Jan. 22, 2001

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BUSY WEEK FOR THE IRISH: The Notre Dame Fighting Irish take to the road with three games this week…on Tues., Jan. 23, the Irish travel to Ann Arbor, Mich., where they’ll face the ninth-ranked Michigan Wolverines in a 7:05 p.m. game…that game will be televised live by Fox Sports Net Detroit with Ken Daniels, Fred Pletch and Jim Blaney calling the action…this coming weekend (Jan. 27-28), the Irish travel to New Haven, Conn. for a pair of non-conference games with the Yale Bulldogs…Saturday’s game will start at 4:00 p.m. and will be played at the New Haven Coliseum, the first time Yale has played at the downtown arena since 1984…Sunday’s tilt has a 1:00 p.m. face-off time and will be played at Yale’s Ingalls Rink…the Irish are coming off a loss (5-3) and a tie (2-2) with Ohio State last weekend at home…the Irish come into the Michigan game with a 5-17-5 record and are 3-11-3 in the CCHA…Notre Dame is currently tied for 11th with Bowling Green as each have 10 points…the Irish are two points behind 10th place Lake Superior and three behind ninth-place Ferris State…Michigan is coming off a win and a tie with Western Michigan and stands at 17-6-4 on the season and 11-4-2 in league play, good for second place in the CCHA standings…the Yale Bulldogs will come into the Super Bowl weekend series with a 9-8-0 overall record and are currently 6-6-0 in ECAC play…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 Dave Mager calling the shots…the play-by-play also available via the internet at www.und.com…

IRISH VERSUS MICHIGAN: These two rivals have met 93 times in the all-time series with Michigan holding a 52-38-3 edge…in the last 36 games in the series, Michigan has owned the Irish as they hold a 32-3-1 mark in those games…since Notre Dame returned to the CCHA in 1992-93, Michigan holds a 26-3-1 advantage…at Yost Ice Arena, Notre Dame is 22-30-2 all-time, but just 1-13-0 since returning to the CCHA…ND’s lone win was a 4-2 victory in the first game of the 1998 CCHA playoffs…Notre Dame’s last regular season win at Yost Arena came on Oct. 22, 1982 , a 9-5 Irish victory…the Irish are 0-14 in their last 14 regular season games on Michigan’s home ice…Notre Dame has not played at Yost Arena since the 1998-99 season when the Irish lost a 1-0 decision to the Wolverines…the Irish are 1-3-1 against Michigan in the last five meetings and 2-7-1 in the last ten meetings between the two teams…Michigan won both meetings in 1999-2000, taking 5-3 and 5-1 wins at the Joyce Center…ND’s last win versus Michigan came on Jan. 30, 1999, a 3-2 win at home…the Irish and Wolverines square off again in Ann Arbor on Feb. 16…

IRISH VERSUS YALE: Notre Dame and Yale have met just twice in their hockey pasts with the Bulldogs winning both…the first meeting came in New York city during the 1926-27 season with Yale winning 5-0…the two teams then met in Hartford, Conn. on Jan. 4, 1985 in the Phoenix Classic with Yale taking a 10-5 decision…

THE COACHES: Notre Dame head coach Dave Poulin owns a 76-116-27 mark (.409) in his sixth season at Notre Dame…versus Michigan, Poulin-coached teams are 2-14-1…the Irish coach has never faced Yale…Michigan head coach Red Berenson is now in his 17th season at Ann Arbor and has a 438-213-44 (.662) record and is 30-3-1 versus the Irish…Yale coach Tim Taylor is in his 23rd year with the Bulldogs and has compiled a 277-328-42 (.459) record…he is 1-0 versus the Irish…

SCOUTING MICHIGAN AND YALE: Hockey information on the Michigan Wolverines can be found at www.mgoblue.com…information on the Yale Bulldogs is available at www.yale.edu/athletics…additional information on Notre Dame, Michigan and the CCHA is also available on the CCHA website at ccha.com…

OHIO STATE RECAP: Ohio State’s freshman class provided all the scoring and clutch goaltending in Friday night’s 5-3 win over the Fighting Irish…Paul Camponigri (two goals), Dave Steckel (two goals) and Scott May (one goal) scored the goals while goaltender Mike Betz kicked out 27 shots in the win…Notre Dame’s top line of Dan Carlson (Sr., Edina, Minn.), Aaron Gill (Fr., Rochester, Minn.) and Ryan Dolder (Sr., Hutchinson, Minn.) each scored a goal to provide all the Notre Dame scoring…Gill scored the opening goal of the game marking just the eighth time in 27 games that the Irish have scored first…they are 4-2-2 in those games…Tony Zasowski (So., Darien, Ill.) made 20 saves in the loss as his two-game unbeaten streak (1-0-1) came to an end…the Irish were 1-for-7 on the power play while Ohio State was 1-for-3…on Saturday night, the Irish battled back twice to get a point in the series with a 2-2 tie…After a scoreless first period, OSU’s Jean-Francois Dufour gave the Buckeyes a 1-0 lead at 9:07 of the second period…the score stayed that way until Dolder scored his second shorthanded goal of the season and career best 12th goal of the year at 6:07 of the third period…R.J. Umberger gave Ohio State a 2-1 lead at 11:00 before David Inman (Jr., Toronto, Ont.) snapped a 10-game goal scoring drought with his seventh of the year at 16:31…Senior goaltender Kyle Kolquist (Duluth, Minn.) made 27 saves, but is still looking for the first win of his career…he is now 0-3-2 on the season and 0-4-2 in his career…Notre Dame now plays nine of its final 12 games on the road…

