Nov. 26, 1997
Irish Home for Two vs. Lake Superior
- Notre Dame looking for valuable CCHA points after tie, close loss vs. FSU
- Chipchase's hat trick overshadowed by 4-3 loss at Ferris State
- Simon stays hot, with points in 10 of 12 games
- Urick, Dusbabek due for goal explosions
The Notre Dame hockey team (6-5-1, 3-4-1 CCHA) will play host
to Lake Superior this weekend, with games to be played on Nov.
28 and 29 ... the Irish and Lakers (3-6-2, 2-4-2) currently
stand seventh and eighth in the Central Collegiate Hockey
Association standings, behind Western Michigan (4-7-1) and in
front of Ohio State (2-5-0) ... Notre Dame last week played to
a 5-5 tie at home against Ferris State before seeing the
Bulldogs ruin Chad Chipchase's hat trick the next day with a
4-3 FSU win in Big Rapids ... Notre Dame split a pair of road
games the previous week, losing at Miami (5-4) on Adam
Copeland's goal with 20 seconds left in regulation before
beating Ohio State (3-2) at the Ohio Expo Center ... Notre
Dame's 18 starting skaters have included as many as seven
freshmen and six sophomores ... the Irish were picked seventh
(out of 11 teams) in the preseason CCHA coaches poll while the
Lakers were picked fourth ... junior RW Brian Urick (2 goals)
and sophomore RW Joe Dusbabek (1 goal) have combined for just
three goals this season, after sharing for the team lead last
season with 13 goals each.
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Dan Carlson (File Photo)
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IRISH OPEN WITH CHALLENGING FIRST-SEMESTER SCHEDULE:
Notre Dame's early-season schedule produced a challenging first
10 games, with each of the first four Irish losses coming
against teams that are currently ranked eighth or higher in
each of the four national polls ... Notre Dame has lost twice
to the current consensus #1 team, Michigan State (1-5, 1-3),
while also dropping close games to Boston College (2-3) and
Miami (4-5) ... BC (6-2-0) is ranked as high as seventh, in the
WMEB media poll, while Miami (9-1-0) is ranked fourth in all
four polls ... Notre Dame has handed MSU (11-1-2) its only loss
of the season (6-1 at MSU) while posting a sweep at St. Cloud
State, which is among the top-14 vote-getters in three national
polls this week ... Notre Dame's final four games of the fall
semester--away and home series with Western Michigan and
Wisconsin--also should provide an added challenge ... WMU
(5-7-2) stands sixth in the CCHA and received votes in this
week's WMPL coaches poll ... Wisconsin (5-1-0) is ranked in the
top 10 of all four polls, including fifth in the WMPL and U.S.
College Hockey Online polls.
SCOUTING THE LAKERS: Lake Superior returns 17 players
from its 1996-97 team that finished 19-14-5 overall and fourth
in the CCHA ... the Lakers lost a pair of valuable
seniors-to-be:--forward Bates Battaglia (12 G, 27 A in '96-'97)
and goaltender John Grahame (3.66, .876)--to professional
hockey ... the Lakers top returning scorers are senior LW Joe
Blaznek (22 G, 24 A) and junior RW Jason Sessa (22 G, 22 A) ...
Terry Marchant leads LSSU this season with 11 points (3 G, 8
A), followed by Blaznek (7 G, 3 A), Sessa (6 G, 3 A) and Tobin
Praznik (5 G, 4 A) ... the Lakers rank seventh among CCHA team
for overall power-play pct. (.160) and fourth in
penalty-killing (.877), having allowed just nine opponent PPGs
while scoring five shorthanded goals ... LSSU's CCHA wins have
come vs. Alaska-Fairbanks (8-2) and at Western Michigan (4-1)
... the Lakers have lost to Ferris State (1-6), at NMU (3-5),
UAF (2-6) and at WMU (3-4) ... LSSU's ties have come at NMU
(2-2) and at home vs. the Wildcats (2-2) ... the Lakers have
played three non-conference games, losing to Windsor in
overtime (4-5) before splitting at home vs. Vermont (2-3, 7-4).
THE LAKE SUPERIOR SERIES: Lake Superior owns a 15-5-0
series edge vs. Notre Dame, including five straight wins ...
