While the Notre Dame football team looks to finish the season above .500, the Irish hockey team is undefeated in its past 14 games. With that, Notre Dame is atop the national polls again, No. 1 in both the USA Today/USA Men's hockey Top 15 poll and the USCHO.com/CBS College sports top 20 poll.

Maine got 62 votes in the USCHO.com poll, behind No. 20 Dartmouth (103) and Minnesota-Duluth (87), and nine votes in the USA Today poll, behind No. 15 Nebraska-Omaha (33) and Wisconsin (25).

Maine has 10 days off before it opens the Florida College Classic on Dec. 27 against Colgate.

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Hockey East named Maine goalie Scott Darling its Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Week. Darling had 44 saves in two games against Union. Darling is currently fourth in the nation with a .944 saves percentage and fifth in the nation with a 1.4072 goals-against average.

And speaking of goalies ...

I talked with Jim Nill, the assistant general manager of the Detroit Red Wings, this afternoon and in the course of conversation, asked him about former UMaine goalie Jimmy Howard.

Nill said that Howard, in his fourth season in Detroit's system, has improved his conditioning, has adjusted to the grind of a full professional season and has improved his all-around athleticism.

"He's our goalie of the future," Nill said. "This is his fourth year and now he's ready."

It's interesting to note that Red Wings No. 1 goalie Chris Osgood, who led Detroit to the Stanley Cup in June, has struggled as of late but Red Wings Coach Mike Babcock recently told the Detroit Free Press he's not pressing the panic button on the veteran goalie.

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