Feb. 3, 2004
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- The Games: Notre Dame (13-9-4/9-8-3) at Miami RedHawks (16-9-3/13-5-2)
- Date/Site/Times: Fri.-Sat, Feb. 6-7, 2004 – Goggin Arena (2,200) – 7:35 p.m.
- Broadcast Information: Radio: All Notre Dame games can be heard live on ESPN Radio 1620, South Bend’s SportsCenter. Mike Lockert, “the voice of Irish hockey” calls all the action with Tom Nevala handling the color commentary. Irish hockey can also be heard live via the internet at www.und.com.
CHANGE OF VENUE: Notre Dame travels to Oxford, Ohio this weekend for a pair of games with the seventh-ranked Miami RedHawks. Both games will be played on campus at Miami’s Goggin Arena. Saturday’s game had originally been scheduled as a 5:05 p.m. game at the Cincinnati Gardens in Cincinnati, home of the American Hockey League’s (AHL) Cincinnati Mighty Ducks. That game will now be played as a 7:35 p.m. game at Goggin Arena. Miami comes into the weekend series in first place in the CCHA with a 13-5-2 record, good for 28 points and a one-point lead over second-place Michigan with the Wolverines having two games in hand. The RedHawks are 16-9-3 overall. Notre Dame comes into the series in seventh place with 21 points via a 9-8-3 league record. The Irish are one point behind fifth-place Ohio State and Western Michigan and two points behind third-place Michigan State and Alaska Fairbanks. They have two games in hand on UAF and one on Western Michigan. The Irish are seven points behind the first-place RedHawks. For the season, Notre Dame has a 13-9-4 overall record. Following this weekend’s series, the Irish return home to face Ferris State on Feb. 13-14. Both games will begin at 7:35 p.m. at the Joyce Center with Saturday’s game televised live by Fox Sports Detroit.
IRISH VS. REDHAWKS: Miami owns a 22-13-5 edge in the all-time series versus Notre Dame. At Oxford, Ohio, the RedHawks are 10-7-1 versus the Irish. The two teams met five times last season with Notre Dame taking the season series, 3-2-0. In the regular season, the two teams split a pair at the Joyce Center in early November. Miami took a 3-1 decision on Nov. 8 and the Irish bounced back with a 2-1 win on Nov. 9. The teams tied for fifth in the final league standings with Northern Michigan. After tiebreakers, Northern took fifth, Miami sixth and the Irish seventh. The two teams met in an opening round playoff series at Miami. The RedHawks won the opening game, 4-2, before goaltender Morgan Cey (Jr., Wilkie, Sask.) took over the series, registering 1-0 and 5-0 shutouts at Goggin Arena to send the Irish to Joe Louis Arena and the CCHA Super Six. At Miami, the Irish have a two-game winning streak. In the last 10 meetings between the two schools, the Irish are 4-5-1.
CENTURY MARK: With his three-point game (1g, 2a) versus Alaska Fairbanks on Jan. 30, senior center Aaron Gill (Rochester, Minn.) is now one point away from becoming the 41st player in Notre Dame history to score 100 points in his career. Gill ranks second on the Irish in scoring this season with 10 goals and 16 assists to equal a career-best 26 points set during his freshman year. For his career, the Rochester, Minn., native has 42 goals and 57 assists for 99 points.
HOT GOALTENDER: Freshman goaltender David Brown (Stoney Creek, Ont.) is back in his early-season groove over his last five starts. The talented puckstopper has given up just six goals in those five games (beginning on Jan. 10 vs. Bowling Green). In the five games, Brown is 3-1-1, has played 303:06 minutes with a 1.19 goals-against average and a .962 save percentage, stopping 153 of 159 shots. For the year, Brown is 9-5-3 with a 2.15 goals-against average and a .928 save percentage.
ALASKA FAIRBANKS RECAP: The Irish snapped a four-game losing streak versus Alaska Fairbanks last weekend, taking a 3-2 win and a 2-2 tie for three points. In Friday’s victory, Aaron Gill, Rob Globke (Sr., West Bloomfield, Mich.) and Mike Walsh (So. Northville, Mich.) produced all the offense and goaltender David Brown equaled a career high with 40 saves as Notre Dame opened with a 3-2 home win versus the Nanooks. Gill started the scoring getting his 10th of the season and seventh on the power play at 9:30 of the first period. Globke made it 2-0 at 11:42 as Gill sprung him for a short-handed goal at 11:42. Brown made 16 saves in the first period as the Irish led 2-0 after one. The Nanooks cut the lead to 2-1 at 1:16 of the second period as Ryan Lang scored the only goal of the stanza. Walsh put Notre Dame back on top by two with his 10th goal of the season at 4:51 of the third period to make it 3-1. Alaska Fairbanks cut the lead to 3-2 when Cam Keith scored with the goaltender pulled at 19:32. UAF outshot the Irish, 42-29 on the night. Keith Bartusch made 26 saves for the Nanooks. Notre Dame killed off all eight Nanook power-play chances. The Irish were 1-for-4 with the man-advantage.
Saturday’s game saw the Irish snatch a tie away from defeat as Brett Lebda (Sr., Buffalo Grove, Ill.) scored with 28.5 seconds left for the 2-2 tie. UAF’s Preston McKay made 45 saves in the game for the Nanooks. After a scoreless first period, Jason Paige (Fr., Saginaw, Mich.) gave the Irish a 1-0 lead at 17:53 of the second period on the power play. Aaron Voros tied the game just 56 seconds later at 18:49 to send the game into the second intermission at 1-1. The Nanooks took a 2-1 lead at 9:56 on a goal by Curtis Fraser to set up Lebda’s goal. With Brown pulled in favor of a sixth attacker, Neil Komadoski (Sr., Chesterfield, Mo.) saw his shot blocked and deflect toward the left faceoff circle where Lebda took a baseball-bat swing at the waist-high puck and knocked it past McKay for the tying goal. On the night, the Irish outshot UAF by a 47-31 margin. Brown made 29 saves for the Irish. Notre Dame was 1-for-3 on the power play and Alaska Fairbanks was 0-for-3, making them 0-for-11 with the extra man on the weekend.
THE BIG THREE: When Jason Paige scored his power-play goal on Jan. 31 at 17:53 of the second period versus Alaska Fairbanks, it marked the first time in six games that someone other than the trio of Rob Globke, Aaron Gill or Mike Walsh had scored for the Irish. On Jan. 10, at 16:11 of the second period, Brett Lebda scored at Bowling Green. Following that goal, the next 11 Irish goals came off the sticks of Globke (5), Gill (4) and Walsh (2). On the year, that threesome have 36 of Notre Dame’s 71 goals (50.7%). For the season, Globke has 16 while Gill and Walsh have 10 goals each.
GOLDEN GLOBKE: Senior right wing Rob Globke ranks second in the CCHA with 16 goals this season. Over a two-game period (Jan. 18 at Wisconsin and Jan. 23 at Northern Michigan) he scored four goals. His goal streak and season-high six-game scoring streak (5-4-9) were snapped at Northern Michigan on Jan. 24. He now has five goals in his last five games and points in eight of his last nine (6-6-12). Globke was named the CCHA offensive player of the week for the week ending Jan. 18. At Wisconsin, Globke accounted for two goals and two assists and was +2 for the weekend as the Irish tied (2-2) and downed the fourth-ranked Badgers (3-1). Globke was the first Notre Dame player to receive offensive player of the week honors since Dan Carlson (’01) was named on Feb. 7, 2000.
OVERTIME HEARTBREAK: With the 2-2 tie on Jan. 31 versus Alaska Fairbanks, Notre Dame is now 0-2-4 this season in six games that have gone to overtime. Prior to the Jan. 9, 5-4 overtime loss at Bowling Green, the Irish had gone eight straight overtimes with the game ending in a tie (0-0-8) between last season and the early part of the current campaign. Notre Dame’s last regular-season overtime win was Jan. 25, 2002 at Miami, a 4-3 win. Since that win, the Irish are 1-3-10 in overtime with the one win and one of the losses coming in the CCHA playoffs. Since the start of the 1999-2000 season, the Irish have been involved in 39 overtime games and are 5-4-30 in those contests.
HOT GOALTENDER, PART II: Since returning to action after missing seven games due to arthroscopic surgery on his right knee, Morgan Cey picked up where he left off after his first two seasons. Cey returned to the Notre Dame lineup on Dec. 28 and since then is 2-2-1 with 2.10 goals-against average and a .933 save percentage. His two wins were 1-0 shutouts. The two losses came in overtime. For the year, Cey is 3-3-1 with a 2.09 goals-against average and a .935 save percentage.
CENTURY MARK FOR GLOBKE: Senior right wing Rob Globke became the 40th player in Notre Dame hockey history to go over 100 points in his career with two assists versus Western Michigan (Dec. 6). His three-point weekend versus Alaska Fairbanks (1g, 2a), moves him past former teammate Connor Dunlop (’03) into 33rd on the all-time scoring list with 65 goals and 48 assists for 113 career points. He is just one of 18 players in school history to have 60 or more goals in a season and now is tied for 16th all-time with 65 career goals. On the year, Globke has 16 goals and 13 assists for a team-leading 29 points. He turned in back-to-back two-goal games versus Wisconsin and Northern Michigan to give him five games this season and 15 for his career with two or more goals. He opened the season with a hat trick in Notre Dame’s 5-2 win at Ohio State. The hat trick was the second of his career. He has added two-goal games versus Lake Superior (Nov. 21), Northern Michigan (Nov. 29), Wisconsin (Jan. 18) and Northern Michigan again (Jan. 23).
GAME-WINNING GLOBKE: Rob Globke picked up his CCHA-leading fifth game-winning goal of the season in the 3-1 win over Wisconsin on Jan. 18. He ranks second in the country with the five game-winners. For his career at Notre Dame, Globke now has 13 game-winning goals. That ties him for first on the all-time game-winning goal list with Brian Urick (’99) and current head coach Dave Poulin who recorded 13 game winners from 1978-82.
ONE-GOAL GAMES: Five of Notre Dame’s games in January were decided by one goal with the Irish going 2-3-0 in those games. After winning their first three one-goal games (all three being 1-0 wins), the Irish dropped three in a row (two in overtime and one by a 1-0 score).The Irish are 4-3 this season in one-goal decisions. Notre Dame has been involved in four 1-0 games this season and is 3-1 in those contests.
ON THE SIDELINES: Notre Dame defenseman Derek Smith (Jr., Marysville, Mich.) is sidelined indefinitely with post-concussion syndrome. He suffered a concussion on Jan. 4, 2003 at Nebraska-Omaha and has not played since.
BARN BURNERS: Three of Notre Dame’s games in January came down to final second decisions. On Jan. 31, Brett Lebda scored with 28.5 seconds left for a 2-2 tie with Alaska Fairbanks. On Jan. 23, Northern Michigan’s Darin Olver scored with 34 seconds left in overtime to give the Wildcats a 4-3 win. On Jan. 9, Bowling Green’s James Unger scored with 28 seconds left in overtime to give the Falcons a 5-4 win.
2003-04 IRISH AWARD WINNERS:
David Brown – CCHA rookie of the week
(Oct. 19, Nov. 1, Dec. 2)
CCHA defensive player of the week
(Jan. 12)
HCA rookie of the month (October)
Morgan Cey – All-tournament team at Everblades
Collegiate Hockey Classic (Dec. 28)
Rob Globke – CCHA offensive player of the week
(Jan. 19)
Neil Komadoski – Nominee for college hockey’s
Humanitarian Award
299 AND COUNTING: Notre Dame’s 3-2 win and 2-2 versus Alaska Fairbanks, improves the Irish to 8-1-2 (8-0-2 in last 10) at the Joyce Center. That gives the Irish 299 all-time wins at the Joyce Center as they are now 299-245-42 (.546) on home ice. The eight wins this season are the most for the Irish at home since the 1999-2000 campaign when Notre Dame was 11-7-3 at the Joyce Center. The Irish have four more regular-season home games this year.
GILL GOALS: Senior center Aaron Gill has scored four goals in his last five games. He scored twice in Notre Dame’s 2-2 tie at Wisconsin (Jan. 17) and then added a single goal in the 4-3 overtime loss at Northern Michigan (Jan. 23). He gave the Irish a 1-0 lead versus UAF (Jan. 30) after being stopped on Jan. 24 in the 1-0 shutout loss at Northern Michigan. He leads the Irish with seven power-play goals on the season. Gill is second in scoring for the Irish with 10 goals and 16 assists for 26 points.
PUTTING THE “P” IN POWER: Sophomore left wing Mike Walsh is quickly becoming one of the top power forwards in the CCHA. He scored his 10th goal of the season in the 3-2 win over Alaska Fairbanks. The goal was his fourth game-winning goal of the year and the fifth of his career. The four game winners ties him for second in the CCHA and seventh in the nation. Walsh believes that the quickest way to get from point A to point B is a straight line as he barges and charges to the net. After battling through an injury and illness filled freshman year, Walsh has become a key contributor to the Irish attack. With10 goals and seven assists, he is third on the team with 17 points. Four of his 10 goals this season are game winners. For his career, Walsh has scored 11 goals with five of them being game-winning goals.
POWER-PLAY POINTS: The Irish snapped a two-game power-play drought with goals in each game versus Alaska Fairbanks. For the weekend, Notre Dame was 2-for-7 on the power play. The Irish have scored at least one power-play goal in 18 of their 26 games this season.
SPECIAL SPECIAL TEAMS: Since giving up a power-play goal at 10:26 of the first period at Northern Michigan on Jan. 23, Notre Dame has killed off 18 straight opponent power plays over a four-game span. For the season, the Irish have killed 106 of 121 opponent chances. Of the 15 power-play goals surrendered, 10 have come in five games (two in each game). Over the remaining 21 games, the Irish have given up just five other power-play goals. Notre Dame has killed 87.6% of opponent power plays this season.
LEBDA’S LINE: Senior defenseman Brett Lebda continues to make his move on the top 10 scoring spot among Irish defensemen. Lebda’s goal and assist in the 2-2 tie with Alaska Fairbanks (Jan. 31) give him five goals and 10 assist for 15 points on the season. For his career, Lebda now has 25 goals and 51 assists for 76 career points. Notre Dame has had 10 defensemen in its history record 80 or more points in their careers. Lebda needs just four more points to catch Steve Curry (1970-74) who had 80 points (19g, 61a). Benoit Coitnoir (1995-99) is ninth with 88 points (28g, 60a).
LEAGUE LEADERS: Through the first 13 games of the season, Notre Dame’s team defense was tops in the CCHA. In the first 16 games, the Irish gave up 26 goals for a 1.97 goals-against average. Games 14-16 saw the Irish give up 18 goals over three contests, moving the goals-against average to 2.59. Since those three games, the Irish have given up just 17 goals in their last 10 games to give Notre Dame the second best goals-against average in the CCHA with a 2.35 mark. Only Michigan, with a 2.27 overall goals-against average, is better than the Irish.
TERRIFIC TRIO: Notre Dame’s corp of senior defensemen continues to have a strong final season for the Irish. Brett Lebda (5-10-15) and Neil Komadoski (2-13-15) lead the trio in scoring with 15 points each while Tom Galvin (Miller Place, N.Y.) is just one point behind with 14 points on 14 assists. Not surprisingly, during their Notre Dame careers, all three defenders have led the Irish defensemen in scoring in one season. Lebda (7-19-26) led as a freshman, Galvin (4-19-23) led as a sophomore and Komadoski (1-23-24) led last year.
IRISH SHUTOUTS: Prior to last season’s CCHA playoffs when Morgan Cey recorded back-to-back shutouts versus Miami, Notre Dame had never recorded back-to-back shutouts. Since Cey did it last March, both freshman David Brown (three in a row) and Cey have turned the trick this year. Notre Dame’s six shutouts are a single-season school record. The previous best was 1999-2000 when the Irish had three shutouts (Tony Zasowski had two and Jeremiah Kimento had one).
SCORELESS STREAKS: Morgan Cey (Jr., Wilkie, Sask.) saw his consecutive minutes of scoreless hockey come to an end at 158:53 when D’Arcy McConvey scored at 10:27 of the second period on Jan. 9. The streak was the longest of Cey’s career, passing his previous best of 149:17 (set between Mar. 14-20, 2003 in the CCHA playoffs). Cey’s 158:53 is the second longest in Irish history behind David Brown’s mark of 193:27 set this past October between Oct. 17-Nov. 8.