LSSU won 4-3 at Notre Dame last season before posting two home
wins over the Irish (6-3, 4-0) ... in last year's first
meeting, the Lakers took command with three goals in the
second, from Mike Peron, Terry Marchant and Bates Battaglia ...
the Irish responded with goals in a span of 1:35 from Brian
Urick and Joe Dusbabek ... Jason Sessa upped LSSU's lead in the
third before Benoit Cotnoir ended the scoring with a power-play
goal ... in last year's first game in Sault Ste. Marie, the
Lakers surged past the Irish with three goals in the final six
minutes, from Mitch Lane, Joe Blaznek and Battaglia ... Notre
Dame led 1-0 after a first-period Sean Seyferth goal and twice
tied the game, on goals by Steve Noble and Ben Nelsen ...
LSSU's first three goals came from Tobin Praznik, Blaznek and
Sessa ... LSSU took the series finale behind John Grahame's
22-save shutout ... Bryan Fuss scored a shorthanded goal late
in the first and Blaznek scored early in the second period,
followed by goals from Darcy George and Mike Kusculain in a
52-second span.
FRIEND OR FOE?: Notre Dame's Nathan Borega played with
LSSU's Blain Macauley and Jeff Cheeseman on the Vernon Vipers
... Notre Dame's Ben Simon, LSSU's Jason Sessa and Boston
College's Jeff Farkas were linemates on the U.S.
silver-medal-winning team at the 1997 World Junior
Championships ... Notre Dame's Chad Chipchase played
summer-league hockey with LSSU's Jeff McLean ... Notre Dame's
Mark Eaton played youth hockey with Sessa in their native New
York.
NOTRE DAME AGAIN AMONG YOUNGEST TEAMS IN DIVISION I
HOCKEY: The 1996-97 Notre Dame hockey team was
second-youngest in Division I, with an average age of 19 years
and 11 months on Nov. 1, 1996 ... the Irish remain young in
'97-'98, with an average age of 20 years and two months as of
10/28/97, according to the recently-released data by NHL
Central Scouting, which lists Harvard (19, 7) and Boston
University (20, 0) as the two youngest teams in the nation
while Notre Dame is tied with two of its 1997-98
opponents--Boston College and Michigan--as having the
third-lowest average age in Division I hockey ... more than
half (14) of the players on Notre Dame's 27-man roster began
their careers with the Irish immediately following graduation
from high school, with seven joining the program after one year
of junior hockey and only six spending two years in junior
hockey before joining the Irish ... the youngest members of the
'97-'98 Irish squad are: Dan Carlson (18, 6 as of 10/28/97),
Chad Chipchase (18, 7), Jay Kopischke (19, 2), Matt Van Arkel
(19, 3), Ben Simon (19, 4) and Joe Dusbabek (19, 5) ... Carlson
and Chipchase are among the 21 youngest players in the CCHA for
1997-98 while Simon was the league's third-youngest player in
1996-97 ... the '97-'98 Irish roster includes just six players
who were 22 years or older on Nov. 1, 1997 while nine Irish
players were 18 or 19 years old on 11/1/97.
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Lyle Andrusiak (File Photo)
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ANDRUSIAK, COTNOIR TURN IN BIG WEEKEND: Senior C Lyle
Andrusiak (3G) and junior D Benoit Cotnoir (2G, 1A) combined
for five goals in the Nov. 15-16 action at Miami and Ohio State
... Cotnoir--who extended his hit streak with a pair of
power-play goals in last week's 5-5 tie vs. Ferris
State--opened the scoring at Miami with his first goal of the
season, a power-play blast from the right circle ... Cotnoir
also opened the scoring at OSU, again with a shot from the
right circle for a short-handed score ... he later slid the
puck to Aniket Dhadphale, who sent a shot from the left circle
that was saved by Ray Aho put tipped in at the right post by
Andrusiak for what proved to be the game-winner (3-2) ...
Andrusiak scored twice at Miami, converting a long breakaway to
tie the game (3-3) before forging a 4-4 tie after tapping home
a rebounded shot by Brian Urick ... Cotnoir has totaled 43
career points (15 G, 28 A) from the blue line, with over 70
percent (5 G, 12 A) of his 24 points during the past two
seasons coming on the power play ... Andrusiak's five goals
nearly equal his junior-year total (7) ... Andrusiak had 10
goals and a freshman but just one as a sophomore ... after
posting shooting percentages of .019 (1-for-53) and .109
(7-for-64) during the past two seasons, Andrusiak has converted
on 19.2 percent of his 26 shots this season ...
