Game 34 • Cornell vs. New Hampshire
Faceoff: Friday, March 26, 2010 at 6:30 p.m.
Site: Times Union Center (14,236) • Albany, N.Y.
2009-10 Records: Cornell (21-8-4, 14-5-3 ECAC Hockey) • New Hampshire (17-13-7, 15-6-6 Hockey East)
Series Record vs. New Hampshire: Cornell leads, 12-11-0
Season Series vs. New Hampshire: Cornell leads, 1-0-0
    Cornell won, 5-2, on Jan. 3, in Durham, N.H.

Game 35 • Cornell vs. RIT/Denver
Faceoff: Saturday, March 27, 2010 at 6:30 p.m.
Site: Times Union Center (14,236) • Albany, N.Y.
2009-10 Records: RIT (26-11-1, 22-5-1 Atlantic Hockey) • Denver (27-9-4,1 9-7-4 WCHA)
Series Record vs. RIT: Cornell leads, 2-1-0
Season Series vs. RIT: have not met
Series Record vs. Denver: Tied, 4-4-0
Season Series vs. Denver: have not met

Media Information
Television: ESPNU • John Buccigross (play-by-play), Barry Melrose (color),
Radio: WHCU 870 AM • Jason Weinstein (play-by-play), Tony Eisenhut (color)
Live Stats: www.cornellbigred.com
Live Audio: www.CornellBigRed.com/showcase
Tickets: Available by calling (607) 254-BEAR

NCAA Tournament Guide In PDF Format

ITHACA, N.Y. -- One week after winning a league-best 12th ECAC Hockey championship on the Times Union Center ice in downtown Albany, N.Y., the Cornell men's hockey team will return to that venue to open up NCAA tournament play. Cornell, the second seed in the East Regional, will take on third-seeded New Hampshire in a 6:30 p.m. contest on Friday, March 26, in a game televised nationally on ESPNU. Cornell will be making its second straight appearance in the NCAA tournament and its 18th appearance all-time, while shooting for its third national championship. Each game from the East Regional will be televised live on ESPNU, with John Buccigross and Barry Melrose on the call of the action. Fans can also hear Jason Weinstein and Tony Eisenhut call the game on the radio in the Ithaca area on WHCU 870 AM, with live audio also being streamed through the Cornell Redcast subscription service.

ABOUT THE BIG RED
Cornell claimed its 12th ECAC Hockey championship last weekend, a league record, when it claimed back-to-back victories over Brown in the semifinals and Union in the championship game at the Times Union Center in Albany, N.Y. The Big Red rolled through the league tournament with a perfect 4-0 record, allowing just one goal in the four tournament games. The story of the tournament was championship most valuable player Ben Scrivens, who posted three straight shutouts to backstop the Big Red to three straight 3-0 victories in earning the championship. Last weekend in Albany, N.Y., it was a balanced offensive attack that pushed Cornell to the victories, as six different players each scored one goal and 11 different skaters recorded at least one point. Only freshman John Esposito and junior Riley Nash both picked up multiple points on the weekend, with both players tallying a goal and an assist. Scrivens, meanwhile, stopped all 55 shots he faced in recording his 17th and 18th career shutouts. On the season, the Big Red is led by senior Blake Gallagher's 37 points on a team-best 18 goals and 19 assists. Fellow senior Colin Greening has 15 goals and 20 assists for 35 points, with Nash picking up 12 goals and a team-best 22 assists for 34 points. In all, the Big Red has had a balanced offense all season, with 20 different skaters scoring at least one goal and 13 players picking up double-digit point totals. Scrivens has been the driving force in goal, playing in all but 32 minutes of action this season, posting a 1.78 goals-against average and a .937 save percentage, with both numbers leading the nation. The Big Red also has excelled on special teams, ranking 10th in the nation in power-play percentage (20.9) and third in the country in penalty-killing percentage (87.8).

ABOUT NEW HAMPSHIRE
The Wildcats earned an at-large berth into the field of 16 teams in this year's NCAA tournament, and had the advantage of resting last weekend after being knocked out of the Hockey East quarterfinals in a third game by Vermont. The Wildcats are a dangerous team, however, proving that by winning the Hockey East regular season championship, though they enter the NCAA tournament without having scored in 136:54 consecutive minutes. New Hampshire is led offensively by Hobey Baker Award finalist Bobby Butler, who has 27 goals and 23 assists for 50 points on the season. Butler's supporting cast features three other players with double-digit goal totals and 11 players in double-digits in points. In goal for the Wildcats, senior Brian Foster has played most of the time in net, posting a .910 save percentage and a 2.95 goals-against average. New Hampshire has 25 power-play goals in 148 chances (16.9 percent) while killing off 120-of-146 opponents' power plays (82.2 percent).

THE SERIES WITH NEW HAMPSHIRE
Cornell holds a slim 12-11 lead in the all-time series against the Wildcats after claiming a 5-2 victory when the two teams met earlier this season at the Whittemore Center in Durham, N.H., a game that was televised on ESPNU. The win was the second in a row against the Wildcats for the Big Red, who claimed a 5-2 win in the opening game of the 2006 Florida College Classic in Estero, Fla. Cornell head coach Mike Schafer is 2-2 against the Wildcats all-time, with both of New Hampshire's wins coming in the NCAA tournament.

CORNELL AND THE EAST REGIONAL FIELD
New Hampshire is the only team in the NCAA East Regional field that the Big Red has played this season, with Cornell winning that contest, 5-2, on Jan. 3, in Durham, N.H. Cornell holds a slim 12-11 lead all-time against the Wildcats, the most frequent of the three opponents at the Albany site. Cornell is 4-4 all-time against top-seeded Denver and 2-1 against fourth-seeded RIT. Cornell and Denver have met four times in the NCAA tournament, with both teams claiming a pair of wins. Denver won the 1969 national championship with a 4-3 victory, with Cornell winning in the national semifinals in 1972 by a 7-2 score. The two teams met in a two-game, total-goal series in 1986, with the Pioneers winning the first game, 4-2, and advancing to the next round in spite of the Big Red claiming a 4-3 victory in the second game of the series. Cornell and RIT have never met in the NCAA tournament, with all three meetings coming during the regular season.

CORNELL AND UNH IN NCAA TOURNAMENT PLAY
While Cornell is 2-0 against New Hampshire during the regular season under Mike Schafer, the Big Red is 0-2 when facing the Wildcats in the NCAA tournament. The two teams met in the NCAA East Regional Final in Worcester, Mass., with UNH picking up a 4-3 victory to advance to the Frozen Four. The following season, the two programs met again, this time in the national semifinals, with the Big Red dropping a heartbreaking 3-2 contest in Buffalo, N.Y.

CORNELL AGAINST THE NCAA TOURNAMENT FIELD
Cornell has only played five games this season against teams in this year's NCAA tournament field, posting a 2-3 record against those teams. Cornell went 1-0 against New Hampshire, the Big Red's first-round opponent, and went 1-1 against North Dakota, the second seed in the Northeast Regional. The Big Red also went 0-2 against Yale, the third-seeded team in the Northeast. The Big Red did not play any of the teams at either the West or Midwest Regional sites.

HOME AWAY FROM HOME
Playing this weekend at the Albany regional is almost as good as playing at Lynah Rink for the Big Red, as Cornell is used to playing at the Times Union Center. Cornell just played a pair of games there last weekend, winning by 3-0 scores against both Brown and Union in claiming the ECAC Hockey championship. Cornell has played 13 games at the Times Union Center, posting a 9-4 record all-time in downtown Albany.

STAYING CLOSE TO HOME
Cornell will be playing at an eastern site for the NCAA regional round for the first time since the 2003 season, when it played at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence, R.I. That year, Cornell advanced to the Frozen Four, which was played in Buffalo, N.Y., only to lose to New Hampshire in the national semifianls. The Big Red has made each of its last three NCAA tournament appearances out west, first playing at Minnesota's Marriucci Arena, then playing a pair of games at the Resch Center in Green Bay, Wis., before making last season's trip to Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Mich.

REACHING THE PEAK
Coaches preach about their team reaching their peak performance at the end of the season, and it's pretty obvious that's what the Big Red has done. Cornell rolls into the NCAA tournament with three straight shutouts and the longest scoreless streak in program history in progress at 230:30. The Big Red has gone 11-3-1 over the last 15 games, winning four of the last five.

BEST SEMESTER EVER!
Most college students try to cruise thier way through their second semester of their senior year while preparing for life after college. For Cornell goaltender Ben Scrivens, it's been the exact opposite, as he has put up some stellar numbers since the holiday break. Scrivens has a .940 save percentage and a 1.67 goals against average with six shutouts since the end of the fall semester.

DRAWING A BLANK
Cornell became just the fourth team in ECAC Hockey history to record a shutout in the championship game. St. Lawrence has done it twice (1988, 2000), with Harvard (1994) and Yale (2009) joining Cornell in accomplishing that feat once.

SHUTOUTS FOR SCRIVENS
Cornell goaltender Ben Scrivens has earned a shutout in each of the last three games for the Big Red, moving him to seven on the season and giving him 19 for his Cornell career. He surpassed David McKee's career record of 18 and has tied last year's total of seven shutouts in a single season, ranking third all-time at Cornell. His 19 career shutouts have him ranked 19th all-time in NCAA history. In ECAC Hockey tournament history, no other goaltender has come close to his five shutouts, as he is the only goaltender to post back-to-back shutouts in the semifinal and championship games.

DOES THE GOAL LIGHT EVEN WORK?
Whichever end of the ice Ben Scrivens has been at lately, that goal judge might as well just take a nap, as the senior netminder has not allowed a goal in 230:24, the longest mark in both Cornell and ECAC Hockey history. Scrivens also allowed just one goal during the four games of the ECAC Hockey tournament, easily breaking the record of three set by Paul Cohen of St. Lawrence in 1989.

HE KNOWS HOW TO WIN THEM
Cornell head coach Mike Schafer has won five ECAC Hockey championship titles, tying him with St. Lawrence's Joe Marsh for the most championships all-time. Schafer has won those in just 15 seasons behind the bench, with Marsh needing 25 seasons to accumulate five titles.

A TRUE HOCKEY POWERHOUSE
Cornell is one of only two schools in this year's NCAA tournament field to put both its men's and women's ice hockey teams into the NCAA tournament. The Big Red women's team went 2-1 in the tournament, falling to Minnesota-Duluth in the national championship game on March 21 in Minneapolis in triple overtime. Along the way, the Big Red women knocked off fourth-seeded Harvard and top-seeded Mercyhurst in an amazing run. The other school to put both men's and women's teams into the NCAA tournament? New Hampshire, who is the first-round opponent for the men's team. And the New Hampshire women? They lost in the first round of their NCAA tournament to who else, but eventual national champion Minnesota-Duluth.

A BUSY TWO WEEKS
While Cornell's hockey teams have been successful, winning the ECAC Hockey championship on the men's side and finishing as the national runner-up on the women's, it's not just hockey that's had success in recent weeks. The Cornell men's basketball team won its first two games in the NCAA tournament and will play on Thursday against Kentucky at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, N.Y., in the round commonly known as the Sweet 16. Not to be outdone, the Big Red wrestling team, led by freshman Kyle Dake, the national champion at 141 pounds, took its highest finish ever at the national championships, finishing second place as a team.

LET'S NOT BREAK THIS RECORD, OKAY?
When the Cornell women's hockey team lost to Minnesota-Duluth in the championship game of the 2010 NCAA tournament in triple overtime, it broke the men's record of the longest game in Cornell hockey history. The men's mark of 111:13 came during the regional final in 2006 in Green Bay, Wis., when the Badgers claimed a 1-0 win. On Sunday, the Cornell women played for 119:26 before falling, 3-2.

CORNELL IN THE LEAGUE FINAL FOUR
This season marked the Big Red's 32nd appearance all-time in the league's final four, winning its 12th championship. Cornell has advanced to the league championship game 20 times in school history, winning 12 of those. Prior to this year, the Big Red's last championship came during the 2005 season when it knocked off Harvard, 3-1. The Big Red advanced to the league championship weekend in each of the past two seasons, finishing third in 2008 and second in 2009.

ALBANY THROUGH HARVARD
Cornell earned its berth by knocking out its archrival, Harvard, in the quarterfinal round for the fourth time in five chances. The Big Red has faced the Crimson 22 times in postseason play and now holds a 14-7-1 lead in the series againt Harvard in the league playoffs.

UNCHARTED TERRITORY
This year's Cornell squad carved out a spot for itself in program history when it became the first team ever to win four games against Harvard in the same season. Cornell and Harvard have only met four times in a single season five times. In 1996-97, Cornell went 3-0-1 against Harvard, and in 1999-2000, Cornell was 3-1 against its rival. The two teams split the four meetings in 1989-90, while Harvard claimed its only series victory with a four-game sweep in 1993-94.

THREE FOR ALL
The last time Cornell picked up three wins in the same season over Harvard was in 2002-03, the last time that Cornell advanced to the NCAA Frozen Four. That season, the Big Red picked up a 5-2 win at Lynah Rink, a 4-3 win at the Bright Hockey Center and a 3-2 overtime victory at the Times Union Center in the league championship game.

PLAYOFF SUCCESS
Cornell has the highest winning percentage of all teams in ECAC Hockey, claiming victory in 68.4 percent of its league playoff games (91-41-4). The Big Red has won a league-best 12 ECAC Hockey championships.

LOCKDOWN AT LYNAH
For as good as Cornell hockey has been overall at Lynah Rink, posting an all-time winning percentage of .719, the Big Red has been even better during postseason play at its home rink. Cornell holds a 46-9 all-time record in league playoff games at home (a .830 winning percentage), including a 23-6 record under head coach Mike Schafer for a .793 winning percentage. Cornell has only lost one playoff series at home, that being a two-game sweep at the hands of Quinnipiac in 2006-07.

HOME AWAY FROM HOME
Cornell has now gone 9-3 in ECAC Hockey playoff games played at the Times Union Center in Albany, N.Y. Since the championship moved to Albany, N.Y., for the 2003 season, the Big Red has claimed the championship three times, more than any other school. Cornell's six appearances in the league tournament weekend in Albany are the most among league schools. That string will remain the highest for the league for a while, as the championship moves to Atlantic City, N.J., next season for a three-year run at Boardwalk Hall.

NOTHING TO SEE HERE
Ben Scrivens became the first goaltender in program history to post a pair of shutouts against Harvard in the same season. Scrivens blanked the Crimson, 3-0, on Feb. 19, in Cambridge, Mass., before posting another 3-0 shutout in game two of the league quarterfinals on March 13 at Lynah Rink.

YOU CAN'T SCORE
When Cornell posted a shutout at Harvard on Feb. 19, it marked just the second shutout loss in league play for the Crimson during the coaching tenure of Ted Donato. The last time Harvard was shut out in a regular-season league game was on Nov. 5, 2004, when it lost to Cornell, 2-0, at Lynah Rink.

FILL IN THE BLANK
When Cornell senior Ben Scrivens shut out Harvard on Feb. 19, it marked the first time that a Cornell goaltender had blanked the Crimson in Cambridge since Ken Dryden did so on Dec. 18, 1967. Scrivens and Dryden are the only two Cornell goaltenders to earn shutouts at Harvard during their Cornell careers.

NEW ADDITION TO AN OLD BARN
Fans in attendance at the league quarterfinal series against Harvard and who missed the last regular-season weekend noticed a pair of new additions to the decor inside the venerable Lynah Rink. Hanging over center ice are jerseys bearing the names of the first two numbers to be retired by the Cornell hockey program. Cornell greats Ken Dryden and Joe Nieuwendyk had their numbers raised to the rafters in a pre-game ceremony on Feb. 26 before the puck dropped against Union. Both former players were on hand for the ceremony.

TOP OF THE CHARTS
For the first time since the 1975-76 season, three Cornell players have reached the 100-point mark in the same year. Colin Greening started the trio off when he reached triple digits on Dec. 29 against Colorado College, and was joined by Blake Gallagher on March 13 against Harvard. Riley Nash then reached his 100th career point on March 19 against Brown in the ECAC Hockey semifinals. The last time three Cornell players reached 100 in the same season, it was Dave Groulx, John Harper and Jim Vaughan 34 seasons ago. That milestone has only happened four times now in Cornell hockey history, with the other two coming in 1970-71 (Larry Fullan, Brian McCutcheon and Kevin Pettit) and in 1969-70 (John Hughes, Dan Lodboa and Garth Ryan).

500 GAMES BEHIND THE BENCH
The Feb. 19 game at Harvard was the 500th career game behind the bench for Cornell head coach Mike Schafer. He is the longest tenured coach in Cornell history by games and is second in terms of years coached, trailing only the legendary Nicky Bawlf's 27 seasons directing the Cornell program from 1920-47.

STARTING OUT ON THE RIGHT FOOT
Cornell holds an amazing 13-1 record in Friday night games this season. The Big Red hasn't dropped a Friday night contest since losing to Yale on Nov. 13. The Friday night mark is a big reason why the Big Red has a 12-2 record in the first game of a back-to-back series this season.

LEADING THE WAY
Further establishing his place among Cornell hockey history, senior Colin Greening is vying to become the first player in program history to lead the team in goals in four straight seasons. He joins Matt Moulson (2003-04, 2004-05, 2005-06) and Roy Kerling (1977-78, 1979-80, 1981-82) as the only two players who have ever led the team in goals in three seasons, with Moulson being the only other player to lead the team in goals in three consecutive seasons. Currently, Greening is second on the team in goals, trailing Blake Gallagher by three for the team lead in that category.

CALL HIM BUTTER
Riley Nash has been on a roll during the past few weeks, as the junior has scored in 10 of the last 11 games for Cornell since returning from an injury that kept him out for two weekends. Nash has 20 points over that span, scoring seven goals and 13 assists with seven multi-point games. Included in Nash's recent string are three three-point games at Colgate, at Dartmouth and against Harvard. Nash has factored into the scoring on 20 of the Big Red's 38 goals since his return. Prior to missing the four games against Clarkson, St. Lawrence, Quinnipiac and Princeton, Nash had been held scoreless in four straight games, and had gone since Dec. 5 at Union without having a multi-point game.

30 THE HARD WAY
Cornell's Ben Scrivens posted 32 saves in the league championship game against Union on March 20, the ninth time this season he has been called upon to make 30 or more stops. He stopped a career-high 52 shots ina loss to Yale on Feb. 13. Typically, when Scrivens sees that much rubber, it's not a good thing, as Cornell is 3-4-2 when Scrivens has to make 30 or more saves.

SATURDAY STRUGGLES
Cornell has had its share of struggles on Saturday nights in particular and on the second day of a back-to-back series. Cornell is just 5-6-4 on Saturday nights and 5-6-3 in the second game of back-to-back nights. On the first night, Cornell holds a sparkling 12-2 record, a mark that improves to 13-1 when playing on Fridays. Cornell dropped its third straight Saturday contest on Feb. 20 at Dartmouth but snapped that losing skid with a 1-1 tie against Rensselaer on Feb. 27 to close out the regular season. The Big Red finally won a Saturday game for the first time since Jan. 30 (a 5-3 win against Clarkson) when it defeated Harvard in game two of the ECAC Hockey quarterfinals, 3-0, on March 13.

