ESTERO, Fla. – The Cornell men's hockey team emerges from its annual three-week hiatus for final exams and the holiday break for the 15th annual Florida College Hockey Classic, which is staged Dec. 28-29 at Germain Arena. The Big Red, the defending champion of the four-team event, will take on Lake Superior State in the first round before tangling with either Miami or Notre Dame the following day. Jason Weinstein will handle play-by-play. His call can be found for free on Big Red Digital, and it can also be heard in the Ithaca area on WHCU-AM (870).
 
FLORIDA COLLEGE HOCKEY CLASSIC
Cornell vs. Lake Superior State
TIME: 7:35 p.m.
DATE: Sunday, December 28, 2014
PLACE: Germain Arena · Estero, Fla.
RECORDS: Cornell 5-5-1, 3-3 ECAC Hockey, 2-1 Ivy League · Lake Superior State 3-17, 3-11 Western Collegiate Hockey Association
LIVE VIDEO: None
AUDIO: Big Red Digital
RADIO: WHCU-AM (870)
LIVE STATS: CornellBigRed.com
 
Cornell vs. #6/6 Miami or Notre Dame
TIME: 4 or 7:35 p.m.
DATE: Monday, December 29, 2014
PLACE: Germain Arena · Estero, Fla.
RECORDS: Cornell 5-5-1, 3-3 ECAC Hockey, 2-1 Ivy League · Miami 11-5, 7-3 National Collegiate Hockey Conference · Notre Dame 8-8-2, 4-2-2 Hockey East
LIVE VIDEO: None
AUDIO: Big Red Digital
RADIO: WHCU-AM (870)
LIVE STATS: CornellBigRed.com
 
Cornell game notes (PDF)
Lake Superior State game notes (coming soon)
Miami game notes (coming soon)
Notre Dame game notes (coming soon)
 
HOME AWAY FROM HOME
As of this year, Cornell will become the only team to appear in every edition of the Florida College Hockey Classic. Maine has also appeared in the first 14 chapters, but is no longer in the fold after losing to the Big Red in a shootout following the championship game last season. That allowed Cornell to claim its fourth Florida College Hockey Classic title and its first since 2008. The Big Red has an all-time record of 10-14-4 in the tournament, whereas the rest of this year's field has a combined 2-2 record. Miami finished second in the 2010 tournament after defeating Maine in the first round and losing to St. Cloud State in the championship. Notre Dame was third in the 2003 tournament, losing to Cornell in the first round before beating Maine the next day.
 
ABOUT THE BIG RED
After a slow start to the season, Cornell has rebounded with four victories in its last five games and five wins in its last seven to get back to .500. Most recently, the Big Red split a two-game series Dec. 5-6 against nationally-ranked Denver at Lynah Rink. Junior forward Christian Hilbrich (4-2–6) scored twice and added an assist, and sophomore goaltender Mitch Gillam (4-3-1, 1.53, .951) made 33 saves during a 4-1 victory in the first game. Gillam was later named ECAC Hockey Goalie of the Week for his part. Hilbrich also briefly took the team lead in goals before senior forward Joel Lowry (4-4–8) scored the lone goal in the Big Red's 3-1 loss the following night. Lowry leads the team in scoring and now has seven points in his last six games. ... Sophomore forward Jake Weidner (0-6–6) leads the team in assists, with five of his helpers coming as primary assists. ... Team defense continues to be the story for the Big Red, despite leaning heavily on three defensemen and two goalies with a combined three games of college hockey experience heading into the season. Cornell ranks second in the nation with a team goals-against average of 1.64. Gillam ranks second in the country individually in both save percentage and goals-against average. ... Mike Schafer is in his 20th season as the Jay R. Bloom '77 Head Coach of Men's Hockey. Associate head coach Ben Syer and assistant coach Topher Scott return for their fourth seasons with the Big Red, and Lyle Gregory is the volunteer assistant coach.
 
ABOUT LAKE SUPERIOR STATE
The Lakers are on a six-game losing streak. In all 17 of its losses, LSSU has surrendered at least three goals, and
10 of their 17 losses to date have been by three or more goals. ... Junior right winger Bryce Schmidt (6-6–12) leads the team in scoring, having already eclipsed his point total from last season. Freshman defenseman James Roll (0-8–8) leads the team in assists and tied for second on overall scoring with senior center Stephen Perfetto (5-3–8). ... Freshmen goaltenders have started all 20 of the Lakers' games, with Gordon Defiel (3-15, 3.82, .894) seeing the bulk of the action. Kevin Aldridge (0-2, 4.80, .833) appeared in four games, but recently left the team to return to the NAHL. ... Damon Whitten is in his first season as the head coach. 
 
ABOUT MIAMI
The RedHawks won six of their last eight games before the holiday break, including a split with Nebraska-Omaha to stay in a tie with Minnesota-Duluth for first place in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference. Miami hasn't been swept in any of its two-game series this year, splitting with Bowling Green, St. Lawrence, Minnesota-Duluth and Omaha, while sweeping Ohio State, Colorado College and Western Michigan. ... Senior center Austin Czarnik (0-17–17) has the rare distinction of leading the team in scoring despite having no goals. Junior center Sean Kuraly (10-6–16; 4 PPGs) leads the squad in goals and is in a three-way tie for second place in points with senior center Blake Coleman (9-7–16; 3 PPGs) and junior right wing Riley Barber (7-9–16). ... Junior Jay Williams (11-2, 1.78, .919, 2 SO) is the primary goaltender. ... Enrico Blasi is in his 16th season as head coach. Associated Head Coach Brent Brekke spent nine seasons as an assistant coach at Cornell.
 
ABOUT NOTRE DAME
The Fighting Irish rebounded from a 1-6-2 stretch with a road sweep of Massachusetts before a three-week break this month. Notre Dame was 5-2-1 in a stretch of eight straight home games to start the year. ... Senior defenseman Robbie Russo (7-10–17) leads the team in scoring and is one of 10 NHL draft picks on the Fighting Irish. Junior left winger Thomas DiPauli (3-12–15) is second in points, and junior left winger Mario Lucia (11-3–14) leads the squad in goals. ... Freshman Cal Petersen (4-5-1, 2.66, .910, 2 SOs) and sophomore Chad Katunar (4-3-1, 2.85, .905) have essentially been splitting starts in goal. 
 
THE SERIES WITH LAKE SUPERIOR STATE
Sunday's game will be the first meeting between the Lakers and Big Red in 19 years and just the third all-time. The first meeting was a 3-2 victory for LSSU on Dec. 28, 1990 in the Syracuse Invitation Tournament. The Lakers then secured another one-goal victory five seasons later on March 22, 1996, defeating the Big Red by a 5-4 margin in an NCAA regional game in Albany. Cornell is 11-14-2 against teams currently in the Western College Hockey Association.
 
THE SERIES WITH MIAMI
The RedHawks hold a 2-1 series lead, though their nickname was still the Redskins for all three of the 20th-century games. Miami won the first meeting on Dec. 28, 1989 in Cincinnati, then defeated the Big Red on Nov. 30, 1996 at Lynah Rink in Ithaca, N.Y. Cornell's victory, by a 4-2 score, then followed on March 22, 1997 in an NCAA regional game in Grand Rapids, Mich. The Big Red is 26-19-4 against teams currently in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference.
 
THE SERIES WITH NOTRE DAME
The Fighting Irish hold a 3-1 lead in the all-time series against the Big Red, despite Cornell scoring four goals in each of the four games. The Big Red's victory came on Dec. 27, 2003 in the first round of the Florida College Hockey Classic, with Dave McKee earning a 23-save shutout in a 4-0 win. The Big Red's only visit to South Bend, Ind. came Jan. 10, 1972, resulting in a 5-4 Notre Dame victory. The Fighting Irish then won a pair of games Nov. 23-24, 1979 in Ithaca and Rochester, N.Y.
 
BLANK YOU VERY MUCH
Cornell has recorded at least one shutout in each of the last 20 seasons – a streak that has been continued this year with a 4-0 blanking of Brown on Nov. 22. Freshman Hayden Stewart made 26 saves for his first career shutout and subsequent ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Week honors. In the process, he became the first Cornell freshman to keep a clean sheet since Ben Scrivens '10 manned the crease in a 6-0 rout of Union on Dec. 2, 2006. Like Scrivens, an All-American his senior season, Stewart's first shutout came in his ECAC Hockey debut. 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. The following year marked the first season for current head coach Mike Schafer.
 
TRENDING
The Big Red has welcomed 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).
 
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. The Big Red's Nov. 21-22 victories against Yale and Brown leave the team 2-1 in Ivy League play this season.
 
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). His current total of 369 victories in Division I play are tops among current ECAC Hockey coaches.
 
POWERFUL STUFF
As of Nov. 9, the Big Red power play was converting at a clip of just 5.3 percent, mired in an 0-for-17 slump and scoring just four goals in its last 80 opportunities dating back to Dec. 28, 2013. But since then, Cornell is 7-for-25 on the power play. Sophomore forward Matt Buckles has three power-play goals, leaving him tied for fifth in highest PPG/game ratio in the nation (0.33).
 
WIN, NOT LOSE, ON DRAWS
Sophomore forward Jake Weidner has emerged as a terrific faceoff man this season after spending most of his freshman year on the wing. Weidner has won 59.7 percent of his draws entering the Florida College Hockey Classic, which ranks second among ECAC Hockey players who have appeared in at least 10 games this season. Sophomore forward Jeff Kubiak ranks fifth at 57.6 percent.
 
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, but he missed eight of the first nine games this season due to injury. Ryan was able to return Dec. 5-6 vs. Denver, notching his first assist of the season in the second game.
 
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.
 
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).
 
NOW THAT'S A STREAK
It has been 1,558 games since the Big Red has been shutout in back-to-back contests. The last time Cornell was blanked in consecutive games was way back in December 1963, when both Clarkson and St. Lawrence held the Big Red off the scoresheet.
 
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 has lived in South Carolina, Cole Bardreau and Ryan Bliss were both born in North Carolina, and Dwyer Tschantz is the first-ever NHL draft pick born in Delaware.
 
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. Freshman forward Jared Fiegl also won gold in the same event in April 2014.
 
UP NEXT
Not quite halfway through the season, Cornell will play exclusively ECAC Hockey games for the balance of the regular season — 16 in all. After returning from Florida, the Big Red will continue its season-high stretch of six consecutive games away from home when it travels Jan. 9-10 to St. Lawrence and Clarkson, then Jan. 16-17 to Union and Rensselaer. Cornell then plays its first home games of 2015 with a pair of Ivy League games against Harvard on Friday, Jan. 23 and Dartmouth on Saturday, Jan. 24. The Big Red plays its annual home-and-home series with Colgate the following weekend.