Game 1 • Cornell at Princeton
Faceoff: Friday, Nov. 7, at 4 p.m.
Site: Hobey Baker Rink (2,092) • Princeton, N.J.
2008-09 Records: Cornell (0-0-0, 0-0-0 ECAC Hockey) • Princeton (1-0-0, 0-0-0 ECAC Hockey)
Series Record: Cornell leads, 76-44-7
Last Meeting: Princeton won, 2-1, on Feb. 23, 2008 in Princeton, N.J.
Television: ESPNU • Dan Parkhurst (play-by-play), Ken Hodge (color)
Radio: WHCU 870 AM • Jason Weinstein (play-by-play)
Live Stats: www.goprincetontigers.com
Live Video: none
Tickets: Available by calling (607) 254-BEAR
Game 2 • Cornell at Quinnipiac
Faceoff: Saturday, Nov. 8, 2008
Site: TD Banknorth Sports Center (3,300) • Hamden, Conn.
2008-09 Records: Cornell (0-0-0, 0-0-0 ECAC Hockey) • Quinnipiac (0-0-0, 0-0-0 ECAC Hockey)
Series Record: Cornell leads, 6-3-1
Last Meeting: Cornell won, 3-2, in OT, on Feb. 22, 2008 in Hamden, Conn.
Television: none
Radio: WHCU 870 AM • Jason Weinstein (play-by-play)
Live Stats: www.quinnipiacbobcats.com
Live Video: none
Tickets: Available by calling (607) 254-BEAR
Game Notes in PDF Format
ITHACA, N.Y. -- As far as season openers go, starting the year with the reigning league champion in any sport is no easy task - and starting the year on the road makes things that much more difficult. Add to that mix the pressure of playing in front of a nationwide crowd, and the task at hand appears even more daunting.
Such is life for the Big Red as they open the 2008-09 men's hockey season with a trip to Princeton and Quinnipiac. The Big Red opens the campaign at 4 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 7, in Princeton, N.J., before heading into Connecticut for a 7 p.m. contest against the Bobcats the following night in Hamden, Conn. Friday afternoon's matinee will be televised nationally on ESPNU, while Jason Weinstein will provide the radio call locally in Ithaca on WHCU 870 AM, with audio available globally through the RedCast subscription service.
Coming off a third-place finish in last season's ECAC Hockey tournament in Albany, N.Y., the Big Red returns 17 lettermen while welcoming six freshman and one senior transfer as it appears ready to make a run at bringing another ECAC Hockey title back to Ithaca. Cornell has been picked to finish third in the conference by both the league's coaches and members of the media covering ECAC Hockey, while a trio of players have been selected to various preseason all-league teams. Junior co-captain Colin Greening was named to the coaches preseason team, while sophomore Riley Nash and junior goaltender Ben Scrivens were selected to the preseason team by the media.
Cornell is led by 14th-year head coach Mike Schafer, who has compiled a 254-139-45 record in his first 13 seasons. Schafer has guided the Big Red to four ECAC Hockey championships and six NCAA tournament berths during his tenure. Additionally, he led the Big Red to its last NCAA Frozen Four appearance in Buffalo in 2003. Schafer is assisted by associate head coach Casey Jones, assistant coach Scott Garrow and volunteer goaltender coach Ian Burt.
ABOUT PRINCETON
The Tigers opened their season on Friday with a convincing 4-1 victory over Brown in a non-conference contest as part of the Bears' Showcase at Brown. Princeton then came back the next night and thumped the Ontario Institute of Technology, 8-2, to pick up momentum heading into Friday's league opener. Princeton junior Mark Magnowski was named the ECAC Hockey Player of the Week after scoring two goals, including the game-winner, and adding an assist against Brown on Friday night, while sophomore Matt Godlewski picked up a pair of assists. In goal, junior Zane Kalemba picked up 12 saves in picking up his first victory of the season. The Tigers tacked on a pair of power play goals and have a 25.0 percentage with the man advantage this season, but gave up one power play goal on just two chances for the Bears. The Tigers return 21 lettermen while losing just five from last year's squad that posted a 14-8 mark in ECAC Hockey and won the league tournament to qualify for the NCAA tournament.
CORNELL AGAINST THE TIGERS
Heading into last season, Cornell had won 13 of its last 14 games against Princeton dating back to 2001, but the Tigers picked up a pair of one-goal victories last year. Cornell opened ECAC Hockey action against the Tigers on Nov. 2 at Lynah Rink, with Princeton scoring a 3-2 victory. In the rematch on Feb. 23 in Princeton, Cornell was sent to a 2-1 defeat. Even with last season's sweep of the Big Red, Princeton still trails in the all-time series, which dates back to a 4-2 Cornell victory on March 3, 1901, 76-44-7. Under head coach Mike Schafer, the Big Red holds a 21-8-2 lead against the Tigers.
ABOUT QUINNIPIAC
Quinnipiac comes into the weekend with a 2-2 mark on the year and off a split from last weekend's action. The Bobcats dropped a 4-1 contest at UMass-Lowell on Thursday, but then rallied for a 4-1 victory over Connecticut at home on Saturday. Freshman Spencer Heichman was named the ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Week after scoring the lone goal against the River Hawks, then adding two assists in the victory over the Huskies. Junior Brandon Wong and senior Bryan Leitch lead the Bobcats with six points apiece, with Wong scoring a team-best four goals and Leitch tallying six assists through the first four contests. Freshman Nick Pisellinio has supplanted incumbent starter Bud Fisher in goal, posting a 1.09 goals-against average and a .952 save percentage in 165 minutes of action over three games. Quinnipiac has converted five of its 18 power-play chances for 27.8 percent, while allowing four power play goals in 27 short-handed opportunities (85.2 percent penalty killing rate).
CORNELL AGAINST THE BOBCATS
The newest member of ECAC Hockey, Cornell and Quinnipiac have met just 10 times since the series began in 2000-01, with the Big Red holding a 6-3-1 lead in the series. Cornell took both of last year's contests, including a 5-3 victory on Nov. 3 at Lynah Rink before scoring an overtime winner on Feb. 22 in Hamden, Conn.
LATE STARTS
Not only is Cornell's season opener on Friday the latest for the Big Red since head coach Mike Schafer's second year in 1996-97, when Cornell opened on Nov. 8, it will also make the Big Red the last team in Division I college hockey to play its first regular-season game. The late start parallels that of the Cornell football team, which was scheduled to be the last team in Division I to begin play this season with its game at Bucknell on Sept. 20.
ECAC HOCKEY AND SEASON OPENERS
Friday's contest against Princeton will be serving not only as the season opener, but also the first league game of the season. The last time the Big Red jumped directly into league play without any nonconference contests came in 1999-2000, when the Big Red opened with a 5-4 overtime loss at Rensselaer. Under the direction of Mike Schafer, Cornell has opened its season with a conference game just twice, with the first time coming in his second season behind the bench, a 5-4 victory at Brown.
MORE ON THE SEASON OPENER
While Cornell opening its year against a league foe is an uncommon occurence under Mike Schafer, the Big Red has had success in its first games of the year under the 14th-year mentor. In the first 13 seasons under Schafer's direction, the Big Red is 8-4-1 in season openers.
...AND OPENING ON THE ROAD
The Big Red will be opening the 2008-09 season on the road for the second straight season and fifth time under the direction of head coach Mike Schafer. Last season, Cornell opened at Rochester Institute of Technology at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester and fell by a 4-1 margin. The last time Cornell opened back-to-back seasons on the road came in Schafer's first two years, opening at Michigan State in 1995-96 and at Brown in 1996-97.
STARTING OFF ON THE RIGHT FOOT
Cornell will be trying to avoid starting the season with a loss for the second year in a row, another uncommon occurrence for the Big Red under Mike Schafer. In the modern era of Cornell hockey, from the opening of Lynah Rink in 1957 to the present day, the Big Red has only once dropped back-to-back season openers, that coming in the 1999-2000 and 2000-01 seasons, falling to Rensselaer by a 5-4 score on Nov. 5, 1999, and dropping a 5-3 contest to Sacred Heart on Nov. 4, 2000.
EXHIBIT A
Riley Nash, Tyler Roeszler and Tyler Mugford each scored a goal as Cornell opened the 2008-09 season with an exhibition tie against the U.S. Under-18 National Team on Oct. 18 at Lynah Rink. Playing with just one day of practice under their belts, the Big Red showed off their power play and penalty killing abilities, as Cornell scored one goal with the man advantage and one short-handed, in addition to Roeszler's strike at even strength. Ben Scrivens worked the first half of the game, picking up 10 saves on 11 shots, while Mike Garman worked the second half of the contest, stopping three of the five shots he faced over that span.
NORTH OF THE BORDER
The Big Red also faced off against Western Ontario in an exhibition contest on Oct. 24, downing the Mustangs, 4-3, on a last-second goal by Brendon Nash. The penalty-filled contest saw a combined 63 minutes worth of penalties, with the two teams each receiving plenty of power play opportunities. Nash and Michael Kennedy both scored a pair of goals in the game, with Nash's second goal coming with 6.3 seconds remaining in regulation after the Mustangs had tied the score with just under 30 seconds remaining. Ben Scrivens worked the entire contest, making 17 saves for the exhibition victory.
PLENTY OF FIREPOWER
Cornell returns three of its top five scorers from last season, including its top two in junior Colin Greening and sophomore Riley Nash. Greening tallied a team-best 14 goals last season, while Nash tied with Topher Scott '08 for team-high honors in assists with 20. In all, Cornell's returning players accounted for 74 percent of the total goal-scoring output and 76 percent of the assists in 2007-08.
ROCK SOLID DEFENSE
While the amount of offensive production returning to the Cornell lineup this season in impressive, the defensive corps also returns six starters from last year. Junior Brendon Nash led the blue-liners in scoring last season, tallying 16 points on two goals and 14 assists, despite missing 12 games while recovering from off-season surgery.
WICKED SMART KIDS
Eight players from last season's team were named to the ECAC Hockey All-Academic team for their achievements in the classroom last year. Five of those players return this season, as seniors Troy Davenport and Dan DiLeo, juniors Colin Greening and Justin Krueger and sophomore Patrick Kennedy each were named to the team. Additionally, graduated seniors Chris Fontas, Doug Krantz and Topher Scott were also selected as All-Academic Team members.
THOSE MASKED MEN
Cornell has the benefit of having four capable collegiate goaltenders on the roster in 2008-09, two of whom have been the team's top goaltender at one point or another. Senior Troy Davenport was the starter in 2006-07, appearing in 24 games and posting a 2.41 goals-against average and a .899 save percentage. Last season, current junior Ben Scrivens grabbed the top job, appearing in 35 contests and posting a 2.02 goals-against average and a .930 save percentage. Joining the two are senior Dan DiLeo, who saw his first collegiate action in the ECAC Hockey consolation game win over Colgate last season, and freshman Mike Garman, who backstopped the Nanaimo Clippers to the British Columbia Hockey League regular season title last year.
WELCOME ABOARD
Seven players will join the Big Red roster in 2008-09, including six freshmen and a senior. Sean Collins headlines the group after being selected in the seventh round by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. Also joining as freshmen are fellow forwards Jordan Kary and Locke Jillson, along with defensemen Keir Ross and Sean Whitney and goaltender Mike Garman. The incoming class is completed with the addition of Derek Punches, who transferred to Cornell from Wayne State after that school discontinued its program after the 2007-08 season.
TRANSFER TICKET
For the fourth straight season, the Cornell men's hockey roster will include a player who began his career at another school, as Derek Punches joins the Big Red after playing his first three seasons at Wayne State. Punches served as an assistant captain last year for the Warriors and finished second on the team with 10 goals and was fifth overall with 19 points. Punches was a two-time College Hockey America All-Academic Team selection while at Wayne State. For the past three seasons, the transfer role was filled by Chris Fontas, who played sat out one year and played in 2006-07 and 2007-08 after tranferring from Massachusetts-Lowell.
FOR AND AGAINST
Derek Punches holds the distinction of being the most recent player to have played both for and against the Big Red. Punches played two games at Cornell as a sophomore at Wayne State, helping the Warriors to a split at Lynah Rink on Nov. 25-26, 2006. In the two games against the Big Red, Punches recorded a pair of shots and had an even plus-minus rating. The last two players to have played for the Big Red after playing against them were Doug Berk and Geoff Roeszler, who transferred to Cornell in time for the 1978-79 seasons after Penn dropped its program.
I FEEL A DRAFT
For the second straight season, Cornell has four players on the roster who have been selected in the NHL Entry Draft. Juniors Colin Greening and Justin Krueger, sophomore Riley Nash and freshman Sean Collins have each been selected by NHL clubs.
CUSHING CONNECTION
While the New England prep schools typically send their top prospects on to collegiate careers at Boston area schools, freshman Sean Whitney has become the third product of Cushing Academy to play for the Big Red. He joins Chris Fontas, who played for Cornell from 2006-07 through 2007-08, and Ryan Moynihan, who played on East Hill from 1996-2000, as Cushing alumni to suit up in the Red and White.
WHAT'S IN A NUMBER?
Freshman Sean Whitney will be wearing jersey number 19 this season, a number that has several interesting connections for the Scituate, Mass., native. His older brother, Ryan, plays for the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League, and he sports the same number 19 on his uniform. Additionally, the last Cushing Academy alumnus to play hockey at Cornell, Chris Fontas, closed out his career by wearing number 19. Like Fontas, Whitney is an alumnus of Cushing Academy.
CLIMBING THE CHARTS
Cornell head coach Mike Schafer is quickly moving up the ranks of the coaching fraternity in his win totals. In his 14th season, Schafer has 254 career victories, ranking him fifth in ECAC Hockey, but with the shortest tenure of the four ahead of him in the rankings. Schafer could potentially move into second among ECAC Hockey peers, as he trails Dartmouth's Bob Gaudet by just two, Colgate's Don Vaughan by just six, and Quinnipiac's Rand Pecknold by just 11. St. Lawrence's Joe Marsh, the dean of coaches in ECAC Hockey, has 418 career wins to his credit in 23 seasons.
REMEMBERING NED HARKNESS
Legendary coach Ned Harkness, who guided the Big Red to its two national championships in 1967 and 1970, passed away on Sept. 19, his 89th birthday. Harkness led Cornell to the only undefeated, untied NCAA championship season in 1970, going 29-0-0. His legendary career also included stops at Rensselaer, where he guided the Engineers to the 1954 NCAA championship, and Union, along with the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League. This season, the Cornell men's hockey and men's lacrosse teams will both be wearing a sticker on their helmets in memory of Ned Harkness.
ONE LONG SEASON
The 2007-08 season for the Big Red has found its own space in the record books, as the 19-14-3 campaign tied the 2002-03 season for the most games in a single season with 36. That season marked the last time that the Big Red advanced to the NCAA Frozen Four, where it fell to New Hampshire in the national semifinals.
HATS OFF
Colin Greening recorded the Big Red's first hat trick in 101 games when he tallied three goals on Feb. 29 against Dartmouth. The junior co-captain became the first player since Matt Moulson recorded the feat against Union on Feb. 19, 2005.
