in Notre Dame history for games played in his career. Going into this weekend’s action with Ohio State, Nielsen has played in 143 career games. That puts him three games out of 10th on the all-time list. Dan Carlson (’97-’01) is the all-time leader with 158 games played.
BLUELINE BOOSTERS: The Notre Dame defense features two of the top scoring defensemen in the CCHA. Senior defenseman Evan Nielsen (3-15-18) and junior Neil Komadoski (1-16-17) are ranked seventh and 10th respectively in scoring by defensemen. For Komadoski, the 17 points are a career-high as are the 16 assists. Nielsen’s 15 assists are a career-high. Nielsen (16g-48a) is 16 points shy of cracking the Notre Dame top-10 list for career points by a defenseman (Steve Curry, 19g, 61a) and could join 1999 All-American Benoit Cotnoir (28g-60a) as the only players on that top-10 defenseman scoring list since ND rejoined the CCHA in 1992.
PENALTY SHOTS: Notre Dame goaltender Morgan Cey faced his second penalty shot of the season and the third of his career in the 3-3 tie with Michigan State. With the Spartans leading 2-1 in the second period, MSU’s Jim Slater was awarded a penalty shot at 16:23 by referee Brian Aaron. Cey appeared to get a piece of Slater’s wrist shot with his glove before it went off the crossbar. On Nov. 22 at Michigan, Cey stopped Milan Gajic at 12:36 of the second period in a 4-2 loss. His first penalty shot stop came on Dec. 8, 2001 when he stopped Bowling Green’s Greg Day in a 4-2 loss to the Falcons.
SCORING DROUGHT: During the recent winless streak, the Irish have struggled to score goals. Over the last six games, Notre Dame has scored just nine goals, being shutout once, scoring once on three occasions and scoring three times in two different games. That’s an average of 1.5 goals-per-game since Jan. 17 vs. Yale. During that time, the Irish have given up just 19 goals for a 3.17 goals-per-game against.
WROBLEWSKI – THE HUMANITARIAN: Notre Dame senior left wing John Wroblewski (Neenah, Wis.) is one of 15 college hockey players nominated for the prestigious Hockey Humanitarian Award that is presented annually to college’s hockey’s finest citizen for their efforts away from the rink in the community. The awarded is presented at the Frozen Four along with the Hobey Baker Award. Wroblewski has been involved with Notre Dame’s Community Service programs during his four years with the Irish.
A LITTLE HELP FOR HIS FRIENDS: With 82 career assists, Connor Dunlop has moved into 20th on Notre Dame’s all-time assist list. With 21 assists this season, Notre Dame’s premier point producer is tied for ninth in the CCHA in assists.
STREAKY STASTNY: Sophomore center Yan Stastny’s goal versus Michigan State on Jan. 25 snapped a three-game goal and point drought. Previous to that, Stastny had a team-best eight-game point-scoring streak (7-5-12) from Nov. 30 through Jan. 4 at Nebraska-Omaha. Stastny’s last five points have all been goals. He is currently second on the team with 13 goals and his 19 points are a career high for the hard-working center.
CAREER YEAR FOR GLOBKE: Junior right wing Rob Globke scored his career-high 18th goal of the season in the January 18 loss to Yale. He comes into this weekend’s series tied for fifth among CCHA goal scorers. He trails Chris Kunitz (26) of Ferris State, Jeff Legue (Ferris State) and Mike Stutzel (Northern Michigan) with 20 and Ohio State’s R.J. Umberger with 19. Miami’s Greg Hogeboom and Michigan’s Jeff Tambellini are tied with Globke with 18. Globke now has career-highs in goals (18), assists (12), points (30) and game-winning goals (3) this year. His previous best came as a freshman when he had 26 points (17g, 9a).
RED-HOT ROBO: John Wroblewski has also gotten it done on the ice this season as he picked up his career-best 12th goal of the season on Jan. 31 versus Ohio State. He also has career-highs in assists (13), points (25) and power-play goals (6). Wroblewski is currently second on the Irish with 25 points. His previous best season was the 2001-02 year when he had 10 goals, 11 assists and 21 points. In the weekend series at Ferris State (Jan. 10-11), the Irish alternate captain recorded a pair of three-point games for a six-point (3g, 3a) weekend. For the season, Wroblewski leads the Irish with five three-point games on the year.
GILL FACTOR: For the first time this season, Notre Dame’s brother tandem of Aaron Gill and Tony Gill (Fr., Rochester, Minn.) scored points in the same game. Older brother Aaron scored via the power play versus Michigan State (Jan. 25) to tie the game at 1-1. Tony picked up his first collegiate point in the same game when he set up Tim Wallace’s game-tying goal at 16:13 of the third period. The brother combination played on the same line for the only time this season on Nov. 8 versus Miami. Aaron scored Notre Dame’s only goal while getting five shots on goal with a +1 rating. Tony collected one shot and was also +1 for the evening.
CENTRAL SCOUTING REPORT: The National Hockey League’s Central Scouting lists 10 CCHA players in their mid-season rankings. That list includes Notre Dame’s Tim Wallace (Fr., Anchorage, Alaska) who is ranked 122nd overall. Wallace has played in all 24 games for the Irish and has two goals and four assists for six points.
“A” FOR EFFORT: Notre Dame left wing John Wroblewski turned in his best series of the season in the Ferris State weekend (Jan. 10-11) as he scored three goals and three assists for six points. For the year, he now has five, three-point games to lead the team in that department. Wroblewski was named an alternate captain for the remainder of the 2002-03 season on Nov. 20. In making the announcement, head coach Dave Poulin said, “John has emerged as an integral part of this team with his leadership and strong communication skills. He adds to an already strong captain’s group on this year’s team.” Wroblewski now has 12 goals and 13 assists for 25 points in 28 games this season.
Senior defenseman Evan Nielsen has played in 102 consecutive games.
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ALLSTATE ARENA NOTES: The Jan. 18 game with Yale was played at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill., and drew a crowd of 5,091. It was the first collegiate hockey game played in the Chicago area since Illinois-Chicago dropped its program following the 1995-96 season. For Notre Dame, the crowd of 5,091 was the largest “home” crowd for the Irish in their hockey history. The previous top attendance for the Irish in a home game was 4,787 at the Joyce Center and occurred twice – 1/27/73 versus Michigan State and 2/24/73 versus Wisconsin.
NO MORE BULLDOGS: The Irish have finished eight regular season games versus team’s nicknamed “Bulldogs” with a 1-5-2 record. For the season, the Irish were 1-0-1 versus the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs, 0-3-1 versus the Ferris State Bulldogs and 0-2-0 versus the Yale Bulldogs.
TOP LINE: For a seven-game period (Dec. 29-Jan. 17) Notre Dame’s hottest line – the trio of John Wroblewski, Yan Stastny and Aaron Gill – combined for nine goals and 14 assists for 23 points. That line was broken up on Jan. 18 versus Yale to try to spread the scoring around.
BACK IN THE MIX: Freshman forward Mike Walsh (Northville, Mich.) returned to the Irish lineup in the Nebraska-Omaha having missed seven games after being diagnosed with mononucleosis on Nov. 24. Walsh’s hard-luck rookie season also saw him miss the first 10 games due to a broken jaw suffered in the Oct. 4 preseason game with the University of Toronto. Walsh – who could help spark the Irish offense in the second half of the season – made his first return to action and played in the 4-3 win at Michigan on Nov. 23.
CORY’S STORY: Sophomore right wing Cory McLean (Fargo, N.D.) has become a key performer on Notre Dame’s power play, as he picked up two power-play markers in the 6-3 win over Bowling Green. For the season, McLean now has four power-play goals and is second to team leader John Wroblewski (6). For the year, McLean has career-highs in goals (8) and points (12), while equalling his career-high in assists with four. As a freshman, he had just one goal and four assists for five points during the 2001-02 season.
DUNLOP DELIVERS: Connor Dunlop snapped a 19-game goal-scoring drought with his game-winning goal versus Wayne State on Dec. 14. The goal was the first of the season for the Irish playmaker, who now has a two goals and 20 assists on the season. The previous time Dunlop scored a goal was on March 2, 2002 in the regular season finale versus Bowling Green. He then went without a goal in four postseason games last year and the first 15 games this season. Dunlop also scored the game-winning goal versus Wayne State in the first-ever meeting between the two schools in Oct. of 2000. That goal was an overtime game winner in Notre Dame’s 2-1 win over the Warriors.
IRISH AT THE JOE: Notre Dame’s win over Wayne State on Dec. 14th at Joe Louis Arena was the first for the Irish at “the Joe” since March 13, 1982 when Dave Poulin led Notre Dame to an 8-5 win over Bowling Green in the CCHA semifinals. After that, the Irish lost seven straight at “the Joe” in CCHA or Great Lakes Invitational play. The win over Wayne State was the first non-CCHA tournament or Great Lakes Invitational game for the Irish at Joe Louis Arena. Notre Dame now has a 4-7-0 record all-time at Joe Louis Arena.
GOALS FOR GLOBKE: With 18 goals and 12 assists this season for 30 points, Rob Globke, the 2002 second-round pick of the NHL’s Florida Panthers, has already surpassed last year’s point totals of 11-11-22. Globke’s 30 points tie him for 10th in the CCHA scoring race. In league scoring he is tied for 10th with 13 goals and nine assists for 22 points. Globke has three game-winning goals this season which are the most by a Notre Dame player since Dan Carlson had five in the 1999-2000 season.
MORE GLOBKE: With an assist on Connor Dunlop’s game-winning goal versus Wayne State (Dec. 14), followed by a goal in the 6-4 loss at Dartmouth, Rob Globke ran his season-best point scoring streak to seven games (8-6-14). In the first five games of the streak, Globke recorded at least two points in each game. On the year, Globke has four games with three-or-more points and eight multiple-point games overall. He started the season with a four-point game (3g, 1a) at Minnesota-Duluth (Oct. 12) and a three-point game (2g, 1a) at Western Michigan (Oct. 18). The last time a Notre Dame player scored five goals over a two-game period was during the 1994-95 season when Tim Harberts scored four goals in a game versus Waterloo (Oct. 21) and then scored a single-goal versus Lake Superior (Oct. 28). The last time a Notre Dame player had seven points in a two-game span was last season when Connor Dunlop (Sr., St. Louis, Mo.) had two goals and five assists in a weekend series versus Alaska Fairbanks (Feb. 1-2, 2002). For his career, Globke now has 15 multiple-point games and 10 multiple-goal games.
FIRING THE BISCUIT: Notre Dame recorded a season-high 50 shots on goal in the Dec. 7 game with Bowling Green. The last time the Irish had 50 or more shots in a game was March 1, 2002, versus Bowling Green at the Joyce Center.
GETTING IT DUN(LOP): Senior Connor Dunlop has recorded multiple-point games in seven games this season for the Irish including a streak of three consecutive multiple-point games (1-5-6). For the season, Dunlop is tied for second on the team in scoring with two goals and 20 assists for 22 points. Dunlop has 25 multiple-point games for his career. That includes two with four points, six with three points and 17 with two points.
CHIN WINNER: Senior left wing Michael Chin (Sr., Urbana, Ill.) snapped a seven-game scoreless streak when he scored his third goal of the season, the eventual game winner, in the 5-2 win over Bowling Green. Chin has three goals and four assists for seven points in 15 games played this season.
FRESHMAN FIRSTS: Freshman forward Matt Amado (Surrey, B.C.) picked up the first goal and assist of his Notre Dame career at Alaska Fairbanks (Nov. 29-30). He added an assist in the win over Bowling Green (Dec. 7) for a three-point scoring streak (1-2-3).
NHL DRAFTEES: Notre Dame had three players selected in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft last June. Current junior Rob Globke led the way as he was selected in the second round, 40th overall, by the Florida Panthers. That is the highest any Notre Dame hockey player has ever been selected in the NHL Draft. In the fifth round, incoming freshman Mike Walsh was selected 143rd overall by the New York Rangers. The third member of the Notre Dame roster picked was sophomore Yan Stastny who was selected in the eighth round, 259th overall, by the Boston Bruins. They join senior Evan Nielsen (Atlanta Thrashers, 8th round, 2000 Draft) and junior defenseman Neil Komadoski (Ottawa Senators, 3rd round, 2001 Draft) as Notre Dame players selected by the NHL.
OUCH: Notre Dame surrendered four power-play goals on six chances to Alaska Fairbanks in the 5-4 loss to the Nanooks on Nov. 30. The last time the Irish gave up four power-play goals in a game came on Feb. 15, 1997 at Michigan in a 6-1 loss. Prior to the UAF game on Nov. 30, the Irish penalty-killing unit had killed 29 of 32 opponent power-play chances. Notre Dame’s penalty killers got back on track versus Bowling Green (Dec.7-8) when they killed 12 of 13 Falcon power-play chances. For the season, the Irish are seventh overall in the CCHA after giving up 18 ppg’s on 97 chances for an 81.4% success rate.
SWEEPS: Notre Dame’s series sweep of Bowling Green gave the Irish two CCHA series sweeps this season. Earlier this year (Oct. 18-19), the Irish swept a home-and-home series with Western Michigan. The last time the Irish won more that two CCHA series was in the 1998-99 season when they swept four weekend series. The Irish sweep of Western Michigan earlier this year gave the Irish three consecutive CCHA series sweeps going back to the 2001-02 season. The Irish ended the season by sweeping Lake Superior at Sault Ste. Marie and then Bowling Green at the Joyce Center. That marked the first time in Notre Dame’s 11 years in the CCHA that the Irish won three consecutive league series. The last time Notre Dame won three consecutive weekend series was during the 1990-91 season with sweeps versus Mercyhurst, Alabama-Huntsville and UMass-Boston.
SHORT-CIRCUITED: Notre Dame gave up its fourth short-handed goal of the season in the 4-3 win versus Michigan (Nov. 23) when Dwight Helminen scored a man down at 6:45 of the first period. Last season, the Irish gave up just four shorthanded goals in 38 games.
PULLING THE GOALTENDER: The Irish have pulled the goaltender 12 times this season and have been successful in getting the tying-goal twice. The Irish converted their first two attempts getting game-tying goals versus Minnesota-Duluth and Boston College. On Oct. 11, Yan Stastny performed the heroics versus Minnesota-Duluth. With Morgan Cey on the bench, Stastny scored with 57 seconds left to tie that game at 2-2. Aaron Gill got the game-tying goal with 42 seconds left and Cey on the bench Nov. 1 to send the Boston College game into overtime at 3-3. The last six times the Irish have pulled the goaltender in favor of a sixth attacker they have failed to score (Ferris State scored (1/10) to seal a 6-3 win).
GILL THE THRILL: Junior center Aaron Gill has provided his heroics twice for the Irish this season. The Rochester, Minn., native scored with 42 seconds left to give Notre Dame a 3-3 tie with third-ranked Boston College on Nov. 1. Earlier in the season (Oct. 19), Gill recorded the first hat trick of his career in Notre Dame’s 8-5 win over Western Michigan. Gill scored two power-play goals and had the game-winning tally among his three goals in that game.
HAT TRICKS: Junior center Aaron Gill scored three goals for the Irish in the 8-5 win at Western Michigan on Oct. 19. The hat trick was the first of his collegiate career and marked the second time in the first four games that Notre Dame recorded a hat trick. Rob Globke scored three times in the 5-3 win at Minnesota-Duluth. This marks the first time since the 1994-95 season that two Notre Dame players have recorded hat tricks in the same season. Tim Harberts (four goals) and Ben Nelsen each had hat tricks in October of 1994.
EIGHT IS GREAT: The eight goals scored by the Irish in the 8-5 win at Western Michigan are the most goals scored by Notre Dame in a game since Nov. 20, 1998, in a 9-5 win over Western Michigan. That covers a span of 150 games.
NOT SO GREAT EIGHT: Ferris State’s Chris Kunitz scored eight points in the weekend (Oct. 25-26) series versus the Irish. The senior left wing recorded two goals and two assists in each game. The last time Notre Dame gave up eight points in a CCHA series was during the 1981-82 season when Western Michigan’s Ross Fitzpatrick recorded six goals and two assists on Feb. 26-27, 1982. Fitzpatrick had three goals and one assist in each game.
CLOSING THE DEAL: After seeing their 50-game unbeaten streak (42-0-8) when leading after two periods stopped in the second game of last season, the Irish went 16-0-1 over the final 17 games of 2001-02 when they led after two periods. This season, the Irish are 5-1-3 when they lead after two periods of play having lost at Nebraska-Omaha on Jan 4 after leading 3-2 going into the third period. Since Jan. 9, 1998, the Irish are 63-4-12 when leading after two periods of play. During that period, Boston College has rallied from second-intermission deficits to hand the Irish a loss and a two ties.
Junior Neil Komadoski has a career-high 17 points this season.
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WOW ZOW: Notre Dame goaltender Tony Zasowski (Sr., Darien, Ill.) made his first start since Nov. 30 at Alaska-Fairbanks in Notre Dame’s 3-1 loss to Yale at the Allstate Center on Jan. 18. In that game, he made 301 saves. It was his fourth appearance of the season. He is 1-2-0 with a 3.82 goals-against average and a .896 save percentage.
WASTING LITTLE TIME: Freshman right wing Tim Wallace (Anchorage, Alaska) wasted little time scoring his first collegiate goal in the 2-2 tie at Minnesota-Duluth. Wallace scored the first goal of his career for the Irish on the first shot of his collegiate career. The goal came at 9:12 of the first period and tied the score at 1-1. He added his second career goal in the first period of ND’s 8-5 win over Western Michigan. That goal snapped a 1-1 tie and put the Irish ahead to stay in the game. Through 24 games this season, Wallace has two goals and four assists for sixpoints in his rookie season.
CENTER OF ATTENTION: Irish center Connor Dunlop is coming off the best season of his career and the best year for a Notre Dame hockey player since 1991-92. Dunlop capped his junior year by leading the Irish in scoring with nine goals and 36 assists for 45 points. The 36 assists were the most since Curtis Janicke recorded 38 in 1991-92 and the 45 points were the most since Janicke’s 50-point campaign in ’91-’92.
Dunlop finished fourth overall among CCHA scorers and third in assists. In the 28-game regular season league rankings, Dunlop was second in points (36) and assists (27).
An honorable mention all-CCHA selection in 2001-02, Dunlop turned in a seven-point (two goals, five assists) weekend series versus Alaska Fairbanks (Feb. 1-2) including his second four-point game of the season. For the year, Dunlop recorded two four-point games, three with three-points and 13 multiple-point games in all.
SEN-CEY-TIONAL: Notre Dame goaltender Morgan Cey was among the top freshmen netminders in the country during the 2001-02 season. Cey turned in a 15-14-3 record with a 2.72 goals against average and a school-record .910 save percentage. He also equalled a Notre Dame mark with two solo shutouts. Over the final nine games of the year, Cey was 7-2 with a 1.77 goals against average. Cey backstopped the Irish to their playoff series win at Nebraska-Omaha. In three games covering 208:49 minutes, Cey gave up five goals, while stopping 99 of 104 shots for a 1.49 goals against and a .951 save percentage.
ALL IN THE FAMILY: Three current members of the Notre Dame hockey program – senior center Connor Dunlop, junior defenseman Neil Komadoski and sophomore forward Yan Stastny – hold a unique connection, as each of their fathers enjoyed lengthy careers in the National Hockey League.
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-’83) and Detroit Red Wings (’83-’84), totaling 130G-274A in 550 career NHL games.
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.
Peter Stastny played 15 seasons in the NHL with the Quebec Nordiques (’80-’90), the New Jersey Devils (’90-’93) and the St. Louis Blues (’93-’95). He is currently the 23rd all-time scorer in league history with 450 goals, 789 assists and 1,239 points in 997 games. A six-time NHL all-star, Stastny is the highest scoring European-born player in NHL history and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1998. The 1981 NHL rookie-of-the-year, Stastny is currently a special assignment scout for the St. Louis Blues.
ALL IN THE FAMILY, PART II: Two freshmen hockey players – Rory Walsh (Milton, Mass.) and Mike Walsh – have fathers who also attended Notre Dame. Rory Walsh’s father, Brian (’77), was an all-American hockey player for the Irish. A center, 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. Adding to the Irish family theme, sophomore left wing Yan Stastny’s (St. Louis, Mo.) younger sister, Kristina, is a freshman with the Notre Dame women’s tennis team while junior Aaron Gill’s younger brother Tony gives the Irish program its ninth all-time brother combo.
ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICANS: Notre Dame saw its streak of five consecutive Verizon/CoSIDA Academic All-Americans snapped in 2001-02. Senior right wing David Inman (Toronto, Ont.) was selected as a District V selection for the At-Large team but did not make it to the national team. Prior to 2001-02, four Irish hockey players made the team over a five-year period.
CCHA ALL-ACADEMIC TEAM: David Inman was named to the CCHA’s nine-man 2001-02 all-Academic Team, making Notre Dame the CCHA’s only school to produce an all-Academic honoree in each of the last seven seasons. Inman finished second for the Irish in scoring with 19 goals and 18 assists for 37 points and was also an honorable mention all-CCHA selection. Inman turned in a 3.54 grade point average in finance during his Notre Dame career. The Irish have produced eight previous first team CCHA All-Academic selections since rejoining the CCHA in ’92-’93: Curtis Janicke and Carl Picconatto (’92-’93), Garry Gruber (’95-’96), Steve Noble (’96-’97, ’97-’98), Forrest Karr and Aniket Dhadphale (’98-’99), Andy Jurkowski (99′-’00) and Dan Carlson (2000-01). During that 10-year span, only Western Michigan (11) has produced more CCHA All-Academic selections than Notre Dame’s 10.
HOMETOWNS: The 2002-03 Notre Dame hockey team features players from 10 states and hree Canadian provinces – Alberta, British Columbia and Saskat-chewan. In the seven-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, Ontario, Prince Edward Island and Quebec.
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. Notre Dame ranks second with 10 NTDP alums, one behind Michigan State (11), while Minnesota has nine. Notre Dame’s contingent includes seniors Michael Chin, John Wroblewski and Connor Dunlop, juniors Rob Globke, Neil Komadoski and Brett Lebda, sophomore Derek Smith and freshman forward Tim Wallace.
Former Irish players Brett Henning and Paul Harris also were members of the Developmental program prior to playing at Notre Dame.
Globke and Lebda also played for Team USA at last year’s World Junior Championships. For Globke, it was his second appearance for Team USA and he scored two goals with one assist in helping the U.S. team to a 4-1-2 record and fifth place. Lebda made his first appearance and scored a goal in seven tournament games. The Irish have had at least one player on the National Junior Team in each of the last six years.