HEADING INTO THE HOME STRETCH: Notre Dame returns to CCHA action this weekend for the final 12 regular-season games as the Irish travel to Marquette, Mich., to face the Northern Michigan Wildcats in a pair of league contests. The Irish come into the weekend in seventh place in the CCHA with an 8-6-2 record, good for 18 points. That puts Notre Dame one point out of fifth place, two points out of second and three points behind league-leading Miami, as the RedHawks have 21 points. Northern Michigan is eighth in the CCHA race with an 8-10-0 league mark for 16 points, just two behind the Irish. Notre Dame is coming off a 1-0-1 weekend at fourth-ranked Wisconsin (2-2 tie and 3-1 win) while the Wildcats lost two games at Alaska Fairbanks by 1-0 and 5-2 scores. The two teams have already met twice this season at Notre Dame on Nov. 28 and 29 with the Irish taking 5-1 and 4-2 verdicts. Northern Michigan leads the all-time series with a 14-10-4 record. At Marquette, the Wildcats are 5-3-2 versus the Irish. This is the third consecutive season that the Irish have played at Northern Michigan. The two teams have split the previous four meetings at the Berry Events Center. In the last 10 games overall, the Irish are 5-4-1. Following this weekend's series, Notre Dame returns home to face Alaska Fairbanks at the Joyce Center on Jan. 30-31.

GOLDEN GLOBKE: Senior right wing Rob Globke (West Bloomfield, Mich.) was named the CCHA offensive player of the week for the week ending Jan. 18. At Wisconsin, Globke accounted for two goals and two assists and was +2 for the weekend as the Irish tied (2-2) and downed the fourth-ranked Badgers (3-1). In the 2-2 tie, Globke set up a pair of Aaron Gill (Sr., Rochester, Minn.) power-play goals. In the 3-1 win, the Florida Panther draftee, scored two goals (one via the power play and one into an empty net), including the game winner, his CCHA leading fifth of the season. Globke is the first Notre Dame player to receive offensive player of the week honors since Dan Carlson ('01) was named on Feb. 7, 2000.

BACK IN THE RANKINGS: Notre Dame was ranked in the top 15 this week in two of three national hockey polls. U.S. College Hockey Online had the Irish ranked 13th in their weekly poll. That poll had the Irish ranked 14th for the week of Dec. 1. Inside College Hockey.com (INCH) had the Irish ranked 11th this week, up from 16th a week ago. The Irish have been in the INCH poll all season long with the highest ranking coming the week of Dec. 1 when the Irish were ninth overall. In the USA Today/American Hockey Magazine poll, the Irish received 42 votes, just six behind 15th-ranked Miami.

WISCONSIN WRAP-UP: It took the Irish over 10 hours to get to Madison, Wis., on Friday, Jan. 16, but the wait was worth it as the Irish picked up a tie and a win versus the fourth-ranked Badgers. On the way to Madison, the Irish encountered an ice storm at the Illinois-Wisconsin border that brought traffic to a standstill on Interstate 90. It took the team bus 5-and-1/2 hours to travel the final 53 miles as the highway became a parking lot. The team arrived in Madison at 5:00 a.m. (EST), five hours behind their scheduled midnight arrival time. On Saturday night, the Irish got off to a slow start but Morgan Cey (Jr., Wilkie, Sask.) held the fort early as the team's traded four power-play goals in the 2-2 tie. Aaron Gill scored both goals for the Irish with the tying goal coming at 1:23 of the second period. Rob Globke assisted on both Notre Dame goals. John Eichelberger scored both Wisconsin goals on the night. Cey finished with a season-high 36 saves in the game. Both teams were 2-for-7 on the power play. Wisconsin outshot the Irish, 38-21 on the night. Sunday night's game started slowly again for the Irish as they were outshot 13-2 in the opening stanza with David Brown (Fr., Stoney Creek, Ont.) holding the Irish in it this time. Rene Bourque got the only goal of the game for the Badgers at 4:19 of the first period. Mike Walsh (So., Northville, Mich.) got the Irish back in the game with his ninth goal of the season at 6:22 of the second. Globke got the eventual game winner at 16:07 of the second period with a five-on-three power-play tally. He then got the insurance goal at 19:51 into an empty net. The Irish killed all six Wisconsin power plays while going 1-for-3 themselves. Brown finished with 30 saves on the night while recording his second win of the year over a top-4 team.