THE BACKUP OF THE BACKUP'S BACKUP
For the first time under head coach Mike Schafer, and the first time since the 1990-91 season, four netminders will be battling for time in between the pipes for the Big Red. Seniors Troy Davenport and Dan DiLeo, junior Ben Scrivens and freshman Mike Garman make the first quartet of goaltenders for Cornell since the foursome of Parris Duffus, Corrie D'Alessio, Jim Crozier and Steve Coultes graced the roster in Brian McCutcheon's fourth season behind the bench. That season, D'Alessio and Crozier were both seniors, with Coultes a sophomore and Duffus a freshman. Cornell has also had four goaltenders on the roster in 1986-87, 1983-84, 1982-83, 1976-77 and 1958-59.
BACK BEHIND THE BENCH
Casey Jones returns to his alma mater as an associate head coach for 2008-09 after spending the last 13 years in the same role with Ohio State. Jones, a Big Red captain 1989-90 under head coach Brian McCutcheon, fills the spot on the coaching staff that was created when assistant coach Brent Brekke departed for Miami (Ohio).
BROTHERLY LOVE
The 2008-09 edition of the Big Red continues a theme started a year ago, as the three sets of brothers on the Cornell roster all return intact for a second season. Michael and Patrick Kennedy, Brendon and Riley Nash, and twins Joe and Mike Devin will again make life difficult on visiting radio and TV announcers.
IRON MEN
With the departure of graduated seniors Raymond Sawada and Topher Scott, who finished their collegiate career tied for fourth all-time in NCAA history in consecutive games played at 138, junior Colin Greening holds the team's longest current consecutive games streak at 67. The junior co-captain has never missed a game in his Cornell career.
CLIPPER SHIP
Cornell typically has had success recruiting players from the British Columbia Hockey League in general and from the Nanaimo Clippers in particular, and the 2008-09 season is no exception. Six members of this year's team played their junior hockey for the BCHL powerhouse club, with incoming freshman goaltender Mike Garman adding to the long line of Nanaimo alumni who have gone on to play for the Big Red. Of those six players, three - Colin Greening, Tyler Mugford and Jared Seminoff - will serve as either a co-captain or an alternate captain this season for the Big Red.
A QUARTER CENTURY OF EXCELLENCE
Cornell coach Mike Schafer picked up his 250th career coaching victory with the Big Red's 3-2 win in game one of the ECAC Hockey quarterfinal series against Dartmouth. Schafer's .631 winning percentage is also good for eighth among active Division I head coaches.
IN THE AIR TONIGHT
All of Cornell's games this season can be heard in the Ithaca area on WHCU 870 AM. Jason Weinstein returns for his fifth season of calling Big Red hockey action.
ON THE TUBE
Eight of Cornell's regular season games are scheduled to be on television this season, beginning with Friday's season opener at Princeton. Even better for Big Red fans, seven of those contests will be road games, making it easier to track the team while it's away from Lynah Rink. Two of those games - the Nov. 27 game at North Dakota and the Jan. 16 game at Union - will also be simulcast across the U.S. on the NHL Network, with another two available on national TV, including the Nov. 7 game at Princeton, to be shown on ESPNU, and the Feb. 14 game at Harvard, seen on CBS College Sports. Last season, Cornell had eight games total on television, and the Big Red went 4-4 in those contests.
REDCAST
Live streaming video of most of Cornell's home hockey games is available through Cornell REDCast. In addition to streaming video of home games, fans can also get live audio of all of Cornell's road games. REDCast is a subscription-based joint venture of Cornell athletics and Internet Consulting Services (ICS). Numerous subscription options, including yearly, monthly, sport-by-sport and pay-per-view passes, provide viewing and listening flexibility without the worry of automatic renewal. REDCasts are available on all computer operating systems.
UP NEXT
Cornell plays the annual home-and-home series with travel partner Colgate on a special Thursday-Saturday billing. The Big Red will travel to Hamilton for a 7:30 p.m. start time on Thursday in a game televised in Central New York by Time Warner Sports, while the Saturday contest at Lynah Rink, the regular-season home opener, is set for a 7 p.m. start.