DUS WAS DUE: Sophomore right wing Joe Dusbabek scored
his first goal of the season on Nov. 15 at Miami, redirecting a
pass from Ben Simon in the first period for a 2-1 Irish lead
... Dusbabek had failed to score on his first 20 shots of the
season while enduring a career-long goalless streak of eight
games ... Dusbabek, who is tied for fourth on the Irish this
season with six assists, was runner-up for CCHA rookie of the
year last season after sharing for the team scoring lead (13G,
12A), when he converted on 15.5 percent of his 84 shots ...
Dusbabek's current shooting pct. stands at .043 (1-for-23) and
he has managed just two or fewer shots in 10 games this season
(he totaled seven shots vs. Bowling Green).
RECAPPING LAST WEEK'S FSU SERIES: (5-5, 3-4) - Notre
Dame's Dan Carlson scored the with 4:41 left in the third
period to force overtime in a back-and-forth series-opening
game at the Joyce Center... Notre Dame spotted Ferris a 2-0
first-period lead before claiming leads of 3-2 and 4-3 ... the
Irish surged ahead in the second period behind Jay Kopischke's
first career goal and a pair of man-up scores from defenseman
Benoit Cotnoir ... Aniket Dhadphale pushed the Irish ahead,
4-3, with an early third-period goal but the visitors surged
back in front after scoring twice in a 64-second span ... Notre
Dame's Matt Eisler had 23 saves and stopped the biggest
overtime scoring chance, making a sprawling save on a shot
between the circles from Brian McCullough ... Ben Simon
assisted on three Irish goals ... the next day at Ferris, the
Bulldogs pulled out the comeback win, despite a second-period
hat trick by Notre Dame freshman Chad Chipchase ... Chipchase's
hat trick is the first by a Notre Dame player in 81 games, a
streak that stretches back to a four-goal performance by Brian
Urick against Alaska-Fairbanks in October of 1995 ... Notre
Dame held leads of 2-1 and 3-2 but FSU pulled out the win Brent
Wishart's pair of goals in the final period ... Steve Noble
assisted on each of Chipchase's goals, including the second
that came just nine seconds after the first.
WHERE ARE YOU FROM?: Nearly 40 percent of the current
271 players that had played this season for a CCHA team (as of
Nov. 11) are products of either the United States Hockey League
(54) or the North American Hockey League (52) ... Ferris State
and Miami each had used eight former USHL players as of Nov. 11
while Notre Dame had played seven ... Ohio State (9) and Ferris
State (7) had featured the most former NAHL players while Notre
Dame has one: sophomore C Ben Simon (Cleveland Junior Barons)
... 20 former high school or prep school players had skated for
a CCHA team this season, with Michigan accounting for seven of
those players while Notre Dame had five (the Irish players are
sophomore RW Troy Bagne, freshman LW Dan Carlson, senior G Matt
Eisler, sophomore RW Joe Dusbabek and junior RW Brian Urick).
SPECIAL IMPROVEMENT: Notre Dame's power-play pct.
(.219/14-for-64) is up considerably from last season (.127) and
ranks second among CCHA teams, behind Miami's .357 ... the
Irish netted at least one power-play goal in the first 11 games
this season (the longest PPG streak in 1996-97 was three games)
... a year ago, Notre Dame did not score its 14th power-play
goal until the 19th game of the season ... Notre Dame ranked
4th in the CCHA for penalty killing last season (.813) and
opened this season with 16 straight penalty kills before
allowing a Boston College score ... the Irish then killed off
22 straight power plays, including 15 in a two-game weekend
series vs. then-#2 Michigan State ... the team's season
penalty-killing percentage now stands at .870 (50-for-57) and
ranks 3rd in the CCHA behind Ohio State's .913 and Michigan
State's .888 ... the Irish record for season penalty-killing
percentage was set by the 1969-70 team, which stopped 86.1
percent of opponent power plays ... the current power-play pct.
(.219) is better than four of the previous five season-ending
percentages (the '94-'95 team converted on 22.0 percent).