RED HOT LINE: The Irish line of Dan Carlson, Aaron Gill and Ryan Dolder, all Minnesota natives, has carried the Irish since December 19 at Nebraska-Omaha…after getting shutout in their first game together, they have scored points in nine straight games…during the nine game point streak, the trio has collected 16 goals and 20 assists for 36 points…Carlson leads the group with seven goals, nine assists and 16 points, Dolder follows with six goals, seven assists and 13 points and Gill has three goals, four assists and seven points…

STREAKERS: With his shorthanded goal on Saturday versus Ohio State, Ryan Dolder has now scored a goal in three consecutive games…Dan Carlson had a four-game goal streak snapped in the 2-2 tie versus Ohio State…Carlson (7-9-16) and Dolder (6-7-13) now have nine-game point scoring streaks dating back to Dec. 20…those are the longest point scoring streaks by an Irish player since the 1996-97 season when Ben Simon had an eight-game streak (3-9-12)…the longest streak in the CCHA this year is 14 games and is still active…it belongs to Michigan’s Andy Hilbert…

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 12 games…the Irish have lost 51 man-games to injuries or illness this season…

BY THE NUMBERS: The Irish are now 1-1-2 in their last four games, 2-6-2 in their last 10 and 2-12-4 since the Nov. 3 win at Miami…the Jan. 12 win versus Western Michigan 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…

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…

CAREER YEAR: Senior right wing Ryan Dolder is closing out his collegiate career in fine fashion…heading into this week’s action, Dolder has career highs in goals (12) and points (25)…he needs one more assist to surpass his career high (14)…last season was his best year at Notre Dame as he had 10 goals and 14 assists for 24 points…he is currently second on the squad in scoring (12-13-25)… Dolder picked up the first shorthanded goal of his career at Western Michigan (1/13) and then got his second a week later versus Ohio State (1/20)…he has nine 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…

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 2-2 tie with Ohio State was the seventh time this season that the Irish have played overtime…ND is 1-1-5 in those games…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 was the first since March 5, 1999 when 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 at the Joyce Center since a Nov. 17, 1996 loss to Mankato State…

KOLY THE GOALIE: Senior goaltender Kyle Kolquist (Sr., Duluth, Minn.) has had a solid year in goal for the Irish, but is still looking for his first career win…on Saturday, versus Ohio State (1/20), Kolquist made 27 saves in the 2-2 tie…that lowered his goals against average to 2.66 for the year with a .922 save percentage, yet his record is 0-3-2…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 four 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)…

PENALTY KILLING PROWESS: Notre Dame continues to get strong penalty killing, having given up four power play goals in 23 chances (82.6% penalty killing) over the last four games while also scoring a pair of shorthanded goals…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 18 games following that, ND has given up 14 power play goals in 101 chances for an 86.1% 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 the Michigan game, the Irish have given up 30 power play goals in 154 chances for an 80.5% 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…Over the last three series, Carlson has four goals and five assists for nine points…

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 13 assists for 17 points…

IRON MEN: Senior right wing Ryan Dolder (Hutchinson, Minn.) has now played in 91 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 146 of 149 games in his three-plus years at Notre Dame (missing two while at the ’98-’99 World Juniors)…Carlson needs to appear in seven more games to break John Schmidt’s ND record for career games played (152, ’78-’82).

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)…

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 36 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…

THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT: Through the first 27 games of the season, the Irish newcomers (seven freshman, one transfer) have shown their abilities by contributing to the ND attack with 20 goals and 37 assists for 57 of the team’s 167 points…that amounts to 29.9% of the goals, 37.0% of the assists and 34.1% of the team’s points…Aaron Gill (Rochester, Minn.) leads the way with (8g, 9a), Brett Lebda (Buffalo Grove, Ill.) is second with (4g, 13a) and is followed by Rob Globke with (9g, 4a), Jon Maruk (Eden Prairie, Minn.) with (0g, 5a), Neil Komadoski (Chesterfield, Mo.) with (0g, 4a) and Tom Galvin with (0g, 2a)…

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).

NOT SO SWEET HOME: Notre Dame has struggled at home as the Irish have compiled a 3-10-2 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 276-229-35 (.546) in 540 home games…

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…

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: t1 – Gove (20-26-46), t7 – Carlson (10-18-28), 11 – Swider (12-14-26), t12 -Dolyny (7-18-25), t24 – Leahy (4-17-21) and t29 – Hall (12-8-20)…

CENTURY MARK: Senior defenseman Ryan Clark (Littleton, Colo.) played in his 100th career game versus Miami (Dec. 9) and has now played in 109 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 121 during his career…right wing Matt Van Arkel played in his 100th career game versus Minnesota and has now played in 127 overall…the remainder of that group includes Dan Carlson (146) and Ryan Dolder (130).

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.

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) … here’s a breakdown of the 2000-01 trips, based on average roundtrip land mileage: