The Cornell men's hockey team's road toward the end of the regular season goes through ECAC Hockey's northern-most schools this weekend when the Big Red faces off against Clarkson on Friday and St. Lawrence on Saturday. The Big Red has an opportunity to sew up a first-round bye in the league's playoffs with a win over the Golden Knights in the weekend opener or through a variety of other scenarios in the second to last round of play on the regular-season slate. Both of this weekend's games will broadcast by Jason Weinstein on WHCU 870 AM, while live streaming video is also available for a fee through B2 Live TV. 
 
GAME #26: #12/12 CORNELL at CLARKSON
DATE: Friday, Feb. 17, 2012
TIME: 7 p.m.
SITE: Cheel Arena — Potsdam, N.Y.
2011-12 RECORDS: Cornell 13-6-6, 10-3-5 ECAC Hockey; Clarkson 14-13-5, 8-7-3 ECAC Hockey
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 56-49-13
LAST MEETING: Tied, 0-0, on Dec. 3, 2011 in Ithaca, N.Y.
RADIO: WHCU 870 AM (Jason Weinstein)
VIDEO: www.b2livetv.com/partner_members.asp?id=19
LIVE STATS: http://livestats.internetconsult.com/clarkson/mhockey
 
GAME #27: #12/12 CORNELL at ST. LAWRENCE
DATE: Saturday, Feb. 18, 2012
TIME: 7 p.m.
SITE: Appleton Arena — Canton, N.Y.
2011-12 RECORDS: Cornell 13-6-6, 10-3-5 ECAC Hockey; St. Lawrence 12-15-3, 8-9-1 ECAC Hockey
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 54-41-7
LAST MEETING: Cornell won, 1-0, on Dec. 2, 2011 in Ithaca, N.Y.
RADIO: WHCU 870 AM (Jason Weinstein)
VIDEO: http://www.b2livetv.com/partner_members.asp?id=29
LIVE STATS: http://livestats.prestosports.com/stlawu/mice/?e=w7gvza4ficl2o3ho
 
Cornell game notes (PDF)
Clarkson game notes (PDF)
St. Lawrence game notes (PDF)
 
ABOUT THE BIG RED
Cornell earned a home sweep of Brown and Yale last weekend to clinch its first Ivy League title since the 2004-05 season. The wins also allowed the Big Red to move to within one point of first-place Union in the ECAC Hockey standings with four games to play. The victories came in contrasting fashion, with Cornell rallying from a two-goal deficit to score five unanswered goals to beat Brown, 5-2, then scoring the first four goals a night later in a 4-2 win over Yale. It was the team's first back-to-back victories since a five-game winning streak in November, though Cornell has still lost just twice since Dec. 30 (6-2-5). ... The Big Red has surrendered 57 goals, which is second fewest in the nation. ... The team's leading scorer last season, junior forward Greg Miller (11-12—23) has taken the lead in this year's race with five goals over his his last five games. Miller has already blown away his goals total from his first two seasons combined on East Hill, when he scored six times. Miller also leads the team with a plus-17 rating. ... Senior forward Sean Collins (11-9—20) is tied with Miller for the team lead in goals after scoring twice and adding an assist against Yale. Collins has 15 points over his last 13 games to set a new career-high in scoring. ... The team's six ties have tied a program record for most deadlocks in a season, with the original mark being set in 2003-04.
 
ABOUT CLARKSON
Clarkson is attempting to claw its way into the league's top four for one of the first-round byes, having split in each of its last three weekends. The Golden Knights are 5-3-1 since ending a four-game losing streak on Jan. 7. ... The Golden Knights' first-year head coach is Casey Jones, who served as the associate head coach of the Big Red for three years prior. ... Clarkson had a great start to the year defensively, posting its fifth shutout on Dec. 3 against Cornell, but the Golden Knights have surrendered 3.71 goals per game in the 14 games since with no shutouts. Clarkson blew two two-goal leads in a barnburning 7-6 loss to Quinnipiac on Saturday. ... Clarkson is 0-7-1 in the eight games against its strongest opponents, relative to the Ratings Percentage Index. The tie was against Cornell. ... Senior center Louke Oakley (14-17—31) leads the team in scoring by one point over classmate and linemate Nick Tremblay (14-16—30). Tremblay is tied for eighth in conference scoring with 18 points through 16 ECAC Hockey games. ... Sophomore center Ben Sexton (7-17—24; 5 PPGs) leads the team in points per game, having suited up for 20 contests after missing 12 straight games due to injury in November and December. Sexton scored two goals against the Big Red on Dec. 30. His line, with sophomore Allan McPherson (9-10—19) and freshman Patrick Marsh (3-3—6) on the wings has posted 17 points over the last four games. ... Senior Paul Karpowich is in his fourth season as the squad's primary goalie, posting a 14-11-5 record to go with a 2.41 goals-against average, .923 savepercentage and five shutouts. Karpowich is the program's all-time saves leader with 3,517 stops through 123 games. But oddly enough, Karpowich has two shutouts without any wins against Cornell in his career. He battled to scoreless ties against Andy Iles (2011) and Ben Scrivens (2009) with losses in the other five games. ... More than half of Clarkson's goals have come from its senior class. ... The Golden Knights have surrendered at least one power-play goal in each of their last eight games.
 
THE SERIES WITH CLARKSON
Friday's game will be the 120th all-time meeting between the Big Red and Golden Knights. Cornell is unbeaten in its last seven games (5-0-2) against Clarkson, taking a 57-49-13 lead in the all-time series. The teams have already played twice this season with four weeks separating the games. Cornell's Andy Iles and Clarkson's Paul Karpowich each posted shutouts in a scoreless tie on Dec. 3 at Lynah Rink, then the offense emerged Dec. 30 in a non-league rematch. Sean Collins, John Esposito, Greg Miller and Brian Ferlin had a goal and an assist apiece in the Big Red's 5-3 victory on Dec. 30 in the consolation game of the Florida College Hockey Classic in Estero, Fla. Cornell head coach Mike Schafer holds a 30-14-6 record against the Golden Knights.
 
ABOUT ST. LAWRENCE
The streaky Saints are on an uptick, having won their last four games behind a rejuvenated offense that's posted 17 goals over the streak. Saturday's 4-1 win over Princeton was the first time since Dec. 31 (a span of 10 games) the Saints allowed fewer than three goals in a game, which was a contributing factor to the squad's six-game winless streak in January. ... The Saints are 0-7-1 in the eight games against their strongest opponents, relative to the Ratings Percentage Index (including the loss to Cornell). ... Sophomore left wing Greg Carey (12-17—29), named to the All-ECAC Hockey Preseason team, was named the league's player of the week on Tuesday after he scored three goals and added an assist last weekend. He now has eight points in his last four games. Carey's linemate, junior center Kyle Flanagan (12-18—30; 8 PPGs) leads the team in scoring, while freshman Chris Martin (9-12—21) plays on the right wing. ... Twenty-two of the Saints' 40 goals in league play have come in the second period. Their 22 ECAC Hockey goals allowed in the third period is tied for highest in the league. ... The Saints have killed their opponents' last 19 power plays. ... Sophomore Matt Weninger returns as the team's No. 1 goalie, posting a 11-12-3 record with a 3.07 goals-against average and .900 save percentage. He is the reigning ECAC Hockey Goaltender of the Week after making 59 saves over last weekend's two games. Weninger is 1-1 in his two career appearances against Cornell with a 0.51 goals-against average and .981 save percentage. The win was a 3-0 shutout last season.
 
THE SERIES WITH ST. LAWRENCE
Cornell leads the all-time series against St. Lawrence, 54-41-7, though the teams split their two games last season. The Big Red has won the last two games by one goal apiece, with both games coming at Lynah Rink. On Dec. 2, junior defenseman Nick D'Agostino scored on a first-period power play and Andy Iles needed to make just 13 saves for the shutout in 1-0 Big Red victory. On Feb. 5, 2011, Cornell won in dramatic fashion with forward Greg Miller cashing in the winning goal in overtime for a 4-3 victory. But the Big Red hasn't won at Appleton Arena since Feb. 25, 2005, posting an 0-4-2 record at the Saints' home rink over the last six seasons. Cornell head coach Mike Schafer is 18-15-5 all-time against the Saints.
 
CLINCHING SCENARIOS
The top four teams in the final ECAC Hockey regular-season standings earn a bye through the first round of the playoffs — a coveted position the Big Red can clinch this weekend. Some of the scenarios for this weekend that assure Cornell a first-round bye are:
                • A win Friday vs. Clarkson
                • A tie Friday vs. Clarkson, and a tie or win Saturday vs. St. Lawrence
                • A tie Friday vs. Clarkson, and a Clarkson tie or loss Saturday vs. Colgate
                • A loss Friday vs. Clarkson, and a win Saturday vs. St. Lawrence coupled with a Clarkson tie or loss vs. Colgate
 
ONE CHAMPIONSHIP DOWN ...
With its wins over visiting Brown and Yale last weekend, Cornell clinched the outright Ivy League title for the first time since the 2004-05 season. The Big Red went 7-1-2 against its Ivy brethren this season, scoring an average of 3.9 goals per game. It's Cornell's 19th Ivy League title and marks the first time a school has claimed both the men's and women's title outright in the same season since 1995-96 — also a Cornell feat.
 
