April 1, 2013
Notre Dame, Ind. – Notre Dame hockey team captain Anders Lee (Edina, Minn.) has signed a two-year, entry level contract with the New York Islanders, the National Hockey League (NHL) team announced on Monday morning. The 6-3, 227-pound junior center was with the Islanders this morning for their morning skate in Newark, N.J. The Islanders play New Jersey at 7:00 p.m., at the Prudential Center.
Lee was selected by the New York Islanders in the sixth round of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, 152nd overall following his senior year at Edina High School. He went on to play one season for the Green Bay Gamblers of the USHL (2009-10) and then the past three seasons with Notre Dame (2010-13). The final game of his Irish career came on Saturday, March 30, in the 5-1 loss to St. Cloud State in the NCAA Midwest Regional in Toledo, Ohio.
After making his decision to turn pro, Lee said, “I love this University, my teammates the coaching staff and everyone with the program who helped me get this opportunity. I’ve been blessed and am so thankful to have had the opportunity to play at Notre Dame.”
Lee finished his Notre Dame career having played in 125 career games and was 35th on the all-time scoring list with 61 goals and 55 assists for 116 career points. Among his goals were 17 power-play goals, two short-handed tallies and 10 game winners and he was +37 for his career.
While with the Irish, Lee saw action at both left wing and center and was primarily a center in his junior year when he led the team in scoring with 20 goals and 18 assists for 38 points. He tied for the lead in goals among conference players and tied for third in points. He was a finalist for the CCHA player of the year and defensive forward of the year awards while being a first team all-CCHA selection. With that selection, he became just the second Notre Dame player in the 23 years that the team was a member of the CCHA to earn a pair of all-CCHA selections along with fellow junior T.J. Tynan (Orland Park, Ill.). Lee was a second team all-CCHA choice as a freshman. He led the Irish to a second-place finish in the CCHA regular-season and the school’s third CCHA tournament championship with wins over Ohio State and Michigan.
The talented goal scorer led the Irish in goals in all three of his seasons, getting 24 as a freshman and 17 as a sophomore to go with his 20 this year. He is the first Notre Dame player to have two 20-or-more goal campaigns in a career since Lou Zadra `92 had back-to-back 24-goal seasons in 1990-91 and 1991-92. He is just one of three players in Irish hockey history to lead the team in goals in three seasons, joining Rob Globke `04 (2000-01, 2002-04) and Aniket Dhadphale `99 who did it in 1995-96 and 1997-99.
As a sophomore (2011-12), Lee was second on the team in scoring with 17 goals and 17 assists for 34 points while serving as an alternate captain and was an honorable mention all-CCHA selection as the team was 19-18-3 for the year. He also scored the first-ever goal in the history of the Compton Family Ice Arena, scoring at 9:21 of the first period in a 5-2 win over Rensselaer on Oct. 21, 2011 in the first game at the new facility.
As a freshman (2010-11), Lee had a career-year with 24 goals and 20 assists for 44 points with six power-play goals, a short-handed goal and seven game winners, a mark that tied a single-season mark for power-play goals. He was selected to the CCHA all-rookie team and was a second-team all-CCHA choice. One of the team’s postseason heroes in Notre Dame’s run to the Frozen Four, Lee was named to the all-Northeast Regional team as he had two goals in the win over Merrimack, including the overtime game winner. The Irish were 25-14-5 in 2010-11 and advanced to the Frozen Four in St. Paul, Minn., falling in the semifinals to Minnesota-Duluth, 4-3.
Lee will wear No. 27 for the Islanders and is not expected to play tonight versus New Jersey but could be in the lineup as early as Tuesday at home on Long Island against the Winnipeg Jets.