Jan. 16, 2001
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
- * Irish Take Three Of Four Points Versus Fifth-Ranked Western Michigan
- * Tony Zasowski Goes 1-0-1 On Weekend Stopping 53 Of 57 Bronco Shots
- * Dan Carlson And Ryan Dolder Extend Scoring Streaks To Seven Games
BRING ON THE BUCKEYES: The Fighting Irish will look to build on their strong performance of last weekend when they host the Ohio State Buckeyes in a weekend series at the Joyce Center on Jan. 19-20…face-off both nights is 7:05 p.m…Notre Dame took three of four points last weekend versus the fifth-ranked Western Michigan Broncos, winning 4-1 on Friday, before battling to a 3-3 tie at Kalamazoo, Mich., on Saturday…Friday’s win snapped Notre Dame’s four-game losing streak and was just the second win for the Irish since Nov. 3…Notre Dame is now 5-16-4 overall and 3-10-3 in CCHA play, good for nine points in the CCHA standings…the Irish are one point behind 11th-place Bowling Green, two behind 10th-place Ferris State and three behind ninth-place Lake Superior State…Ohio State will come to the Joyce Center after splitting a weekend series with Michigan at Columbus, Ohio…OSU won 3-1 on Friday night and then dropped a 6-2 decision to the Wolverines on Saturday…the Buckeyes are 11-10-1 on the year and 8-7-1 in league play and are currently tied with four teams for fourth-place, four points behind third place Western Michigan…as always, all 2000-01 Irish hockey games, with the exception of ND’s games at Alaska-Fairbanks (2/23 and 2/24) will be broadcast on WLHY radio (1620 AM) with the play-by-play also available via the internet at www.und.com…
IRISH VERSUS BUCKEYES: The two teams met twice last season at Ohio State with each team taking a win during the weekend series…OSU won 2-1 in the first game while the Irish pulled out a 2-1 overtime win in the finale…the two teams have met 35 times in the all-time series with Notre Dame holding a 20-13-2 edge…since ND returned to the CCHA (91-92), the Irish are 13-8-2 versus the Buckeyes…at the Joyce Center, the Irish are 11-5-0 all-time and 7-3-0 since 91-92…in Columbus, ND is 9-7-3 all-time…the Irish are 2-3 versus the Bucks in the last five and 3-7-0 in the last ten contests…at Notre Dame, the Irish are 7-3-0 versus Ohio State in the last ten games at the Joyce Center going back to the 1992-93 season…the two teams will play in Columbus on Feb., 2-3….
THE COACHES: Notre Dame head coach Dave Poulin owns a 76-115-26 mark (.410) in his sixth season at Notre Dame…versus Ohio State, Poulin-coached teams are 5-8-1…Ohio State head coach John Markell is in his seventh season with the Buckeyes and has a 96-109-18 (.471) record…versus Notre Dame, Markell’s Buckeyes are 8-5-1….
SCOUTING OHIO STATE: Hockey information on the Ohio State Buckeyes can be found at www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com…additional information on Notre Dame, Ohio State and the CCHA is also available on the CCHA website at ccha.com…
A LOOK BACK AT LAST WEEKEND: Notre Dame played one of its’ best games of the season in stopping the fifth-ranked Western Michigan Broncos, 4-1, on Jan. 12 at the Joyce Center…freshman center Aaron Gill (Rochester, Minn.) led the Irish attack with two goals (game winner and empty netter) and an assist for the first three-point game of his career…Dan Carlson (Sr., Edina, Minn.) ran his scoring streak to six games (5-7-12), picking up his eighth goal of the season at 7:58 of the middle period to give the Irish a 1-0 lead…WMU tied the game at 1:31 on Jeff Campbell’s power play goal…the Irish came back just over three minutes later when Gill got his first of the night at 4:39 to put the Irish ahead to stay at 2-1…Rob Globke (Fr., West Bloomfield, Mich.), playing in his first game since returning from the World Junior Championships, gave the Irish a two-goal bulge when he beat the Broncos’ Jeff Reynaert for his eighth of the season at 10:14…Gill closed out the scoring by blocking a shot at the blueline, skated to center and fired into an empty net with four seconds left (19:56) for the 4-1 final…the Irish fired 42 shots on goal as Reynaert made 38 saves…Tony Zasowski (So., Darien, Ill.) picked up his first win since November 3 at Miami, making 27 saves on the night…ND’s power play was 0-for-7 on the night, while Western was 1-for-5…on Saturday night (Jan. 13), the series moved to Kalamazoo, Mich., where the two teams battled to a 3-3 tie…Western scored first on Dave Cousineau’s power goal at 10:19 of the first