Notre Dame Fighting Irish - Official Athletics Website

Three Hockey Players Make U.S. National Junior Team

Dec. 1, 1999

Three University of Notre Dame hockey players have been named to the United States National Junior Team that will compete in the upcoming World Junior Championship, marking the fourth consecutive year that Notre Dame players will be members of the prestigious 22-player team.

The Notre Dame invitees include sophomore center Brett Henning (Huntington, N.Y.), sophomore center/left wing David Inman (Toronto, Ont.) and freshman center Connor Dunlop (St. Louis, Mo.) – representing the most players from any school on the USA team, which is comprised of the nation’s top players who are under 20 years old.

The International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship will be held Dec. 26-Jan. 4, in Skelleftea and Umea, Sweden. The United States team will assemble on Dec. 13 in West Point, N.Y. , before traveling to Sweden for pre-tournament exhibition games on Dec. 20 and 22.

The Irish are scheduled to play four games without the services of Henning, Inman and Dunlop – who each rank among the team’s top four center candidates and are vital members of the power-play unit. Notre Dame will return from final exams for a home series versus Princeton on Dec. 19-20 before ringing in the New Year at the Norwest Denver Cup, versus the University of Denver on Dec. 31 and Maine or Colorado College on Jan. 1.

The USA invitees will rejoin their Notre Dame teammates in time for a Central Collegiate Hockey Association series versus Lake Superior, on Jan. 7-8 at the Joyce Center.

Inman – whose mother Straughn is a U.S. citizen – holds joint citizenship in Canada and the United States and was one of the final two forwards cut from the 1998-99 U.S. National Junior team.

Henning and Dunlop have past experience playing for U.S. national teams, as members of the National Team Development Program that trains in Ann Arbor, Mich. (Henning in 1997-98 and Dunlop during each of the past two years). Dunlop was an alternate captain and one of the leading scorers on the 1998-99 U.S. Under-18 national team.

NOTES

? Each of Notre Dame’s invitees are among six players who currently are tied atop the team scoring charts, with eight points each in 14 games played. Inman- – who has skated primarily at left wing this season, after spending his freshman year at center – is tied for seventh in the CCHA with seven goals, plus one assist, one power-play goal, one game-winning goal, just three penalties and a +4 plus-minus ratio. Henning’s season totals include three goals, five assists, two power-play goals, three penalties and a -3 plus-minus. Dunlop’s rookie season has included two goals, six assists, one shorthanded goal, seven penalties and a -1 plus-minus.

? The Hockey East Conference placed eight players on the U.S. roster, followed by seven from the CCHA and five from the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. In addition to the Notre Dame players, the other CCHA invitees include: Michigan State sophomore forward Adam Hall, MSU freshman defenseman John Michael Liles, Michigan sophomore defenseman Jeff Jillson and Michigan freshman forward Andy Hilbert.

? The U.S. roster features seven returning players from the 1998-99 U.S. National Junior Team that finished 3-4-0 at the World Championship in Winnipeg, Canada.

? The roster features 11 National Hockey League draftees, including 1999 draftees Inman (2nd round, N.Y. Rangers) and Henning (9th round, N.Y. Islanders).

? Notre Dame is one of five schools that have placed players on the U.S. National Junior Team in each of past four years, with the others including Boston College, Minnesota, Colorado College and Michigan State

? Current Irish captain and senior center Ben Simon played on the USA’s silver medal-winning team in 1996-97 and was joined on the USA squad in 1997-98 by current Irish senior right wing Joe Dusbabek. Current Notre Dame junior left wing Dan Carlson was a member of the 1998-99 U.S. junior national team.

? Boston College leads the way with a total of nine selections to the U.S. National Junior Team during the past four years, followed by Notre Dame (7), Minnesota (6) and Michigan State (6).

? Six different Notre Dame players have been named to the National Junior team during the last four years, second only to Boston College’s seven.

? The previous three U.S. National Junior teams featured three-plus players from the same school just twice, by Boston College in 1996-97 (3) and 1997-98 (4). Like Notre Dame’s current threesome, BC placed three forwards on the USA junior national team in ’96-’97 (Blake Bellefeuille, Jeff Farkas and Marty Reasoner).

Henning
Henning’s season totals include three goals, five assists, two power-play goals, three penalties and a -3 plus-minus.

BRETT HENNING: “It will be a great experience to play for my country again and I hope we can compete well and maybe win it. … I’ve played with most of the guys on the team every summer since I was 15, so that won’t be anything new but it will be on a greater level in terms of the pace of play and the competition. … Since coming to Notre Dame, I’ve made some improvements in my skating and stick-handling, but I still have a lot of work to do in several areas. … Having Dave and Connor there will add to the experience . We have some things in common and know how to play with each other. … I’ve heard stories about the (USA’s 1996-97) silver-medal team and I definitely will talk to Ben, Joe and Dan about what their experience was like. I also have a couple of friends (including Wisconsin forward Matt Doman) who played in the world juniors last year, so I kind of know what to expect but it should be a lot different. … Some of my family may be able to come to the practices in West Point – it’s about a four-hour drive from Long Island. … I’ve played overseas before in Finland, Russia and Sweden and it’s always a great challenge to face the world’s best players in your age group. We played some exhibition games in Sweden when I was with the under-18 team and we faced the Swedish twins Daniel and Henrik Sedin, who ended up being the second and third players taken in the 1999 NHL draft. It’s just a great opportunity to play against that type of competition.”

Henning
Inman is currently tied for seventh in the CCHA with seven goals.

DAVID INMAN: “Getting cut from last year’s final junior camp was quite a disappointment but I learned some important lessons from that experience and this year I am not going to take this opportunity for granted. … I’ve spent the past year-and-a-half playing in the U.S. and most of my teammates are Americans, so I felt very comfortable trying to make the U.S. team. I don’t feel that there is any question about my loyalty. Toronto is my hometown, but playing for the U.S. is still an incredible opportunity for me. The U.S. team showed an interest in me and gave me this chance, so I want to make the most of it. … The U.S. coaches have high expectations and I have high expectations of myself. How I respond to the pressure of training camp and the exhibition games will determine what role I play for the team. I’m confident that I will be ready to contribute. … This will be my first time playing oversees, so I don’t know what to expect. It will be strange to travel all that way to play. But it will be a great tournament with some intense competition. The hockey is the key, not the location. We will be facing the best players in the world, with the exception of those who already are playing professionally. It will be the most intense environment I’ve ever played in, but I will just try to work hard and not be in awe of anything. … I think the (Notre Dame) team will respond well to our absence. Other guys will fill in and do a good job. We have a pretty well-rounded group of forwards who should be able to fill in the gaps.”

Henning
Dunlop’s rookie season has included two goals, six assists, one shorthanded goal, seven penalties and a -1 plus-minus.

CONNOR DUNLOP: “I’m thrilled to be named to the team. It’s a great honor and it will be fun to get back on the same side with these guys, instead of competing against them … During my first few months at Notre Dame, I’ve had the chance to play a lot and have become more of a complete player. I probably will play more of a defensive role with the U.S. team and we stress defense a lot here at Notre Dame, so that should help me. … The fact that three Notre Dame players were selected says a lot for where this program is headed. It will be fun to experience this with Dave and Brett, after spending the past three months together here at Notre Dame. … I’ve had the chance to play during the past two years in Finland, the Czech Republic, Germany and Sweden (at the Three Nations Cup in 1997-98). It’s always a bonus to see a new culture and visit historical sites. The hockey always comes first, but we usually have some time to experience the different cultural things about the countries. … As members of the under-18 team, it was stressed to us that we always should take pride in the crest on the front of our jerseys. At first, we didn’t fully get what that meant but once you start competing for the U.S. you really take it to heart and have that pride in what you are doing. … I’ve kept in touch with most of the guys on the team (most notably MSU defenseman John Michael Liles and BU goalie Rick Di Pietro) so it will be extra special to play in this type of event with so many good friends.”

Henning
The Irish are scheduled to play four games without Henning (above), Inman and Dunlop.

NOTRE DAME HEAD COACH DAVE POULIN: “It’s a terrific opportunity for our players to face the best players in the world. Each of them brings something different to the table and will play different roles with the team. … Brett likely will be used in a defensive role, which is something that he has excelled at this season alongside (senior) Andy Jurkowski and (junior) Ryan Dolder. That’s a line for us that we feel comfortable matching up versus anyone in the country. Brett also is a very versatile player and can make the plays on the offensive end. …. David is a very intriguing option for the U.S. and they see a lot of offensive potential in him. He could end up playing on one of the top two lines. … Connor will be one of the youngest players on the U.S. team and will have a growing role, similar to Ben Simon in his first year with the junior national team. Connor probably will be used for penalty killing, on faceoffs and in a defensive role while providing another good offensive option if needed. … We will face some challenges without having those guys for four tough games, but it will give us the chance to see some other players in new situations and they will have the chance to step in and contribute. We have several guys who could play center, including three experienced juniors in Ryan Dolder, Matt Van Arkel and Chad Chipchase. Dave, Brett and Connor also are big parts of our power-play units, so other guys will get the chance to show what they can do in those situations.”

USA NATIONAL COACH JEFF JACKSON: “For the first time (in four years), I feel we have a well-known commodity of players who bring strong leadership to the table. We should be a highly-competitive team with physical defensemen and aggressive forwards. We’ll bring an ‘in-your-face’ style of play to this year’s tournament.”

United States National Junior Team

2000 IIHF World Junior Championship Schedule
Group A: Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, Slovakia, USA
Group B: Kazakhstan, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine

Dec. 26 9:30 a.m. USA vs. Czech Republic (Skelleftea, Sweden)
Dec. 28 9:30 a.m. USA vs. Slovakia (Skelleftea)
Dec. 29 9:30 a.m. USA vs. Finland (Skelleftea)
Dec. 31 10:00 a.m. USA vs. Canada (Skelleftea)
Jan. 1 tba Quarterfinal round (site TBA)
Jan. 3 tba Semifinal round (Skelleftea)
Jan. 4 tba Gold/Bronze Medal Games (Skelleftea)

All game listings indicate U.S. Eastern Standard time and are subject to change.

1999-2000 World Junior Championship Roster

No. Name Pos. Ht./Wt. D.O.B. S/C Hometown 1999-2000 Team NHL Rights
2 Hainsey, Ron D 6-2/185 3/24/81 L Bolton, CT UMass-Lowell
3 Orpik, Brooks D 6-3/225 9/26/80 L East Amherst, NY Boston College
4 Leopold, Jordan D 6-1 210 8/3/80 L Golden Valley, MN Univ. of Minnesota Anaheim
5 Aufiero, Pat D 6-2/190 6/1/80 R Winchester, MA Boston University N.Y. Rangers
6 Jillson, Jeff D 6-3/220 7/24/80 R N. Smithfield, RI Univ. of Michigan San Jose
7 Levesque, Willie F 6-0/220 1/22/80 R Vineyard Haven, MA Northeastern San Jose
8 Winchester, Brad F 6-5/205 3/1/81 L Madison, WI Univ. of Wisconsin
9 Dunlop, Connor F 5-10/185 1/5/81 L St. Louis, MO Notre Dame
10 Stuart, Mike D 6-1/195 8/31/80 R Rochester, MN Colorado College
12 Doman, Matt F 6-0/205 2/10/80 R Sartell, MN Univ. of Wisconsin Calgary
14 Liles, John Michael D 5-10/181 11/25/80 L Zionsville, IN Michigan State
15 Henning, Brett F 6-1/200 5/7/80 L Huntington, NY Notre Dame N.Y. Islanders
18 Hall, Adam F 6-2/205 8/14/80 R Kalamazoo, MI Michigan State Nashville
19 Hilbert, Andy F 5-11/190 2/6/81 L Howell, MI Univ. of Michigan
22 Janik, Doug D 6-1/190 3/26/80 L Agawam, MA Univ. of Maine Buffalo
23 Taffe, Jeff F 6-3/175 2/19/81 L Hastings, MN Univ. of Minnesota
25 Foley, Pat F 6-1/200 1/24/81 L Milton, MA Univ. of New Hampshire
26 Nowak, Brett F 6-3/195 5/20/81 L New Haven, CT Harvard
27 Heisten, Barrett F 6-1/185 3/19/80 L Anchorage, AK Univ. of Maine Buffalo
28 Inman, David F 6-1/190 6/13/80 L Toronto, ONT Notre Dame N.Y. Rangers
29 Di Pietro, Rick G 6-0/175 9/19/81 L Winthrop, MA Boston University
30 Sauve, Philippe G 6-1/175 2/27/80 L Buffalo, NY Drummondville (QMJHL) Colorado

Head Coach: Jeff Jackson (Roseville, Mich.)
Assistant Coach: Jim Tortorella (Waterville, Maine)
Assistant Coach: Jim Johnson (Phoenix, Ariz.)
Team Manager: Scott Monaghan (Ho-Ho-Kus, N.J.)
Athletic Trainer: David Cotner (Perrysburg, Ohio)
Equipment Manager: James Dunn (Long Lake, Minn.)