Jan. 1, 2004
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- The Game: Notre Dame (9-6-2/7-5-2 in CCHA) vs. University of Findlay (4-12-3/1-4-1 in CHA)
- Date/Site/Times: Sat., Jan. 3, 2004 – Joyce Center (2,713) – 7:05 p.m.
- Broadcast Information: 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.
HAPPY NEW YEAR: The Notre Dame hockey team opens the 2004 portion of the schedule on Saturday, January 3, when the Irish play host to the University of Findlay Oilers in a 7:05 p.m. game. The Irish and Oilers have never faced each other on the ice. The University of Findlay, now in its fifth season in College Hockey America (CHA) brings a 4-12-3 record into Saturday night’s game. The Oilers played last weekend at the Subway Holiday Classic in Grand Forks, N.D., where they dropped a 3-1 decision to top-ranked North Dakota in the opener and then battled to a 1-1 tie in the third-place game with 12th-ranked Brown. The Irish also finished third in their holiday tournament, the Everblades College Hockey Classic in Estero, Fla. The Irish dropped the opener to #14/#14 Cornell, 4-0 and then defeated #3/#3 Maine, 1-0 in the third-place contest. The Irish win over Maine snapped a three-game losing streak for the Irish and improved the overall record to 9-6-2. They remain tied for second in the CCHA with a 7-5-2 record, good for 16 points to tie Ohio State for the second spot.
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM: Notre Dame goaltender Morgan Cey (Jr., Wilkie, Sask.) made his return to the Notre Dame lineup a memorable one as he stopped all 32 shots by the Maine Black Bears to record a 1-0 shutout win to give the Irish third place at the Everblades College Hockey Classic. For his efforts, Cey was selected to the All-Tournament team. Cey had not played since Nov. 7 when he aggravated an injury to his right knee that had required surgery in July. On Nov. 17, he had arthroscopic surgery on the knee and missed six games for the Irish before playing on Dec. 28 versus Maine. The shutout versus Maine was the fifth of Cey’s career, the most by any Notre Dame goaltender for his career.
THE IRISH AND IN-SEASON TOURNAMENTS: Notre Dame’s appearance in The Everblades College Hockey Classic was the 26th in-season tournament that Notre Dame has participated in. The Irish are now 17-32-3 overall in those tournaments. Notre Dame has won four tournaments, finished second six times, third, five times and fourth a total of 11 times.
THE FINDLAY OILERS: Findlay will come into Saturday’s contest looking for its first win since Nov. 21 when the Oilers won 5-0 at home versus Canisius. They are 0-5-3 since that game, scoring just eight goals in those eight games with shutouts at Denver and Colorado College on Nov. 28-29. To date, Findlay is 1-2-0 in games versus teams on Notre Dame’s schedule. The Oilers defeated Michigan State, 4-3, lost 4-1 to Boston College and lost 5-1 at Bowling Green. They will also play two games this season at Ferris State. Findlay is led in scoring by senior Christian Olson (6-6-12), junior Mark Bastl (7-3-10) and freshman Mike Batovanja (3-7-10). In goal, freshman Will Hooper is 3-8-2 with a 2.75 goals-against average and a .909 save percentage. Sophomore Jon Horrell is 1-4-1 with a 3.78 goals against and a .889 save percentage.
IRISH VERSUS CHA: Since Notre Dame returned to the CCHA in 1992-93, the Irish have played just four games versus teams now in the CHA. Notre Dame is 3-0-1 in those games. The Irish are 2-0-0 versus Wayne State, 1-0-0 versus Air Force and 0-0-1 versus Niagara.
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 (Northville, Mich.) got the game-winning goal.
IRISH SHUTOUTS: Morgan Cey’s shutout versus Maine on Dec. 28 was his first of the season and the fourth of the year for the Irish (freshman David Brown has the other three). The four shutouts in one season are the most ever for the Irish in one season. The previous best of three came during the 1999-2000 season. That year, Tony Zasowski recorded two and Jeremiah Kimento had one.
CORNELL BLANKING: Notre Dame’s 4-0 loss to Cornell was the first time that Notre Dame had been shutout since Feb. 1, 2002 when Ohio State’s Mike Betz blanked the Irish, 2-0, at the Joyc Center, a span of 27 games. In those same 27 games, Notre Dame goaltenders recorded six shutouts of their own.