period…Carlson continued his hot play as he scored for the third consecutive game (ninth of the year) at 14:42 to tie the game at 1-1…Globke got his second goal since returning to the lineup when he cashed in on a two-on-one with Connor Dunlop (So., St. Louis, Mo.) at 18:21 for his ninth of the season…Western took a 3-2 lead early in the third period scoring twice in the first 3:16 (David Gove and Austin Miller) and seemed to take control of the game…but, ND’s Ryan Dolder (Sr., Hutchinson, Minn.) broke up a Western power play pass at the blueline and scored shorthanded to tie the game at 6:04…Western had 10 power play chances in the game and scored just one ppg…Notre Dame was 0-7 on the power play and 0-13 on the weekend…the Broncos outshot the Irish, 29-24 on the night…Zasowski made 26 saves on the night while Reynaert made 21 for Western Michigan…
LAST TIME: Notre Dame’s 4-1 win over Western Michigan on Jan. 12 marked the first Irish win against a ranked team since they defeated fifth-ranked Michigan State, 1-0, on Dec. 4, 1999…Tony Zasowski was the goaltender in that one and the win came at the Joyce Center…
INJURY REPORT: Left wing Brett Henning (Jr., Huntington, N.Y.) suffered a cervical spine sprain against Lake Superior State (12/2) and has been out of the lineup indefinitely…he has missed the last 10 games…the Irish have lost 49 man-games to injuries or illness this season…
BY THE NUMBERS: The Irish are now 1-0-1 in their last two games, 2-4-1 in their last seven and 2-11-3 since the Nov. 3 win at Miami…the Jan. 12 win was also the first for the Irish at the Joyce Center since Oct. 20 when they knocked off Northeastern, 6-4…the win snapped an 0-9-1 winless skid on home ice since that 6-4 win over Northeastern…
RETURNING HOME: Sophomore center Connor Dunlop (St. Louis, Mo.) and freshman right wing Rob Globke (West Bloomfield, Mich.) provided an offensive spark to the Irish lineup in the two games since their return from the World Junior Championships in Russia…Globke scored a goal in each game against Western Michigan while Dunlop picked up an assist in the Jan. 13 tie when he set up Globke’s goal that put the Irish ahead 2-1…
U.S. JUNIOR NATIONALS: Connor Dunlop and Rob Globke were selected to the 2001 U.S. Junior National hockey team that finished fifth at the World Junior National Tournament in Moscow, Russia…this marks the fifth consecutive year that Notre Dame has had a representative on the U.S. team…in all, the Irish have had eight players play in the World Junior Championships: Jack Brownschidle (1976-77, 78-79), Ben Simon (1996-97, 97-98), Joe Dusbabek (1997-98), Dan Carlson (1998-99), Brett Henning (1999-2000), David Inman (1999-2000), Dunlop and Globke…
OVERTIME NUMBERS: Notre Dame’s 3-2 overtime loss to Ferris State (Jan. 6) snapped ND’s 14-game unbeaten streak in overtime games (3-0-11)…the OT loss by the Irish since March 5, 1999 when the they fell at Miami…ND had also gone 14 overtime games without a loss at home (3-0-11), not dropping a game in overtime since a Nov. 17, 1996 loss to Mankato State…
LINEMATES: The Irish line of Dan Carlson, Aaron Gill and Ryan Dolder has carried the Irish since being united on December 19 at Nebraska-Omaha…in the eight games since then, the trio has collected 12 goals and 17 assists for 29 points…Carlson leads the group with six goals, seven assists and 13 points, Dolder follows with four goals, six assists and 10 points and Gill has two goals, four assists and six points…
IRISH STREAKS: Seniors Dan Carlson and Ryan Dolder ran their scoring streaks to seven games with points against Western Michigan…Carlson now has 13 points (6g, 7a) while Dolder has 10 points (4g, 6a)…Rob Globke has a two-game scoring streak (2-0-2) since his return to the lineup…
HOCKEY HUMANITARIAN AWARD: Irish right wing Ryan Dolder has been nominated for the 2001 Hockey Humanitarian Award which will be presented at the 2001 Frozen Four in Albany, N.Y. the weekend of Apr., 5-7…the award is presented annually to the college hockey player, male or female from Division 1, 2 or 3, who has made a difference off the ice as well as on, to the team, to the program, to the school, and to the community in which the player lives…Dolder, a senior, is one of four players from the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) to be nominated for the award…he joins Alaska-Fairbanks’ Ryan Reinheller, a 2000 finalist for the award, Michigan State’s Damon Whitten and Nebraska-Omaha’s Jason Cupp among the 12 nominees.