SENIOR WEEKEND: While the team as a whole turned in one of its better performances in the two-game series at Wisconsin, the weekend belonged to the seniors offensively. Irish seniors accounted for 12 of the 13 points recorded in both games. Rob Globke led the way with two goals and two assists. Defenseman Neil Komadoski (Sr., Chesterfield, Mo.) had three assists in the two games. Aaron Gill scored two power-play goals and defenseman Tom Galvin (Sr., Miller Place, N.Y.) added two assists. Brett Lebda (Sr., Buffalo Grove, Ill.) had the other point for the seniors. Sophomore left wing Mike Walsh had the only non-senior point for the weekend as he scored the tying goal in Sunday's 3-1 win.

GAME-WINNING GLOBKE: Rob Globke picked up his CCHA-leading fifth game-winning goal of the season in the 3-1 win over Wisconsin on Jan. 18. He ranks second in the country with the five game-winners. For his career at Notre Dame, Globke now has 13 game-winning goals. That ties him for first on the all-time game-winning goal list with Brian Urick ('99) and current head coach Dave Poulin who recorded 13 game winners from 1978-82.

CENTURY MARK FOR GLOBKE: Senior right wing Rob Globke became the 40th player in Notre Dame hockey history to go over 100 points in his career with two assists versus Western Michigan (Dec. 6). He is now tied for 34th on the all-time scoring list with 62 goals and 46 assists for 108 career points. He is just one of 18 players in school history to have 60 or more goals in a season and now ranks 17th with 62 career goals. On the year, Globke has 13 goals and 11 assists for a team-leading 24 points. His two-goal game verus Wisconsin gives him four games with two or more goals this season and 14 for his career. He opened the season with a hat trick in Notre Dame's 5-2 win at Ohio State. The hat trick was the second of his career. He has added two-goal games versus Lake Superior (Nov. 21), Northern Michigan (Nov. 29) and Wisconsin (jan. 18).

ROAD WARRIORS: Notre Dame's win at Wisconsin snapped a six-game winless streak (0-5-1) for the Irish away from home. Notre Dame is now 4-5-2 on the season in road games after starting the season with a 3-1-0 record away from the Joyce Center. The Irish are also 1-1-0 on neutral ice this year.

ON THE SIDELINES: Notre Dame defenseman Derek Smith (Jr., Marysville, Mich.) is sidelined indefinitely with post-concussion syndrome. He suffered a concussion on Jan. 4, 2003 at Nebraska-Omaha and has not played since.

GILL GOALS: Senior center Aaron Gill scored a pair of power-play goals in Notre Dame's 2-2 tie at Wisconsin, giving him a career-high six man-advantage goals on the year. Gill is second in scoring for the Irish with eight goals and 13 assists for 21 points. He needs just six more points this season to become the 41st player in school history to reach the 100-point mark for his career. The Rochester, Minn., native comes into the Northern Michigan weekend with 40 goals and 54 assists for 94 career points.

LEBDA'S LINE: Senior defenseman Brett Lebda continues to make his move on the top 10 scoring spot among Irish defensemen. Lebda added an assist to his totals in the 3-1 win versus Wisconsin. He is one of three Irish defensemen with 13 points this season. Lebda has four goals and nine assists for his 13 points. For his career, Lebda now has 24 goals and 50 assists for 74 career points. Notre Dame has had 10 defensemen in its history record 80 or more points in their careers. Lebda needs just seven more points to catch Steve Curry (1970-74) who had 80 points (19g, 61a). Benoit Coitnoir (1995-99) is ninth with 88 points (28g, 60a).

PUTTING THE "P" IN POWER: Sophomore left wing Mike Walsh is quickly becoming one of the top power forwards in the CCHA. He scored his ninth goal of the season in the 3-1 win at Wisconsin on a wicked wrist shot from the top of the left wing circle that beat the Badgers Brian Elliott over his glove hand. Walsh believes that the quickest way to get from point A to point B is a straight line as he barges and charges to the net. After battling through an injury and illness filled freshman year, Walsh has become a key contributor to the Irish attack. With nine goals and six assists, he is tied for third on the team with 15 points. Three of his nine goals this season are game winners.

KOMO-GALVIN FOR THE DEFENSE: Notre Dame's defensive duo of Neil Komadoski and Tom Galvin had a great weekend at Wisconsin. The duo was on the ice for all five Notre Dame goals while giving up just one power-play goal to the Badgers. Komadoski assisted on three of the five goals and Galvin picked up a pair of assists on the weekend. The two assists give Galvin 13 on the season to tie him for the team lead in that category.

END OF THE LINE: Morgan Cey (Jr., Wilkie, Sask.) saw his consecutive minutes of scoreless hockey come to an end at 158:53 when D'Arcy McConvey scored at 10:27 of the second period on Jan. 9. The streak was the longest of Cey's career, passing his previous best of 149:17 (set between Mar. 14-20, 2003 in the CCHA playoffs). Cey's 158:53 is the second longest in Irish history behind David Brown's mark of 193:27 set earlier this season.

FATHER'S DAY: The 2-2 tie with Wisconsin on Jan. 17 was the fourth overtime game played by the Irish this season (0-1-3). On Jan. 9, Notre Dame's 5-4 overtime loss to Bowling Green was the first regular-season overtime loss for the Irish since Jan. 6, 2001, a 3-2 home loss to Ferris State. Since that game in 2001, the Irish have recorded one other OT loss, a 3-2 double overtime loss to Nebraska-Omaha in the 2002 CCHA playoffs. Since Jan. 6, 2001, Notre Dame has played 22 overtime games with a 2-2-18 record. Two of those overtime games (a win and a loss) have been in the playoffs. The Irish were 0-0-6 in 2002-03 and had a streak of eight straight overtime games during 2002-03 and 2003-04 end on Jan. 9 this season. Since the start of the 1999-2000 season, the Irish have been involved in 37 overtime games and are 5-3-29 in those contests. The last time regular-season overtime win for Notre Dame came on Jan. 25, 2002, a 4-3 overtime win at Miami.

IRISH SHUTOUTS: Prior to last season's CCHA playoffs when Morgan Cey recorded back-to-back shutouts versus Miami, Notre Dame had never recorded back-to-back shutouts. Since Cey did it last March, both freshman David Brown (three in a row) and Cey have turned the trick this year. Notre Dame's six shutouts are a single-season school record. The previous best was 1999-2000 when the Irish had three shutouts (Tony Zasowski had two and Jeremiah Kimento had one).

THE CEY HEY KID: Notre Dame goaltender Morgan Cey (Jr., Wilkie, Sask.) returned to the Irish lineup on Dec. 28 at the Everblades Tournament and proceeded to make 32 saves in a 1-0 win over then third-ranked Maine. It was his first action since Nov. 7 when he lost a 3-1 decision at Michigan State. Following that game, Cey had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee and missed the next seven games. He missed the first five games of the season after having knee surgery on the same knee in July. His 1-0 shutout versus Findlay gave him a school record six during his first three seasons. In his last nine starts, (going back to March 15 of last season), Cey is 5-3-1 with four shutouts. In 545:59, he has given up 12 goals and made 278 saves for a 1.32 goals-against average and a .959 save percentage.

