Freshman Friday is a Q-and-A feature with new members of the men's hockey team. This is the second installment, featuring defenseman Cody Haiskanen.
Q: So you're the first North Dakota native to play here at Cornell. Guessing it's safe to say you grew up rooting for a different college hockey team. Growing up, how involved were you with college hockey?
A: Well, I'm from Fargo, so Grand Forks is only an hour away. So I was a pretty big fan of North Dakota growing up. We got to a handful of games each year. It was in the WCHA days, so it was mostly UMD and the Gophers, and all of that is pretty much what I knew since I was in the Midwest. I was pretty big into college hockey ever since.
Q: So by my math, you would have been 11 when Cornell played two games at North Dakota over Thanksgiving weekend. Any chance you were at those games?
A: No, I don't remember it. One of the earliest memories I have from the Ralph is when they played Colorado College in a WCHA game and Zach Parise went crazy, and they whooped them, and fireworks went off. But I don't remember Cornell ever being there.
Q: Were you more into college as a kid, or more NHL, or was it just any hockey that was on?
A: It was mostly just any hockey that was on. But I was really into the Fargo Force, because they were right in town. Their inaugural season was that same year (2008-09) and they went to the USHL finals for a couple years in a row. They were good for something like their first six years. We had season tickets for that, and we ended up billeting a couple players, so that was definitely our main team. Because especially during hockey season, we wouldn't have enough time to travel around to the big cities to see teams like the (Minnesota) Wild, which is my favorite NHL team.
Q: Were you always a hockey family?
A: Yeah, for sure. My dad played D3 hockey, so I started skating when I was really young. Definitely passed down from my dad.
Q: You mentioned billeting. How much do you remember about the players that lived with you?
A: We had two. We were only going to have the one, but then he got traded so we ended up taking in another player. The first player was supposed to be done at the end of the year, but the player that came in had another year. It was a great experience. It was kind of fun to have an older brother-type around that played hockey to look up to.
Q: So how old were you then?
A: I think I would have been 14. It wasn't too big of a difference.
Q: I think I read somewhere that it was David Gust, who just finished up his four years playing at Ohio State. Is that right?
A: Yeah. I was probably around 16 by the time he left. We were pretty close in age, I guess.
Q: So did you talk to him at all about the process of getting to that point in hockey? At age 14-15-16, you were probably starting to think about it yourself, right?
A: A little bit. I didn't want to bother him too much, I guess, because that's what my little brother did. He's the crazy one (laughs). I always had the dream of playing college hockey, but I knew it was kind of a long shot. I guess I just kind of knew how hard they had to work and what their schedules were like. So each year, I just tried to get better and not worry about anyone else more than anything.
Q: So at what point did you finally think, 'This could be me'?
A: It was probably sometime in high school. I know I got asked to practice with (the Force). My dad's always believed in me so much, and he always helped push me to get better, and I owe him so much for that. So I guess deep down I always knew, but I first came to the realization that it was actually going to happen, it probably would have been maybe even after high school. Because I blew out my knee after my senior year, and I didn't even know if I was going to be able to play anymore. Then, luckily, I got a year in juniors in Canada. I never was the best player on my team either. There's Team North Dakota, which is just the top high school players — I didn't make that, or anything. I guess I was looked over a couple times. I didn't really care, I just kept working hard because I knew I wanted to play for as long as I could.
Q: So you mentioned your year in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League. How did you end up there?
A: It actually worked out well, because I was going to play in the NAHL or something, because I talked to teams before that. But my knee was still recovering over the summer, so I wasn't ready for any of their tryouts. So the MJ team, the Portage Terriers, was the only team I could make a tryout for that I had interest in. I don't want to say they were the last option, but they kind of were. I feel like things work out for a reason, and I'm grateful for them. Because the league isn't well scouted, but it did enough to improve my game and get me noticed by the Fargo Force. It's funny, because (Fargo) Coach Cary (Eades') younger son played in the league against me, so that's how I got noticed for that. It just worked out really well.
Q: So Coach Eades sees you play a lot and he invites you to try out for the Force, and then you become the first Fargo kid to play for the Force. Was that something you would say was a goal of yours?
A: Yeah, I'd say for sure, from the day I started watching them. I was even a stick boy for the Force. I was a diehard. I definitely got to know some of the guys when I was younger and definitely looked up to them. It was awesome to play in my hometown of Fargo and be able to put on that jersey.
Q: So then a couple months go by and you commit to come here to Cornell. At what point did Cornell come into the equation?
A: I don't think I talked to Cornell until just before the regular season with the Force, when we do the Fall Classic event. I think that was the first time I talked to Coach Schafer. I liked what he had to say, so we just kept in touch from there. They wanted to watch me play a little bit more, so they watched me play during the regular season, and that's when I came on a visit. And when I came on the visit, that's when I had the feeling that this is the right place for me. Just talking with the guys on the team, I just felt like it was a really good culture.
Q: Did you get to see a game while you were here?
A: I didn't, unfortuntely. Our scheduling worked out to where I had to be here on a Tuesday. So I watched practice. They wanted me to see a game so bad, because they felt like that would have influenced my decision even more to come here, but I had seen videos of them playing Harvard and of the great fans we have here.
Q: Did you look at other schools?
A: I had a couple other schools interested, I guess. I visited one other place at UNH. A lot of them were out east, which I guess is pretty surprising, but that didn't bother me. I kind of wanted change, I guess. I wanted to venture out — I don't want to live off my family my whole life. So I visited UNH, talked with UMass-Lowell and UMass-Amherst. But when I came here, it just felt right.
Q: Other than hockey, what are you studying and thinking about for the future?
A: That was another big reason to come here, because the education is just second to none. You can get one of the best educations in the world, because you can't play hockey forever. So I feel like that was a big part of it, too, but obviously the hockey team is a big part of it because of the success rate with that. So I want to play hockey for as long as I can. But after that, honestly, career-wise, I'd probably imagine somewhere in business. But I actually don't know specifically. My dad's a salesman, and I like what he does. But right now, I'm in Economics in Arts and Sciences. But we'll see where I end up, I guess. Still feeling it out.
2017-18 Freshman Friday Archives:
Oct. 20 — Morgan Barron