PENALTY KILLING PROWESS: Notre Dame surrendered two power play goals to Western Michigan in 15 attempts during the weekend series…the Irish killed nine-of-10 Western power play chances in the Jan.13 3-3 tie while scoring a shorthanded goal of their own……Ferris State scored three power play goals in the Bulldogs’ 4-2 win (Jan. 5)…the last time ND had given up three power play goals in a game was on Oct. 27 when Michigan State scored three in a 3-2 win…in the 17 games following that, ND has given up 13 power play goals in 98 chances for an 86.7% success rate…from Oct. 27 through Dec. 2, the Irish killed off 24 consecutive opponent power plays, going the entire month of November (five games) without giving up a man-advantage goal…the Irish bounced back to kill all five Ferris State power plays in the second game of the series…heading into tonight’s game with Western Michigan, the Irish have given up 28 power play goals in 146 chances for an 80.8% penalty killing efficiency…
CARLSON TO THE RESCUE: Senior left wing Dan Carlson jolted the Irish offense to life in the 7-3 win over Nebraska-Omaha (12/20) with his first career hat trick and first career four-point (3g, 1a) games…Carlson also picked up the game winner and a shorthanded goal in the game…his hat trick was the first by a Notre Dame player since November 13, 1998 when Aniket Dhadphale scored three at Bowling Green…the shorthanded goal was the fifth of his career and moves him into eighth on the all-time shorthanded list…Carlson had a goal and three assists during the Ferris State series…he now has seven multiple point games this season…
LEBDA FOR THE DEFENSE: Defenseman Brett Lebda had a career night (Dec. 20) in just the 19th game of his Notre Dame career as he collected a goal and four assists in the 7-3 win over Nebraska-Omaha…the four assists were the most by a Notre Dame player in a game since Oct. 21, 1994 when Jamie Ling had five assists versus Waterloo…the five-point game was also the most by an Irish player since Ling racked up seven points (2g, 5a) versus Waterloo…the rookie blueliner had three points (1g, 2a) versus Ferris State…his goal came on the power play (second of the year) in the 3-2 loss with just 17 seconds left to send the game into overtime…Lebda leads all Irish freshmen in scoring with four goals and 12 assists for 16 points…
PERANI CUP STANDINGS: The CCHA has reached an agreement with Perani’s Hockey World to sponsor the league’s “Three Stars of the Game” at remaining league games this season…members of the media are asked to select the game’s three stars for which points are accumulated – 1st Star gets three points, 2nd Star gets two and 3rd Star gets one…through four games since balloting began, here are the standings for Notre Dame players:
THE TOP OF THE LIST: Senior right wing Ryan Dolder is on track to pass his career bests in several offensive categories…with his shorthanded goal at Western Michigan (the first of his career), Dolder now has 10 goals for the season equalling his career best set last season…his 12 assists and 22 points just short of his career bests of 14 and 24 respectively…he is currently second on the squad in scoring… last season, Dolder closed out his junior year by scoring a goal in each of the Ferris State playoff games to help the Irish to a trip to the CCHA semifinals at Joe Louis Arena…he has eight multiple point games this season…versus Northeastern (10/20) he personally wiped out a 2-0 first period deficit as he scored a pair of goals just 19 seconds apart early in the second period…the Hutchinson, Minn. native had a goal and an assist in the 5-2 Irish win over Miami (11/3) and added another goal and assist game versus Northern Michigan (11/25)…Dolder added a two-assist game at Nebraska-Omaha (12/20)…the senior right wing also had a goal in each of the games of the R.P.I. Tournament…versus Ferris State, Dolder had a goal and an assist in the series…at Westen Michigan (1/13), he scored the game tying goal shorthanded and added and assist in the 3-3 tie…
ROUGH STRETCH: The month of December did not treat the Irish very well…ND was 1-7-0 in eight games during the month…the lone win was 7-3 Irish victory at Nebraska-Omaha (12/20) which snapped a five-game losing streak…that win also snapped the longest winless streak (0-7-2) for the Irish under Coach Dave Poulin…the last time ND went 10 games without a win was the 1993-94 season when ND had an 0-7-3 winless skid…
MAKING THE STOPS: Sophomore goaltender Tony Zasowski (Darien, Ill.) had an outstanding weekend in goal for the Irish versus Western Michigan…in Friday’s 4-1 win, he held the Broncos’ high-scoring offense to one ppg while making 27 saves for his first win since November 3 …on Saturday, Zasowski went 1-0-1 for the weekend when he kicked out 26 of 29 Western Michigan shots in a 3-3 tie…for the weekend, Zasowski was 1-0-1 with a .930 save percentage and a 1.92 goals against average…for the year he is now 2-7-2 with a 3.70 goals against and a a .881 save percentage…
KOLY THE GOALIE: Senior goaltender Kyle Kolquist (Sr., Duluth, Minn.) made his third strong start of the season in the 4-2 loss to Ferris State, making 29 saves…he is still looking for his first career win as he is now 0-2-1 on the season…his first two starts of the season came at Lake Superior State (Dec. 2-3) and were just the second and third of his career…Kolquist made 25 saves in a 2-1 loss on December 1 and then made a career high 33 stops in just 40 minutes of the 4-1 loss on December 2…Kolquist has played in six games for the Irish this season after seeing action in just two games (69:09) in his previous three seasons…on November 25, he took over in relief versus Northern Michigan and made 27 saves to help the Irish salvage a 3-3 tie…before his starts at Lake Superior, Kolquist’s only other start came on December 20, 1999 at home verus Princeton (21 saves, 4-2 loss)…in four games this season, the veteran goaltender is 0-2-1 with a 2.92 goals against average and a .919 save percentage…
SHOT MARKS: The 48 shots on goal surrendered by the Irish to Lake Superior State were the most given up by Notre Dame since January 2, 1999 when North Dakota took 44 versus the Irish…the 20 shots taken by Lake Superior in the first period were a season high this season passing the 17 that were given up to Northeastern (10/21) and Northen Michigan (11/25)…
IRON MEN: Senior right wing Ryan Dolder (Hutchinson, Minn.) has now played in 89 consecutive games and was one of just two Notre Dame players to play in all 42 games last season…the other was senior left wing Dan Carlson (Edina, Minn.) who has now played in 144 of 147 games in his three-plus years at Notre Dame (missing two while at the ’98-’99 World Juniors)…Carlson needs to appear in nine more games to break John Schmidt’s ND record for career games played (152, ’78-’82).
FIVE GOAL OUTBURST: Notre Dame’s five-goal, second period outburst versus Northeastern (10/20) marked the first time that the Irish have scored five goals in a period since November 2, 1996…that night at Bowling Green, ND scored five, third period goals to pull out a 7-5 win versus the Falcons…a year ago, Notre Dame only scored six or more goals in a game once, a 7-4 win over Nebraska-Omaha on February 12th…
SEVEN GOAL OUTBURST: The seven goals scored by Notre Dame in the 7-3 Irish win over UNO (12/20) was the most goals scored by ND this season…in fact, ND had scored just five goals in its previous five games…the last time the Irish scored seven or more goals in a game came on Feb. 12, 2000 in a 7-4 win at home versus Nebraska-Omaha…
STANDING ROOM ONLY: The standing room only crowd of 2,749 at the Notre Dame-Boston College game on November 10 was the largest crowd to watch a Notre Dame home hockey game since March 3, 1995 when a sellout crowd of 3,310 saw the Irish defeat Illinois-Chicago, 5-2…the capacity of the Joyce Center was reduced to 2,667 the following season (1995-96) when new seating was installed…this year, seating has increased to 2,713 due to relocation of the band…since capacity became 2,667 for the 1995-96 season, Notre Dame has played in front of 35 sellout crowds at the Joyce Center….