RISING TO THE OCCASION: With Morgan Cey sidelined twice this season due to knee injuries, freshman goaltender David Brown has played in16 games for the Irish and had a strong first half. In 14 starts, Brown is 8-4-2 with a 2.26 goals-against average and a .924 save percentage. Four of his eight wins have been shutouts. He had an eight-game unbeaten streak (6-0-2) snapped on Dec. 6 in a 6-4 loss at Western Michigan. During his streak which covered nine games, Brown had a 1.96 goals against (17 goals in 521:30 minutes and a .932 save percentage (232 saves). Included in those nine games were three consecutive shutouts between 10/18 and 10/31. For good measure, Brown also threw in a fourth shutout on Nov. 14 versus the U.S. Under-18 team that does not count in the statistics. He was also named CCHA rookie of the week three times, CCHA defensive player of the week once and the Hockey Commissioner's Association (HCA) national rookie of the month for October.

BEATING THE BEST: Notre Dame's 1-0 shutout win at Boston College on Oct. 24 came versus the Eagles while they were ranked first in the nation in the USA Today/American Hockey Magazine poll. The last time the Irish beat a top-ranked team came on Jan. 3, 1999 when they won 4-3 at North Dakota.

IRISH WINS VERSUS #1 TEAMS:

10/24/03 - at Boston College, 1-0
1/3/99 - at North Dakota, 4-3
11/10/78 - at Minnesota, 3-2
1/13/78 - vs. Denver, 5-3
1/18/74 - vs. Michigan Tech, 7-1
2/24/73 - vs. Wisconsin, 8-5
2/23/73 - vs. Wisconsin, 4-3

The last time the Irish faced a top-ranked team prior to Oct. 24 was on Nov. 10, 2000 when they played Boston College. Notre Dame lost that game by a 5-3 score.

BACK AND FORTH: Through the first 13 games of the season, Notre Dame's team defense was tops in the CCHA. In the first 16 games, the Irish gave up 26 goals for a 1.97 goals-against average. Games 14-16 saw the Irish give up 18 goals over three contests, moving the goals-against average to 2.59. Since those three games, the Irish have given up just eight goals in the last six games to tie Ohio State for first in the CCHA with a 2.36 goals against average.

POWER-PLAY POINTS: The Irish have now scored power-play goals in six consecutive games and in 15 of their last 16 games. They had a nine-game streak that was snapped in the 4-0 shutout by Cornell (12/27).

SPECIAL SPECIAL TEAMS: Notre Dame has killed 88 of 102 opponent power-play chances this season. Of the 14 power-play goals surrendered, 10 have come in five games (two in each game). Over the remaining 17 games, the Irish have given up just four power-play goals. Notre Dame has killed 86.3% of opponent power plays this season.

OFFENSIVE DEFENSEMEN: In 22 games this season, Notre Dame defensemen Brett Lebda, Tom Galvin, Neil Komadoski and Wes O'Neill have combined for eight goals and 39 assists for 47 points. Lebda (4g, 9a), Komadoski (2g, 11a) and Galvin (0g, 13a) lead the team with 13 points each. O'Neill has two goals and six assists for eight points on the year.

HUMANITARIAN NOMINEE: Irish defenseman Neil Komadoski was one of 14 nominees for the prestigious College Hockey Humanitarian Award that goes to college hockey's "top citizen." The award for community service and leadership is presented along with the Hobey Baker Award at the NCAA Frozen Four each year. On Jan. 15, the five finalists - Patrick Foley (UNH), Dan Boeser (Wisconsin), Chanda Gunn (Northeastern), Derek Nisula (Babson) and Mark Persick (Canisius) - were selected. Komadoski has been involved in Notre Dame's community service programs since his freshman year. He is a member of the school's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) for three years and is chairman of the SAAC community service sub-committee since the fall of 2002. He represented Notre Dame at the NCAA's Student-Athlete Leadership Conference last May. His community service work has included participation in SAAC's Pediatric Christmas Party in all four years since joining the Irish hockey program. He has also participated in Christmas in April (2001, 2002), Habitat for Humanity (2003) and the Downs Syndrome Buddy Walk in the fall of 2002 and 2003. He has also worked with the Robinson Community Learning Center' Children's Ice Skate Day in the fall of 2002 and 2003.