PENALTY-KILLING PROVIDES ADDED PLUS: Notre Dame's
penalty-killing unit has scored one goal for every two it has
allowed this season, totaling three short-handed goals while
allowing just seven opponent power-play scores ... the three
short-handed goals are more than the Irish total from all of
1996-97 (2), with Ben Simon scoring two of the SHG's and Benoit
Cotnoir netting the third ... Notre Dame's "-4" penalty-killing
effort this season is tied with Lake Superior for second in the
CCHA behind Ohio State's "-2" (4 SHG, 6 PPG allowed) ... the
other CCHA penalty-killing units stack up as follows, based on
short-handed goals scored minus power-play goals allowed:
Western Michigan (-7), Michigan State (-8), Michigan (-8),
Miami (-9), Northern Michigan (-13), Ferris State (-14), Alaska
Fairbanks (-15) and Bowling Green (-17) ... Notre Dame and
Michigan State are the only CCHA teams that have yet to allow a
shorthanded goal this season.
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Aniket Dhadphale (File Photo)
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RETURN OF THE SNIPER?: Junior left wing Aniket
Dhadphale's impressive start to the 1997-98 season hints at a
possible return to the form that saw him lead the Irish in
goals as a freshman (13), when he converted on 18.1 percent of
his 72 shots ... Dhadphale then endured a sophomore slump,
scoring just five times on 109 shots (4.6 percent) ... this
season, Dhadphale has surpassed his sophomore goal total,
sharing the Irish lead (8) and trailing only Michigan's Bill
Muckalt (11) among players in the CCHA ... Dhadphale has
converted in 26.7 percent of his 30 shots (an average of one
goal per every 3.8 shots on goal) ... his noteworthy goals
include two in the clinching four-goal flurry at Michigan State
(6-1) ... after scoring seven goals in the first seven games,
Dhadphale has just one goal on 12 shots during the last five.
SIMPLE SIMON: Notre Dame sophomore center Ben Simon has
been Mr. Reliable this season, recording at least one point in
every game except the Nov. 8 loss at Michigan State (3-1) and
the Nov. 22 loss at Ferris State (4-3) ... he leads the Irish
in points (15), including a season goal total (7) that is
nearly double his output from 1996-97 (4), when Simon did not
score a goal until the 15th game of the season ... Simon's
three power-play goals equal his freshman year total while his
two shorthanded goals equal Notre Dame's team total for all of
1996-97 ... Simon's more noteworthy moments this season
include: two goals in the 4-3 win at St. Cloud State, one of
them coming as the overtime game-winner, a power-play score at
Michigan State to open the scoring in the 6-1 Irish win and a
memorable shorthanded goal in the 2-1 win over Bowling Green,
in which he weaved from one end of the ice to the other ... two
weeks ago, Simon assisted on Notre Dame's first two goals in
the 5-4 last-second loss at Miami while his second shorthanded
goal of the season came on a breakaway in the 3-2 win at Ohio
State, with Simon knocking the puck away from an OSU player at
mid-ice and depositing a backhanded shot for a 2-0 Irish lead
... he had three assists in the recent 5-5 tie with Ferris
State.
'TIS BETTER TO GIVE?: Junior RW Brian Urick is third on
the Irish scoring chart this season (10 points), thanks to a
team-high eight assists, with three of those coming in the 6-1
win at Michigan State ... Urick has ranked among the Irish
scoring leaders throughout his career, totaling 27 goals and 37
assists over the course of 82 career games ... his assists this
season include the pass that set up Ben Simon's overtime
game-winner at St. Cloud State (4-3) ... Urick scored just once
on his first 19 shots this season--the empty-netter in the
opener vs. Western Ontario--before intercepting a clearing
attempt and flicking a shot past Chad Alban for a 2-0 lead and
what proved to be the game-winner at MSU.... Urick also set up
Lyle Andrusiak's goal that tied the game at Miami (4-4), with
the RedHawks winning in the final seconds ... despite his
passing success, Urick has struggled with his own goal-scoring,
converting on just 4.5 percent of his team-high 44 shots (Urick
scored on 15.1 percent of his shots during his first two
seasons).
FRESH LEGS WIN: Notre Dame owned an 8-0 third-period
scoring advantage during its opening three wins ... a
third-period goal by sophomore center Ben Simon then put the
Irish up 2-0 on Boston College but the Eagles soared to three
goals in a five-minute span during the final period to post a
3-2 comeback victory ... in the fifth game of the season,
Michigan State used two third-period goals to wrap up a 5-1 win
at Notre Dame but the Irish returned the favor the next night
with a four-goal, third-period outburst that produced a 6-1 win
... after dominating the third period scoring earlier this
season, Notre Dame has seen its opponents total the same amount
of goals in the final 20 minutes (16) ... the Irish have
outscored the opposition 12-3 in the third period of the six
Notre Dame wins ... in Notre Dame's five losses this season,
the opposition has owned a 10-2 scoring edge.
GO-TO GROUP: Notre Dame head coach Dave Poulin remarked
before the season that the Irish did not have a 30-goal scorer
and would need to rely on several players for timely goals ...
although junior LW Aniket Dhadphale (8 goals) and sophomore C
Ben Simon (7) have set an early pace for 20-plus goals, the
Irish truly have relied on balanced scoring--as most recently
seen by freshman Chad Chipchase's hat trick in the 4-3 loss at
Ferris State ... the six game-winning goals have come from five
different players ... the team's top 10 scorers have between
7-15 points, led by Simon (7-8), Dhadphale (8-2), junior RW
Brian Urick (2-8), senior C Steve Noble (2-8) and junior D
Benoit Cotnoir (4-5) ... freshmen Matt Van Arkel (2-5) and Dan
Carlson (3-4) have quickly made their presence felt ... senior
C Lyle Andrusiak has 9 points, including five goals (third-most
on the team) ... Andrusiak's first goal of the season proved to
be the game-winner in the opener vs. Western Ontario (5-1),
with Van Arkel and freshman D Mark Eaton providing the
clinching goals in the closing seconds (Eaton also has four
assists for the season) ... Simon was the hero in the first win
at St. Cloud State (4-3), when his two goals included the
overtime game-winner ... in the second win over St. Cloud
(4-1), Noble scored the first two goals and Dhadphale and
Carlson clinched the game with third-period goals ... in the
6-1 win at MSU, five Irish players lit the lamp, with Urick
netting the second-period (he also had three assists) while
Dhadphale's two goals ignited a four-goal flurry late in the
third period ... in the 3-2 win at Ohio State, Andrusiak's
rebound goal off a shot from Dhadphale held up as the
game-winner.
ROAD WARRIORS: Notre Dame is 4-2-1 away from home this
season, posting big wins at St. Cloud State (4-3/ot, 4-1),
then-#2 Michigan State (6-1) and Ohio State (3-2) while losing
road games in the final minute at MSU (3-1, with the Spartans
breaking a 1-1 tie in the final four minutes) and Miami (5-4,
with Miami winning with 20 seconds left) before losing a 3-2
second-intermission lead at Ferris State (the Bulldogs won 4-3)
... the Irish have been particularly impressive during the
third period of several of those road games, scoring twice to
force overtime in the first game at St. Cloud, clinching the
second win over the Huskies with two more third-period goals
and using a four-goal, third-period flurry in the big win at
Michigan State ... Notre Dame has scored 26 goals away from
home on 168 shots on goal, for an average of 6.5 shots per goal
(15.5 shooting pct.) ... conversely, in its five home games,
Notre Dame has scored just 15 goals on 156 shots, for an
average of 10.4 shots per goal (9.6 shooting pct.).
PENALTY DROP: After ranking among the CCHA's
most-penalized teams in 1994-95 (11.59 penalties/gm) and
1995-96 (11.33), Notre Dame last season became the conference's
least-penalized team (8.69 penalties per game) ... through 12
games this season, the Irish again are the CCHA's
least-penalized squad, totaling 84 penalties for 7.0 per game
... Notre Dame's current penalty average is the lowest by an
Irish squad since the 1987-88 team averaged 6.4/gm ... after
Notre Dame, the CCHA's least-penalized teams this season are as
follows: Michigan State (8.5), Ferris State (8.7), Michigan
(9.2), Ohio State (9.2) and Miami (9.4) ... the CCHA's
most-penalized teams are Alaska Fairbanks (11.8), Bowling Green
(11.7), Northern Michigan (10.8), Lake Superior (10.5) and
Western Michigan (10.2) .. Notre Dame's hard-hitting sophomore
D Nathan Borega has been whistled for just 10 penalties this
season and less than one per game in his career (41 in 47
games) ... other disciplined skaters include senior center
Steve Noble (three penalties in '97-'98, 19 in last 46) and
sophomore D Tyson Fraser (three penalties in '97-'98, 19 in 41
career games) ... junior RW Brian Urick struggled with untimely
penalties in his first two seasons (totaling 58 in 70 games)
but has just three penalties in 1997-98 ... freshmen LW Dan
Carlson, sophomore D Sean Molina and freshman D Ryan Clark each
have totaled just two penalties this season.