SAVING THE BEST FOR LAST
Cornell's six-member senior class had never won a game at Harvard's Bright Hockey Center until scoring a 3-0 victory on Feb. 19. The win improved Cornell's all-time record at that venue to 13-19-1.

YOU'RE LATE
The Feb. 16 date for the second meeting of the season between the Big Red and the Colgate Raiders marked the latest date that Cornell and Colgate have met during the regular season since the 1983-84 season. That year, Cornell and Colgate met in the Big Red's season finale at Lynah Rink on Feb. 28, a 6-0 Raider win. Typically, the series with Colgate has been a home-and-home weekend series taking place in late January or early February, but that series was split up this year to accommodate the Big Red's visit from North Dakota on Jan. 22-23.

KEEPING BUSY
Cornell goaltender Ben Scrivens had the busiest night of his four-year career on Feb. 13 against Yale. The senior netminder stopped 52 of the 54 shots he faced on the night in the 2-1 overtime loss to the Bulldogs. The 52 saves easily surpassed his previous career-high of 45, set on Nov. 30, 2007, at Lynah Rink against Massachusetts. It also marked the first time a Cornell goaltender stopped 50 shots or more since David McKee stopped 59 in the legendary triple-overtime loss to Wisconsin in the 2006 NCAA Midwest Regional Final in Green Bay, Wis., a span of 126 games. The 52 saves also blew away Scrivens' previous season high of 36, set on Dec. 30 against Princeton.

RUBBER TO THE ROAD
Ben Scrivens had a busy period in the second period of the Big Red's 2-1 loss to Yale on Feb. 13. He stopped 19-of-20 shots faced during the period, one shy of his career high for saves in a single period, set on Nov. 7, 2008, at Princeton.

PACKING THEM IN
Cornell sold out all but one of its home games this season, with only the Nov. 21 game against Quinnipiac falling short of the 4,267 capacity at Lynah Rink. Even still, in that game, Cornell still drew 4,227 fans to Lynah Rink, just 40 short of a sell-out. The Big Red is one of only five teams in the country to average 99 percent capacity or higher this season and ranked 17th in average attendance. Cornell had 68,224 total fans view a game at Lynah Rink this season, ranking 19th in Division I, despite having the 26th-largest rink in the country and only 16 home dates. Cornell is the highest-drawing team from ECAC Hockey, both in total attendance and in per-game average.

A FRIENDLY ROAD ENVIRONMENT
While Lynah Rink is unquestionably the Big Red's favorite place to play, a close second might be Quinnipiac's TD Bank Sports Center, where the Big Red has never suffered a loss. Cornell is 2-0-1 all-time at the three-year-old facility, including a 2-0 victory over the Bobcats on Feb. 5. Included in those three games are a pair of shutouts from Ben Scrivens, who first blanked the Bobcats with 25 saves on Nov. 8, 2008, before stoning all 32 shots in his most recent appearance. In three career appearances at the arena, Scrivens has allowed only two goals.

SAVING THE DAY
With his save on a shot by St. Lawrence's Mike McKenzie in the second period on Jan. 29, Ben Scrivens became Cornell's all-time leader in career saves, surpassing the previous tally of 2,462 of Jason Elliott from 1994-97. Scrivens now has 2,842  career saves and ranks among the team's all-time leaders in every goaltending record. Scrivens also has the second-, third- and fourth-highest single-season save totals in Cornell history in each of the past two seasons.

WHAT A RELIEF
A day after posting his third shutout of the season, Ben Scrivens had what could only be considered an “off-day” on Feb. 6 at Princeton, allowing four goals in 26 minutes. Enter sophomore Mike Garman, making his first appearance of the season and just the third of his career in relief. Garman, a seldom-used backup who would probably start for most other teams around the nation and in ECAC Hockey, made 21 saves on the game and kept the Tigers off the board, allowing Cornell to climb back into the game, 4-3, at the end of two periods.

