Men's Hockey Takes Break For Final Exams

Dec. 11, 2000

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A BREAK IN THE ACTION: The Notre Dame Fighting Irish will break for final exams from December 11 through December 15 before returning to action on Dec. 19-20 with a two-game CCHA series at Nebraska-Omaha…the Irish will go into the Nebraska-Omaha series looking to snap an eight-game winless streak (0-6-2)…ND’s last win came on November 3, a 5-2 decision at Miami University…the Irish are now 3-11-3 overall and are in 12th place in the CCHA standings with a 1-7-2 record in league play…Nebraska-Omaha will also be on break after its split at Bowling Green last weekend…the Mavericks are 8-9-1 overall and are currently in 9th place in the CCHA standings with a 5-6-1 record, good for 11 points…following the series at Omaha, the Irish then have a nine-day break before closing out December at the R.P.I. Christmas Tournament on Dec. 29-30…ND faces St. Lawrence in the tourney opener and then will play either Rensselaer or Northeastern on the 30th…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 MAVERICKS: The two teams met four times last season in Nebraska-Omaha’s debut season in the CCHA with the Irish going 1-2-1…the Irish were 0-1-1 at the Omaha Civic Auditorium and 1-1-0 at ND’s Joyce Center…Notre Dame and Nebraska-Omaha skated to a 2-2 tie in the first meeting at Omaha on Nov. 5 and then dropped the Nov. 6 meeting, 5-3…three months later, in February, UNO took a 3-1 win on Feb. 11 before the Irish got their first win over the Mavericks, 7-4, on Feb. 12…

THE COACHES: Notre Dame head coach Dave Poulin owns a 74-110-25 mark (.414) in his sixth season at Notre Dame…Poulin is 1-2-1 in four meetings with the Mavericks including an 0-1-1 mark at Nebraska-Omaha and a 1-1-0 record at Notre Dame…Maverick head coach Mike Kemp owns a 47-70-11 record in this, his fourth season at Nebraska-Omaha (.410)…Kemp is 2-1-1 versus Notre Dame…

SCOUTING THE MAVERICKS: Hockey information on the Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks can be found at www.unomaha.edu…additional information on Notre Dame, Nebraska-Omaha and the CCHA is also available on the CCHA website at ccha.com…

A LOOK BACK AT LAST WEEKEND: The Irish continue to struggle offensively as they mustered just three goals on the weekend dropping 5-2 and 4-1 decisions to Miami University…the RedHawk wins snapped a Notre Dame five-game unbeaten streak (3-0-2) versus Miami…on Friday night (12/8), the Miami line of Ernie Hartlieb (1g, 2a), Jason Deskins (2g, 1a) and Pat Leahy (0g, 3a) combined for nine points (3g, 6a) in the 5-2 win…the RedHawks scored one power play goal and two shorthanded markers on the night…freshman center Aaron Gill (Rochester, Minn.) led Notre Dame’s offense with a power play goal and an assist for the first multiple point game of his career…junior center David Inman (Toronto, Ont.) scored his team high fourth power play goal of the season and his sixth goal overall…ND was two-for-nine on the power play while Miami was one-for-six…the Irish outshot Miami, 30-19 in the contest…Tony Zasowski (So., Darien, Ill.) gave up three goals in 23:26 making just four saves…Jeremiah Kimento (Jr., Palos Hills, Ill.) made ten saves and gave up two goals in the final 36:34…on Saturday (12/9), Miami score three goals in the second period on the way to a 4-1 win…again Deskins collected three points (a goal and two assists) to pace the RedHawks…the junior center opened the scoring with a power play goal at 9:36 of the second period…the Irish answered back at 9:46 when Gill got his second of the weekend and fifth of the year off the rebound of a Dan Carlson (Sr., Edina, Minn.) shot…Miami’s Evan Cheverie scored on a breakaway at 10:43 and Leahy’s goal at 14:43 gave Miami needed insurance…Deskins then set up Mike Glumac for the RedHawks’ second power play goal of the night at 12:18 of the third period…the two teams fired 25 shots each on goal…Kimento made 21 saves while Miami’s Burleigh came up with 24 stops…Miami was two-for-eight on the power play, while ND was shut down on eight man-advantage chances…