SPURTABILITY: Notre Dame has erupted twice this season
to put games away in the third period ... in the opener vs.
Western Ontario, the Irish scored three times in the final
minute for a 5-1 win, with Brian Urick finding the open net
before freshmen Matt Van Arkel and Mark Eaton converted
power-play goals in the closing seconds ... on Nov. 1 at
Michigan State, Aniket Dhadphale scored the first and third
goal of a four-goal outburst that clinched the 6-1 win ...
freshmen Dan Carlson and Chad Chipchase also scored in the
flurry, covering 4:23, as the Irish put away a game that was
2-1 with eight minutes to play.
THE EISMAN COMETH ... AND TAKETH AWAY: Despite some
defensive breakdowns in front of him that have led to 14 goals
against in his last three outings, senior goaltender Matt
Eisler (West Milford, N.J.) owns a 2.86 goals-against average
and .905 save percentage in 1997-98 while leading the Irish to
their 87.0 percent penalty-killing effort ... Eisler was named
the CCHA defensive player of the week after making 63 saves and
allowing just four goals in the two-game sweep at St. Cloud
State (Oct. 17-18) and his 32 saves helped the Irish run away
with the 6-1 win at Michigan State on Nov. 1. ... Eisler's 2.86
GAA ranks fourth overall in the CCHA and fourth among
netminders with 500-plus minutes, behind Michigan State's Chad
Alban (1.45), Western Michigan's Matt Barnes (2.33) and
Michigan's Marty Turco (2.36) ... Eisler's .905 save pct. also
is fourth among CCHA goalies with 500-plus minutes ... Eisler's
current 2.86 GAA would rank third in Irish history--behind John
Barry's 2.00 in 1968-69 and Chris Cathcart's 2.83 in
1970-71--while his .905 save pct. is just behind Mark
Kronholm's existing Irish record (.907, in 1970-71) ...
Eisler's .878 career save pct. ranks fourth in Irish history
while his 2,376 career saves rank sixth ... Eisler has carried
the Irish to a 2.83 season goals against average that would
blow away the existing team record of 3.40, set in 1987-88 ...
the current team save pct. (.906) likewise is well ahead of the
Irish record of .891 (set in 1976-77).
Central Collegiate Hockey Association Standings
TEAM (overall record) W L T PTS GF GA PEN Power Play Penalty-Kill.
1. Michigan State (11-1-2) 7 1 1 15 47 23 119 (8) 14.5% (2) 91.3%
2. Northern Michigan (7-2-3) 6 1 1 14 48 34 130 (11) 8.5% (8) 80.2%
3. Michigan (9-3-1) 6 2 2 13 49 33 120 (4) 19.0% (5) 86.5%
4. Miami University (9-1-0) 6 1 0 12 53 26 94 (1) 35.7% (7) 84.6%
5. Ferris State (4-7-3) 4 4 3 11 47 50 122 (5) 16.9% (11) 78.6%
6. Western Michigan (5-7-2) 4 7 1 9 33 35 143 (6) 16.5% (6) 86.1%
7. Notre Dame (6-5-1) 3 4 1 7 42 37 84 (2) 21.9% (3) 87.7%
8. Lake Superior (3-6-2) 2 4 2 6 38 40 115 (7) 16.0% (3) 87.7%
9. Ohio State (5-6-1) 2 5 0 4 33 32 110 (9) 13.3% (1) 91.3%
10. Bowling Green (2-10-1) 1 5 1 3 36 52 152 (10) 11.8% (10) 79.5%
11. Alaska Fairbanks (2-9-1) 1 8 0 2 39 64 141 (3) 19.2% (10) 79.5%
National Hockey Polls
USA Today/American Hockey Magazine Coaches Poll
1. Michigan State (6; 11-1-2) 95
2. Boston University (6-1-0) 89
3. North Dakota (3; 5-2-1) 70
4. Miami (1; 9-1-0) 59
5. Wisconsin (7-1-0) 48
6. New Hampshire (8-3-0) 38
7. Colorado College (5-3-2) 35
8. Boston College (8-3-0) 29
9. Michigan (9-3-1) 28
10. Cornell (5-1-1) 21
Others receiving votes: Northern Michigan (14), Yale (10),
Maine (10), St. Cloud State.
