Nov. 20, 2002
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- The Series: Notre Dame Fighting Irish (4-3-2/3-3-0) at #6/#5 Michigan Wolverines (8-1-1/5-0-1)
- Date/Site/Times: Fri.-Sat., Nov. 22-23 – Yost Arena (6,637) – 7:35 p.m. both nights
- 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.
ON THE ROAD AT ANN ARBOR: Notre Dame takes to the road for four straight games and 11 of its next 13 contests this weekend when the Irish visit the #6/#5-ranked Michigan Wolverines. The Irish are coming off a bye week that was preceded by a five-game homestand that saw them go 1-3-1. Notre Dame is currently 4-3-2 on the season and 3-3-0 in CCHA play. That ties the Irish for seventh in the CCHA standings with Michigan State as each team has six points. Notre Dame’s 4-3-2 overall record through nine games and 3-3-0 CCHA mark is the best start for the Irish since the 1998-99 season when they were 7-1-1 overall and 5-1-0 in league play. Michigan comes into the weekend series with an 8-1-1 overall record and a 5-0-1 mark in league play, good for a third-place tie with Ohio State with 11 points. Michigan is coming off a home sweep of Lake Superior (4-1, 3-0) last weekend at Yost Arena. The Wolverines are 7-0-1 in their last eight games and are 6-0-0 at home. Following this weekend’s series versus Michigan, the Irish travel to Alaska Fairbanks (Nov. 29-30) to close out November. Game times at the Carlson Center are 7:05 p.m. (11:05 p.m. EST).
HOUSE OF HORRORS: Yost Arena, the home of the Michigan Wolverines, has been a true house of horrors for the Irish especially since returning to the CCHA in 1992-93. Since returning to the CCHA, the Irish are 1-14-1 at Yost and in the the last 19 games there, they are 1-17-1. The lone win came in Game 1 of the 1997-98 CCHA playoffs when the Irish took a 4-2 victory. The last time the Irish won a regular season game at Yost was Oct. 22, 1982, a 9-5 win. Since that win, the Irish are 0-13-1 in the regular season at Yost Arena. On Feb. 23, 2001 (Notre Dame’s last visit to Yost Arena), the Irish rallied from a 4-2 third-period deficit to pull out the 4-4 tie that snapped a 13-game regular season losing streak at Yost.
LAST MEETINGS: The two teams met at the Joyce Center on Jan. 4-5, 2002 in the last meetings between the two schools. The Jan. 4 game resulted in a 3-3 tie with Michigan taking a 2-1 win on Jan. 5. In the 3-3 tie, David Inman (11:04) scored his second goal of the game and Aaron Gill (14:19) got the game-tying goal as the Irish rallied from a 3-1 deficit for the tie. Morgan Cey made 33 saves for the Irish. The following night, Michael Chin scored a 1:06 of the first period, but that was all the Irish would get past Josh Blackburn (25 saves) in the 2-1 win. Michael Woodford tied the game with a shorthanded goal at 16:26 of the first period and Mark Mink got the game-winning goal at 19:08 f the second period. Cey made a then career-high 37 saves for the Irish.
SCOUTING THE WOLVERINES: Michigan is averaging 4.1 goals per game while giving up a stingy 1.7 goals against through the first 10 games this season. Sixteen players have scored at least one goal. David Moss (3-7-10) leads the team in scoring while four players – Jeff Tambellini (6-3-9), Dwight Helminen (4-5-9) and Eric Werner (3-6-9) are one point behind. Freshman goaltender Al Montoya is 8-1-1 on the season with a 1.71 goals-against average and a .932 save percentage. Michigan has outscored its opponents by a 19-3 margin in the second period. The Wolverine power play has clicked at a 19.6% clip (11-for-56), good for fifth among CCHA teams, while their penalty killing is the best with a 92.7% success rate (51-of-55). For more information on the Wolverines, check their website at MGoBlue.com.
A LOOK BACK AT THE MIAMI SERIES: Miami took a 3-1 win in the Friday night series opener as junior forward Derek Edwardson scored two first-period goals and senior goaltender David Burleigh made a season-high 36 saves to lead the RedHawks to the win at the Joyce Center. Aaron Gill (Jr., Rochester, Minn.) scored Notre Dame’s lone goal, 30 seconds into the third period to cut the RedHawk lead to 2-1. Ben Tharp added a shorthanded goal at 13:15 for the final verdict of 3-1. Notre Dame outshot Miami 37-22 in the game. Morgan Cey (So., Wilkie, Sask.) made 19 saves for the Irish. Notre Dame was 0-for-10 on the power play while Miami was 1-for-5. On Saturday night, the two teams were scoreless after two periods before sophomore Cory McLean (Fargo, N.D.) broke through with his first career power-play goal at 7:52 of the third period. Rob Globke’s (Jr., West Bloomfield, Mich.) highlight reel goal at 14:02 gave Notre Dame a 2-0 lead. Mike Kompon broke Cey’s shutout bid at 17:54, but the Irish held on for the 2-1 win. Cey finished with a career-high 44 saves on the night. Burleigh made 23 saves for Miami. Notre Dame broke out of a four-game power-play slump with McLean’s ppg goal.
THE GOOD OLD DAYS: While Michigan has dominated the series with the Irish since the 1982-83 season, Notre Dame had a big edge in the first 56 games of the series going 34-20-2 during three years in the ’20’s and again from 1969 to 1982.
INJURY LIST: Notre Dame has been without the services of freshman left wing Mike Walsh (Northville, Mich.) who suffered a broken jaw in the preseason game with Toronto (Oct. 4). He is due to return to the lineup in early December. Senior center Jake Wiegand (Sr., Northville, Mich.) suffered a sprained left knee on Oct. 19 at Western Michigan. He is expected to return in early December.
ROAD WARRIORS: The Irish have picked up where they left off last season when it comes to success on the road. After three road games this season, the Irish are 2-0-1 away from home. Last season, Notre Dame was 10-8-3 on the road for their first winning road record since 1997-98 when the Irish were 12-11-0 away from the Joyce Center.
CAREER BEST: Irish goaltender Morgan Cey recorded a career-high 44 saves in Notre Dame’s 2-1 win over Miami on Nov. 9. Included in his performance were 21 saves in the second period alone. Since giving up five goals versus Western Michigan (Oct. 19) and four the following game versus Ferris State (Oct. 25), Cey has given up just seven goals in his last three starts (2.30 goals against) while stopping 96 of 103 shots for a .932 save percentage. Prior to the nine-goal outburst in early October, Cey had given up just 23 goals in his previous 13 games (back to Feb. 8, 2002). Since Feb. 9, 2002, Cey is 10-4-2 with a 2.05 goals-against average and a .931 save percentage.
SLUMP BREAKER: Cory McLean’s power-play goal versus Miami (Nov. 9), snapped an 0-for-21 slump for the Irish that covered four games (includes a season-high 0-for-10 night versus Miami on Nov. 8). The Irish power play ranks eight overall in the CCHA with nine goals in 51 chances for a 17.6% success rate. Prior to the 0-for-21 slump, the Irish were 8-for-30 for a 26.7% scoring rate.
PENALTY KILLING SUCCESS: While the Irish have struggled on the power play over the last five games (1-for-22), the penalty-killing unit has had its share of success. Notre Dame’s penalty killers have given up just one power-play goal over the last three games, killing off 14 of 15 opponent chances for a 93.3% success rate.
PULLING THE GOALTENDER: The Irish have pulled the goaltender in games three 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. On Nov. 8 versus the Miami RedHawks, the Irish pulled Cey in favor of a sixth attacker put failed to score for the first time this season.
SCORING MACHINE: Notre Dame defenseman Neil Komadoski (Jr., Chesterfield, Mo.) is having a career-year offensively on the Irish blue line. Through the first nine games of the season, Komadoski is second in team scoring with a goal and seven assists for eight points. The eight points tie him for fourth among CCHA defensemen in scoring. Komadoski’s career-best in the scoring department was last season when he had two goals and nine assists for 11 points in 37 games.
SHORT-CIRCUIT: Notre Dame gave up its third shorthanded goal of the season in the 3-1 loss to Miami when Ben Tharp scored at 13:15 of the third period. Last season, the Irish gave up just four shorthanded goals in 38 games.
CALLING THE SHOTS: The Irish have been outshot in six of their first nine games this season, but are 3-1-2 in those games. When the Irish outshoot the opposition, they are 1-2-0.
FIT TO BE TIED: The 3-3 tie versus Boston College (Nov. 1) was Notre Dame’s second tie of the season and they are 0-0-2 in those games. Since the 1999-2000 season, the Irish are 5-2-22 in overtime games.
SOLDOUT SHOWS: Notre Dame has played to sellout crowds (2,763) in two of its last three games. The Notre Dame-Boston College game on Nov. 1 was played in front of a sellout crowd of 2,763. The Irish followed that with another sellout on Nov. 9 versus Miami. The last time the Irish played in front of a bigger crowd was March 3, 1995 when a sellout crowd of 3,310 saw the Irish defeat Illinois Chicago, 5-2. The following season, new seating was installed in the Joyce Center, reducing capacity to 2,667. In the 2000-01 season, capacity was increased to 2,713 due to relocating the band’s seats. Additional standing room this season has increased that number to 2,763 at the Joyce Center.
RED HOT: Junior Rob Globke has recorded 11 points (7g, 4a) in the first nine games this season to lead the Irish in scoring. Last season, Globke had 11 goals and 11 assists for 22 points in 33 games. Included in his 11 points are a four-point game (3g, 1a) game at Minnesota-Duluth on Oct. 12 and a three-point game (2g, 1a) against 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 12 multiple-point games and seven multiple-goal games.
THE BROTHERS GILL: Notre Dame’s brother combination of Aaron Gill and Tony Gill saw their first action of the season together on the same line versus Miami (Nov. 8). 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.
MULTIPLE-POINT SCORERS: Aaron Gill and Michael Chin (Sr., Urbana, Ill.) each picked up their second multiple-point games of the year versus Boston College (Nov. 1). Gill collected a goal and an assist in the tie, while Chin assisted on a pair of goals. Both players other multiple-point games were of the three-point variety. Gill collected a hat trick on Oct. 19 at Western Michigan and Chin had a goal and two assists on Oct. 18 versus the Broncos.
IRISH STREAKS:
Point Streaks
Corey McLean has points in two straight games (1-1-2).
Aaron Gill has points in two of his last three games (1-1-2).
OUTSHOT: Notre Dame turned the tables on Miami in the Nov. 8 game outshooting the RedHawks 37-22 on the game. For the year, Miami was outshooting teams by a 40.6 to 19.5 margin per game. Notre Dame has been outshot in six of its first nine games this season. On the year, opponents have recorded 307 shots (34.1 shots per game) on goal to 275 (30.6 shots per game) for the Irish.
NHL DRAFTEES: Notre Dame had three players selected in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft in June. 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, 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.
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 lamplighters.
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 the Irish 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.
NO BULL: Notre Dame will face teams with the nickname Bulldogs eight times this season. The Irish opened the season with two games versus the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs. They will face the Ferris State Bulldogs four times this season as members of the CCHA. In January, the Irish will play host to the Yale Bulldogs with one game (Jan. 17) at the Joyce Center and one game (Jan. 18) at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill.
SWEEPS: Notre Dame’s series sweep of Western Michigan gives 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 marks the first time in Notre Dame’s 11 years in the CCHA that the Irish have 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. Notre Dame’s streak of three consecutive regular-season series sweeps came to an end versus Ferris State when the Bulldogs took 5-2 and 4-1 verdicts from the Irish on Oct. 25-26.
Closing The Deal: After seeing their 50-game unbeaten streak (42-0-8) when leading after two periods in the second game of last season, the Irish went 16-0-1 over the final 17 games they led after two periods. This season, the Irish are 2-0-1 when they lead after two periods of play. Since Jan. 9, 1998, the Irish are 60-2-10 when leading after two periods of play. During that period, Boston College has handed the Irish a loss and a two ties.
WROBO-MATIC: Senior left wing John Wroblewski (Neenah, Wis.) has gotten his final season off to a fast start with four goals and three assists for seven points in his first nine games. He has recorded a pair of three-point games in Notre Dame’s first four games this season. On Oct. 12, he recorded two goals and an assist in a 5-3 win at Minnesota-Duluth. He followed that with a goal and two assists in the 8-5 win at Western Michigan.
WOW ZOW: Notre Dame goaltender Tony Zasowski (Sr., Darien, Ill.) made his first start since Dec. 1, 2001 in the second game of the weekend series at Minnesota-Duluth. After giving up two first-period goals, Zasowski stopped 30 of 31 shots over the final two periods for the 5-3 win. On the night, Zasowski made 39 saves, the second highest total of his career. Zasowski made 29 saves in his second appearance of the year, a 4-1 loss to Ferris State on Oct. 26.
IRON MEN: Senior center Jake Wiegand saw his consecutive games streak of 79 straight games snapped on Oct. 25 versus Ferris State. The 6-3, 218-pound forward went down with a sprained left knee in Notre Dame’s 8-5 win at Western Michigan (Oct. 19). Defenseman Evan Nielsen (Sr., Evanston, Ill.) now has the team lead having played in 84 consecutive games. Junior defenseman Brett Lebda has played in 81 of 85 career games at Notre Dame. The lone games he has missed came between 12/28 – 1/5 of last season while he was playing for the U.S. Junior National Team in the World Junior Championships. The Notre Dame record for consecutive games played is 103 and was set by Ryan Dolder over three seasons. The Notre Dame record for games played is held by Dan Carlson who played in 158 of a possible 160 games between 1997-2001. The only two he missed came while he was playing for the U.S. Junior National Team in 1998-99.
Current Notre Dame consecutive game streaks:
Evan Nielsen – 84 games
John Wroblewski – 82 games
Tom Galvin – 65 games
Aaron Gill – 57 games
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 seven games this season, Wallace has two goals and two assists for four points in his rookie season.
GETTING IT DUN(LOP): Senior center Connor Dunlop (St. Louis, Mo.) recorded the sixth game of his career with three or more points in the 4-2 win over Western Michigan (Oct. 18). The Irish all-CCHA and all-American candidate now has six assists in the first nine games of the season. That gives him 67 assists for his career. He is now 14 points short of the 100-point mark in his career with 19 goals and 67 assists for 86 career points.
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.
An all-CCHA and all-American candidate this season, Dunlop was 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.
Dunlop is off to a strong start this season with six assists in his first four games, including a three-point effort on Oct. 18 versus Western Michigan.
SEN-CEY-SATIONAL: 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 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.
THE CAPTAINS: Senior defenseman Evan Nielsen will serve as team captain for the second consecutive season in 2002-03. He is the first two-time captain since Steve Noble handled the job in 1996-97 and 1997-98. He becomes the 12th two-time captain in the program’s 35th season. One of the CCHA’s top returning defensemen, Nielsen had a career season during 2001-02 with seven goals and 13 assists for 20 points while being +5 on the year. Serving as alternate captains this season will be senior center Connor Dunlop and junior center Aaron Gill. Dunlop served as an alternate captain in 2001-02 and had the best season of his career. Dunlop had nine goals and 36 assists for 45 points with the assist and point totals being the most for a Notre Dame player since 1991-92. An honorable mention all-CCHA performer, Dunlop was fourth among CCHA scorers overall and finished second in 28 league games with nine goals and 27 assists for 36 points. Gill has been a steady performer in his first two seasons with the Irish. He is coming off an eight-goal, 14-assist season. Known for his non-stop hustle, Gill is one of the teams top faceoff men and penalty killers.
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), while 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.
Notre Dame’s NHL connection doesn’t stop there. Sophomore forward Alexander “Newsy” Lalonde (Newmarket, Ont.) also has NHL lineage as he is a distant relative of NHL pioneer and Hall of Famer, Edouard “Newsy” Lalonde. Lalonde played for the Montreal Canadiens and the New York Americans between 1917 and 1927 for a total of six seasons in which he scored 124 goals and 41 assists for 165 points in 99 games.
ALL IN THE FAMILY, PART II: Two freshmen hockey players – Rory Walsh (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, 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 their ninth brother combo in the program’s history.
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.
2000-01: Dan Carlson (3rd team)
1999-00: Andy Jurkowski (3rd team)
1998-99: Forrest Karr (2nd team)
1997-98: Steve Noble (1st team)
1996-97: Steve Noble (2nd team)
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 four Canadian provinces – Alberta, British Columbia,Ontario and Saskat-chewan. In the seven-year tenure of head coach Dave Poulin, the Notre Dame hockey letter winners have hailed from 20 different states and provinces – those listed below, plus: Colorado, Delaware, New Jersey, Prince Edward Island and Quebec.
2002-03 Notre Dame Hockey
– By State or Province:
Illinois (5): Michael Chin, Brett Lebda, Evan Nielsen, Tony Zasowski, Joe Zurenko
Michigan (5): Rob Globke, Jake Wiegand, Derek Smith, Chris Trick, Mike Walsh
Minnesota (3): Kyle Dolder, Aaron Gill, Tony Gill
Missouri (3): Connor Dunlop, Neil Komadoski, Yan Stastny
Alaska (1): Tim Wallace
Alberta (1): Brad Wanchulak
British Columbia (1): Matt Amado
Maryland (1): T.J. Mathieson
Massachusetts (1): Rory Walsh
New York (1): Tom Galvin
North Dakota (1): Cory McLean
Ontario (1): Alex Lalonde
Saskatchewan (1): Morgan Cey
Wisconsin (1): John Wroblewski
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.
NOTRE DAME PLAYERS ON JUNIOR NATIONAL TEAM – (since ’96-’97):
Ben Simon – 1996-97, 1997-98
Joe Dusbabek – 1997-98
Dan Carlson – 1998-99
Brett Henning – 1999-2000
Connor Dunlop – 1999-00, 2000-01
David Inman – 1999-2000
Rob Globke – 2000-01, 2001-02
Brett Lebda – 2001-02
RIVALRY CLUSTERS: The CCHA starts its new scheduling format this season as the league’s 12 teams are grouped in “rivalry pairings.” In the new pairings, Notre Dame is paired with Bowling Green. The league’s other pairings include Michigan-Michigan State, Miami-Ohio State, Lake Superior State-Northern Michigan, Ferris State-Western Michigan and Alaska Fairbanks-Nebraska-Omaha.
The conference will continue to use the 28-game three-cluster format that was implemented three years ago to determine the regular-season champion. The teams will be divided into three clusters made up of two of the above pairings with each team playing the other three members of its cluster four times (twice at home and twice on the road). Each team hosts two teams and visits the other two from each of the other clusters. While the schedule is designed for two-game weekend series, some teams have taken advantage of the option to play home-and-home series when geographically possible.
In 2002-03, Notre Dame will play Bowling Green, Ferris State and Western Michigan four times with two games at home and two away. The Irish will also host two-game series with Lake Superior State, Miami, Michigan State and Ohio State while traveling for two games to Alaska Fairbanks, Michigan, Nebraska-Omaha and Northern Michigan.
WINNING STREAKS: Notre Dame ran off five straight wins from Feb. 9 through Mar. 2 to close the 2001-02 regular season. That five-game win streak was the longest for the Irish since a five-game streak (Jan. 3-Jan. 16) during the 1998-99 season. All five wins came versus CCHA opponents which equals Notre Dame’s longest CCHA winning streak in their 12 seasons as a member of the CCHA. The Irish have done it twice – Oct. 9-23, 1998 and Jan. 30-Feb. 13, 1982.
PRESEASON POLLS: The Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) announced the results of the coaches and the media’s preseason polls at it’s annual Media Day in Detroit on Sept. 17. In the annual polls, Notre Dame was picked to finish seventh by both the coaches and the media. In fact, the both polls were identical from top to bottom as both groups selected defending champion Michigan to defend its title. In the coaches poll, Michigan received eight of 12 first-place votes with Michigan State getting two and Northern Michigan and Ohio State each getting one. The media’s poll (with 72 members of the media voting) saw Michigan get 39 first-place votes, Michigan State 22, Northern Michigan 7 and Ohio State 3. The results of both polls: