Notre Dame Men's Ice Hockey v Miami at Hockey City Classic on 02-17-2013.
Won first monogram as a freshman during the 2011-12 campaign ... talented, offensive-minded defenseman who stepped in to become the quarterback of the Notre Dame power play ... has great vision, instincts and offensive skills with the puck ... strong skater who sees the ice ... makes great decisions with the puck ... strong in transition and on the break out ... plays with poise and great composure on the ice ... can become a dominant collegiate defenseman ... selected to the CCHA all-rookie team and was named Notre Dame's rookie of the year following his freshman season ... finished second among Irish defensemen in scoring with four goals and 11 assists for 15 points, playing in all 40 games ... product of the U.S. National Team Developmental Program where he was a teammate of fellow sophomore Austin Wuthrich ... selected in the fourth round, 95th overall, in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft by the New York Islanders ... went into the draft ranked 55th overall among North American skaters in NHL Central Scouting's final rankings ... invited to the U.S. National Junior Evaluation Camp held at Lake Placid, N.Y., between Aug. 4 to Aug. 11 along with current Irish teammates Thomas DiPauli, Steven Fogarty and Mario Lucia ... one of six Illinois natives on the roster, joining senior Sam Calabrese (Park Ridge), juniors Kevin Lind (Homer Glen) and T.J. Tynan (Orland Park) and freshmen DiPauli (Woodridge) and Sam Herr (Hinsdale) ... one of seven alums of the U.S. National Team Developmental Program on the Notre Dame roster ... one of 31 USNTDP alums to play for the Irish all-time ... signed national letter-of-intent in the early-signing period (Nov. `10) along with Eric Johnson, Andy Ryan and Peter Schneider.
AS A FRESHMAN: Played in all 40 games during his rookie season ... scored four goals with 11 assists for 15 points ... all four goals came on the power play with one being a game winner ... had seven penalties for 14 penalty minutes ... was -6 for the season ... selected to the CCHA all-rookie team and was Notre Dame's rookie of the year ... picked up first point of collegiate career with an assist in 5-3 win at Minnesota Duluth (Oct. 8) ... recorded first goal of his career on the power play in the 3-1 win at Bowling Green (Oct. 28) ... turned in first multiple-point game (1g, 1a) in 5-4 win at home against Alaska (Nov. 11) ... third goal of the year came on the power play in 4-1 win at Lake Superior State (Nov. 25) and was the game winner ... had second two-point game of the season in the 5-2 win over Boston University (Dec. 31) ... final goal of the season came on Feb. 4 in 3-2 loss to Bowling Green at the Compton Family Ice Arena ... played in four postseason games with one assist for one point.
WITH USA HOCKEY: Two-time invitee to the U.S. National Junior Evaluation Camp in Lake Placid, N.Y. (Aug. 2011 and 2012) ... spent two seasons with the U.S. National Developmental Program ... as a member of the USA Under-17 team in 2009-10, played in 52 games with seven goals and 24 assists for 31 points with 58 penalty minutes ... helped the U.S. to a first-place finish at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge in Timmins, Ont. ... with the Under-18 team in 2010-11, served as team captain and was sixth in team scoring with four goals and 26 assists for 30 points and 27 minutes in penalties ... helped the national program to gold medals at the Four Nation, the Five Nations and the 2011 IIHF World Under-18 Championships ... tied for third in scoring at the Four Nations Cup with two goals and four assists for six points ... in gold medal game had a goal in regulation and then scored twice in the shootout to defeat Sweden ... was fourth in scoring among defensemen with a goal and seven assists for eight points at the Under-18 World Championships, setting up the overtime game-winning goal in the gold medal game against Sweden ... was selected by the tournament's coaches as one of the USA's top three players.
PREP & PERSONAL: Graduated from Pioneer High School in Ann Arbor, Mich., while playing for the U.S. National Team program ... was a teammate of current Irish center T.J. Tynan while members of the Chicago Mission midget program ... had 10 goals and 20 assists for 30 points for the Mission Midget Major team in 2008-09 ... full name is Robbie Victor Russo ... son of Rob and Debra Russo ... has two sisters, Renee and Olivia ... born in Westmont, Ill. ... enrolled in the College of Arts and Letters at Notre Dame.