FOUR-SQUARE
Cornell's offense scored four goals in first 10 minutes of the second period against Clarkson on Jan. 30, just the third time this season that the Big Red has scored four times in one period. The last time that happened came on Nov. 14 at Brown, when Cornell scored four times in the third period in a 6-0 victory. Cornell also scored four goals in the third period against Harvard on Nov. 7 in a 6-3 win at Lynah Rink.

THREE IS THE MAGIC NUMBER
Three seems to be the key number for the Cornell offense in getting a victory this season, as the Big Red is 17-2-1 on the year when scoring three or more goals. The lone tie came when Cornell drew with Boston University, 3-3, on Nov. 28 at Madison Square Garden, while Cornell lost for just the first time this season when scoring three goals at Princeton on Feb. 6. The Big Red then lost for the second time this year when scoring three or more when it dropped a 5-4 contest at Dartmouth on Feb. 20. When scoring fewer than three goals, the Big Red is just 4-6-3, with wins over Rensselaer, North Dakota, St. Lawrence and Quinnipiac.

LAST MAN STANDING
When Riley Nash missed four games due to injury earlier this season, the number of Cornell players who have never missed a game shrunk to just two in senior Colin Greening and freshman Greg Miller. That number dropped to just one, as Miller was out of the lineup for the Big Red's 6-2 win at Colgate on Feb. 16. Greening has appeared in all 136 games since stepping on campus four years ago.

ON THE POWER PLAY
Cornell's three power-play goal outburst against Clarkson on Jan. 30 marked the first time that the Big Red had scored at least two power-play goals since Nov. 28 against Boston University, and the first time scoring three with the man advantage since Nov. 6 against Dartmouth. The Big Red backed that outburst up with one power-play goal at Quinnipiac on Feb. 5 and another two the following night at Princeton. Cornell has scored a power play goal in 18 of the 33 games this season and has scored more than once with the man advantage nine times.

YOU CAN'T SPELL “BIG RED” WITHOUT “D”
While the Big Red offense has cooled off from its hot start, the Big Red still holds one of the nation's top records due in large part to one of the nation's stingiest defenses. Cornell is ranked first in the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 1.85 goals per game. Cornell also ranks fifth in the nation in scoring margin.

SPECIAL TEAMS SUCCESS
Championship teams usually have strong special teams units, and this year's edition of the Big Red is no exception to that. Cornell's power play is ranked 10th in the nation, converting on 20.9 percent of its chances, while the penalty killing unit is ranked third in the country, having killed off 87.8 percent of opponents' power plays.

A RARE OCCASION
The visit from North Dakota on Jan. 22-23 marked just the second time a current member of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association has ever visited the nearly 53-year-old Lynah Rink. The only other current WCHA member to have visited Lynah Rink is Denver, which played two games at Lynah on Dec. 29-30, 1979. Both of those games went in favor of the Big Red, which won 5-4 and 4-3 on its way to a berth in the national semifinals. That same season also saw Notre Dame, which at the time was a member of the WCHA but is now a member of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association, visit Lynah Rink on Nov. 23, 1979, and come away with a 5-4 overtime victory.

CORNELL VS. THE WCHA
The Big Red's split against North Dakota marked the second straight season that the Big Red went 1-1 against the Fighting Sioux. Cornell is now 3-5 all-time against North Dakota and 17-18-1 against WCHA teams. Of those 36 games against current WCHA members, Cornell has only played four at Lynah Rink, going 3-1. This season, the Big Red is 1-2 against WCHA foes after dropping a 4-2 decision to Colorado College on Dec. 29 at the Florida College Classic. Cornell head coach Mike Schafer holds a 7-7-1 all-time in his 15 games behind the bench against WCHA opponents.

HOME AT LAST
Cornell's game on Jan. 22 against North Dakota marked the first time the Big Red had played at Lynah Rink in nearly two full months. The Big Red had played eight straight games away from home, including three neutral site games, in between appearances at Lynah Rink. The eight-game road trip was Cornell's longest since the 1990-91 season that saw the Big Red also play eight consecutive games away from home. Cornell went 3-2-3 on this most recent eight-game road swing, with wins over Rensselaer, New Hampshire and Clarkson, and ties against Boston University, Union and St. Lawrence. Cornell's two losses both came in Estero, Fla., in the Florida College Classic on Dec. 29-30, 2009.

CLOSE CALL
With Blake Gallagher's goal with just under 10 seconds remaining on Jan. 23 against North Dakota, the Big Red avoided being shut out for the first time this season. Cornell was last shut out on March 21, 2009, against Yale in the ECAC Hockey championship game. With the Big Red at 33 games played this season, Cornell has yet to be shut out. The last time Cornell went a full season without being shut out was the 1998-99 season. Despite not being shut out, it also marked the last time that Cornell finished a season below .500, finishing 12-15-4.

ONE IS THE LONLIEST NUMBER
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 has scored one goal five times this season, going 1-2-2 in those contests.

THE ONLY ONE
Cornell's 1-0 win over North Dakota marked the first and only time this season that the Fighting Sioux lost a non-conference contest. North Dakota went 5-1-2 in its non-league games this year including the split with the Big Red. Other victims of the Fighting Sioux include Merrimack twice, Niagara and Ohio State, with the two ties coming against Miami and Notre Dame.

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 has tallied just six of a possible 20 points, with three of those points coming this season. 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 this season's results, Cornell is now 6-11-3 at Cheel Arena and 17-19-5 at Appleton Arena.

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.
 
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. With the split against North Dakota, Cornell finished the non-league slate at 3-3-1.

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, who now has 118 career points, became 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.

THE WINNER
Ben Scrivens is not only standing atop the Cornell career saves list, but he is also approaching the top of several other categories. Scrivens is now tied with David McKee for second in school history in career wins with 65, 11 behind Ken Dryden's 76. He is also second in career ties with 12, one behind McKee, and fourth in both goals-against average (1.90) and save percentage (.931). He also has 19 career shutouts, moving him past David McKee for the most in school history.

LOWE'S SENIOR CLASS
Colin Greening is one of 10 finalists 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 winner will be announced at the Frozen Four in Detroit, Mich.

VOTE FOR HOBEY
The first phase of voting for the 2010 Hobey Baker Award has concluded, with senior goaltender Ben Scrivens among the 10 finalists for the award. Scrivens is one of two players from ECAC Hockey, joining Rensselaer forward Chase Polacek, and one of three goaltenders, along with Denver's Marc Cheverie and Miami's Cody Reichard. The winner of the award will be announced during the Frozen Four weekend in Detroit, Mich., on April 9.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. The remaining three members of the freshman class – goaltender Omar Kanji, forward Vince Mihalik and defenseman Jarred Seymour –have yet to see game action this season.

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.

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 297 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 four, with St. Lawrence's Joe Marsh well ahead with 455 career victories in his 24 seasons behind the Saints bench.

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 14 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, St. Lawrence and Union (coincidentally, all four are opponents on the schedule in 2009-10 for a total of eight games) with having two players whose older brothers are currently in the NHL.

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.

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 136 career games played after appearing in all 33 games so far this season.

TRIPLE DIGITS
Seven 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 136 career games played, while Justin Krueger has appeared in 134 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 132, and Brendon Nash, who reached the 100-game mark on Jan. 3 at New Hampshire and now has played in 119 career games. Ben Scrivens played in his 100th career game on Jan. 22 against North Dakota and has appeared in 116 career contests, and Joe Scali played in his 100th career game on Feb. 13 against Yale and now stands on 109. Most recently, Riley Nash made his 100th career appearance on March 19 against Brown in the ECAC Hockey semifinals and has played in 101 games. The next players up in the race to 100 games are juniors Mike Devin (97 games) and Patrick Kennedy (94 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
Friday's winner will face the winner of the other East Regional semifinal between Denver and RIT in the regional championship game on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. at the Times Union Center in Albany, N.Y. The regional championship game can be seen live on ESPNU.