March 10, 1999

By Pete LaFleur

NOTRE DAME, Ind.–Notre Dame senior goaltender Forrest Karr (DeForest, Wis.) and senior left wing Aniket Dhadphale (Marquette, Mich.) have been named to the six-player Central Collegiate Hockey Association All-Academic Team for 1998-99, as selected by the faculty athletic representatives from both schools.

Two other Notre Dame players-senior defenseman Benoit Cotnoir and junior defenseman Andy Jurkowski-were among the eight conference players who received honorable mention All-Academic team honors from the CCHA. Notre Dame led the 11-team CCHA with a total of four players named to the All-Academic and honorable mention All-Academic teams, followed by Michigan State (3), Ferris State (3), Bowling Green (2), Western Michigan (1) and Alaska Fairbanks (1). The Notre Dame hockey program is coming off a solid 1998 fall semester during which the 27-player squad posted a 3.1 team grade-point average.

The players joining Karr and Dhadphale on the All-Academic team include Bowling Green junior forward Zach Ham and senior goaltender Mike Savard, Ferris State senior forward Joel Irwin and Michigan State senior center Shawn Horcoff.

Notre Dame has produced seven first team CCHA All-Academic team selections since rejoining the CCHA in 1992-93: Curtis Janicke and Carl Picconatto in 1992-93, Garry Gruber in ’95-’96 and Steve Noble in ’96-’97 and ’97-’98.

Ham received the most voting points in the All-Academic team balloting, followed by Karr and Dhadphale-with both Irish players currently being considered for Academic All-America honors. Karr has posted six Dean’s List semesters at Notre Dame while maintaining a 3.73 cumulative grade-point average as a finance major. He posted a perfect 4.0 GP in the fall of 1996, in addition to a 3.92 in the fall of ’97 and a 3.70 in the fall of ’98.

On the ice, 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 94.9 percent of the team’s minutes. Karr is on pace to set Notre Dame records for overall season GAA (2.47), career GAA (2.86) and career save pct. (.891) while his .904 season save pct. ranks third in Irish history.

Karr’s 1998-99 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 heads into the postseason having allowed three or fewer goals in 17 of his last 18 outings (two or fewer in 11 of those games). Karr’s 1,994:02 minutes played in 1998-99 rank second in Irish history, just 219 minutes behind Lance Madson’s record total of 2,213 in 1988-89.

Dhadphale is a five-time Notre Dame Dean’s List student and owns a 3.40 cumulative GPA as a finance major, including a 3.50 in the fall of 1998. He ranks eighth in the CCHA with 18 goals (plus 11 assists) while his nine power-play goals rank fourth in the CCHA. Dhadphale heads into the postseason with 61 goals and 44 assists in 140 career games while his 25 career power-play goals are tied for fifth in Notre Dame history. His .200 season shooting pct. (18 goals on 90 shots) leads the Irish in 1998-99.

Cotnoir posted a 3.58 GPA during the 1998 fall semester and carries a 3.25 cumulative GPA as an economics major, with two Dean’s List semesters. A top candidate for All-CCHA honors. Cotnoir ranks third among CCHA defenseman with 24 points, including six goals and 18 assists. His 87 career points (27 goals, 60 assists) rank ninth all-time among Notre Dame defenseman, just two behind All-American Bill Nyrop (17G-72A, 1970-74). More than half of his career points have come on the power play, including 20 power-play goals and 26 power-play assists. Cotnoir ranks as Notre Dame’s co-leading scorer during the past 18 games, with five goals and 10 assists.

Jurkowski has been named to the Dean’s List following all five of his semesters at Notre Dame and carries a 3.81 cumulative GPA as a finance major, including a 4.0 on the fall of ’97 and a 3.87 in the fall of ’98. He is one of four Notre Dame players who appeared in all 35 games of the 1998-99 regular season while totaling just 10 penalties. He assisted on Ben Simon’s opening goal in the 3-2 win over Michigan on Jan. 30 before scoring at Michigan State on Feb. 19 to end Notre Dame’s 205-minute scoreless streak.

1998-99 CCHA All-Academic Team: Zach Ham (Bowling Green, F, Jr., Architecture / Environmental Science), Forrest Karr (Notre Dame, G, Sr., Finance), Aniket Dhadphale (Notre Dame, LW, Sr., Finance), Mike Savard (Bowling Green, G, Sr., Finance), Joel Irwin (Ferris State, F, Sr., Criminal Justice) and Shawn Horcoff (Michigan State, F, Jr., Marketing).

1998-99 CCHA Honorable Mention All-Academic Team: Joe Blackburn (Michigan State, G, So.), Jim Dube (Ferris State, D, So.), Jason Redenius (Western Michigan, F, Jr.), Andrew Bogle (Michigan State, F, So.), Benoit Cotnoir (Notre Dame, D, Sr., Economics), Andy Jurkowski (Notre Dame, D, Jr., Finance), Gary Ricciardi (Ferris State, D, Jr.) and Darren Tiemstra (Alaska Fairbanks, D, So.).