CLASS-Y KEIR
Senior captain Keir Ross was named one of 10 national finalists for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award on Feb. 1. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence — community, classroom, character and competition. Ross posted a plus-12 rating last season, good for second on the team, and was penalized the least of any defenseman despite frequently being matched up against some of the opposition's best forward combinations. Outside of the rink, Ross is a two-time selection to the ECAC Hockey Academic All-League team and was the Big Red's Hockey Scholar Athlete last season. He was also named to the College of Human Ecology Dean's List in 2010, carrying a 3.57 grade point average in Human Biology, Health and Society. He joins Brown's Jack Maclellan as the lone ECAC Hockey representatives among the finalists.
 
A.I. — THE NEW ANSWER
With three consecutive shutouts in November, sophomore goalie Andy Iles recorded the second-longest shutout streak in program history, spanning 213 minutes, 35 seconds over a five-game span. The only Cornell shutout streak that went longer was posted by Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Ben Scrivens, who held the opposition scoreless for 267:11 during the 2010 playoffs. But Iles wasn't done there — he posted back-to-back shutouts against St. Lawrence and Clarkson on Dec. 2 and Dec. 3, respectively, spurring another lengthy shutout streak of 152:36 that ranks ninth all-time in Big Red history. Iles is tied for third in the nation with five shutouts. His goals-against average of 2.16 is 12th in the NCAA, though he's ninth among goalies who lead their team in minutes played. Iles and Minnesota senior Kent Patterson are the only goalies in the nation to see all of their teams' time in net.
 
DANGEROUS D'AGOSTINO
Junior defenseman Nick D'Agostino is four points behind classmate and former junior teammate Greg Miller for the team lead in scoring with eight goals and 11 assists for 19 points entering the weekend. His average of 0.79 points per game is 12th in the nation among blueliners; his five game-winning goals is tied for fourth in the NCAA; and his six power-play goals is second in the nation among true defensemen. If D'Agostino wins the team's scoring race this season, it would mark the first time a Big Red defensemen has done so since Dan Lodboa racked up 61 points as a senior during the program's monumental 1969-70 season in which it went 29-0 and won the NCAA championship.
 
NOW THAT'S DEFENSE
Junior defenseman Braden Birch, a Chicago Blackhawks draft pick, went two months without being on the ice for an even-strength goal against. The streak of 668 minutes, 49 seconds covered all 12 games in which Birch has appeared, ending with Clarkson's final goal Dec. 30 at the Florida College Hockey Classic. Not surprisingly, Birch leads the team's defensemen with a plus-11 rating. The pairing of Birch and senior Sean Whitney had not surrendered a five-on-five goal this season until Saturday, Jan. 28. But in the same game, Birch also scored his first goal of the season.
 
MORE FROM MOWREY
The Big Red's forward corps took a hit in a Jan. 13 game at Quinnipiac when junior forward John Esposito — who was playing on the team's most productive even-strength and power-play line with junior Greg Miller and freshman Brian Ferlin — suffered an injury. But sophomore forward Dustin Mowrey stepped into Esposito's spot on the line and posted nine points in the last eight games to push his total to 11 points over the Big Red's last 10 games.
 
RYAN OFF AND RUNNING
Joakim Ryan has already set a program record for goals in a season for freshman defensemen with six through 22 games. The record goes back to 1975-76, whichwas  the first season in which freshmen were allowed to  compete at the varsity level. Ryan got his season off to a flying start with two goals and an assist in the opening 5-4 loss to Mercyhurst on Oct. 29. For his efforts, Ryan was awarded as the ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Week. It was actually the second straight year that a freshman potted two goals in his debut for the Big Red — forward Dustin Mowrey did it on Oct. 29, 2010 against New Hampshire.
 
FAST STARTERS
The Big Red is 9-1-1 on Friday nights this season and 8-2-1 in games on the front end of back-to-backs. Cornell has scored the first goal in all but two games in both scenarios. Some of the team's biggest victories have come at the start of the weekend, including at then-No. 9 Yale on Nov. 4 and at then-No. 6 Colorado College on Jan. 6.
 
FABULOUS FRESHMEN
Freshman forward Brian Ferlin, a native of Jacksonville, Fla., is ninth the nation in rookie points per game (0.84) and is tops in the ECAC Hockey rookie scoring race after posting 17 points in the Big Red's first 18 conference games. Teams around the league have taken notice, tabbing the Boston Bruins draft pick as the Rookie of the Week on consecutive weeks of Nov. 7 and Nov. 14. Teammate Joakim Ryan earned the honor on Oct. 31, meaning the Big Red had ECAC Hockey's top newcomer for the first three weeks of its season. Forward Joel Lowry is second in the league in freshman scoring with 14 points, three off Ferlin's pace.
 
THE OFFENSIVE DEFENSE
The Big Red has scored five shorthanded goals this season — which ranks second in ECAC Hockey and matches last season's total after going without a goal on the penalty kill since Dec. 28, 2008. Senior forward Sean Collins has two of this season's shorthanded goals after potting two last season to become the first Cornell player with multiple shorties since both Cam Abbott and Mark McCutcheon had a pair of them in the 2005-06 season. Senior forward Locke Jillson, junior forward Vince Mihalek, freshman forward Joel Lowry and freshman defenseman Joakim Ryan have the Big Red's other shorthanded goals this season.
 
FEEL THE DRAFT?
Cornell has six players on the roster who have been selected in the NHL Entry Draft, including picks in the fourth and fifth rounds last June. Freshmen Brian Ferlin (Boston Bruins) and Joel Lowry (Los Angeles Kings) were selected in a span of 20 picks, giving the 2011-12 Big Red the program's highest number of draft picks on a single team since 2006-07. Other players whose NHL rights are already owned are senior Sean Collins (Columbus Blue Jackets), juniors Braden Birch (Chicago Blackhawks) and Nick D'Agostino (Pittsburgh Penguins) and sophomore Kirill Gotovets (Tampa Bay Lightning).
 
COLLECTING HARDWARE
Goalie Andy Iles became the first Cornell hockey player to earn a medal for the United States at the IIHF World Junior Championships when he was part of Team USA that claimed bronze at the 2011 tournament in Buffalo, N.Y. Iles is just the second Cornell player to be a member of the U.S. team, joining Jean-Marc Pelletier in 1998. The last Cornell player to earn a medal for any nation at the IIHF World Junior Championships was Sasha Pokulok, who claimed gold with Canada in 2006. The bronze medal won by Iles is the first bronze of the seven medals claimed by Cornellians at the tournament. Iles was named the U.S. emergency goalie for this year's World Junior tournament, but never saw action.
 
INTERNATIONAL EXPOSURE
Andy Iles isn't the only Cornell player to experience international competition recently. Freshmen forward Brian Ferlin and defenseman Joakim Ryan were also at the Junior Evaluation Camp from Aug. 6-13 in Lake Placid, N.Y. Ferlin had a goal and three assists in five games with the United States and Ryan trolled the blue line for Sweden. Ferlin was then invited to the U.S. World Junior Pre-Tournament Camp in mid-December, but did not make the final cut.
 
INTERNATIONAL EXPOSURE, PART II
Sophomore Kirill Gotovets got a taste of the big time when he was selected to represent his native Belarus in the 2010 IIHF World Championships – not an age group World Championships (though he did play for Belarus at the U20 World Championship as well) – playing against some of the best players the world has to offer. He played in three of Belarus' eight games at the World Championships. Gotovets came to the United States two years before coming to Cornell, attending prestigious Shattuck-St. Mary's in Minnesota.
 
CLOSER TO HOME
Hometown fans of the Big Red got a rare treat last season when goalie Andy Iles became the first Ithaca native to play for the team since Mark McCutcheon in 2006-07. But when freshman Kevin Cole made his collegiate debut Dec. 30 against Clarkson, it became the first time in at least 50 years — and perhaps the first time in program history — that two Ithaca natives have played for the Big Red in the same season. Cole was born in Ithaca and raised in nearby Lansing before heading off to junior programs in Syracuse and Cornwall, Ontario. His father, Dave, lettered for the Big Red in the 1981-82 season, and his mother, Karen (Shull), also played for the Cornell women's hockey team. This is the ninth consecutive season that the son of a former Big Red player has also suited up for Cornell.
 
BLANK YOU VERY MUCH
Sophomore goalie Andy Iles made 15 saves for his first collegiate shutout on Nov. 18 in a 4-0 victory over Princeton. With that result, the Big Red extended its streak of seasons with at least one shutout to 17. The last time Cornell went a full schedule without posting a shutout came during the 1994-95 season under former coach Brian McCutcheon, as Cornell finished that year 11-15-4. The following year marked the first season for head coach Mike Schafer, and his clubs have never gone a full year without recording a shutout.
 
BIG STAGE PERFORMERS
Seniors Sean Whitney and Locke Jillson have shown a knack for producing in front of the biggest crowds they've seen in their college careers. Both scored goals against Boston in front of a sold-out crowd of 18,200 at Madison Square Garden in 2009, then the duo teamed up to score the Big Red's lone goal against BU on the same stage on Nov. 26. Whitney had the initial shot on Jillson's goal, which came on a sharp-angle shot off a rebound. Jillson then potted his second goal of the season to open the scoring in a 3-1 victory Jan. 6 at then-No. 6 Colorado College.
 
NEW SUPPORT STAFF
Mike Schafer returns for his 17th season as the Cornell head coach, but he has three new assistants this year. While the new assistant coaches will be new faces in their positions behind the bench, their faces will still be familiar. Ben Syer joins the Big Red after eight seasons as an assistant coach for ECAC Hockey opponent Quinnipiac, and Topher Scott returns to East Hill just 3½ years since he last competed for the Big Red as a senior co-captain who eclipsed 100 career points. Volunteer assistant coach Kris Mayotte is also familiar with ECAC Hockey, having tended goal for Union from 2002-06.
 
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 17th season, Schafer has 326 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 St. Lawrence's Joe Marsh (477) and is closing the gap on Quinnipiac's Rand Pecknold (327). Schafer is tops among Ivy League coaches, with Dartmouth's Bob Gaudet recently reaching his 309th career win.
 
PROSE ABOUT PROS
All seven players who graduated after playing with the Big Red last season have played professionally this season. The group includes forwards Joe Devin (AHL's San Antonio Rampage and ECHL's Cincinnati Cyclones), Tyler Roeszler (Sweden's Vita Hästen), Patrick Kennedy (ECHL's Idaho Steelheads and Trenton Titans), Jordan Kary (CHL's Texas Brahmas), Dan Nicholls (CHL's Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees and Texas Brahmas, and SHL's Fayetteville FireAntz), defenseman Mike Devin (ECHL's Elmira Jackals) and goalie Mike Garman (ECHL's Colorado Eagles and CHL's Tulsa Oilers). Two players who left Cornell after the 2010 season have also made their NHL debuts this season — goalie Ben Scrivens with the Toronto Maple Leafs and forward Riley Nash with the Carolina Hurricanes.
 
SOUTHERN FLAIR
None of the other 57 schools in Division I men's hockey have as many players that call states bordering the Gulf of Mexico home as Cornell. The Big Red has four players that fit into that category — Florida native Brian Ferlin and the three Texans, Locke Jillson, Keir Ross and Armand de Swardt. Northern Michigan is the only other team in the country that has three players from Texas.
 
MILESTONE MANIA
The Big Red's 2-1 win over Quinnipiac in game one of the ECAC Hockey quarterfinals last season marked the 1,000th victory all-time for the Cornell men's hockey program. Cornell became the 17th program to reach that milestone. The Big Red then surpassed another milestone this season by recording the 500th victory all-time at storied Lynah Rink with a 1-0 shutout of Niagara on Nov. 22.
 
AMERICAN INFLUENCE
Seven of this season's nine freshmen were born in the
United States, giving the Big Red a more American feel than it's seen in quite a while. Cornell has 12 players who were born in the United States, which is the most on a Mike Schafer-coached team at Cornell. The previous high was 10, which came in 1997-98.
 
UP NEXT
The Big Red wraps up the regular season with two enticing games at Lynah Rink. On Friday, Feb. 24, first-place Union comes to town after the teams played to a 4-4 tie on Feb. 4 at Messa Rink in Schenectady, N.Y. On Saturday, Feb. 25, the Big Red will honor seniors Keir Ross, Sean Collins, Locke Jillson and Sean Whitney following the regular-season finale against Rensselaer. Faceoff for both games is scheduled for 7 p.m. The first round of the ECAC Hockey Championship playoffs is the following weekend, featuring seeds 5-12. The four winners will then advance to quarterfinal series at the rinks of the top four seeds March 9-11. The remaining teams then go to Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J. for the championship weekend, featuring semifinals on Friday, March 16 and the consolation and title-game tilts on Saturday, March 17.