#20 Tom Sawatske Hockey Roster

• Sawatske’s Career Statistics at Wisconsin
• Sawatske’s Career Bests

Teams with Noah Babin and Wes O’Neill to give Notre Dame a trio of experienced senior defensemen … will be in his second season at Notre Dame after transferring from Wisconsin … selected as an alternate captain for 2006-07 season … proved to be a valuable addition to the Irish blue line in 2005-06, seeing action in 32 games … strong-skating defensive-minded defenseman who makes good decisions with the puck … strong in his own zone and moves the puck quickly up ice to his forwards … scored two goals with two assists in his 32 games last season … found a spot in the Notre Dame record books when he teamed with Erik Condra to score the two quickest goals in Irish history (eight seconds apart) in a come-from-behind win at Northern Michigan … became the first hockey transfer for the Irish since Jon Maruk `03 in 2001-02 … spent the 2004-05 campaign in the USHL with the Lincoln Stars where he was a teammate of sophomores Erik Condra and Jordan Pearce … one of four players to play junior hockey in Lincoln, Neb., along with junior Evan Rankin (`03-’04), Condra and Pearce … one of 19 players on the Notre Dame hockey roster to play in the USHL … one of six former members (16 overall) of USA Hockey’s National Team Developmental Program on the current roster … was a teammate of recent graduate Tim Wallace and Babin on the US Under-18 Team that won the gold medal at the Under-18 World Championships in 2002 … one of five Minnesota natives on the current Irish roster along with senior T.J. Jindra (Faribault), junior Mark Van Guilder (Roseville), sophomore Garrett Regan (Hastings) and freshman Ryan Thang (Edina) … joined the Irish in the late-signing period (spring `05) along with Regan and Justin White … one of 87 Minnesota natives to earn a monogram with the Notre Dame hockey team, including four Duluth, Minn., natives, joining forward Kevin Hoene (`68-’71) and goaltenders Wade Salzman (`93-’96) and Kyle Kolquist (`97-’01).

AS A JUNIOR: Played in 32 games in his first season with the Irish … scored two goals with two assists for four points … one goal was a game winner … led Notre Dame with 23 penalties for 57 minutes … fired 18 shots on goal and had an even +/- ratio for the year … saw first action for the Irish on Oct. 21 in season opener at Colorado College … picked up assists in back-to-back games at Michigan (Nov. 5) and at home versus Bowling Green (Nov. 10) … did not pick up a point until Jan. 21 when he scored game winner at Northern Michigan … goal capped a Notre Dame rally from a 3-1 deficit for a 4-3 win … goal came eight seconds (8:50) following an Erik Condra goal (8:42) in the third period for the two quickest goals in Irish hockey history … final goal of the season came in regular-season finale versus Alaska Fairbanks, a 2-1 loss to the Nanooks … played in both playoff games but did not score.

AS A SOPHOMORE AT WISCONSIN (2003-04): Played in 21 games for Wisconsin, scoring three goals with five assists for eight points … scored a pair of power-play goals and one game winner from the blue line … converted three times on 14 shots for an impressive .214 shooting percentage … had five penalties for 21 minutes … was +8 on the season … did not play in either game of series with Notre Dame (Jan. 17-18) at the Kohl Center … after going scoreless in first four games of the season, had a two-game point streak with a goal and an assist in a weekend series at Michigan Tech … picked up first career goal and game winner on Nov. 8, 2003, versus the Huskies … second career goal came one week later at home versus Minnesota … third goal came on Nov. 29 at Michigan State on the power play … recorded back-to-back assist games on Dec. 27-28 with assists versus Union and Ferris State in Badger Showdown in Milwaukee, Wis.

AS A FRESHMAN AT WISCONSIN (2002-03): Played in 33 games during his rookie year, collecting six assists … had 23 shots on goal and three penalties for six minutes … assisted on game-winning goal in season-opening 4-3 win over Northern Michigan … had a two-game point streak (Oct. 26-Nov. 1) when he had assists in 5-1 win at Northeastern and then the following weekend in a 5-3 home loss to Denver … fourth assist came on a Brad Winchester short-handed goal in win over Alaska Anchorage … added an assist in win versus St. Cloud State and then closed the season with an assist in 6-5 overtime playoff loss to Minnesota State in game two of the first round of the WCHA playoffs.

WITH USA HOCKEY: Played two seasons with the United States National Team Developmental Program from 2000-02, playing for the Under-17 and Under-18 teams … member of gold-medal winning U.S. Under-18 team at the Under-18 World Championships in April of 2002 and the Under-17 team at the Under-17 World Championships the previous year along with current Irish teammate Noah Babin … in 57 games with the Under-18 team, had four goals and 12 assists for 16 points and 22 penalty minutes.

PREP & PERSONAL: Graduated from Pioneer High School in Ann Arbor, Mich., while playing for the National Team Developmental Program … also attended Duluth East High School in his hometown of Duluth, Minn., as a freshman and sophomore … lettered in his sophomore year as member of Duluth East team, scoring four goals with 10 assists for 14 points in 28 games with the Greyhounds … played one season in the USHL with the Lincoln Stars (`04-’05), playing in 34 games with one goal and nine assists for 10 points … selected to play in the USHL’s Top Prospects game … full name is Thomas Paul Sawatske … son of Daniel and Laurie Sawatske … has two brothers and one sister … born Jan. 12, 1984, in Duluth, Minn. … economics major in the Mendoza College of Business.

Sawatske’s Career Statistics

* at Wisconsin

Sawatske’s Career Bests

1 Points
18 times

1 Goal
Five times

1 Assist
13 times

3 Shots on Goal
vs. Ferris State (12/28/03)

2-Game Point Streak
(0g-2a); Nov. 5-10, 2005
(vs. Michigan and Bowling Green)
(0g-2a); Dec. 27-28, 2003
(vs. Union and Ferris State)
(1g-1a); Nov. 7-8, 2003
(vs. Michigan Tech)
(0g-2a); Oct. 26-Nov. 1, 2002
(vs. Northeastern and Denver)