March 15, 1999

Five Notre Dame hockey players have received votes for the all-Central Collegiate Hockey Association team, with senior defenseman Benoit Cotnoir (Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec) earning a spot on the six-player, first team all-CCHA squad while junior center Ben Simon (Shaker Heights, Ohio) is one of six players named second team all-CCHA.

Irish senior right wing Brian Urick (Minnetonka, Minn.) was among the next six vote-getters, earning honorable mention all-CCHA, while senior left wing Aniket Dhadphale (Marquette, Mich.) and senior goaltender Forrest Karr (DeForest, Wis.) received “special mention” all-CCHA honors.

Five CCHA teams placed players on the all-conference first or second team, led by three each from Michigan State, Ohio State and Bowling Green, plus two from Notre Dame and one from Northern Michigan. Simon is one of nine players from the all-CCHA first or second team who are eligible to return for the 1999-2000 season.

A total of 31 players received votes for all-CCHA, with the most vote-getters coming from MSU (six) and Notre Dame (five), followed by four from OSU, three each from BG, NMU and Michigan, two each from Ferris State, Miami and Western Michigan, and one from Alaska Fairbanks.

Cotnoir, who joined Michigan State junior Mike Weaver as the CCHA’s first-team defensemen, is the first Irish player to earn first team all-CCHA honors during Notre Dame’s eight combined seasons as a member of the CCHA (1981-83, 1992-present). He is Notre Dame’s first all-conference performer since senior forward Kirt Bjork earned second team all-CCHA in 1982-83.

Cotnoir is the first Notre Dame player to earn first team all-conference honors since 1979-80, when senior right wing Greg Meredith was named first team all-Western Collegiate Hockey Association.

Simon and Cotnoir give the Notre Dame hockey program its first pair of all-conference performers since 1981-82, when senior center (and current Irish head coach) Dave Poulin joined senior defenseman John Schmidt as second team all-CCHA selections.

Notre Dame had two previous seasons with three all-conference performers. Junior winger Eddie Bumbacco was named first team all-WCHA in 1972-73 while junior winger Ian Williams and junior defenseman Bill Nyrop were second team all-WCHA in ’72-’73. Four years later, sophomore defenseman Jack Brownschidle and senior center Brian Walsh were named first team all-WCHA while junior goaltender John Peterson was named second team all-WCHA in ’76-’77.

Other previous Irish all-conference selections during the program’s 19 years in the CCHA or WCHA include junior winger Ray DeLorenzi (’73-’74, 2nd team WCHA) and Brownschidle (’75-’76, 1st team WCHA).

NOTRE DAME’S 1998-99 ALL-CCHA RECIPIENT NOTES
Cotnoir ranked third among all CCHA defensemen with 24 regular-season points (6G-18A), plus a power-play goal in last weekend’s CCHA playoff series vs. NMU Cotnoir’s full ’98-’99 statistics include 25 points in 36 games, three PPGs, two game-winning goals, two game-winning assists, a +11 plus-minus (fourth-best on the team) and 25 penalties Cotnoir’s 88 career points (28G-60A) rank ninth all-time among Notre Dame defenseman, one behind the All-America numbers posted by Nyrop (17G-72A, ’70-’74) … more than half of Cotnoir’s career points have come on the power play (11 PPG, 26 PPA) … Cotnoir ranked as Notre Dame’s second-leading scorer during the final 18 regular-season games (5G-10A) Cotnoir has served as an alternate team captain for the Irish in ’98-’99 and was one of eight players named to the CCHA honorable mention all-academic team (six were named first team all-academic), due to his 3.25 cumulative GPA as an economics major Cotnoir has led an Irish defense in ’98-’99 that was forced to deal with the loss of 1998 CCHA rookie of the year Mark Eaton (who signed as a free agent in the summer of ’98 with the Philadelphia Flyers) and sophomore defenseman Ryan Clark, who has missed 24 games due to injury (including the final 22 after shoulder surgery) Cotnoir has helped the Irish post a season record for team goals-against average (2.58) while leading a penalty-killing unit that stopped 22 of 24 opponent power-play chances over the last seven games his season highlights include an assist in the tie at Boston College, two assists in the win at North Dakota, and goals in the win over Michigan and the tie with Michigan State.

Simon tied for fifth in the CCHA for overall regular-season scoring (16G-24A) while also ranking fifth in conference scoring 15G-19A) Simon added two goals in the NMU playoff series for 42 total points in 37 games played his other ’98-’99 stats include: a .159 shooting pct. (18 goals on 113 shots), a +13 plus-minus ratio (second on the team), five power-play goals, three game-winning goals, seven game-winning assists, two game-tying goals and 31 penalties he has 98 career points (31G-67A) in 104 games played he played a major role in some of the biggest plays during the ’98-’99 season, including the game-winning goal vs. Michigan and vs. NMU in the CCHA playoffs, game-tying assists vs. Wisconsin and North Dakota and game-tying goals vs. Michigan and Michigan State.

Urick ranked ninth among CCHA players for overall regular-season scoring (14G-23A) and tied for seventh in conference scoring (11G-21A) he added two goals and two assists in the NMU playoff series for 41 total points in 35 games his other ’98-’99 stats include: a +23 plus-minus ratio (third-best in the CCHA), six power-play goals, one shorthanded goal, four game-winning goals, a team-high 160 shots on goal, and just 17 penalties Urick’s 13 career game-winning goals are tied for the Irish record Urick is tied for seventh in Irish history with 146 career games played and is the 27th Notre Dame player ever to total 50-plus goals and 50-plus assists in his career (57G-69A) Urick’s assist in the final NMU playoff game pushed his career-best point streak to six games (2G-5A) his season highlights included providing two assists in the win over Ohio State, one goal and two assists in the tie at Boston College, a goal in the win at North Dakota and the game-winning assist in the playoff win over NMU.

Dhadphale tied for eighth among CCHA players with 18 overall goals during the regular season while ranking fourth in the CCHA with nine power-play goals his other ’98-’99 CCHA stats include: a team-best .186 shooting pct. (18 goals on 97 shots), one shorthanded goal, two game-winning goals, one game-tying goal, four game-winning assists, a +1 plus-minus ratio and 18 penalties a five-time Notre Dame Dean’s List student with a 3.40 cumulative GPA as a finance major, he joined Karr as one of six players named to the prestigious CCHA All-Academic Team (both he and Karr currently are under consideration for Academic All-America honors) Dhadphale owns 61 goals and 44 assists in 143 career games while his 25 career power-play goals are tied for fifth in Notre Dame history the Irish alternate captain’s 1998-99 season highlights include: the game-winning goal at Wisconsin, a goal in the tie at Boston College, an assist in the win over North Dakota and a goal in the win over Michigan. His 24 career power-play goals are tied for eighth in Notre Dame history.

Karr finished the regular season ranked third in the CCHA with a 2.27 goals-against average in conference games he is the only CCHA goaltender to start every game for his team during the regular season while logging 95 percent of the team’s minutes … Karr is on pace to set Notre Dame records for overall season GAA (2.58), career GAA (2.92) and career save pct. (.888) while his .899 season save pct. ranks third in Irish history Karr’s season highlights include earning two CCHA “defensive player of the week” awards while posting a 4-4-3 record versus teams ranked in the national top 10 (with wins over Wisconsin, Ohio State, North Dakota and Michigan) .. he is the first Notre Dame goaltender to post two solo shutouts in the same season (3-0 vs. OSU, 2-0 vs. Miami) and had allowed three or fewer goals in 19 of his last 21 outings (two or fewer in 12 of those games) … Karr’s 2,160:14 minutes played in 1998-99 rank second in Irish history, just 43 minutes behind Lance Madson’s record total of 2,213 in 1988-89 a six-time Dean’s List student with a 3.73 cumulative GPA as a finance major, Karr was named to the six-player CCHA All-Academic Team and is under consideration for Academic All-America honors he has allowed just 58 even-strength goals in 38 games played this season.

CCHA ALL-CONFERENCE FIRST TEAM (pos., team, year, 1st-team votes, voting points):
Jeff Maund (G, Ohio State, So., 7, 42); Mike Weaver (D, Michigan State, Jr., 5, 36); Benoit Cotnoir (D, Notre Dame, Sr., 5, 35); Hugo Boisvert (C, Ohio State, Jr., 9, 48); Mike York (C, Michigan State, Sr., 9, 48); Adam Edinger (C, Bowling Green, Jr., 4, 38).

CCHA ALL-CONFERENCE SECOND TEAM (pos., team, year, 1st-team votes, voting points):
Joe Blackburn (G, Michigan State, So., 2, 26); Mike Jones (D, Bowling Green, Jr., 5, 30); Andre Signoretti (D, Ohio State, So., 2, 27); Dan Price (RW, Bowling Green, Sr., 4, 34); Ben Simon (C, Notre Dame, Jr., 3, 28); J.P. Vigier (RW, Northern Michigan, Jr., 2, 26)

ALL-CCHA HONORABLE MENTION (pos., team, year, 1st-place votes, voting points): Vince Owen (G, FSU, So., 2, 25); Mike Van Ryn (D, MICH, So., 2, 19); Jim Dube, (D, FSU, So., 2 18); Jason Deskins (C, MIA, So., 1, 16); Bryan Adams (LW, MSU, Sr., 1, 15); Brian Urick (RW, ND, Sr., 0, 15).

SPECIAL MENTION/OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES (pos., team, year, voting points): Forwards — Buddy Smith (C, NMU, Sr., 12); Mike Comrie (C, MICH, Fr., 6); Aniket Dhadphale (LW, ND, Sr., 5); Chris Richards (C, OSU, Sr., 3); Roger Trudeau (LW, NMU, Jr., 2); Shawn Horcoff (C, MSU, Jr., 1) Defensemen — Bubba Berenzweig (MICH, Sr., 14); Dwayne Zinger (UAF, Jr., 10); Daryl Andrews (WMU, Jr., 4); Jeff Kozakowski (MSU, Sr., 3); Ryan Brindley (MIA, Sr., 2) Goaltenders — Forrest Karr (ND, Sr., 5); Matt Barnes (WMU, Sr., 1).