The Coaching Staff Head Coach Dave Poulin guided the 2003-04 Notre Dame Fighting Irish to their first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance. Head Coach Dave Poulin begins his 10th season as Dave Poulin head coach of the Notre Dame hockey pro- gram and is coming off his best season Head Coach behind the Irish bench and the best year in the program’s 37-year history. The 2003-04 Irish won 20 games for the 10th Season first time since the 1987-88 season and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the Notre Dame ‘82 first time ever. Notre Dame finished the campaign with a 20-15-4 overall record and was ranked 12th in the nation to close the season. The Irish tied for fourth place in the CCHA with a 14-11-3 record and advanced to Joe Louis Arena for the fourth time in the past five years (semifi- nals in 2000 and Super Six in 2002, 2003 and 2004). Head Coach Dave Poulin Has Irish Only Michigan and Michigan State have made it in all five seasons since 2000. Hockey Moving In The Right Direction Defense was the backbone of Poulin’s ‘03-’04 Irish as the team set school records for lowest The highly respected Poulin, a four-year mono- to the championship of the Great Lakes goals-against average (2.48), save percentage gram winner and two-time team captain for the Invitational, the last in-season tournament won by (.922), penalty-killing success (.874) and shutouts in Irish, has distinguished himself at every level of a Notre Dame hockey team. a season (6). the game including his 12 seasons in the NHL. Poulin also was the CCHA’s fifth-leading scorer Just the third coach in the program’s modern A finalist for CCHA coach of the year honors in in ’81-’82, with 59 points, while earning second history (since 1968), the 1982 Notre Dame grad took 2004, Poulin has proven to be an outstanding team all-CCHA honors and leading the Irish to the over in the spring of 1995 and has worked since recruiter. His freshman class of 2003-04 was rated CCHA title game, capping the best season in Notre then to move Fighting Irish hockey among the elite second in the nation by the Red Line Report during Dame hockey history to that point. programs in college hockey. the summer of 2003. Following graduation, Poulin played one sea- Recognized as one of the most successful play- During Poulin’s tenure, the Irish have had 13 son with the Rogle hockey club in Sweden, totaling ers ever to play at Notre Dame, Poulin returned to players come to Notre Dame via USA Hockey’s 35 goals and 27 assists, before signing as a free his alma mater, just weeks after finishing his National Developmental Program with eight play- agent late in the ’82-’83 season with the National Hockey League career with the ers going on to play for the U.S. Junior National Philadelphia Flyers. In his first game with the Washington Capitals. team in the World Junior Championships between Flyers, he scored goals on each of his first two Success is something that has followed Poulin 1996-2003. shots before a hometown crowd at Toronto’s Maple throughout his career from his days as a player at Nineteen of Poulin’s players have been selected Leaf Gardens. Notre Dame, to the NHL and now as coach of the in the NHL Draft, including 15 that he and his staffs Poulin returned in 1983-84 to post Flyers’ rookie Irish. have recruited since returning to the Irish in 1995. records with 31 goals and 45 assists and ranked His recipe for success on and off the ice has Current freshman, Victor Oreskovich (Colorado, second among NHL rookies with 76 points. A year been simple. Throughout his playing career, 2nd round), sophomore Wes O’Neill (New York later, he was named team captain and helped the Poulin was always recognized for his incredible Islanders, fourth round) and sophomore David Flyers reach the 1985 Stanley Cup finals, where work ethic, his intelligence and his leadership Brown (Pittsburgh, eighth round) were selected in they lost to an Edmonton Oiler squad laden with skills. the June 2004 Entry Draft. future Hall of Famers. Those are the characteristics that he instills in Four members of Notre Dame’s first NCAA team During his NHL career, Poulin played in 724 his players at Notre Dame as they work to improve (2003-04) inked NHL contracts following the season. career NHL games while amassing 205 goals and their skills and talents; not only as hockey players, Aaron Gill (San Jose), Rob Globke (Florida), Neil 325 assists. He played six-plus seasons with but also as student-athletes preparing for life after Komadoski (Ottawa) and Brett Lebda (Detroit) will Philadelphia (1983-90), three-plus years with the their hockey careers have ended. all attend NHL training camps this fall. Boston Bruins (1990-93) and his final two cam- During the 2003-04 season, the Irish achieved Poulin recruits; Mark Eaton (Nashville) and Ben paigns with the Washington Capitals. Poulin much of their success versus the top teams in the Simon (Nashville) saw action in the National helped lead three teams to the Stanley Cup finals nation, going 5-1-1 versus teams ranked in the top Hockey League in 2003-04. (Philadelphia in ’85 and ’87, Boston in ’90) while five or better. Notre Dame defeated top-ranked Over the course of 17 seasons on the college and playing on six squads that reached the conference Boston College, 1-0, in October at Chestnut Hill, professional level, Poulin played in 1,149 career championship round. He played in three NHL All- Mass. The Irish then defeated third-ranked Maine, games, helped his teams post 559 wins and a .543 Star games (‘86, Rendezvous ‘87 vs. the Soviet 1-0, on Dec. 28 at the Everblades Collegiate Hockey winning percentage, and totaled 726 career points Union and ‘88). Classic in Estero, Fla., to go with a 3-1 win at (294 goals, 432 assists). His most noteworthy former In 1987, Poulin won the Frank J. Selke Trophy, fourth-ranked Wisconsin on Jan. 18 (the Irish also NHL coaches include Mike Keenan, Mike Milbury awarded to the forward who best excels at the tied the Badgers, 2-2 in Madison, Wis.). They and Jim Schoenfeld. defensive aspects of the game. In ’93, he received closed the regular season with a pair of home In 1978-79, Poulin set the Notre Dame record for the King Clancy Memorial Trophy, recognizing the wins over fourth-ranked Michigan. Notre Dame’s goals by a freshman (28) and equaled the record player who best exemplifies leadership qualities only loss to a top-five team came versus fourth- for points by a freshman (59), with both marks on and off the ice and has made a noteworthy ranked Minnesota (5-2) in their first-ever NCAA remaining unmatched. He stands tied for fifth on humanitarian contribution in his community. regional appearance. the Notre Dame career goals list (89), sixth in Born Dec. 17, 1958, in Timmins, Ontario, Poulin In their first-ever NCAA appearance in Grand points (196) and seventh in assists (107). Poulin still received his marketing degree from Notre Dame in Rapids, Mich., the Irish scored first and led 2-0 shares the Notre Dame career records for game- 1982. He and his wife Kim, a Saint Mary’s College after one period before the Gophers rallied for the winning goals (13) and hat tricks (8). graduate, are parents of three daughters, 18-year- 5-2 win. As a senior, Poulin was a finalist for the 1982 old twins Lindsay and Taylor - freshmen at Notre Hobey Baker national player-of-the-year award. Dame, and 14-year-old Kylie. That year, as the Irish captain, he led Notre Dame UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME 54 Dave Poulin Coaching File Head Overall CCHA Coach Year Head Coach W L T Pct. W L T Pct. ’95-’96 Notre Dame 9 23 4 .306 6 20 4 .267 ’96-’97 Notre Dame 9 25 1 .271 6 20 1 .241 ’97-’98 Notre Dame 18 19 4 .488 12 14 4 .467 ’98-’99 Notre Dame 19 14 5 .566 15 11 4 .567 ’99-’00 Notre Dame 16 18 8 .476 11 10 7 .518 ‘00-’01 Notre Dame 10 22 7 .346 7 15 6 .357 ’01-’02 Notre Dame 16 17 5 .487 12 12 4 .500 ‘02-’03 Notre Dame 17 17 6 .500 13 12 3 .518 ’03-’04 Notre Dame 20 15 4 .564 14 11 3 .554 9-Yr. Coaching Record 134 170 44 .448 96 125 36 .444 Poulin Draws Inspiration from Experience Dave Poulin has developed a distinctive position at Notre Dame. “My background put approach to guiding the Notre Dame hockey me in a position to have options in a business program, an approach that draws on his expe- (pro hockey) where you don’t get many choices. riences as an undergraduate at Notre Dame In effect, I chose to play hockey while knowing and in the National Hockey League. I could do other things – and that made playing “Many athletes dream of coming back to hockey even more enjoyable. There’s nothing their alma mater to coach,” says Poulin. “I want more you can ask for than options.” to open people’s eyes to the Notre Dame expe- Poulin also learned from trying to balance rience, which I believe has been the foundation the demands of being a student-athlete.