GOING FOR 300: The Jan. 10 win over Bowling Green improved Notre Dame's home record to 7-1-1 this season. The Irish were 7-6-3 at the Joyce Center last year. The seven home wins are the most by the Irish since the 1999-2000 season when they were 11-7-3. The win was also the 298th at the Joyce Center, putting Notre Dame just two away from the 300-win mark. In 36 seasons at the Joyce, the Irish are 298-245-41 (.547).

SOLID START: Notre Dame's 12-7-3 record is its best since starting the 1998-99 season with a 14-6-2 record after 22 games. The 8-6-2 record in CCHA play is the best for the Irish since starting the 1998-99 season with a 10-5-1 mark after16 league games.

CORNELL BLANKING: Notre Dame's 4-0 loss to Cornell was the first time that Notre Dame had been shutout since Feb. 1, 2002 when Ohio State's Mike Betz blanked the Irish, 2-0, at the Joyc Center, a span of 27 games. In those same 27 games, Notre Dame goaltenders recorded six shutouts of their own.

IN THE CLUTCH: Sophomore Mike Walsh recorded his third game-winning goal of the season in the 1-0 win over Maine. That ties him for third in the CCHA behind Rob Globke and seventh in the nation in game-winning goals. His nine goals are a career-high for Walsh. For his career, Walsh has scored nine goals with four of them being game-winning goals.

MR. STEADY - CORY'S STORY: Cory McLean (Jr., Fargo, N.D.) ranks third on the Irish in scoring with seven goals and eight assists (career high) for 15 points. His career-high 17 points came last season (10g, 7a). On the year, he has scored in 13 of Notre Dame's 22 games. He has had a pair of four-game point streaks this season. As a freshman, McLean had just one goal and four assists for five points.

WILD ONE: Notre Dame and Western Michigan combined for 14 goals (8-6 Bronco win) on December 5. The last time the Irish played in a game that both teams combined for 14 goals was on November 20, 1998 when the Irish downed Western Michigan, 9-5. Coming into the Dec. 5 game with Western, the Irish had surrendered just eight goals in their last five games. The last time the Irish gave up eight goals in a game was Jan. 27, 2001 in an 8-2 loss at Yale.

IRISH VERSUS HOCKEY EAST: For the first time since Hockey East started in 1984-85, Notre Dame has recorded a pair of wins over Hockey East conference teams. On Oct. 24, the Irish defeated Boston College at Chestnut Hill, Mass. On Dec. 28, Notre Dame took a 1-0 decision versus Maine at the Everblades College Classic. In both 1-0 shutouts, sophomore left wing Mike Walsh got the game-winning goal.

RIVALRY CLUSTERS: The Notre Dame-Bowling Green series ended in a 2-2 split for the rivalry partners. The Irish are now 5-2-1 versus their four-team cluster that includes Northern Michigan and Lake Superior. The Irish are 2-0 versus Northern Michigan and 1-0-1 versus Lake Superior. A year ago, the Irish were 7-4-1 in their cluster that included Bowling Green, Western Michigan and Ferris State.

