TIM
WALLACE
Notre Dame
Sr. | F | Anchorage, Alaska
Key
Statistics: Wallace enters his senior campaign having
played a Ripken-esque 117 straight games. If he appears in
each of Notre Dame's games this season—the Irish will
have a minimum of 36 contests—he'll rank third on the
school's list of career games played.
What He Does: Not only does Wallace show
up for work every weekend, he's had the uncanny ability to
ratchet up his play when the are raised. For example, he had
a significant role in helping Notre Dame to Joe Louis Arena
for the CCHA playoffs in 2003 and 2004. A member of the U.S.
team that captured the gold medal at the World Under-18 Championships
in 2000, Wallace is versatile enough to play a variety of
roles and eats up plenty of ice time in 5-on-5 and special
teams situations.
The Bigger Picture: At 6-foot-1 and 211 pounds,
Wallace is built like the prototypical power forward, and
he was expected to be an impact player for Notre Dame after
scoring 37 points in his final season with the U.S. Under-18
Team. He's managed just 14 goals in three seasons with the
Irish and it's not for a lack of effort—he's a tireless
competitor who's been snakebit at times ("an inordinate
amount of crossbars, posts and goals waved off," says
assistant coach Andy Slaggert) during his career. Wallace
would seem to be tailor-made for the type of system new coach
Jeff Jackson would like to employ, which places a premium
on physical forwards who can carry the puck. The Irish are
a veteran team and a return to the .500 range shouldn't come
as a surprise. It's a better bet if Wallace can reach double
figures in goals, remain a valuable special teams contributor
and rise up in pressure situations.
Notre Dame assistant coach Andy Slaggert on Wallace:
"He has the potential to play a key role this season.
He's played in a lot of key situations before. [The players]
have all been given a clean slate to find themselves and define
themselves. It's going to be up to Tim to show [the coaching
staff] what he can do."
