Freshman Friday is a Q-and-A feature with new members of the men's hockey team. This is the seventh installment, featuring defenseman Matthew Nuttle. Born and raised in the Buffalo area, Nuttle joins the Big Red after two years away from home in the junior hockey ranks. He discusses his first experience with Cornell hockey nearly 13 years ago, what it was like to play with an expansion team and why he thinks the Big Red could be on the verge of a special season.
 
Q: So you're from Marilla, which is in the Buffalo area. Does that mean you're a big Sabres fan?
A: Yeah, I'm a diehard Sabres fan by birth rite, I guess. We're hanging in there, I guess.

Q: What are some of your favorite memories from Sabres games?
A: The one I remember most was I was at Game 5 or 6 in the playoffs, and the Sabres were playing the Rangers back when they were good — so maybe 2006. Chris Drury scored with like a second left to send it to overtime; took a little turnaround shot from the hash marks. Max Afinogenov ended up scoring in overtime, slid across the middle of the ice. It was the coolest game I've ever been at.

Q: Canisius and Niagara are in that area, but Buffalo isn't exactly a huge college hockey town yet. Did you have exposure to college hockey as a kid?
A: Actually, my first exposure to college hockey was when the Frozen Four was in Buffalo in 2003 when Cornell was in the Frozen Four. I went and saw Cornell play, and Michigan and Minnesota played the other game, which I went to too. So that was actually my first taste of Cornell hockey. I actually remember the band being there and everything. It was pretty cool.

Q: So did that stay with you through the years, or is it kind of a coincidence that you ended up here?
A: Yeah, I would say it stuck with me throughout the years. Obviously at the time, I was 8 years old, so I didn't know much about college hockey or anything. But I remember all the fans and everything, so that's something that's kind of always stuck with me.

Q: You went through the Regals and Junior Sabres ranks, and then you move 2,000 miles away to Wenatchee, Wash. to play in the NAHL. Was that a tough move for you?
A: Yeah, it was my first time living away from home. What made the transition a lot easier was my best friend got drafted by Wenatchee and the coach said we could live together if we moved out there. So thinking about it for a while, the decision was to either play home to play junior hockey or move out there. And I just kind of thought at that point in my life, I was ready to move out there. Meeting with the coaches there, it just seemed like the right decision.

Q: Now Cornell has a bit of a history with Wenatchee and having some of its future players go through there. Armand de Swardt was one; Christian Hilbrich is another. Did you know any of that when you were there? Was Cornell something that ever came up?
A: Guys had talked about it. I had heard of Hilbrich, because guys always talk about the guys who used to play for their program and move on. Those are always big staples. People always look up to those guys. But there wasn't any knowledge about who would move on to what school.

Q: What was your experience like out there? I've heard it's quite the atmosphere ...
A: I loved it. It was the best decision I ever made, going out there. I loved the city, I loved the town, I still talk to a lot of the people from there. And playing hockey there, we just had a great group of guys and we had a ton of fun. I still stay in touch with all of those guys, too. I loved it there, honestly.

Q: Next was the jump to the USHL, where you broke in with an expansion team in Bloomington, Ill. That's not the sort of thing you come across all the time. Was it different playing for a team where no one knew each other ahead of time?
A: It was really different. I actually knew zero people in camp when I got there, and usually in hockey you know somebody through something. It was really different, because you're kind of looked at to be the building blocks. So everybody, even the coaching staff, it was their first experience in the USHL. We were looked upon to build the culture of the program. We tried to come up with slogans for the team and stuff like that. Definitely a different experience, but pretty cool.

Q: You committed to Cornell early on in your time there. What about Cornell made it stand out and make you feel like that's where you want to be?
A: It was an easy decision. Just with the atmosphere at these games and the record that Cornell has with developing especially defensemen to play at the next level. That's something I really looked into, and I just really couldn't think of a reason not to (go here) with the academics on top of all that. Being close to home was just an added bonus. It just really all set up perfectly.

Q: Committing in late summer is an interesting time, because did you get a chance to visit and see a game here?
A: No, I did not. I came in August and met with the coaching staff, and there were a couple guys around working out. But, no, my first experience at a Lynah Rink game was actually the Niagara weekend.

Q: Was it everything people talked about it?
A: Yeah, it was awesome. Really cool. Definitely very rowdy.

Q: So then in January, you get traded to a team (the Sioux Falls Stampede, in South Dakota) which does something pretty incredible. They were the last team into the playoffs, and then they win the whole thing. Have you ever been part of a run like that, where a team just takes off?
A: No, it was really something different. The thing was, we were always sort of the underdog — but we never really viewed ourselves as an underdog. We always looked at stuff like the USHL power rankings, which never really gave us any respect. We truly believed we would win it. With everything lining up, it actually happened.

Q: So I think it's three years in a row now we've had Clark Cup champions enter Cornell, because we had Hayden Stewart and Dwyer Tschantz with Indiana in 2014 …
A: And (Eric) Freschi won (in 2013 with Dubuque).

Q: Just a few months later, here you are. What are your impressions of Ithaca and everything around the hockey program so far?
A: It's been great. Ithaca is a really cool place. I like the restaurants and everything, so I've had a chance to experience that. Being from Buffalo, the weather's not that much an adjustment. The weather has been pretty nice here. With the hockey, the guys have been great. I've had a blast, on and off the ice, getting to know everybody. The team's really close. I really already feel like something special could happen.

Q: What would you say the biggest adjustment has been?
A: The biggest adjustment for me would be time management. It's not like juniors, when you go to the rink and practice, have a workout, then the rest of the day you get to eat, hang out and watch your shows on Netflix. Now I'm getting to the point where I have to go to the rink, practice, then meet with people for a group project or do homework. It's a little different aspect, but it hasn't been too bad.

Q: What are you studying?
A: I'm in Applied Economics and Management.

Q: Is that where you see yourself after hockey, in the business world?
A: Yeah, I don't have too great of an idea of what I want to do just yet. I'm just sort of gathering the basis of it. But I'm definitely interested in business and stuff like that.

Q: Is that what your parents do? Is that something you pick up from them?
A: No. My dad's a plumber, and my mom works for the U.S. probation office, so she works for the government. So I guess I have a different venture.

FRESHMAN FRIDAY SERIES
Oct. 23: Luc Lalor
Oct. 30: Mitch Vanderlaan
Nov. 6: Beau Starrett
Nov. 13: Trent Shore
Nov. 20: Alec McCrea
Nov. 27: Chad Otterman
Jan. 8: Brendan Smith
Jan. 15: Anthony Angello