Game 17 • North Dakota at Cornell
Faceoff: Friday, January 22, 2010 at 7:00 p.m.
Site: Lynah Rink (4,267) • Ithaca, N.Y.
2009-10 Records: Cornell (9-4-3, 7-2-2 ECAC Hockey); North Dakota (12-7-5, 8-7-3 WCHA)

Media Information
Television: Time Warner Cable Sports • Mark Larson (play-by-play), Dan Fridgen (color)
Radio: WHCU 870 AM • Jason Weinstein (play-by-play)
Live Stats: www.sidearmstats.com/cornell/mhockey
Live Video: www.CornellBigRed.com/showcase
Tickets: Available by calling (607) 254-BEAR

Game 18 • North Dakota at Cornell
Faceoff: Saturday, January 23, 2010 at 7:00 p.m.
Site: Lynah Rink (4,267) • Ithaca, N.Y.

Media Information
Television: none
Radio: WHCU 870 AM • Jason Weinstein (play-by-play)
Live Stats: www.sidearmstats.com/cornell/mhockey
Live Video: www.CornellBigRed.com/showcase
Tickets: Available by calling (607) 254-BEAR

Game Notes in PDF Format

ITHACA, N.Y. -- Fresh off a win and a tie in the North Country, the Cornell men's hockey team takes a break from ECAC Hockey play for the final time this season, welcoming North Dakota to Lynah Rink for the first time ever. The Big Red and Fighting Sioux will meet for a pair of games, facing off at 7 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday. Friday night's game will be televised by Time Warner Cable Sports in New York, while both games can be heard in the Ithaca area on WHCU 870 AM with Jason Weinstein providing the call. Live streaming video of both games, including the Time Warner Broadcast, will be available through the Cornell Redcast subscription service.

ABOUT THE BIG RED
Adversity comes in many forms, and the Cornell men's hockey team handled several of those last weekend in picking up three points in the North Country. With two-thirds of the team battling the flu, the Big Red scored a 3-1 win at Clarkson and a 1-1 tie at St. Lawrence to come home from the ECAC Hockey's most difficult road trip with three valuable points. On Friday night at Clarkson, the Big Red got goals from Patrick Kennedy, Locke Jillson and Colin Greening to score its first win at Clarkson since Jan. 26, 2005. The following night, the Big Red got an outstanding goaltending performance from Ben Scrivens, who stopped 35 of the 36 shots he faced on the night for a 1-1 tie. The Big Red offense is paced by Greening and Blake Gallagher, who share the team lead with 20 points through the first 16 games. Gallagher has a team-best 11 goals and nine assists, while Greening has the team lead with 13 assists to go along with seven goals. Joining the pair in double figures in scoring on the year are Joe Devin (4-11--15), Riley Nash (5-9--14) and Brendon Nash (2-8--10). Scrivens has seen all of the time in goal for the Big Red, posting a 2.04 goals-against average and a .928 save percentage with one shutout. The Big Red power play, which at one point was converting at a 32 percent rate, has cooled off considerably, now connecting on 18-of-74 chances (24.3 percent), though the Cornell penalty killing unit has still been successful, killing off 73-of-83 chances for the opposition (88.0 percent).

ABOUT NORTH DAKOTA
The Fighting Sioux had a five-game unbeaten streak snapped on Saturday at Minnesota, falling by a 5-1 margin. The two teams met on Friday as well, skating to a 3-3 tie in Minneapolis. The 5-1 defeat to the Golden Gophers marked the first time among North Dakota's seven losses this season that they fell by more than one goal. North Dakota features a balanced offensive attack, with 11 different players in double figures in scoring on the year. Evan Trupp leads the team in scoring with 20 points (5-15--20) while Jason Gregoire has a team-best 12 goals and Chris VandeVelde has a team-leading 12 assists. Brad Eidsness has played most of the minutes in goal, posting a 2.29 goals-against average and a .906 save percentage with one shutout. North Dakota has converted on 29-of-132 power play chances this season (22.0 percent) while killing off 104-of-122 opponents' chances (85.2 percent).

THE SERIES WITH NORTH DAKOTA
This weekend's series will mark the first-ever visit by North Dakota to Lynah Rink, returning the two games the Big Red made to Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D., last season. The two teams split the two meetings last season, with North Dakota claiming a 7-3 victory on Nov. 28, 2008, and the Big Red rebounding on the following night for a 2-1 victory. North Dakota leads the all-time series, 4-2. The two teams have met three times in the NCAA tournament, with Cornell claiming a win in the first game between the two schools, a 1-0 victory in 1967 in Syracuse, N.Y., on the way to Cornell's first-ever NCAA championship. The following season, the two teams again met in the national semifinals, this time with the Fighting Sioux scoring a 3-1 win in Duluth, Minn. Three of the first six meetings between the two programs have occurred in the NCAA tournament.

ONE LONG ROAD TRIP
At long last, the Big Red makes its first appearance at Lynah Rink since the end of November. The Big Red played eight consecutive games away from home over the last two months, the longest road swing since the 1990-91 season. This year's span, which included three neutral site games and five true road games, saw Cornell post a 3-2-3 record.

ANOTHER MILESTONE REACHED
Cornell's game at New Hampshire on Jan. 3 marked the 1,700th contest all-time in Cornell history. It was also the 972nd all-time victory for the Big Red.

NORTH COUNTRY OF NIGHTMARES
All teams have their share of troubles when heading to New York's North Country, and Cornell has been no exception to that rule in recent seasons. Cornell's win on Jan. 15 at Clarkson snapped an eight-game losing streak in the North Country. The Big Red last won at either venue during the 2004-05 season when it pulled off the rare sweep of Clarkson and St. Lawrence. Since then, the Big Red had tallied just three of a possible 16 points. Clarkson's Cheel Arena and St. Lawrence's Appleton Arena are two of the three ECAC Hockey venues that the Big Red has a losing record at, with Harvard's Bright Hockey Center the third. After last weekend's results, Cornell is now 6-11-3 at Cheel Arena and 17-19-5 at Appleton Arena.

ONE AND ONLY
The Big Red's 1-1 tie at St. Lawrence on Jan. 16 marked the first time this season that the Big Red scored fewer than two goals in a game. Cornell had scored at least two in each of the first 15 games of the season, and had scored more than two in nine of those first 15 games.

DRAWING EVEN
Cornell's 5-2 win at New Hampshire on Jan. 3 brought the Big Red back to the .500 mark on the season in non-league games. Cornell is now 2-2-1 on the season out of ECAC Hockey play, with wins over New Hampshire and Niagara and losses to Colorado College and Princeton. The lone tie came against Boston University at Madison Square Garden, a 3-3 contest in front of a sold-out crowd at MSG.

FIT TO BE TIED
Cornell's 3-3 tie against Boston University on Nov. 28 at Madison Square Garden marked the 50th tie in the coaching tenure of head coach Mike Schafer. The Big Red bench boss, in his 15th season, is averaging 3.33 ties per season during his tenure. Cornell recorded six ties in 2003-04, while posting as few as one tie in 2002-03. Additionally, while the tie was the 50th for Schafer, it also marked the 99th all-time tie in the history of the Cornell men's hockey program. Cornell reached the 100-tie mark a week later with the Big Red's 2-2 tie at Union on Dec. 5.

OVER THE CENTURY MARK
It didn't take long for Cornell senior Colin Greening to blow past the 100-point mark. Greening reached 99 career points with a goal and an assist at Rensselaer on Dec. 4 and was held scoreless the following night, but reached the century mark with a goal against Colorado College in the Florida College Classic. Greening wasn't satisfied with standing on 100, however, as he tallied an assist the following night against Princeton to reach 101. Greening is the 45th player in Cornell history to reach the 100-point barrier, with the last being Topher Scott, who recorded 107 career points in 137 games from 2004-08. Greening is alone in 42nd place all-time in Cornell scoring history, three points behind Ryan Moynihan for 41st (131 GP, 45-61--106).

SAVING THE DAY
Ask those in college hockey circles about Cornell's goaltender, and they'll inevitably make a comment about the goaltender being good, but a product of the Big Red's defensive system in front of them. At the end of the day, though, the goaltender's job is to stop the puck, no matter what kind of defense is in front of him. And that's where Ben Scrivens finds himself now, midway through his senior season. The Spruce Grove, Alberta, native, stands in second place all-time among the legendary netminders of Cornell history in career saves, just 57 behind Jason Elliott's career total of 2,462. This season, Scrivens is averaging 26.6 saves per game, meaning he is on pace to break Elliott's mark on Jan. 29 against St. Lawrence. Scrivens also has the second and third highest single-season save totals in Cornell history in each of the past two seasons.

THE WINNER
Ben Scrivens is not only nearing the top of the Cornell career saves list, but he is also approaching the top of several other categories. Scrivens is now third in school history in career wins with 53, 23 behind Ken Dryden's 76 and 12 behind David McKee's 65. He is also second in career ties with 11, two behind McKee, and fourth in both goals-against average (1.97) and save percentage (.928). He also has 13 career shutouts, tying him with Dryden for second-most in school history.

VOTE FOR HOBEY
The first phase of voting for the 2010 Hobey Baker Award is now open, with three Cornellians on the ballot. Seniors Ben Scrivens, Blake Gallagher and Colin Greening are the Big Red's three candidates for the award. Fans can vote now through March 7, with the 10 finalists announced on March 18. The fan vote accounts for one percent of a player's voting tally. Fans can vote online at http://www.hobeybaker.com/voting.

LOWE'S SENIOR CLASS
Colin Greening is also one of 20 semifinalists for the 2010 Lowe's Senior Class Award, an award presented to the top student-athlete in the country. The award was designed to reward those student-athletes for staying in school all four years and their contributions to the classroom, community and in competition. The 10 finalists will be announced midway through the season, and the winner will be announced at the Frozen Four in Detroit, Mich. Greening is one of five semifinalists from ECAC Hockey.

GOING FOR THE GOLD
Cornell alumnus Douglas Murray joins an elite list of players to represent their country in the Winter Olympics after being named to Team Sweden for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver next month. Murray joins Darren Eliot (1984), Kent Manderville (1992), Dan Ratushny (1992) and Joe Nieuwendyk (1998, 2002) in appearing in Olympic competition and is the first to play for a country other than Canada.

ABOUT THE FLORIDA COLLEGE CLASSIC
For the third time in the 10-year history of the Florida College Classic, the Cornell men's hockey team dropped both of its games at the tournament. Cornell lost both games of the tournament in both 2001-02 and again in 2002-03. Hopefully for the Big Red, history has been kind to Cornell when losing twice in Florida, as both times, Cornell advanced to the NCAA tournament. The most recent time saw Cornell advance to the Frozen Four. Maine won the 2009 edition of the tournament with a 3-2 come-from-behind win against Colorado College.

POWERFUL PLAY
After starting out the season with the nation's best power play unit, the Big Red man-advantage squad has cooled off considerably in recent games. After scoring at least one power play goal in 11 of the first 12 games, the Big Red has gone without a power play goal in each of the last four contests. Cornell has gone 16 straight power plays without finding the back of the net. Despite the Big Red's recent struggles on the man advantage, however, the Big Red is still ranked fifth in the country in power-play percentage, converting on 24.3 percent of its chances. Maine leads the nation in converting on 27.6 percent of its chances.

WALK THE LINE
Late last season, Cornell coach Mike Schafer put together the line combination of Blake Gallagher, Colin Greening and Joe Devin, to immediate results. Only an injury to Devin that ended his season kept that line from running through the end of the year, but with all three players healthy to start the season, Schafer has reunited the trio to amazing dividends. The three players have combined to score 55 points through the first 16 games of the season, or an average 3.44 points per game. The trio also comprise the top three scorers on the Big Red roster.

 THE SELLOUT
Cornell and Boston University combined to record just the second sell-out of a college hockey game in the history of Madison Square Garden on Nov. 28 when the two programs met at The World's Most Famous Arena. The first sellout of a college hockey game at Madison Square Garden came during the 2007-08 season in the first incarnation of Red Hot Hockey between Cornell and Boston University.

ONE WAY TO STOP HIM
Cornell senior Colin Greening's night ended early against Quinnipiac on Nov. 21 after a very questionable hitting from behind major and game misconduct penalty sent him to the locker room late in the first period. With Greening missing more than two-thirds of the game, he was held without a point for the first time all season, snapping his six-game point streak that saw him compile 12 points over that span. He got back to his scoring ways against Colgate on Nov. 24, potting an empty net goal for his fourth marker of the season and keeping intact his string of a point in every game he has finished this season. Greening continued that streak when he assisted on Sean Whitney's goal to open the scoring on Nov. 28 against Boston University at Madison Square Garden. Greening had just his second game without a point when he was held off the score sheet on Dec. 5 at Union.

OFFENSIVE DEFENSEMAN
Cornell's seven defenseman rotation has provided additional offense for the Big Red, as the seven players have combined to score seven goals and 35 assists for 42 points this season, or 28.8 percent of the team's offensive production. Senior Brendon Nash leads the way with two goals and eight assists for 10 points.

A TRIO FOR KRUEGER
With Sean Whitney scratched from the lineup against Colgate on Nov. 24, senior Justin Krueger stepped into Whitney's place on the first power play unit and delivered a career best three assists on the night. Prior to the game against the Raiders, Krueger had never had a multi-point game in his first 108 games at Cornell. He has since added another multi-point game with a pair of assists on Jan. 3 at New Hampshire, and duplicated that feat again on Jan. 15 at Clarkson. Krueger now has seven points, all coming in a total of three games.

BREATHING ROOM
When Cornell defeated Princeton, 5-2, on Nov. 20, the Big Red snapped a string of five straight games against the Tigers that were decided by one goal. All three games played in 2008-09 were one-goal games, with Cornell winning 1-0 in Princeton, N.J., the Tigers claiming a 2-1 victory in Ithaca, N.Y., and Cornell winning the season series with a 4-3 double-overtime thriller in Albany, N.Y.  The last game in the series that was decided by more than one goal was a Feb. 17, 2007, matchup at Lynah Rink that Cornell won, 8-4. The one-goal game was back in force when Princeton rallied for a 3-2 victory in the consolation game of the Florida College Classic on Dec. 30.

SIX OF ONE...
Cornell's offense erupted for six goals against Harvard on Nov. 7, marking the first time that the Big Red put six goals on the board against its rival since a 6-3 win at Lynah Rink on Feb. 1, 2002.

...HALF DOZEN OF ANOTHER
When Cornell's offense put six goals on the board against Harvard on Nov. 7, it marked the first time in more than a full season that Cornell has scored six goals in a game. The last time Cornell scored six was on March 9, 2008, against Dartmouth in game three of the first round of the ECAC Hockey tournament at Lynah Rink. The Big Red has played 42 games since then. Prior to that, the Big Red scored six time the week just before against the Big Green.

ANOTHER SIX-PACK
With Cornell going 42 games without scoring six goals prior to the Nov. 7 win against Harvard, it took far less time to record another six-goal game, as exactly one week later, the Big Red put six goals on the board in a 6-0 victory at Brown. Cornell has scored at least five goals in five of the 14 games this season and has not scored fewer than two goals in any game.

SCITUATE > CAMBRIDGE
In this case, the town of Scituate, Mass., nearly single-handedly scored more points than then entire Harvard roster when the two teams met on Nov. 7 at Lynah Rink. Boosted by seven points from brothers Joe and Mike Devin, the three Scituate natives on the Cornell roster equaled the entire scoring output from the Harvard roster. Joe Devin scored twice, including the game-winner, and added an assist, while twin brother Mike scored one goal and added three assists. The pair were aided by fellow Scituate native Sean Whitney, who chipped in an assist against the Crimson.

THE DRIVE FOR FIVE
Cornell scored at least five goals in both games during the weekend of Nov. 6-7 against Dartmouth and Harvard, marking the first time in nearly three years that the Big Red has scored at least five in back-to-back games. Cornell scored six goals against Union on Dec. 2, 2006, then scored five against New Hampshire on Dec. 29, 2006, in the opening game of the Florida College Classic.

10-GOAL WEEKEND, FOUR-POINT WEEKEND
Cornell scored 11 goals on Nov. 6-7 against Dartmouth and Harvard, marking the first time the Big Red had scored at least 10 in a weekend since the first round of the ECAC Hockey tournament on March 7-9, 2008, against Dartmouth. That weekend, the Big Red scored 12 goals in three games after scoring three in the opener, three in a game two loss, and six in the clinching game three. The last time Cornell scored 10 goals or more in a two-game weekend was on Jan. 4-5, 2008, when it scored six against Niagara on Friday night and four on Saturday.

START ME UP
Cornell has an all-time record of 55-32-6 in season openers after opening the 2009-10 campaign with a 3-2 overtime win against Niagara on Oct. 30. Cornell has won two the first game of the season in back-to-back seasons after scoring a 1-0 win over Princeton to kick off the 2008-09 campaign. Under head coach Mike Schafer, the Big Red is 10-4-1 in season openers.

HAPPY DEBUTS
Four members of Cornell's freshman class made their official collgiate debut in the win against the Purple Eagles on Oct. 30. Forwards Greg Miller, John Esposito and Erik Axell each found themselves in the starting lineup, as did defenseman Nick D'Agostino. D'Agostino also picked up the second assist on Joe Devin's overtime game-winner against Niagara. A fifth member of the freshman class, Braden Birch, made his official debut on Nov. 6 against Dartmouth. Most recently, freshman Chris Moulson made his Cornell debut on Jan. 16 at St. Lawrence.

A MIGHTY WIND-SOR
Tyler Roeszler and Nick D'Agostino scored two goals each as Cornell opened the exhibition season with a 7-0 win over Windsor on Oct. 23. Patrick Kennedy, Blake Gallagher and Dan Nicholls also added goals Michael Garman got the start in goal for the Big Red, stopping all 20 shots he faced on the night.

EXHIBIT B
Sean Whitney and Riley Nash both scored  as the Cornell men's hockey team closed out the exhibition season with a 3-2 loss to the U.S. Under-18 National Team on Oct. 24 at Lynah Rink. Ithaca-native Andy Iles had 39 saves in the victory for Team USA, while Cornell's Ben Scrivens stopped 24 shots in the loss. Joe Devin, Greg Miller and Blake Gallagher each chipped in an assist. Cornell finished the game 0-for-5 on the power play, while Team USA was 1-for-5 with the man advantage.

QUIETLY MAKING NOISE
One of the most overlooked players on the Big Red roster is ironically, one of the most visible in goaltender Ben Scrivens. Entering his senior season, Scrivens ranks among the top-10 goaltenders in NCAA history in several categories, though he typically gets passed over for league and national recognition because of Cornell's defensive reputation. Scrivens enters the year ranked tied for eighth in save percentage (.928) and tied for ninth in goals-against average (1.96). Additionally, last season, he tied for 15th all-time with his six single-season shutouts, and, should he start every game this season, he would break David McKee's NCAA record of consecutive starts by a goaltender of 102.

I FEEL A DRAFT
Cornell has six players on the roster for 2009-10 who have been previously selected in the NHL Entry Draft. Seniors Colin Greening and Justin Krueger, junior Riley Nash, sophomore Sean Collins and freshmen Braden Birch and Nick D'Agostino have been picked in the NHL draft over the last five seasons.

CLIMBING THE CHARTS
Cornell head coach Mike Schafer is quickly moving up the ranks of the coaching fraternity in his win totals. Now in his 15th season, Schafer has 285 career victories, ranking him third in ECAC Hockey, but with the shortest tenure of the two ahead of him in the rankings. Schafer trails only Quinnipiac's Rand Pecknold by nine, with St. Lawrence's Joe Marsh well ahead with 447 career wins.

WHAT'S IN A NUMBER?
Sophomore defenseman Sean Whitney will be wearing jersey number 19 this season, the same number that his older brother, Ryan, wears for the Anaheim Ducks of the National Hockey League.

IT'S A FAMILY AFFAIR
In what seems to be an annual trend for the Cornell hockey team, there are two sets of brothers on the roster in 2009-10. Twins Joe and Mike Devin are juniors, while the Nash family has senior defenseman Brendon and junior forward Riley as members of the Big Red.

BROTHERLY LOVE
A glance around the college hockey landscape shows 13 collegiate players who have older brothers as regular players in the NHL. Two of those 13 players happen to play for the Big Red, as sophomore defenseman Sean Whitney's brother, Ryan, is a defenseman for the Anaheim Ducks. Additionally, freshman forward Chris Moulson's older brother, Matt, is a forward for the New York Islanders. Cornell joins New Hampshire, North Dakota and Union (coincidentally, all three are opponents on the schedule in 2009-10 for a total of five games) with having two players whose older brothers are currently in the NHL.

ONE LONG SEASON
In 2007-08, the Big Red tied the 2002-03 campaign with the most games in a single season in school history at 36. That mark was again equaled last year as the Big Red went 22-10-4, just the third time in program history that Cornell has played 36 games. The Big Red advanced to the NCAA Midwest Regional Final, where it fell to Bemidji State, 4-1, in the 36th game of the year.

IRON MAN
Senior Colin Greening has a shot at breaking the school consecutive games record this season. Entering the year with 103 straight games played, the Big Red captain needs to play in 36 games this season to eclipse the mark of 138, set by Jeremy Downs from 2002-05. He is currently at 119 career games played after appearing in all 16 games so far this season.

TRIPLE DIGITS
Three Cornell players have played in more than 100 games in their Big Red careers, with another two nearing the century mark. Colin Greening leads the way with 119 career games played, while Justin Krueger has appeared in 117 contests for the Big Red. Joining the pair in triple digits are Blake Gallagher, who played in his 100th career game in the season opener against Niagara and now stands at 115, and Brendon Nash, who reached the 100-game mark on Jan. 3 at New Hampshire and now has played in 102 career games. Next to reach 100 should be Ben Scrivens, who has now appeared in 98 contests, likely making his 100th career appearance on Jan. 23 against North Dakota.

EVEN MORE TRIPLE DIGITS
With Colin Greening becoming the 45th player to record 100 career points, another two players are racing to becomethe 46th and 47th players to reach the century mark. Hot on his heels on the race to 100 is junior Riley Nash, who has tallied 81 points in 88 career games, and Blake Gallagher, who has 83 points through 115 career games.

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 calling Big Red hockey action.

ON THE TUBE
Five of Cornell's regular season games are scheduled to be on television this season, with the first being the Big Red's game at Union on Dec. 5, televised in the Albany area by Time Warner Sports. The other four games are all slated to be after the New Year, including the Big Red's game against North Dakota on Jan. 22. Other games to be televised include the game at New Hampshire on Jan. 3, at Quinnipiac on Feb. 5 and at Colgate on Feb. 16. Last season, Cornell played in 12 televised games, going 8-4 when on television.

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
The Big Red returns home to open the home stretch of the season that will find Cornell playing every ECAC Hockey team once. The stretch run begins when St. Lawrence and Clarkson visit Lynah Rink for a pair of 7 p.m. games on Jan. 29 and 30.