Feb. 19, 2003
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- Date/Site/Times:
- Fri.-Sat., Feb. 21-22 – Joyce Center (2,713) – 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 and Tom Nevala calling all the action. Irish hockey can also be heard live via the internet at www.und.com.
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A WEEK MAKES: The Irish come into this weekend’s series with Lake Superior State in the midst of a two-game winning streak after sweeping Bowling Green with a pair of 3-2 wins on Feb. 14-15. The sweep snapped a nine-game winless skid that saw Notre Dame go 0-6-3. The wins also moved the Irish back into the CCHA playoff race and the battle for sixth-place, the final playoff spot for home ice. Notre Dame is now 11-13-6 on the year and 9-10-3 in CCHA play, good for 21 points and eighth-place. The Irish go into the weekend just one point behind seventh-place Western Michigan (22) and two behind sixth-place Northern Michigan (23). The Irish are just three points behind fifth-place Miami as the RedHawks check in with 24 points. Notre Dame, Western Michigan and Northern Michigan have all played 22 league games while Miami has played 24. The RedHawks have their final non-league games this week as they host Sacred Heart. Western Michigan hosts Bowling Green and Northern Michigan travels to Michigan State. Lake Superior comes into the weekend after splitting a home-and-home series last week with Northern Michigan. The Lakers lost on Friday, 2-1 at Marquette, and then won Saturday at home, 4-2. For the year, LSSU is 5-21-4 overall and 2-19-2 in league play. Following this weekend’s action, the Irish will face Western Michigan on Feb. 28 and March 1 in a crucial home-and-home series. The Irish are at Kalamazoo on Friday (7:35 p.m.) for a Fox Sports Detroit broadcast and back home for the final regular-season home game on March 1 that will begin at 7:05 p.m.
IRISH VERSUS LAKERS: The two teams have met 34 times in the all-time series with Lake Superior holding a 20-12-2 edge. The two teams are 7-7-2 in 16 games at the Joyce Center. The Irish have won four-in-a-row in the series (all four wins were last season) and are 6-3-1 in the last 10 meetings. The Irish won twice at Lake Superior last season (7-0 and 5-2) and twice in South Bend (3-1 and 6-0). Goaltender Morgan Cey (So., Wilkie, Sask.) recorded both shutouts last season and gave up just one goal on 57 shots (.982 save percentage) last season. Lake Superior’s last win at the Joyce Center came on Nov. 28, 1997, a 4-2 win. Since then, the Lakers are winless in the last six meetings (0-4-2).
SCOUTING THE LAKERS: Lake Superior State enters this weekend’s series in last place in the CCHA with a 5-21-4 overall record and a 2-19-1 mark in league play. The Lakers roster features 15 freshmen, the most in the school’s history. Leading LSSU on the offensive end is senior Jeremy Bachusz (8-8-16). Three players are tied for second with 11 points – freshman Jon Booras (7-4-11), sophomore Bo Cheeseman (5-6-11) and junior Chris Peterson (5-6-11). In goal, sophomore Matt Violin has handled a majority of the work playing in 24 games. His record stands at 3-17-3 with a 3.67 goals-against average and a .904 save percentage. The Lakers have had problems scoring this season as they have just 48 goals in 30 games (1.60 per game). On the power play, Lake Superior has connected on 13 of 135 chances for a 9.6% success rate. The Lakers have killed 90 of 126 opponent power plays for a 71.4% penalty-killing ratio. For more information on Lake Superior State, check their website at www.lssulakers.com.
BOWLING GREEN RECAP: The Irish took two at Bowling Green (Feb. 14-15) by identical 3-2 scores. On Friday night, Morgan Cey made 32 saves, including 19 in the second period, and Notre Dame got goals from Tim Wallace (Fr., Anchorage, Alaska), John Wroblewski (Sr., Neenah, Wis.) and Aaron Gill (Jr., Rochester, Minn.) for the win. Wallace’s second-period goal snapped a 155:32-minute scoring drought for the Irish. Gill’s goal in the third period came at 10:14 off a face off win by Yan Stastny (So., St. Louis, Mo.) and snapped a 2-2 tie. On Saturday night, Cey was at it again as he stopped 30 of 32 shots on the way to the weekend sweep. Jake Wiegand (Sr., Northville, Mich.) collected his first career power-play goal for the Irish to give ND a 1-0 first-period lead. After Bowling Green tied it early in the second, Connor Dunlop (Sr., St. Louis, Mo.) scored his third of the season for a 2-1 lead. Wroblewski gave the Irish a 3-1 lead when he scored shorthanded at 18:38 of the second period for the eventual game-winning goal.
CCHA DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Goaltender Morgan Cey was named the CCHA’s defensive player of the week for the week ending Feb. 16 as he led Notre Dame to a pair of wins at Bowling Green. Cey stopped 65 of 69 shots (.942) on the weekend and was selected the Perani Cup first star of the game in both contests. This marks the first time that Cey was named defensive player of the week. He was a two-time rookie of the week during the 2001-02 season.
DOUBLE THE FUN: Notre Dame’s sweep of Bowling Green was the first CCHA sweep for the Irish since winning Oct. 18-19 in a home-and-home series with Western Michigan. The last time the Irish swept a CCHA team on the road was Feb. 22-23, 2002 when they took two at Lake Superior State.
SCORING DROUGHT: Before Tim Wallace scored in the second period of the Feb. 14 game at Bowling Green, Notre Dame had not scored a goal since the 18:56 mark of the second period on Jan. 31 versus Ohio State. The goal-scoring drought covered 155:32 or five-and-a half periods of play.
NOT SO SWEET HOME: The Irish will look to find the winning touch at home this weekend versus Lake Superior State. The Irish are coming off a recent six-game homestand that saw them go 0-4-2 (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. The last Irish home win came on Dec. 8 vesus Bowling Green. Notre Dame is 0-3-2 in its last five games at the Joyce Center.
GETTING ON THE BOARD: Jake Wiegand’s power-play goal at 5:21 of the first period in the Feb. 15 win at Bowling Green marked the first time in eight games (since Jan. 11) that the Irish scored first in a game. For the year, in 30 games, Notre Dame has scored first just 11 times. The Irish are 8-0-3 in those games.
IRON MEN: Senior defenseman Evan Nielsen became Notre Dame’s all-time “Iron Man” during the Bowling Green series as he extended his consecutive games played streak to 104. That moves him past former team captain Ryan Dolder (1997-01) who held the Irish record with 103 consecutive games. Right behind Nielsen is senior left wing John Wroblewski who now has played in 103 consecutive games over the past three seasons.
Current Notre Dame consecutive game streaks:
Evan Nielsen – 104 games
John Wroblewski – 103 games
THE SPECIALIST: John Wroblewski continued his impressive senior season in the sweep at Bowling Green as he led the Irish with two goals and an assist in the series. Then Neenah, Wis., native scored via the power play in Friday’s game and also set up Aaron Gill’s game winner. On Saturday, he got the game-winning goal himself with a second-period shorthanded tally. For the season, Wroblewski leads the Irish with seven power-play goals and two shorthanded markers among his 14 goals. His seven man-advantage goals equal the mark set by David Inman last season. The last player to score more than seven power-play goals in a season was Ben Simon who had 10 in the 1999-2000 campaign. For the year, Wroblewski has career highs in goals (14), assists (14), points (28), power-play goals (7) and shorthanded goals (2).
IRISH INJURY REPORT: Sophomore defenseman Derek Smith (Port Huron, Mich.) remains sidelined with a high-ankle sprain suffered at Nebraska-Omaha. He has missed 10 games.
MR. FEBRUARY: Irish goaltender Morgan Cey enjoys playing in February. In his last seven starts since Feb. 8, 2002 at Michigan State, Cey is 5-2 with a 1.43 goals-against average and a .955 save percentage. In the two losses, the Irish have been shutout, 2-0 at Michigan State last season and 2-0 this season at home by Ohio State.
CEY HEY: In his last five starts, sophomore goaltender Morgan Cey is 2-1-2 with a 2.32 goals-against average and a .936 save percentage. He has given up just 12 goals in that span with 175 saves. Since Jan. 3, Cey is 3-5-4 with a 3.01 goals-against average and a .911 save percentage. In those same 12 games, the Irish have scored just 32 goals (2.67 per game).
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 three seasons, the Irish are 11-6-2 to close out the year (’00-’01: 4-3-2; ’01-’02: 5-3-0). The Irish are 2-1-0 so far this February.
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 scored his 22nd career goal on Feb. 15 at Bowling Green. He is now 35th on the all-time scoring list with 104 career points (22 goals and 82 assists).
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.
BLUELINE BOOSTERS: The Notre Dame defense features two of the top scoring defensemen in the CCHA. Junior defenseman Neil Komadoski (1-18-19) and senior Evan Nielsen (3-15-18) are ranked seventh and eighth respectively in scoring by league defensemen. For Komadoski, the 19 points are a career- high as are the 18 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.
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 Lake Superior State, Nielsen has played in 145 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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
Senior defenseman Evan Nielsen became Notre Dame’s all-time “Iron Man” during the Bowling Green series as he extended his consecutive games played streak to 104.
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WROBLEWSKI – THE HUMANITARIAN: Notre Dame senior left wing John Wroblewski 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.
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. The talented center picked up an assist in each of the games at Bowling Green last weekend. He is currently third on the team with 13 goals and he has added eight assists for his 21 points that put him fourth on the team’s scoring list.
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 ranked sixth among CCHA goal scorers. 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 13th and 14th goals in the sweep at Bowling Green. He ranks second on the Irish scoring list with 14 goals and 14 assists for 28 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.
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 who is ranked 122nd overall. Wallace has played in all 30 games for the Irish and has four goals and four assists for eight points.
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) while Tony picked up his first collegiate point in the same game when he set up Tim Wallace’s game-tying goal. 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.
“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 14 goals and 14 assists for 28 points in 30 games this season.
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.
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 (7). 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.
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.
CHIN WINNER: Senior left wing Michael Chin (Sr., Urbana, Ill.) was reunited with center Connor Dunlop and right wing Rob Globke for the Bowling Green series (Feb. 14-15) and responded with assists in each game. Chin has three goals and six assists for nine points in 23 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 (Feb. 14-15) gave the Irish three CCHA series sweeps this season. Earlier this year, the Irish swept a home-and-home series with Western Michigan (Oct. 18-19) and a home series with Bowling Green (Dec. 7-8). 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).
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 (2001-02), 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 6-1-3 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 64-4-12 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.
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.
John Wroblewski led the Irish with with two goals and an assist in the series against Bowling Green.
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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.