ITHACA, N.Y. – The Cornell men's hockey team starts ECAC Hockey play against the same opponents it started last season's league slate. The biggest difference is this year's games are on the road, with Cornell travelling to Princeton for its Ivy League opener on Friday night, followed by a trek up to Quinnipiac on Saturday night. Video of Friday's game against the Tigers will be streamed live on subscription-based Big Red Digital, with Jason Weinstein handling play-by-play. The audio-only feed of his call for both of this weekend's games will also be available for free on Big Red Digital, and it can also be heard in the Ithaca area on WHCU-AM (870).
 
CORNELL at PRINCETON
TIME: 7 p.m.
DATE: Friday, November 7, 2014
PLACE: Hobey Baker Rink · Princeton, N.J.
RECORDS: Cornell 0-1-1, 0-0 ECAC Hockey, 0-0 Ivy League · Princeton 0-1-1, 0-0 ECAC Hockey, 0-0 Ivy League
LIVE VIDEO: Big Red Digital
AUDIO: Big Red Digital
RADIO: WHCU-AM (870)
LIVE STATS: GoPrincetonTigers.com
 
CORNELL at QUINNIPIAC
TIME: 7 p.m.
DATE: Saturday, November 8, 2014
PLACE: High Point Solutions Arena · Hamden, Conn.
RECORDS*: Cornell 0-1-1, 0-0 ECAC Hockey · Quinnipiac 3-2-1, 0-0 ECAC Hockey
LIVE VIDEO: QuinnipiacBobcats.com
AUDIO: Big Red Digital
RADIO: WHCU-AM (870)
LIVE STATS: QuinnipiacBobcats.com
(*—records do not include Friday's results)
 
Cornell game notes (PDF)
Princeton game notes (PDF)
Quinnipiac game notes (PDF)
 
ABOUT THE BIG RED
Cornell is searching for its first victory of the season after playing a tie and a loss last weekend against Omaha to kick off the season. Sophomore forward Matt Buckles (1-1–2) holds the early team scoring lead after netting a goal on the power play in Friday's 1-1 tie, then assisting on freshman forward Trevor Yates' tally the following night in a 2-1 loss. Sophomore goaltender Mitch Gillam (0-0-1, 0.92, .974) made 38 saves on Friday in his second collegiate start, including several key stops on a long two-man disdvantage. Freshman Hayden Stewart (0-1, 2.03, .913) then got the nod the following night. ... The Big Red is coming off a 17-10-5 record last season, when it narrowly missed an at-large berth in the NCAA tournament. Cornell finished fourth in the ECAC Hockey regular season standings (11-7-4). ... This is head coach Mike Schafer's 20th season at the helm of the Big Red. Associate Head Coach Ben Syer and Assistant Coach Topher Scott both return for their fourth seasons at Cornell, and Lyle Gregory has joined the staff as a volunteer assistant coach.
 
LET'S GET IT STARTED
Cornell has an all-time record of 57-34-7 in season openers, staying unbeaten in its season debut for a fourth consecutive season after a 1-1 tie with Omaha last Friday. The Big Red won its three preview season debuts, including last year's 5-3 win at Omaha. Under current head coach Mike Schafer, the Big Red is 12-6-2 in season openers.
 
SITTING ATOP THE IVY
Cornell won the Ivy League championship outright in 2014. It's the second time in the last three years the Big Red claimed the Ivy crown, the 17th time it's done so outright and the 21st time overall in program history. Cornell came up just short of even more history when a 1-0 loss to Dartmouth on Feb. 28 proved to be the squad's only loss against the Ancient Eight last season. Just three times in program history has the Big Red completed the Ivy League schedule undefeated. The last time Cornell was unbeaten in Ivy games was 1996, when it was 9-0-1 in Mike Schafer's first season as the Big Red's head coach. The other two occasions were in 1969 and 1970.
 
BLANK YOU VERY MUCH
Cornell has recorded at least one shutout in each of the last 19 seasons – a streak that was kept alive with a 1-0 overtime victory against Clarkson in Game 3 of the ECAC Hockey Championship quarterfinals last March. The last time the Big Red went a full season 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 current head coach Mike Schafer.
 