USA…USA…USA: Notre Dame will be without the services of sophomore center Connor Dunlop (St. Louis, Mo.) and freshman right wing Rob Globke (West Bloomfield, Mich) for the next six games as the duo will play for the 2001 U.S. Junior National hockey team that will compete against the top players in the world under the age of 20 at the World Junior Championships in Moscow, Russia, from Dec. 26, 2000 through Jan. 5, 2001…Dunlop will be making his second appearance on the team after getting a goal and assist in seven games last year to help the U.S. to a fourth place finish in Sweden…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…

INJURY REPORT: Defenseman Tom Galvin (Fr., Miller Place, N.Y.) suffered severed tendons in his left arm at practice on November 2nd…he underwent surgery to repair the tendons and is out indefinitely. He has missed the last nine games… Left wing Brett Henning (Jr., Huntington, N.Y.) suffered a cervical spine sprain against Lake Superior State (12/2) and is out of the lineup indefinitely…he has missed the last two games… Center Connor Dunlop (So., St. Louis, Mo.) suffered a shoulder injury in Friday night’s loss to Miami and sat out the Saturday night game… Defenseman Paul Harris (So., Ridgefield, Conn.) reinjured the shoulder that caused him to miss three games earlier this season on Friday night and missed the Saturday game with Miami…the Irish have lost 37 man-games to injuries or illness this season…

PENALTY KILLING PROWESS: The Fighting Irish killed 11 of 14 Miami power play chances on the weekend and have now killed 43 of 48 (89.6% penalty killing efficiency) since Oct. 27…the Irish had put together 24 consecutive penalties before Lake Superior State scored on Dec. 2…the Irish had gone the entire month of November (five games) without giving up a power play goal…following the Michigan State game on October 27, ND had given up 15 power play goals on 48 chances (68.8% penalty killing efficiency)…heading into the Nebraska-Omaha series, the Irish have given up 20 power play goals in 96 chances for a 79.2% penalty killing efficiency…

GILL THE THRILL: Freshman center Aaron Gill (Rochester, Minn.) put together a strong weekend against Miami as he figured in on all three Notre Dame goals…in Friday’s game, Gill set up David Inman’s power play goal and then scored one of his own during the third period…on Saturday, Gill scored Notre Dame’s lone goal, tying the game at 1-1 at 9:46 of the second period…the 6-0, 170-pound center is one of ND’s top face-off men and also sees duty on the power play and penalty killing units…on the year, he ranks fourth on the Irish scoresheet with five goals and five assists for 10 points in 17 games….

ROUGH STRETCH: Notre Dame has now lost four in a row and dropped back-to-back CCHA weekend series (Lake Superior and Miami) for the first time since Feb. 12-13 and Feb. 19-20, 1999…the eight-game winless streak (0-6-2) is the longest the Irish have gone without a win since an eight-game losing streak from Jan. 26, 1997 through Feb. 15, 1997…the last time the Irish lost five in a row was Nov. 21, 1998 through Jan. 2, 1999…

KOLY THE GOALIE: Senior goaltender Kyle Kolquist made his first two starts of the season at Lake Superior and 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 three consecutive games for the Irish this season after seeing action in just two games (69:09) in his previous three seasons…on November 25, the Duluth, Minn. native took over in relief versus Northern Michigan and made 27 saves to help the Irish salvage a 3-3 tie…before last weekend’s starts at Lake Superior, Kolquist’s only other start came on December 20, 1999 at home verus Princeton (21 saves, 4-2 loss)…in three games this season, the veteran goaltender is 0-2-1 with a 2.86 goals against average and a .924 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 81 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 136 of 139 games in his three-plus years at Notre Dame (missing two while at the ’98-’99 World Juniors)…Carlson needs to appear in 17 more games to break John Schmidt’s ND record for career games played (152, ’78-’82).