RISING PROSPECTS: Two members of Notre Dame’s freshman class, Rob Globke (Fr., West Bloomfield, Mich.) and Neil Komadoski (Fr., Chesterfield, Mo.) are ranked among the top U.S. College players by the NHL’s Central Scouting…midseason report ranks Globke third among Division I college players and 21st among North Americans…Komadoski is rated 15th among college players and 86th among North Americans…Komadoski is eligible for the 2001 draft while Globke would have to opt-in to be selected in 2001…
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK: Freshman Rob Globke was selected as the CCHA’s Rookie of the Week for the week ending October 22nd…the 6-2, 200-pound right wing had two goals and an assist in the three games versus Wayne State and Northeastern…he was the first Irish player to receive this honor since Tony Zasowski was named rookie of the week for the week ending January 24, 2000…
FRESHMEN LEADERS: Freshmen Brett Lebda, Aaron Gill and Rob Globke rank among the top ten rookie scorers in the CCHA…Lebda (4-12-16) and Gill (7-9-16) are is tied for sixth with Western Michigan’s Mike Jarmuth as each have 16 points…Globke is ninth with (9-4-13)…Lebda is tied for first among freshman defensemen with Western Michigan’s Mike Jarmuth (2-14-16)… they all trail Western Michigan’s Jeff Campbell who has 18-13-31 in 23 games this season and ranks sixth in league scoring…
THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT: Through the first 25 games of the season, the Irish newcomers (seven freshman, one transfer) have shown their abilities by contributing to the ND attack with 19 goals and 34 assists for 53 of the team’s 154 points…that amounts to 30.6% of the goals, 37.0% of the assists and 34.4% of the team’s points…Brett Lebda (Buffalo Grove, Ill.) leads the way with (4g, 12a), followed by Aaron Gill (Rochester, Minn.) with (7g, 9a), Rob Globke with (8g, 4a), Jon Maruk (Eden Prairie, Minn.) with (0g, 5a), Neil Komadoski (Chesterfield, Mo.) with (0g, 3a) and Tom Galvin with (0g, 1a)…
ONE TIMERS: With ND’s 1-0 loss to Nebraska-Omaha on Dec. 19, the Irish have been held to one goal or less in eight games this season (0-7-1)…
Closing The Deal: Notre Dame continued its success in games that the Irish lead after two periods in the 3-3 tie with Western Michigan…ND led 2-1 after two periods, fell behind, 3-2, but scored the game tying goal on Ryan Dolder’s shorthanded goal…ND is now unbeaten in its last 47 games when holding a lead at the second intermission (40-0-7, including 11-0-3 in 1999-2000) … the Irish are 5-0-2 in 2000-01 when leading after two periods…the last time ND lost after holding a second-intermission lead was Jan. 9, 1998, in the second of three games at Alaska-Fairbanks … UAF’s Sean Fraser tied the game (2-2) with a power-play goal in the third minute of the final period before Chris Kirwan converted a breakaway with 0:45 left in overtime … the Irish also are 24-3-4 since the 1998-99 season when leading at the first intermission (10-1-1 in 1999-2000 and 2-1-1 in 2000-2001).
TOP FIVE: While Dan Carlson ranks 31st on Notre Dame’s all-time scoring list for the history of the program, he is currently just one of five Irish players to reach 100 points since ND returned to the CCHA in 1992…the five are:
DID YOU KNOW: According to the CCHA, the average height and weight for a player in the league is six-foot tall and 188-pounds…Notre Dame’s average team height is 72.04 inches – just over six-feet tall – which ranks the Irish fifth in the league in that department…ND is the biggest team in the league weight-wise as the Irish tip the scales at an average of 195.96-pounds per player…
NOT SO SWEET HOME: Notre Dame has struggled at home as the Irish have compiled a 3-9-1 record on the Joyce Center ice…prior to the Jan. 12 win over Western Michigan, the Irish were 0-9-1 in their last ten home games…the last home win came on Oct. 20 versus Northeastern (64)…Notre Dame was 23-10-6 (.667) from 1998-2000 at the Joyce Center and improved that to 25-10-6 (.683) before the ten-game winless skid…since the building opened, ND is 276-228-34 (.546) in 538 home games…
Bloodlines: Four current members of the Notre Dame hockey program-junior F Brett Henning, junior LW Jon Maruk, sophomore C Connor Dunlop and freshman D Neil Komadoski-hold a unique connection, as each of their fathers enjoyed a lengthy career in the National Hockey League (see p. 39 of the 2000-01 Notre Dame media guide for photos from their playing days).
- Lorne Henning played nine seasons with the New York Islanders (’72-’81) and has spent the past 15 years as an assistant and head coach in the NHL. An original member of the Islanders, Henning compiled 73G-111A as a forward over his 543-game career and played a major role in a four-year Stanley Cup dynasty (’80-’83). Henning served as an assistant with the Islanders from ’80-84 and ’87-’94, as head coach for the Minnesota North Stars (’85-’87) and the Islanders (’94-’95), and as a Chicago Blackhawks assistant from ’95-’98 before returning in ’98-’99 to the Islanders, as associate coach.
- Dennis Maruk played 14 NHL seasons-with the California Seals (’75-’76), Cleveland Barons (’76-’78), Minnesota North Stars (’78-’79, `83-’88) and the Washington Capitols (’78-’83)-and finished as the NHL’s fourth-leading scorer in 1982 (60G-76A) while compiling 878 career points (356G-522A) in 888 games.
- 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-’84) and Detroit Red Wings (’83-’84), while totaling 130G-274A in 550 career NHL games.
- Rounding out the quartet is Neil Komadoski, Sr., who 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.
A SPECIAL PLAYER: Dan Carlson has played a key role on both special-teams units during his Notre Dame career and could become the fifth player to rank among Notre Dame career top 10 for both power-play goals and shorthanded goals … Carlson needs six PPGs to crack that ND career top-10 list (nine shy of fifth) while his five career shorthanded goals tie him for 8th in ND history, two back of the record shared by three players.
RISING TO THE TOP: Senior LW Dan Carlson is one of the top returning scorers in the CCHA, as his 35 points in 1999-2000 (17G-18A) rank sixth among current CCHA players, behind Western Michigan’s David Gove (18G-28A), Michigan State’s Adam Hall (26G-13A), Miami’s Pat Leahy (16G-22A), MSU’s Rustyn Dolyny (18G-19A) and Ferris State’s Kevin Swider (15G-21A). Those six players are among the league’s top players again this year: 2 – Gove (18-25-43), 8 – Carlson (9-16-25), t9 -Dolyny (7-17-24), t9 – Swider (11-13-24), 18 – Leahy (4-17-21) and 27 – Hall (11-8-19)…
CENTURY MARK: Senior defenseman Ryan Clark (Littleton, Colo.) played in his 100th career game versus Miami (Dec. 9) and has now played in 108 games in his career…he joins four other Irish players with 100 career games played…senior center Chad Chipchase (Clinton, Ont.) played in his 100th career game versus the Northeastern Huskies (10/21) and has now played in 119 during his career…right wing Matt Van Arkel played in his 100th career game versus Minnesota and has now played in 124 overall…the remainder of that group includes Dan Carlson (144) and Ryan Dolder (128).
USHL VETERANS: Notre Dame’s 2000-01 roster-and particularly the freshman class-has plenty of experience with the United States Hockey League, as each of the five scholarship freshman-and junior newcomer Jon Maruk (Twin City Vulcans)-played in the USHL last season … all told, 17 different ND players have skated in the USHL, as members of that league’s traditional programs or the USA Hockey Under-18 Team … that group includes senior D Ryan Clark and sophomore LW Jake Wiegand (Lincoln Stars), senior LW Jay Kopischke (North Iowa Huskies), senior RW Ryan Dolder and Maruk (Twin City Vulcans), sophomore RW Michael Chin and freshman F Kyle Dolder (Des Moines Buccaneers) and sophomore G Tony Zasowski (Omaha Lancers) … Chin also played one year with the USA program, as did nine other current Irish players (see note below).
PATRIOTIC GROUP: Notre Dame’s current roster includes 10 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’s current total of eight NTDP alums is the most at any Division I school … that group includes junior F Brett Henning and four members of the sophomore class-RWs Michael Chin and John Wroblewski, C Connor Dunlop and D Paul Harris-plus a trio of freshmen: RW Rob Globke and D Neil Komadoski and Brett Lebda … senior LW Dan Carlson played with Team USA at the 1998-99 World Junior Championship while Henning, Dunlop and junior C David Inman played with the USA at the 1999-2000 World Juniors … four Irish players-Dunlop, Globke, Komadoski and Wroblewski-remain among the top candidates for the USA’s 2000-01 National Junior Team while a pair of 2000 Irish graduates-center Ben Simon and RW Joe Dusbabek-played for the USA at the World Juniors in ’96-’97 (Simon) and ’97-’98 (Simon and Dusbabek).
Double (OT) Dip: Current Irish senior Dan Carlson turned in a rare feat during a three-week stretch of the 1999-2000 season, as the speedy left wing scored in overtime to beat both Western Michigan (4-3) and Ohio State (2-1) … that marked just the second time-and the first in 28 years- that an ND player has scored two overtime goals in the same season, as then-junior winger Paul Regan scored overtime goals in 1971-72 versus Michigan Tech (6-5) and Cornell (5-4).
Academic All-Americans: Notre Dame is the nation’s only Division I hockey program to produce a GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-American during each of the past four seasons (as part of the fall-winter at-large program), with C Steve Noble earning second-team honors in 1996-97 and first-team honors in ’97-’98, followed by G Forrest Karr in ’98-’99 (second team) and LW Andy Jurkowski in 1999-2000 (third team).
TAKING IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL: During the past three seasons, the Notre Dame hockey program has sent several players to the professional ranks, with 10 of those recent players competing in 2000-01 … D Mark Eaton-who signed a free agent contract with the Philadelphia Flyers – had a solid 1998-99 season with the Philadelphia Phantoms of the American Hockey League and played 27 games with the Flyers in 1999-2000 before being traded to the Nashville Predators is with their IHL affiliate in Milwaukee … former Irish center and ’96 graduate Jamie Ling is currently with the Dayton Bombers where he serves as a player assistant coach … RW Brian Urick (’99) is with the Edmonton Oilers’ AHL team in Hamilton, Ont…LW Aniket Dhadphale (’99) started the season with the AHL’s Providence Bruins before being sent to Trenton (ECHL) while another ’99 graduate, D Benoit Cotnoir, is with the Mobile (Ala.) Mystics of the ECHL for his second year … five 2000 graduates likewise are active in pro hockey … C Ben Simon was in the camp of the Atlanta Thrashers and played in several preseason games before being assigned to the IHL’s Orlando (Fla.) Solar Bears … RW Joe Dusbabek attended the San Jose Sharks preseason camp and has joined the ECHL’s Roanoke Express … D Sean Molina tried out with the Chicago Wolves and has signed on with the ECHL’s Trenton (N.J.) Titans … D Nathan Borega currently is a member of the ECHL’s Louisiana Ice Gators while D Sean Seyferth has split time in the ECHL with the Dayton Bombers and the Wheeling Nailers.
MAKING HIS MARK: Former Notre Dame hockey standout, Brian Urick (`99) was named the American Hockey League’s Player of the Week for the week ending October 22, 2000…Urick helped lead the Hamilton Bulldogs, the Edmonton Oilers top farm club, to three wins during the week scoring four goals with two assists for six points…he was named First Star twice, following a 6-5 win (2 G’s 2 A’s) versus Quebec and after Hamilton’s 4-3 win over Philadelphia (1 goal)…
FEELING A DRAFT: Five current Notre Dame players have been selected in the National Hockey League draft since 1997…the five include – seniors Jay Kopischke (8th round, L.A. Kings) and Ryan Clark (9th round, N.Y. Islanders), both taken in the 1997 draft… juniors David Inman (2nd round, New York Rangers) and Brett Henning (9th round, New York Islanders) were both selected in the 1999 draft and sophomore Evan Nielsen (8th round, Atlanta Thrashers) was chosen in the 2000 draft…just two other teams in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association-Michigan (7) and Michigan State (6)-have more draft picks on their 2000-2001 rosters than Notre Dame.
Midwest Magic: Notre Dame continues to reap the benefits of the strong youth hockey programs in the lower Midwest (namely Illinois and Missouri), as one-third of the current roster includes players from Illinois (6) or Missouri (2) … four of those players are products of the USA Hockey National Team Development Program (NTDP): sophomore RW Michael Chin (Urbana, Ill.), sophomore C Connor Dunlop (St. Louis, Mo.) and first-year D Brett Lebda (Buffalo Grove, Ill.) and Neil Komadoski (Chesterfield, Mo.) … sophomore D Evan Nielsen (Evanston, Ill.) was invited to join the NTDP but returned for his senior year at The Taft School … ND’s other Illinois natives include the team’s top two returning goaltenders-junior Jeremiah Kimento (Palos Hills) and Tony Zasowski (Darien)-plus senior RW Matt Van Arkel (Richton Park). … prior to 1995, the ND hockey program had produced just eight total letterwinners from Illinois and two from Missouri.