IN THE CLUTCH: Sophomore Mike Walsh recorded his third game-winning goal of the season in the 1-0 win over Maine. That ties him with Rob Globke (Sr., West Bloomfield, Mich.) for the team and CCHA lead in that department. The eight goals are a career-high for Walsh. For his career, he has scored nine goals with four of them being game-winning goals.
THE PUCK STOPS HERE: Through the first 13 games this season, the Irish displayed the stingiest defense in the history of the program. Notre Dame’s 1.97 goals-against average after the 13 games was the lowest ever after 13 games. In the first 13 games, the Irish had surrendered a total of 26 goals. In the next three games (two versus Western Michigan, one versus Cornell), the Irish surrendered 18 goals to raise the team goals-against average to 2.64. The Irish got things back in order with a shutout win over Maine on Dec. 28 to lower the goals against to 2.56.
ON THE SIDELINES: Notre Dame goaltender Morgan Cey (Jr., Wilkie, Sask.) underwent successful arthroscopic surgery on his right knee on Wednesday, Nov. 19. He returned to the lineup on Dec. 27, missing a total of six games. For the year, Cey was sidelined a total of 11 games after having knee surgery in July. Defenseman Derek Smith (Jr., Marysville, Mich.) will miss the Findlay game as he remains sidelined with post-concussion syndrome. He suffered a concussion on Jan. 4, 2003 at Nebraska-Omaha and has not played since.
THEN AND NOW: After 17 games in 2002-03, Notre Dame had an 8-7-2 record. This season, the Irish are 9-6-2 after 17 games. That equals their best record after 17 games since the 1998-99 team was also 9-6-2 after 17 games. The 9-6-2 record is the best record Notre Dame has had after 17 games since the 1989-90 season when that team was 11-6-0 after the first 17 games.
SPECIAL HONOR: Former Notre Dame hockey player Mike McNeill (1984-88) had his number 14 retired on Dec. 27 by the Milwaukee Admirals of the American Hockey League. McNeill, a native of South Bend, Ind., played six years (1992-98) for Milwaukee, recording 97 goals and 110 assists for 207 points in 452 career games with the Admirals. An outstanding two-way player in his career, McNeill played nine seasons in the Internatioanl Hockey League (IHL) with Fort Wayne, Indianapolis and Milwaukee, seeing action in 634 games with 157 goals and 194 assists for 207 points. He played in 63 games in the NHL with Chicago and Quebec, scoring five goals with 11 assists for 16 points. At Notre Dame, McNeill ranks fifth in all-time scoring with 83 goals and 115 assists for 198 career points.
CENTURY MARK FOR GLOBKE: Senior right wing Rob Globke (West Bloomfield, Mich.) 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). He now is tied for 37th on the all-time points list with 59 goals and 42 assists for 101 points. The 59 goals rank him 18th on Notre Dame’s all-time goal list. On the year, Globke has 10 goals and seven assists for 17 points and is tied with Aaron Gill for the team lead in scoring. On the year, Globke now has three games with two or more goals and has 13 for his career. He opened the season with a hat trick in Notre Dame’s 5-2 win at Ohio State. The hat trick was the second of his career. He has added two goal games versus Lake Superior (Nov. 21) and Northern Michigan (Nov. 29).
GAME-WINNING GLOBKE: With his game-winning goal versus Northern Michigan (11/29), Rob Globke now has three game winners for the Irish to lead the team in that category. He is tied for first in the CCHA with three game winners and is tied for fourth in the nation. Over his Notre Dame career, Globke now has 11 game-winning goals. That ties him for fourth all-time with Paul Regan (’73).
CENTURY MARK: With Rob Globke reaching the 100-point mark in his career, next on the list is senior center Aaron Gill. The Rochester, Minn., native comes into the Everblades Tournament with 90 career points on 32 goals and 58 assists. Gill is tied with Globke for the team lead in scoring this season with five goals and 12 assists for 17 points in 15 games.