RISING TO THE OCCASION: With Morgan Cey sidelined twice this season due to knee injuries, freshman goaltender David Brown has played in19 games with outstanding results. In 17 starts, Brown is 9-5-3 with a 2.15 goals-against average and a .928 save percentage. Four of his eight wins have been shutouts. He had an eight-game unbeaten streak (6-0-2) snapped on Dec. 6 in a 6-4 loss at Western Michigan. During his streak which covered nine games, Brown had a 1.96 goals against (17 goals in 521:30 minutes and a .932 save percentage (232 saves). Included in those nine games were three consecutive shutouts between 10/18 and 10/31. For good measure, Brown also threw in a fourth shutout on Nov. 14 versus the U.S. Under-18 team that does not count in the statistics. He was also named CCHA rookie of the week three times, CCHA defensive player of the week once and the Hockey Commissioner’s Association (HCA) national rookie of the month for October.
BEATING THE BEST: Notre Dame’s 1-0 shutout win at Boston College on Oct. 24 came versus the Eagles while they were ranked first in the nation in the USA Today/American Hockey Magazine poll. The last time the Irish beat a top-ranked team came on Jan. 3, 1999 when they won 4-3 at North Dakota.
IRISH WINS VERSUS #1 TEAMS:
10/24/03 – at Boston College, 1-0
1/3/99 – at North Dakota, 4-3
11/10/78 – at Minnesota, 3-2
1/13/78 – vs. Denver, 5-3
1/18/74 – vs. Michigan Tech, 7-1
2/24/73 – vs. Wisconsin, 8-5
2/23/73 – vs. Wisconsin, 4-3
The last time the Irish faced a top-ranked team prior to Oct. 24 was on Nov. 10, 2000 when they played Boston College. Notre Dame lost that game by a 5-3 score.
OFFENSIVE DEFENSEMEN: In 26 games this season, Notre Dame defensemen Brett Lebda, Tom Galvin, Neil Komadoski and Wes O’Neill (Fr., Essex, Ont.) have combined for nine goals and 44 assists for 53 points. Lebda (5g, 10a) and Komadoski (2g, 13a) lead the group, followed by Galvin (0g, 14a). O’Neill has two goals and seven assists for nine points on the year.
HUMANITARIAN NOMINEE: Irish defenseman Neil Komadoski was one of 14 nominees for the prestigious College Hockey Humanitarian Award that goes to college hockey’s “top citizen.” The award for community service and leadership is presented along with the Hobey Baker Award at the NCAA Frozen Four each year. On Jan. 15, the five finalists – Patrick Foley (UNH), Dan Boeser (Wisconsin), Chanda Gunn (Northeastern), Derek Nisula (Babson) and Mark Persick (Canisius) – were selected. Komadoski has been involved in Notre Dame’s community service programs since his freshman year. He is a member of the school’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) for three years and is chairman of the SAAC community service sub-committee since the fall of 2002. He represented Notre Dame at the NCAA’s Student-Athlete Leadership Conference last May. His community service work has included participation in SAAC’s Pediatric Christmas Party in all four years since joining the Irish hockey program. He has also participated in Christmas in April (2001, 2002), Habitat for Humanity (2003) and the Downs Syndrome Buddy Walk in the fall of 2002 and 2003. He has also worked with the Robinson Community Learning Center’ Children’s Ice Skate Day in the fall of 2002 and 2003.
MR. STEADY – CORY’S STORY: Cory McLean (Jr., Fargo, N.D.) is fourth in scoring with seven goals and nine assists (career high) for 16 points. His career-high 17 points came last season (10g, 7a). On the year, he has scored in 13 of Notre Dame’s 22 games. He has had a pair of four-game point streaks this season. As a freshman, McLean had just one goal and four assists for five points.
CONSECUTIVE GAME STREAK: Graduated defenseman Evan Nielsen (’03) set Notre Dame’s record for consecutive games played last season with 114 in a row from 2000-03. Coming into this weekend at Northern Michigan, seniors Rob Globke and Brett Lebda have each played in 84 consecutive games and are the leaders among active players. The only games Lebda has missed in his career came in 2001-02 when he missed four games while playing at the World Junior Championships. He has played 139 of 143 career games.
IRISH VERSUS HOCKEY EAST: For the first time since Hockey East started in 1984-85, Notre Dame has recorded a pair of wins over Hockey East conference teams. On Oct. 24, the Irish defeated Boston College at Chestnut Hill, Mass. On Dec. 28, Notre Dame took a 1-0 decision versus Maine at the Everblades College Classic. In both 1-0 shutouts, sophomore left wing Mike Walsh got the game-winning goal.
RIVALRY CLUSTERS: Notre Dame has split the first eight games played between cluster rivals Bowling Green and Northern Michigan as the Irish are 4-4-0 in those games. Overall, the Irish are 5-4-1 versus teams in their cluster. They are 1-0-1 versus Lake Superior State and play the Lakers the final weekend of the season. The Irish are 2-2 versus Northern Michigan and 2-2 versus Bowling Green. A year ago, the Irish were 7-4-1 in their cluster that included Bowling Green, Western Michigan and Ferris State.
HCA ROOKIE OF THE MONTH: Notre Dame freshman goaltender David Brown was selected as the Hockey Commissioner’s Association (HCA) national collegiate rookie of the month for the month of October. Brown had an October to remember as he recorded a Notre Dame school record three consecutive shutouts in his first four career starts and a school-record shutout string of 193:27 consecutive minutes. His three shutouts also set a Notre Dame record for shutouts in a season. For the month, the 5-11, 188-pound puck stopper was 3-2-0 with a CCHA-leading 1.15 goals-against average and a .946 save percentage to go with the three shutouts. Among his three shutouts was a 1-0, 27-save performance on Oct. 24 versus the top-ranked Boston College Eagles at Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill, Mass. The three shutouts came versus Bowling Green (10/18), Boston College (10/24) and Nebraska-Omaha (10/31). He has been selected as the CCHA rookie of the month three times this season (10/19, 11/2, 12/1) and defensive player of the week once (1/12).
CENTRAL SCOUTING RANKINGS: The National Hockey League’s (NHL) Central Scouting has released it’s mid-term report that ranks the top 270 draft eligible skaters and the top 30 goaltenders for the 2004 NHL Entry Draft next June. Irish defenseman Wes O’Neill is ranked 19th overall, third among U.S. College players behind North Dakota’s Drew Stafford (9th) and Michigan State’s A.J. Thelen (16). Freshman forward Michael Bartlett (Morton Grove, Ill.) was ranked 211th overall and 36th among collegiate players. Goaltender David Brown is ranked 29th overall and second among collegiate goaltenders behind top-ranked Al Montoya of Michigan.
DOWN BY TWO: Prior to the Nov. 29 comeback versus Northern Michigan (the Irish trailed 2-0 in a 4-2 win), last time the Irish rebounded from a two-goal deficit to win a game was on Oct. 12, 2002 when the Irish fell behind Minnesota-Duluth, 2-0, and rallied for a 5-3 win at Duluth.
IRISH ON CSTV: Notre Dame has made three appearances on CSTV and now has a 2-1-0 record after the 4-0 loss to Cornell on Dec. 27. The Irish have wins over Ohio State (10/10) and Boston College (10/24). The Irish are also schedlued to appear again on CSTV on Friday, Feb. 27 versus Michigan. Face off is set for 8:05 p.m.
SOME TRICK: Sophomore defenseman Chris Trick (Troy, Mich.) recorded his first collegiate goal in the Nov. 28, 5-1 win over Northern Michigan. He made the most of it too, as the goal came short-handed in the second period and proved to be the game winner. Trick came out of the penalty box after a Northern Michigan centering pass eluded the point men. Trick beat Craig Kowalski with a backhander for his first goal in 36 career games.
DIRECTOR’S CUP STANDINGS: The University of Notre Dame stands 12th in the 2003-04 United States Sports Academy Division I Director’s Cup all-sports competition sponsored by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (formerly known as Sears Directors’Cup). Fall NCAA competition earned the Irish 199 points. Michigan is first (413 points), followed by UCLA, Stanford, Maryland, BYU, North Carolina, Penn State, Washington, USC, and Wake Forest round out the top 10.
ALL GOOD THINGS MUST END: Irish goaltender David Brown saw his streak of three consecutive shutouts end in the Nov. 8 game versus Michigan State. Jim Slater’s goal at 7:12 of the first period ended his consecutive-minute streak at 193:27. That is a new Notre Dame record. The last time Brown had given up a goal was on Oct. 17 versus Bowling Green with 4:22 left in the third period. He followed with shutouts versus Bowling Green (Oct. 18), Boston College (10/24) and Nebraska-Omaha (10/31).
OH CANADA: Freshman defenseman Wes O’Neill was a member of Canada’s Under-18 Select team that played in last summer’s Under-18 Select World Cup tournament. O’Neill had a goal and four assists in helping Canada to a fourth-place finish. The former Green Bay Gambler also played for Team Ontario at the Under-17 World Championships in Feb. of 2003. There he had three goals and nine assists in six games. O’Neill was the second pick in the 2002 Ontario Hockey League (OHL) Draft by the Kingston Frontenacs. He is the highest-drafted OHL player to decide to play college hockey.
CEY IT AIN’T SO: Goaltender Morgan Cey missed the first five games of the season after having knee surgery in July. He then missed seven games after re-injuring his knee on Nov. 7, requiring arthroscopic surgery. Prior to this season, Cey had started 71 of Notre Dame’s 79 games as a freshman and sophomore. He was 15-15-6 last season with a 2.87 goals-against average and a .912 save percentage with two shutouts. Career-wise, Cey is 33-32-10 with a 2.72 goals-against average and a .914 save percentage with six shutouts. He is sixth on Notre Dame’s all-time wins list with 33. His 2.72 goals-against average, .914 save percentage and six shutouts make him the leader in all three categories at Notre Dame.
NHL DRAFTEES: Notre Dame has three players on the 2003-04 roster that have been selected in the National Hockey League Entry Draft. Senior Rob Globke was a second-round choice of the Florida Panthers in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft. Selected 40th overall, Globke’s selection was the earliest any Notre Dame player has ever been chosen. Senior defenseman Neil Komadoski was selected in the third round of the 2001 draft by the Ottawa Senators. Sophomore left wing Mike Walsh was selected in the fifth round in 2002 draft by the New York Rangers.
BRAIN POWER: Senior defenseman T.J. Mathieson (Clarksville, Md.) is a candidate for Rhodes, Mitchell and Marshall Scholarships for postgraduate studies. Mathieson owns a 3.812 grade-point average in aerospace engineering in Notre Dame’s School of Engineering. He is a two-time winner of Notre Dame’s Rockne Scholar-Athlete Award. He spent the past summer working at General Electric Aircraft Engines in Cincinnati. There, he worked doing stress analysis of high-pressure turbines for commercial aircraft engines.
THE CAPTAINS: Senior center Aaron Gill will serve as the team captain for the Irish in 2003-04. As a junior, he finished fourth in scoring with 13 goals and 12 assists for 25 points. Four of his 13 goals came on the power play and he recorded his first career hat trick on Oct. 19 in an 8-5 win over Western Michigan. Serving as alternate captains this season are senior right wing Rob Globke and senior defenseman Neil Komadoski. Globke led the Irish in scoring last season with 21 goals and 15 assists for 36 points. Komadoski was Notre Dame’s top scorer from the blue line last year as he scored a goal and added 23 helpers. His 23 assists and 24 points were career-highs for the veteran defenseman.
FOURTH TIME: Morgan Cey’s back-to-back shutouts (1-0 and 5-0) versus Miami in the first round of last season’s CCHA playoffs made him the fourth goaltender to turn the trick. The others are:
1988-1989 –
Bruce Hoffort, LSSU beat Ferris State, 5-0, 3-0.
1993-94 –
Blaine Lacher, LSSU beat Ohio State, 5-0, 8-0
1999-00 –
Ryan Miller beat Notre Dame, 4-0 in semis and Nebraska-Omaha, 6-0 in finals.
PENALTY SHOTS: Notre Dame goaltender Morgan Cey has faced four penalty shots in his Irish hockey career, including three last season. On Feb. 28, in a 4-2 loss to Western Michigan, Cey stopped Bronco VinceBellissimo at 14:06 of the third period. A month earlier, Jan. 25, in a 3-3 tie with Michigan State, Cey stopped Jim Slater at 16:23 of the second stanza. His first stop in 2002-03 came on Nov. 22 at Michigan, in a 4-2 loss to the Wolverines. There, he stopped Milan Gajic at 12:36 of the second period. The first penalty shot Cey faced came during his freshman season when he stopped Bowling Green’s Greg Day on Dec. 8, 2001. That stop came in a 4-2 loss to the Falcons.
FAMILY MATTERS: After having as many as four players whose fathers played in the National Hockey League, only one remains for the 2003-04 season. That would be Neil Komadoski, Jr., whose father, Neil Komadoski, Sr., played eight NHL seasons as a defenseman with the Los Angeles Kings (’72-’78) and the St. Louis Blues (’77-’80), totaling 16G-76A and 632 penalty minutes in 501 career games.