U.S. College Hockey Online Coaches Poll
1. Michigan State (20; 11-1-2) 282
2. Boston University (4; 6-1-0) 258
3. North Dakota (6; 5-2-1) 238
4. Miami (9-1-0) 180
5. New Hampshire (8-3-0) 132
6. Wisconsin (7-1-0) 124
7. Colorado College (5-3-2) 110
8. Boston College (8-3-0) 87
9. Cornell (5-1-1) 58
10. Maine (6-4-1) 41
Others receiving votes: Michigan (39), Yale (38), Northern
Michigan (25), St. Cloud State (17) , Colgate (4), Clarkson
(3), Minnesota (2), Providence (1).
WMEB Media Poll
1. Michigan State (7; 9-1-2) 114
2. North Dakota (3-2-1) 105
3. Boston University (3; 5-1-0) 103
4. Miami (7-1-0) 79
5. Colorado College (2-3-2) 75
6. New Hampshire (6-3-0) 50
7. Boston College (6-2-0) 38
8. Maine (5-3-0) 26
9. Wisconsin (7-1-0) 22
10. Cornell (4-0-1) 20
Others receiving votes: Michigan (19), Colgate (4), Yale (3),
Northern Michigan (2).
WMPL Coaches Poll
1. Michigan State (6; 11-1-2) 147
2. Boston University (2; 6-1-0) 142
3. North Dakota (4; 5-2-1) 134
4. Miami (9-1-0) 102
5. Wisconsin (7-1-0) 89
6. Colorado College (5-3-2) 88
7. New Hampshire (8-3-0) 74
8. Boston College (8-3-0) 65
9. Cornell (5-1-1) 63
10. Michigan (9-3-1) 38
Others receiving votes: St. Cloud State, Providence, Clarkson,
Colgate, Alaska-Anchorage, Princeton, Western Michigan.
NOTRE DAME HOCKEY - making strides
(all improvements indicated by "+", italics = area of non-improvement)
1996-97 1997-98 Change
Wins 9-25-1 6-5-1
Winning pct. 27.1% 54.2% +27.1%
One-goal games 15 (3-12) 5 (3-2)
Goals per game 2.63 3.33 +0.70
Shots per game 27.2 27.0 -0.2
Shooting pct. 9.7% 12.3% +2.6%
Opponent shots/gm 31.8 30.1 +1.7
Shot margin -4.6 -3.1 +1.5
Power-play pct. 12.7% 21.9% +9.2%
Power-play goals/gm 0.66 1.17 +0.51
Shorthanded goals/gm 0.06 (2) 0.25 (3) +0.19
Penalties per game 8.69 7.00 +1.69
Penalty-killing pct. 81.3% 87.0% +5.7%
Goals-Against-Avg. 3.73 2.83 +0.90
Save pct. 88.2% 90.6% +2.4%
Goal margin -1.11 0.50 +1.61
Shorthanded goals allowed/gm 0.20 (7) 0.00 (0) +0.20
1st period goals/gm 0.66 (23) 0.83 (10) +0.17
1st period goal margin -0.46 (23-39) +0.17 (10-8) +0.63
3rd period goals/gm 0.94 (33) 1.25 (16) +0.31
3rd period goal margin -0.26 (33-42) +0.00 (16-16) +0.26
Ahead at 1st intermission 4-5-0 (.444) 4-0-0 (1.00) +.556
Ahead at 2nd intermission 6-2-0 (.750) 4-1-1 (.750) even
12-GAME CHECKUP: With 12 games in the books, the Irish
can point to many statistical trends that show significant
progress from the 1996-97 campaign ... in fact, Notre Dame has
improved or remained on the same pace in most of the 23
categories listed above ... the most significant offensive
improvements have come in the areas of goals per game (up
0.70), shooting pct. (up 2.6%), power-play pct. (up 9.2%) and
power-play goals per game (up 0.51) ... noteworthy improvements
on the defensive end include the 87.0 percent penalty-killing
unit (up 5.7%), a 2.83 goals against average (0.90 better than
last season) and just 7.00 penalties per game (1.69 fewer than
in '96-'97) ... Notre Dame already has more shorthanded goals
(3) than the Irish totaled in all of 1996-97 (2) .. .the Irish
are 3-2 in one-goal games this season, after going 3-12 a year
ago.