ABOUT PRINCETON
The Tigers finished fourth at the Liberty Invitational last weekend in Newark, N.J. After playing Yale to a 2-2 tie in Friday's opening, Princeton lost the ensuing shootout (which has no bearing on standings) and was routed by Merrimack in Sunday's consolation game, 6-1. Freshmen forwards Ryan Berlin, David Hallisey and Eric Robinson acoounted for the Tigers' goals. Sophomore goalie Colton Phinney (0-1-1, 4.41, .892) started both contests before freshman Ben Halford (0-0, 2.04, .933) came on in relief against Merrimack. ... Ron Fogarty is in his first season as the head coach of the Tigers after a very successful stint with Division III's Adrian (Mich.) College. Fellow Colgate graduate Brad Dexter has joined Fogarty from the Raiders to be the lead assistant coach, while Stavros Paskaris continues to assist Fogarty as he did at Adrian.
 
ABOUT QUINNIPIAC
The Bobcats are off to a 3-2-1 start with all but two of their first eight games at home. After beating Bentley in its debut, Quinnipiac had a tie and a loss against UMass-Lowell before a disappointing loss to Connecticut. The Bobcats rebounded with a pair of one-goal victories against Northeastern last weekend at home. ... Sophomore forward Sam Anas (4-4–8; 3 PPGs) is tied with freshman linemate Landon Smith (4-4–8) for the early scoring lead. Anas was named to the media's preseason All-ECAC Hockey Team, while senior forward Matthew Peca (1-6–7) was named to the coaches' preseason All-ECAC Hockey team. He has 114 career points through 124 games. ...  Quinnipiac's power play is off to a hot start, clicking at a 31.0 percent success rate through six games. The Bobcats are also outshooting their opposition by an average of 33-22 per game. ... Junior Michael Garteig (3-2, 3.14, .858) returns for his second season as the Bobcats' main option in goal. Freshman Sean Lawrence (0-0-1, 3.11, .833) earned a tie against UMass-Lowell in his first collegiate start.
 
THE SERIES WITH PRINCETON
The Big Red holds a commanding 85-50-8 lead all-time, including a 4-1 victory Feb. 22 at Hobey Baker Rink to clinch the Ivy League title. Jacob MacDonald scored one of the Big Red's two power-play goals, then John McCarron iced the game with an empty-net goal. Cornell also won the first meeting of the season between the teams, 4-1, on the opening night of league play Nov. 1, 2013. McCarron has a goal and two assists in the game, and linemates Joel Lowry and Christian Hilbrich had a goal and an assist apiece. Defenseman Joakim Ryan, a New Jersey native, has two goals and five assists for seven points and a plus-4 rating in the eight career cames against the Tigers. 
 
THE SERIES WITH QUINNIPIAC
Cornell holds a 16-10-2 lead in the all-time series against the Bobcats, who joined the Division I ranks in 1998 with Rand Pecknold at the helm. The teams split last season's series, with the Bobcats securing 3-0 victory behind a 22-save shutout from Michael Garteig on Nov. 2 at Lynah Rink. The Big Red rebounded with a 2-1 victory Feb. 21 at Quinnipiac. Joakim Ryan scored in the first period off assists from John McCarron and Joel Lowry.
 
EXHIBITIONS IN NAME ONLY
Cornell is 20-1-3 in exhibitions since 2000, including a pair of victories last weekend by identical 3-2 scores against the U.S. National Team Development Program's Under-18 Team and Carleton. Freshman forward Jared Fiegl and junior forward Teemu Tiitinen had a goal and an assist apiece against the NTDP, with senior forward Joel Lowry scoring the winner. Senior defensemen Jacob MacDonald and Joakim Ryan then scored power-play goals to erase deficits against Carleton before Fiegl netted the winner on a rebound of a shot from freshman defenseman Ryan Bliss. Sophomore Mitch Gillam made 26 saves for the victory against the NTDP, then freshman Hayden Stewart had 24 stops the next day to earn the win against Carleton.
 
TRENDING
The Big Red welcomes two newcomers from the U.S. National Team Development Program this season in defenseman Ryan Bliss and forward Jared Fiegl. This marks the fifth consecutive season that at least one player from the U.S. Under-18s has joined the Big Red. The others were Clint Lewis (in 2013), Gavin Stoick (in 2012), Cole Bardreau (in 2011) and Andy Iles (in 2010).
 
NOW THAT'S A STREAK
It has been 1,547 games since the Big Red has been shutout in back-to-back contests. The streak dates back to December 1963 with games vs. Clarkson and St. Lawrence.
 
POLLS PROSE
The Big Red was ranked 14th in both the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine and USCHO.com polls in the preseason, but as the 53 non-Ivy League teams started their schedules and the Ancient Eight's contingent just got off the ground last weekend, Cornell dropped out of both the USCHO.com poll and the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll. The last time Cornell was unranked in either poll was the preseason of the 2013-14 campaign.
 
NOT JUST A DEFENSEMAN
Senior blueliner Joakim Ryan ranked 11th in the nation in points per game for defensemen (0.75) last season. He was tied for second on the team in scoring with 24 points, and his eight goals ranked third on the team. Over the last two years, he has been on the ice for 88 of the team's 160 goals (55 percent). The production was nothing new for the San Jose Sharks draft pick, who set a program record for goals by a freshman defenseman in 2011-12 with seven. Ryan was named to both the media's and coaches' Preseason All-ECAC Hockey Teams.
 
FEEL THE DRAFT?
Cornell has seven players on the roster who have been selected in the NHL Entry Draft, including two picks from last June. Freshman forward Jared Fiegl was selected in the seventh round by the Arizona Coyotes, with the only other Big Red player selected by the organization being David LeNeveu in 2002. Freshman forward Dwyer Tschantz was then selected 11 picks later by the St. Louis Blues — the first time the organization has selected a Cornell product in 15 years. Other NHL draft picks on the team include defensemen Reece Willcox (Philadelphia Flyers) and Joakim Ryan (San Jose Sharks), forwards John McCarron (Edmonton Oilers), Joel Lowry (Los Angeles Kings) and Matt Buckles (Florida Panthers).
 
FIVE-ON-THREE PROWESS
There are few situations in hockey more dire than when a team is facing a two-man disadvantage, but the Big Red has made a habit of rising to the occasion in those scenarios. Cornell is a perfect 16-for-16 killing off a two-man disadvantage over the last three seasons, spanning a total of 14 minutes, 44 seconds. The last time Cornell surrendered a five-on-three goal was against Yale on Feb. 11, 2012.
 
THE 35th TO 350
Already the winningest coach in program history, Mike Schafer hit 350 victories for his career — all of which have come from behind the Big Red's bench — with a 4-2 win over Princeton on Nov. 1, 2013. He became the 35th coach all-time to rack up 350 victories across all NCAA divisions. Schafer is also just the third coach to pass 350 victories with Ivy League tenure, joining Ned Harkness (Cornell, Union and Rensselaer) and Tim Taylor (Yale).
 
GLOBAL INFLUENCE
The Big Red has 17 players on the roster born in the  United States. Cornell also now has players native to four different countries on its squad. Aside from the bulk of its roster hailing from the United States and Canada, Cornell also has a player from Denmark (Christian Hilbrich) and Finland (Teemu Tiitinen). Even within the United States, the Big Red has some untraditional hockey areas covered. Joel Lowry has lived in Florida, Tiitinen has lived in Georgia, John Knisley is native to South Carolina, and Cole Bardreau and Ryan Bliss were both born in North Carolina.
 
GOLDEN AGAIN
Senior forward Cole Bardreau won a gold medal while serving as an assistant captain for the United States at the 2013 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship in Ufa, Russia. It wasn't the first time Bardreau's earned gold with the U.S. either — he also wore an "A" while capturing gold at the IIHF Under-18 World Championship in April 2011. Junior defenseman Joakim Ryan was also among the 45 players who started in camp for the United States before the roster was trimmed in advance of the World Junior championships.
 
UP NEXT
The Big Red returns home for its next four games, all within the league. The stretch starts against the last league team to see Lynah Rink last year – Clarkson. The rematch of last year's ECAC Hockey Championship quarterfinal series is on Nov. 14, followed by a visit from St. Lawrence the following night. Cornell then plays host to Ivy League opponents Yale on Nov. 21 and Brown on Nov. 22.