HCA ROOKIE OF THE MONTH: Notre Dame freshman goaltender David Brown was selected as the Hockey Commissioner's Association (HCA) national collegiate rookie of the month for the month of October. Brown had an October to remember as he recorded a Notre Dame school record three consecutive shutouts in his first four career starts and a school-record shutout string of 193:27 consecutive minutes. His three shutouts also set a Notre Dame record for shutouts in a season. For the month, the 5-11, 188-pound puck stopper was 3-2-0 with a CCHA-leading 1.15 goals-against average and a .946 save percentage to go with the three shutouts. Among his three shutouts was a 1-0, 27-save performance on Oct. 24 versus the top-ranked Boston College Eagles at Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill, Mass. The three shutouts came versus Bowling Green (10/18), Boston College (10/24) and Nebraska-Omaha (10/31). He has been selected as the CCHA rookie of the month three times this season (10/19, 11/2, 12/1) and defensive player of the week once (1/12).

CENTRAL SCOUTING RANKINGS: The National Hockey League's (NHL) Central Scouting has released it's mid-term report that ranks the top 270 draft eligible skaters and the top 30 goaltenders for the 2004 NHL Entry Draft next June. Irish defenseman Wes O'Neill is ranked 19th overall, third among U.S. College players behind North Dakota's Drew Stafford (9th) and Michigan State's A.J. Thelen (16). Freshman forward Michael Bartlett (Morton Grove, Ill.) was ranked 211th overall and 36th among collegiate players. Goaltender David Brown is ranked 29th overall and second among collegiate goaltenders behind top-ranked Al Montoya of Michigan.

DOWN BY TWO: Prior to the Nov. 29 comeback versus Northern Michigan (the Irish trailed 2-0 in a 4-2 win), last time the Irish rebounded from a two-goal deficit to win a game was on Oct. 12, 2002 when the Irish fell behind Minnesota-Duluth, 2-0, and rallied for a 5-3 win at Duluth.

IRISH ON CSTV: Notre Dame has made three appearances on CSTV and now has a 2-1-0 record after the 4-0 loss to Cornell on Dec. 27. The Irish have wins over Ohio State (10/10) and Boston College (10/24). The Irish are also schedlued to appear again on CSTV on Friday, Feb. 27 versus Michigan. Face off is set for 8:05 p.m.

SOME TRICK: Sophomore defenseman Chris Trick (Troy, Mich.) recorded his first collegiate goal in the Nov. 28, 5-1 win over Northern Michigan. He made the most of it too, as the goal came short-handed in the second period and proved to be the game winner. Trick came out of the penalty box after a Northern Michigan centering pass eluded the point men. Trick beat Craig Kowalski with a backhander for his first goal in 35 career games.

DIRECTOR'S CUP STANDINGS: The University of Notre Dame stands 12th in the 2003-04 United States Sports Academy Division I Director's Cup all-sports competition sponsored by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (formerly known as Sears Directors'Cup). Fall NCAA competition earned the Irish 199 points. Michigan is first (413 points), followed by UCLA, Stanford, Maryland, BYU, North Carolina, Penn State, Washington, USC, and Wake Forest round out the top 10.

ALL GOOD THINGS MUST END: Irish goaltender David Brown saw his streak of three consecutive shutouts end in the Nov. 8 game versus Michigan State. Jim Slater's goal at 7:12 of the first period ended his consecutive-minute streak at 193:27. That is a new Notre Dame record. The last time Brown had given up a goal was on Oct. 17 versus Bowling Green with 4:22 left in the third period. He followed with shutouts versus Bowling Green (Oct. 18), Boston College (10/24) and Nebraska-Omaha (10/31).

OH CANADA: Freshman defenseman Wes O'Neill was a member of Canada's Under-18 Select team that played in last summer's Under-18 Select World Cup tournament. O'Neill had a goal and four assists in helping Canada to a fourth-place finish. The former Green Bay Gambler also played for Team Ontario at the Under-17 World Championships in Feb. of 2003. There he had three goals and nine assists in six games. O'Neillwas the second pick in the 2002 Ontario Hockey League (OHL) Draft by the Kingston Frontenacs. He is the highest-drafted OHL player to decide to play college hockey.

CEY IT AIN'T SO: Goaltender Morgan Cey missed the first five games of the season after having knee surgery in July. He then missed seven games after re-injuring his knee on Nov. 7, requiring arthroscopic surgery. Prior to this season, Cey had started 71 of Notre Dame's 79 games as a freshman and sophomore. He was 15-15-6 last season with a 2.87 goals-against average and a .912 save percentage with two shutouts. Career-wise, Cey is 33-31-10 with a 2.70 goals-against average and a .914 save percentage with six shutouts. He is sixth on Notre Dame's all-time wins list with 33. His 2.70 goals-against average, .914 save percentage and six shutouts make him the leader in all three categories at Notre Dame.

NHL DRAFTEES: Notre Dame has three players on the 2003-04 roster that have been selected in the National Hockey League Entry Draft. Senior Rob Globke was a second-round choice of the Florida Panthers in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft. Selected 40th overall, Globke's selection was the earliest any Notre Dame player has ever been chosen. Senior defenseman Neil Komadoski was selected in the third round of the 2001 draft by the Ottawa Senators. Sophomore left wing Mike Walsh was selected in the fifth round in 2002 draft by the New York Rangers.

CONSECUTIVE GAME STREAK: Graduated defenseman Evan Nielsen ('03) set Notre Dame's record for consecutive games played last season with 114 in a row from 2000-03. Coming into this weekend at Northern Michigan, seniors Rob Globke and Brett Lebda have each played in 80 consecutive games and are the leaders among active players. The only games Lebda has missed in his career came in 2001-02 when he missed four games while playing at the World Junior Championships. He has played 135 of 139 career games.

THE CAPTAINS: Senior center Aaron Gill will serve as the team captain for the Irish in 2003-04. As a junior, he finished fourth in scoring with 13 goals and 12 assists for 25 points. Four of his 13 goals came on the power play and he recorded his first career hat trick on Oct. 19 in an 8-5 win over Western Michigan. Serving as alternate captains this season are senior right wing Rob Globke and senior defenseman Neil Komadoski. Globke led the Irish in scoring last season with 21 goals and 15 assists for 36 points. Komadoski was Notre Dame's top scorer from the blue line last year as he scored a goal and added 23 helpers. His 23 assists and 24 points were career-highs for the veteran defenseman.

BRAIN POWER: Senior defenseman T.J. Mathieson (Clarksville, Md.) is a candidate for Rhodes, Mitchell and Marshall Scholarships for postgraduate studies. Mathieson owns a 3.812 grade-point average in aerospace engineering in Notre Dame's School of Engineering. He is a two-time winner of Notre Dame's Rockne Scholar-Athlete Award. He spent the past summer working at General Electric Aircraft Engines in Cincinnati. There, he worked doing stress analysis of high-pressure turbines for commercial aircraft engines.

FOURTH TIME: Morgan Cey's back-to-back shutouts (1-0 and 5-0) versus Miami in the first round of last season's CCHA playoffs made him the fourth goaltender to turn the trick.

PENALTY SHOTS: Notre Dame goaltender Morgan Cey has faced four penalty shots in his Irish hockey career, including three last season. On Feb. 28, in a 4-2 loss to Western Michigan, Cey stopped Bronco VinceBellissimo at 14:06 of the third period. A month earlier, Jan. 25, in a 3-3 tie with Michigan State, Cey stopped Jim Slater at 16:23 of the second stanza. His first stop in 2002-03 came on Nov. 22 at Michigan, in a 4-2 loss to the Wolverines. There, he stopped Milan Gajic at 12:36 of the second period. The first penalty shot Cey faced came during his freshman season when he stopped Bowling Green's Greg Day on Dec. 8, 2001. That stop came in a 4-2 loss to the Falcons.

FAMILY MATTERS: After having as many as four players whose fathers played in the National Hockey League, only one remains for the 2003-04 season. That would be Neil Komadoski, Jr. (Sr., Chesterfield, Mo.), whose father, Neil Komadoski, Sr., 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.

ALL IN THE FAMILY: Two Irish sophomore hockey players - Rory Walsh (So., Milton, Mass.) and Mike Walsh - have fathers who attended Notre Dame. Rory Walsh's father, Brian ('77), was an all-American hockey player for the Irish. A center iceman, the elder Walsh is Notre Dame's all-time leading scorer after recording 234 career points on 89 goals and 145 assists. Mike Walsh's father, Max, ('74) was an offensive lineman on the Notre Dame football team and a member of the 1973 national championship team.

FROZEN TUNDRA: The Irish have developed a pipeline with the Green Bay Gamblers of the United State's Hockey League. Three members of the current Notre Dame team have played in the Land of Lombardi. Junior defenseman Joe Zurenko (Arlington Heights, Ill.) played there during the '00-'01 season and freshmen blueliners Noah Babin (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) and Wes O'Neill were teammates there last year. Assistant coach Layne LeBel also spent the past two seasons with the Gamblers.

GOLD MEDAL ASSISTANT: Irish assistant hockey coach, Andy Slaggert, served as an assistant coach with USA Hockey's gold-medal winning Under-18 Select Team in August at the World Under-18 Select tournament in the Czech Republic. The 11-year assistant at Notre Dame has been involved in coaching with USA Hockey since the 1996-97 season. This was his first time for coaching on the international level.

YOST BUSTERS: Notre Dame's 4-3 win at Michigan on Nov. 23 was the first regular-season win for the Irish at Yost Arena since they returned to the CCHA in 1992-93. Prior to that, the last time Notre Dame won in Ann Arbor was Oct. 22, 1982, a span of 14 regular-season games. The Irish did win a CCHA playoff game at Yost in the 1998 playoffs. In the regular season, Notre Dame is now 1-14-1 in the last 16 meetings and since 1992-93, the Irish are 2-18-1 versus the Wolverines at Yost Arena. Over the last three meetings, the Irish are 1-1-1 when playing in Ann Arbor.

PATRIOTIC GROUP: Notre Dame's current roster includes eight players who have past experience with USA Hockey, as members of the National Team Development Program (NTDP) and/or the National Junior Team. Since the program began, the Irish have had a total of 13 NTDP alums grace their roster. The current contingent includes seniors Rob Globke, Neil Komadoski and Brett Lebda, junior Derek Smith (Marysville, Mich.), sophomore Tim Wallace (Anchorage, Alaska) and freshmen Noah Babin (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.), Michael Bartlett (Morton Grove, Ill.) and Josh Sciba (Westland, Mich.)

Former Irish players Brett Henning, Paul Harris, Michael Chin, Connor Dunlop and John Wroblewski are all alums of the U.S. Developmental Program.

HOMETOWNS: The 2003-04 Notre Dame hockey team features players from 10 states and four Canadian provinces - Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and Saskatchewan. In the eight-year tenure of head coach Dave Poulin, the Notre Dame hockey letterwinners have hailed from 20 different states and provinces those listed below, plus: Colorado, Delaware, New Jersey, Wisconsin, Prince Edward Island and Quebec.

2003-04 Notre Dame Hockey
- By State or Province:

Michigan (6): Rob Globke, Derek Smith, Chris Trick, Mike Walsh, Jason
Paige, Josh Sciba
Illinois (3): Brett Lebda, Joe Zurenko, Michael Bartlett
Minnesota (3): Aaron Gill, Tony Gill, T.J. Jindra
Alberta (2): Brad Wanchulak, Matt Williams-Kovacs
Ontario (2): David Brown, Wes O'Neill
Alaska (1): Tim Wallace
British Columbia (1): Matt Amado
Florida (1): Noah Babin
Maryland (1): T.J. Mathieson
Massachusetts (1): Rory Walsh
Missouri (1): Neil Komadoski
New York (1): Tom Galvin
North Dakota (1): Cory McLean
Saskatchewan (1): Morgan Cey