Poulin sticks with improving Irish program
By MIKE CONNOLLY
Sports Writer
Irish hockey coach Dave Poulin's 13-year-old daughter Lindsay was flipping through the pages of her April 24 Sports Illustrated when a few small sentences on page 65 caught her by surprise.
SI writer Pierre McGuire predicted that if the Boston Bruins fired their head coach, Poulin would be the next man behind the bench in Beantown.
Lindsay, excited about starting high school next fall with her twin sister Taylor, did not want to move to Boston.
"Dad, we aren't going to Boston are we?" she asked.
"No, Linds," Poulin replied. "Don't worry about it."
If the Notre Dame student cheering section, fondly referred to as the Goon Squad, had been in the Poulin household to hear his reply, it would have cheered more loudly than it does for an Irish goal.
Just as Lindsay didn't want to leave her friends, Poulin wasn't excited about uprooting his family for a career that only lasts an average of 2.2 years in one city. Poulin chose the more stable lifestyle in South Bend over the bright lights and bigger salaries of the NHL. And he doesn't regret it.
"I have had other opportunities. It's just that time of year. I am in a business where coaches change every year," Poulin said. "I am extremely happy at Notre Dame. I am thrilled to be here."
And Notre Dame fans are thrilled to have him. In Poulin's first season, Notre Dame finished 9-23-4. This year the Irish finished 15-15-8 and advanced to the CCHA semifinals at Joe Louis Arena for the first time since the 1981-82 season.
"I think it has been a constant upward curve," Poulin said. "We've had some great challenges here. We've gotten better every year. Each year we have progressed to a new level. That was the key part about going to Joe Louis this year, we have progressed to a another new level."
Turning a season around
After earning home ice in the CCHA tournament for the first time since 1981-82 in 1998-99, the hockey team entered the 1999-2000 season with high expectations. But the Irish stumbled at the start of the season and lost five of their first six games.
"I think what we dealt with early was probably that we just thought it was going to happen," Poulin said. "When I say `we', I think it was the coaches and the players. Because our progression had been so steady, we thought the next step was just going to take place. We forgot about the work that it took to get there."
The team continued to struggle. The losing and frustration that began in October stretched through November and December. The new year didn't bring an end to the losing as the Irish won just once in the first games of 2000 to fall to 8-13-5 on the year.
"We went through some growing pains without question," Poulin said. "We went through some issues with the team in the locker room that we had to straighten out and we straightened them out. Then the second half of the season was terrific."
On January 21, junior Dan Carlson started the Irish turn-around with a bang. Trailing Western Michigan 3-2 with 1:23 left in the third period, Carlson scored the game-tying goal and followed it up with the game-winner in overtime. That victory would turn the season around for the Irish.
"From that point forward, there was sort of a re-found belief," Poulin said. "Confidence is very fragile at this level. When we got down early, it's easy to get steam rolled over. Other teams are doing well, you get some key injuries, lose three players to the World Junior Team. All those factors combine and it feels like a wave right in your face but I think we rebounded strongly."
When the Irish rebounded and returned to Joe Louis Arena for the first time in nearly 20 years, they did more than salvage the season, they set a new standard for Notre Dame hockey. A standard that Poulin hopes to raise even higher.
"The next bar for us is the NCAA tournament," Poulin said. "That's a definite goal for us. We've talked about that and talked about separating ourselves from the rest of the league. And so I know the goals and challenges that I have now."
Getting the players
As Poulin has raised the standards for Notre Dame, Notre Dame has responded in turn by giving him more scholarships. When Poulin arrived in 1995, he had 14.4 scholarships to offer. This was later raised to 16 and then to 18 the NCAA maximum for hockey.
"That is a significant factor in the sense that we have a level playing field," Poulin said. "I think the right things have been done for the long term program, not a short term fix."
Poulin's first challenge as head coach was to convince top recruits that Notre Dame was going to be a serious hockey school. His 14 years playing in the NHL and his intimate knowledge of Notre Dame as a member of the Class of 1982 helped him sell Irish hockey. Notre Dame's prestige and academic standards are some of the biggest selling points during recruiting.
"The standards of excellence and the discipline that is necessary are huge factors in our hockey recruiting," Poulin said. "The prestige and tradition of this University is what separates it from other places."
In his first season Poulin lured top high schoolers like Ben Simon, Nathan Borega and Tyson Fraser a group that would go on to captain the Irish to the CCHA semifinals this year.
"That is why this senior class has been so special," Poulin said. "They were the first ones to take a chance and said `We understand what he is saying. We believe we can be one of the top programs.' That was why it was so important for us to go to Joe Louis. It had been a goal of this class and these eight players will always be special for the fact that they were my first recruiting class."
That first talented recruiting class led to another strong class the next season, with players like Carlson and Ryan Clark joining the Irish to play for Poulin and with stars like Simon.
"Once [the first recruiting class] was in, it was `come play with these guys,'" Poulin said. "People want to play with those kids and then the next class falls into place and you go from there."
Building for the future
With top-notch talent, the Irish have gone from the basement of the CCHA to a top-four team. But as the Irish have grown, their home in the Joyce Center has not. With a capacity of just 2,667, Notre Dame plays in one of the smallest arenas in the CCHA. While other schools like Ohio State have brand new, state-of-the-art facilities, the Irish play in front of temporary bleachers on an ice surface that doesn't even exist for most of the year. Despite the tiny arena and less than optimal facilities, the hockey team is still the third-largest revenue producing sport at Notre Dame behind football and men's basketball.
"I think that [a new arena] is a goal of ours," Poulin said. "If we look around the league and look at revenue production, there are a lot of teams making a lot of revenue in state-of-the-art facilities. I believe we are showing the need for it. We can control one thing and that is winning. We are showing that we are an exciting product and that we are fun to come and see. We are controlling our end of it."
A new arena, along with a trip to the NCAA tournament, would be the crown jewels in Poulin's program. A program that is showing signs of becoming one of the elites.
"I think there are always stumbling blocks," Poulin said of his first five years at Notre Dame. "But I think we are now one of the elite programs in the country. The past two years we have been a top-four team in the CCHA. We have been in the [national] top 10 for a number of weeks last year for 18 straight weeks. This year going to Joe Louis, going to the conference semifinals, being within one win of the NCAAs all those things point toward us going in the right direction."
A direction that, right now, doesn't point Poulin toward Boston or any other NHL city.
All Sports Stories for Wednesday, May 3, 2000