GAME-BY-GAME RECORDS:When Notre Dame scores first....................    2-1-2When opponents score first.......................   1-10-1When Notre Dame leads after one period.....     1-1-1When Notre Dame trails after one period.....        1-8-1When score is tied after one period............     1-2-1When Notre Dame leads after two periods....     3-0-1When Notre Dame trails after two periods....        0-8-1When score is tied after two periods.........       0-3-1When Notre Dame outshoots opponent........      2-5-1When opponent outshoots Notre Dame........      1-5-2When shots are even.................................    0-1-0Notre Dame at home................................. 2-7-1Notre Dame on the road............................  1-2-1Notre Dame on neutral ice.........................  0-2-1Notre Dame in overtime............................. 1-0-3

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…the November report ranks Globke fourth overall while Komadoski is 18th…Komadoski is eligible for the 2001 draft while Globke would have to opt-in to be selected in 2001…13 of the top 40 players ranked are from the CCHA including three of the top four…

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…

ONE TIMERS: With ND’s 4-1 loss to Miami (12/9), the Irish have now been held to one goal in a game seven times this season (0-6-1)…Notre Dame has scored just one goal in three of its last four games, four of its last six and five of its last eight contests…in their last eight games, the Irish have scored just 13 goals (1.63 per game)…

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 Rob Globke and Aaron Gill rank among the top ten rookie scorers in the CCHA…Globke starts the week tied for seventh among rookie scorers in the CCHA after his first 17 games with seven goals and four assists for 11 points…Globke’s seven goals tie him for second among rookie goal scorers with Jeremy Jackson (MSU) and Dave Steckel (OSU)…Gill is tied for ninth among newcomers with ten points (5g, 5a) in his 17 games…they all trail Western Michigan’s Jeff Campbell who has 11-10-21 in 15 games this season…

THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT: Through the first 17 games of the season, the Irish newcomers (seven freshman, one transfer) have shown their abilities by contributing to the ND attack with 13 goals and 20 assists for 33 of the team’s 97 points…that amounts to 33.3% of the goals, 34.5% of the assists and 34.0% of the team’s points…Rob Globke leads the way (7g, 4a), followed by Aaron Gill (Rochester, Minn.) with (5g, 5a), Brett Lebda (Buffalo Grove, Ill.) with (1g, 5a), Jon Maruk (Eden Prairie, Minn.) with (0g, 4a), Neil Komadoski (Chesterfield, Mo.) with (0g, 1a) and Tom Galvin with (0g, 1a)…

THE TOP OF THE LIST: Senior right wing Ryan Dolder has picked up where he left off last season as he is Notre Dame’s top scorer through the first 17 games of the season with six goals and six assists for 12 points…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 five 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)…

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….

MAKING THE MOST OF A CHANCE: Sophomore defenseman Paul Harris (Ridgefield, Conn.) worked his way into the Irish lineup after battling injuries as a freshman and only playing in nine games …this season, Harris moved into the lineup at the Maverick Stampede after fellow soph Evan Nielsen (Evanston, Ill.) came down with the flu prior to the Boston College game…Harris has picked up two assists in 11 games this season and owns a team-best +4…

STOPPING THE PUCK: Junior goaltender Jeremiah Kimento (Palos Hills, Ill.) made five consecutive starts from Oct. 14 through Oct. 26…during that streak, Kimento was 2-2-1 in the five starts with a 3.33 goals against and a .887 save percentage…he also saw action in each of ND’s first seven games…he saw duty in both games versus Miami, giving up two goals on 12 shots in the final 36:35 in Friday’s 5-2 loss…Kimento made his sixth start of the season on Dec. 9 versus Miami and gave up four goals with 21 saves in the 4-1 loss…for the season, Kimento is 2-3-1 overall with a 3.32 goals against and a .881 save percentage…

BACK AT IT: After not playing in either game at Lake Superior State (Dec. 1-2) sophomore goaltender Tony Zasowski started versus Miami (Dec. 8) and played just 23:26 of the game with three goals against in seven shots before being lifted…on the season, Zasowski has started nine games, but has been pulled four times…for the season, Zasowski is 1-6-1 with a 3.90 goals against and a .871 save percentage…

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…

CLOSING THE DEAL: Notre Dame has built an impressive record in games that the Irish lead after two periods of play….ND is unbeaten in its last 44 games when holding a lead at the second intermission (38-0-6, including 11-0-3 in 1999-2000) … the Irish are 3-0-1 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 23-3-4 since the 1998-99 season when leading at the first intermission (10-1-1 in 1999-2000 and 1-1-1 in 2000-2001).