RISING TO THE OCCASION: With Morgan Cey sidelined for all but three games this season, freshman goaltender David Brown (Fr., Stoney Creek, Ont.) has played in 14 games for the Irish and has had a strong first half. In 12 starts, Brown is 6-4-2 with a 2.55 goals-against average and a .913 save percentage. 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 was also named CCHA rookie of the week three times and was named the Hockey Commissioner’s Association (HCA) national rookie of the month for October.
Sophomore Mike Walsh recorded his third game-winning goal of the season in the 1-0 win over Maine.
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CCHA ROOKIE OF THE WEEK: Notre Dame goaltender David Brown has been named the CCHA’s rookie of the week three times this season. The most recent honor came on Dec. 2 after he led the Irish to a weekend sweep of Northern Michigan (5-1, 4-2) by stopping 44-of-47 shots (.936 save percentage) and giving up just three goals (1.50 goals-against average). He was also named rookie of the week for Oct. 15 and Nov. 2.
LEBDA’S LINE: Senior defenseman Brett Lebda (Buffalo Grove, Ill.) continues to make his move on the top 10 scoring spot among Irish defensemen. With an assist on the game-winning goal versus Maine, Lebda now has two goals and eight assists for 10 points this season. Lebda now has 22 goals and 49 assists for 71 career points. Notre Dame has had 10 defensemen in its history record 80 or more points in their careers. Lebda needs just nine more points to catch Steve Curry (1970-74) who had 80 points (19g, 61a). Benoit Coitnoir (1995-99) is ninth with 88 points (28g, 60a).
MR. STEADY – CORY’S STORY: Cory McLean (Jr., Fargo, N.D.) ranks third on the Irish in scoring with seven goals and eight assists (career high) for 15 points. His career-high 17 points came last season (10g, 7a). On the year, he has scored in 13 of Notre Dame’s 17 games. He has had a pair of four-game point streaks this season. As a freshman, McLean had just one goal and four assists for five points.
SPECIAL SPECIAL TEAMS: Notre Dame had a streak of nine straight games with a power-play goal (10-for-42, 23.8%) in the 4-0 shutout by Cornell. The Irish started another streak on Dec. 28 with a power-play goal versus Maine. On the year, the Irish power play ranks seventh in the CCHA, converting on 14-of-83 chances for a 16.9% success rate. On the penalty-killing side, the Irish have given up just 10 power-play goals (just three games with two ppg’s against) in 69 chances for a 85.5% success rate.
WILD ONE: Notre Dame and Western Michigan combined for 14 goals (8-6 Bronco win) on December 5. The last time the Irish played in a game that both teams combined for 14 goals was on November 20, 1998 when the Irish downed Western Michigan, 9-5. Coming into the Dec. 5 game with Western, the Irish had surrendered just eight goals in their last five games. The last time the Irish gave up eight goals in a game was Jan. 27, 2001 in an 8-2 loss at Yale.
OFFENSIVE DEFENSEMEN: In 17 games this season, Notre Dame defensemen Brett Lebda (Sr., Buffalo Grove, Ill.), Tom Galvin (Sr., Miller Place, N.Y.), Neil Komadoski (Sr., Chesterfield, Mo.) and Wes O’Neill (Fr., Essex, Ont.) have combined for six goals and 27 assists for 34 points. Lebda leads the defensemen with two goals and seven assists, Galvin (with eight assists) and Komadoski (two goals and six assists) are tied for second with eight points and O’Neill has two goals (both ppg’s) and five assists for seven points.
PUTTING THE “P” IN POWER: Sophomore left wing Mike Walsh (Northville, Mich.) is quickly becoming one of the top power forwards in the CCHA. On top of that, he also has a knack for scoring in the clutch. 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. Walsh now has points in 11 of his last 14 games (8g, 5a). He has already surpassed last season’s totals of a goal and an assist. Three of his seven goals this season are game winners.
IT’S BEEN AWHILE: Irish goaltender Rory Walsh (So., Milton, Mass.) made his first appearance in goal since Oct. 17 when he took over in relief of David Brown in the third period of the Dec. 5 game at Western Michigan. It marked the first relief appearance for Walsh in his career. Walsh took the loss versus Western Michigan as he surrendered the game-winning goal to Jeremy Cheyne at 2:10 of the third. On the year, Walsh is now 1-1-0 with a 3.53 goals against average and a .881 save percentage.
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.
IRISH ON CSTV: Notre Dame has made three appearances on CSTV and now has a 2-1-0 record after the 4-0 loss to Cornell on Dec. 27. The Irish have wins over Ohio State (10/10) and Boston College (10/24). The Irish are also schedlued to appear again on CSTV on Friday, Feb. 27 versus Michigan. Face off is set for 8:05 p.m.
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 Northern Michigan centering pass eluded the point men. Trick beat Craig Kowalski with a backhander for his first goal in 35 career games.
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.
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.
FIT TO BE TIED: Notre Dame’s 2-2 tie with Lake Superior State on Nov. 22 marked the eighth consecutive overtime game for the Irish to end in a tie. The Irish were 0-0-6 in 2002-03. Since the start of the 1999-2000 season, the Irish have been involved in 35 overtime games and are 5-2-28 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 decided in overtime during the 2001-02 season (a 3-2 double overtime loss to Nebraska-Omaha and a 2-1 win versus the Mavericks).
CENTRAL SCOUTING RANKINGS: The National Hockey League’s (NHL) Central Scouting has released it’s preliminary rankings for the 2004 NHL Entry Draft next June. Irish defenseman Wes O’Neill is ranked third among U.S. College players behind North Dakota’s Drew Stafford and Boston College’s Adam Pineault. He is tops among the 14 CCHA players ranked. Notre Dame goaltender David Brown is ranked second among collegiate goaltenders behind Michigan’s Al Montoya. Four of the five ranked goaltenders are from the CCHA.
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 twice this season (10/19 and 11/2).
POWER PRODUCER: Senior defenseman Neil Komadoski has scored two goals this season with both coming on the power play. His lone goal in 2002-03 was also a power-play goal. In 2002-03, he led Notre Dame defensemen in scoring with one goal and 23 assists for 24 points. He now has seven goals in his career with three coming on the power play.
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).
RIVALRY CLUSTERS: Notre Dame and Bowling Green will team up with Northern Michigan and Lake Superior as the four teams in their cluster and will face each other four times this season. The Irish have played all three schools this season and have a 4-1-1 mark in the six meeting. The Irish are 2-0 versus Northern Michigan, 1-1 versus Bowling Green and 1-0-1 versus Lake Superior. A year ago, the Irish were 7-4-1 in their cluster that included Bowling Green, Western Michigan and Ferris State.
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.
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 six 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 31-30-9 with a 2.77 goals-against average and a .911 save percentage with four shutouts. He is sixth on Notre Dame’s all-time wins list with 33. His 2.74 goals-against average, .913 save percentage and his five shutouts make him the leader in all three categories at Notre Dame.
DIRECTOR’S CUP STANDINGS: The University of Notre Dame stands 11th 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, BYU, Maryland, North Carolina, Penn State, Washington, Wake Forest and Connecticut round out the top 10.
NICE GUYS: Notre Dame’s Oct. 30 game with Nebraska-Omaha featured just one penalty. The Irish were not penalized at all while UNO picked up one minor for two minutes. Notre Dame was 0-for-1 on its only power-play chance. For the year, the Irish have just 82 penalties for 172 minutes in 15 games this season. Notre Dame is second in the CCHA second in the nation for fewest penalty minutes.
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 the Everblades Tournament, seniors Rob Globke and Brett Lebda have each played in 75 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 130 of 134 career games.
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.
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.
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 of the 2002 draft by the New York Rangers.
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. (Sr., Chesterfield, Mo.), 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.
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.
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 Vince Bellissimo 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 period. His first stop in 2002-03 came on Nov. 22 at Michigan. In that game, a 4-2 loss to the Wolverines, 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.
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.
YOST BUSTERS: Notre Dame’s 4-3 win at Michigan on Nov. 23 was the first regular-season win for the Irish at Yost Arena since they returned to the CCHA in 1992-93. Prior to that, the last time Notre Dame won in Ann Arbor was Oct. 22, 1982, a span of 14 regular-season games. The Irish did win a CCHA playoff game at Yost in the 1998 playoffs. In the regular season, Notre Dame is now 1-14-1 in the last 16 meetings and since 1992-93, the Irish are 2-18-1 versus the Wolverines at Yost Arena. Over the last three meetings, the Irish are 1-1-1 when playing in Ann Arbor.
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.