OVERTIME NUMBERS: Notre Dame is unbeaten in overtime in its last 14 overtime games going 3-0-11 since the beginning of the 1999-2000 season…the Irish are 1-0-3 this season and were 2-0-8 a year ago…the last time ND lost in overtime was March 5, 1999 at Miami…Notre Dame is also unbeaten in its last 14 home overtime games (3-0-11)…the last time the Irish lost in extra time at home was November 17, 1996 when the Irish fell to Mankato State, 4-3….

NOT SO SWEET HOME: Notre Dame has struggled at home as the Irish have compiled a 2-7-1 record on the Joyce Center ice and are 0-7-1 in their last eight 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 current eight-game winless skid…since the building opened, ND is 275-226-34 (.544) in 535 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 mdia 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.

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).

CENTURY MARK: Senior defenseman Ryan Clark (Littleton, Colo.) played in his 100th career game versus Miami (Dec. 9)…he joins five 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 111 during his career…right wing Matt Van Arkel played in his 100th career game versus Minnesota and has now played in 116 overall…the remainder of that group includes Dan Carlson (136), Ryan Dolder (120) and Jay Kopischke (117).

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 (Twin City Vulcans) 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).

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 four career shorthanded goals rank 11th in ND history, three back of the record shared by three players.

TAKING IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL: During the past three seasons, the Notre Dame hockey program has sent several players on to the professional ranks, with 10 of those recent players competing in 2000-01 … D Mark Eaton-who in the summer of 1998 opted to forego his final three years of college eligibility at Notre Dame and 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 prior to the start of the season … former Irish center and ’96 graduate Jamie Ling is currentlywith the Dayton Bombers where he serves as a player assistant coach … RW Brian Urick (’99) had a solid preseason camp with the Edmonton Oilers and has been assigned to the AHL’s Hamilton (Ont.) Bulldogs … 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, was in the tryout camp of the International Hockey League’s Chicago Wolves before returning to the Mobile (Ala.) Mystics of the East Coast Hockey League (he also played in Mobile last season) … 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 is in the ECHL with the Dayton Bombers.

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)…

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).

CLUSTER PARTNERS, PART II: The rotating CCHA cluster schedule has yielded four games for the Irish in 2000-01 versus Ohio State, Miami and Western Michigan-with two vs. the other eight squads in the 28-game schedule … the following CCHA teams will not visit the Joyce Center in 2000-01: Alaska Fairbanks, Lake Superior, Michigan and Nebraska Omaha … the Irish will not make regular-season trips in 2000-01 to Bowing Green, Ferris State, Northern Michigan and Michigan State … ND’s 1999-2000 cluster partners were UAF, MSU and UNO, with the 2001-02 partners to include Bowling Green, Ferris State and Michigan.

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).

FEELING A DRAFT: Notre Dame has five players on its current roster that 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 rapidly-improving 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 also 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.

ROAD TRIP ANYONE?: The Notre Dame hockey program again will travel plenty of miles during the 2000-01 season, as the Irish are slated to traverse the equivalent of nearly 17,000 miles in the upcoming season-after travelling nearly 18,000 in 1999-2000 (17,907, or close to three-quarters of the Earth’s diameter) … the longer trips of 2000-01 include the season-opening game versus Minnesota, a trip to Omaha for the Maverick Shootout (plus a later series with Nebraska Omaha), an upper-peninsula visit to Lake Superior, the RPI Christmas Tournament in Troy, N.Y., a pair of games versus Yale in New Haven, Conn., and a return journey to Fairbanks, Alaska (ND’s third trip to UAF in the last four seasons) … the 1999-2000 campaign likewiseincluded trips to Omaha and Fairbanks, plus a pair of visits to tournaments in Denver, Colo., a Thanksgiving tournament at New Hampshire and an upper-peninsula visit to Northern Michigan … here’s a breakdown of the 2000-01 trips, based on average roundtrip land mileage: