ITHACA, N.Y. – The men's hockey team returns to ECAC Hockey play for the first time in seven weeks this weekend, making a trip to the North Country for games Friday night at St. Lawrence and Saturday night at Clarkson. Jason Weinstein will handle play-by-play for both games this weekend. 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).
 
CORNELL at ST. LAWRENCE
TIME: 7 p.m.
DATE: Friday, January 9, 2015
PLACE: Appleton Arena · Canton, N.Y.
RECORDS: Cornell 5-6-1, 3-3 ECAC Hockey, 2-1 Ivy League · St. Lawrence 8-9-2, 4-3 ECAC Hockey
LIVE VIDEO: SaintsAthletics.com
AUDIO: Big Red Digital
RADIO: WHCU-AM (870)
LIVE STATS: ECACHockey.com
 
CORNELL at CLARKSON
TIME: 7 p.m.
DATE: Saturday, January 10, 2015
PLACE: Cheel Arena · Potsdam, N.Y.
RECORDS*: Cornell 5-6-1, 3-3 ECAC Hockey, 2-1 Ivy League · Clarkson 7-8-4, 4-1-2 ECAC Hockey
LIVE VIDEO: ClarksonAthletics.tv
AUDIO: Big Red Digital
RADIO: WHCU-AM (870)
LIVE STATS: Clarkson Athletics
 (*—records do not include Friday's results)
 
Cornell game notes (PDF)
St. Lawrence game notes (PDF)
Clarkson game notes (PDF)
 
ABOUT THE BIG RED
Cornell won five of its last seven games entering the semester break before faltering to a fourth-place finish in the Florida College Hockey Classic in the latter stages of 2014. The Big Red was shut out in consecutive games for the first time since December 1963 when it mustered a 0-0 tie against Lake Superior State on Dec. 28 before a 3-0 setback the following afternoon against nationally ranked Miami. Cornell closed out the fall semester portion of its schedule with a home split of two games against Denver. ... Sophomore goaltender Mitch Gillam (4-3-2, 1.26, .958, SO) stopped all 37 shots he faced in 100-plus minutes of action in Florida. His 24-save shutout against Lake Superior State was the first of his collegiate career. ... Senior forward Joel Lowry (4-4–8)  leads in the team in scoring and has seven points in his last six games. Lowry is tied for the team goal-scoring lead with 6-foot-7 junior forward Christian Hilbrich (4-2–6). ... 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 leads the nation with a team goals-against average of 1.62 heading into this weekend. ... 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.
 
GOALIE UNIVERSITY
Cornell has a long history of celebrated goaltenders, and sophomore Mitch Gillam is starting to make a name for himself — and not just because of the empty-net goal he scored last season. Gillam currently leads the nation in goals-against average (1.26) and save percentage (.958). His GAA of 0.37 and save percentage of .986 during December led the league, though he was passed over for goalie of the month honors. By surrendering one or fewer goals in seven of nine starts this season, Gillam is the first Cornell goalie to accomplish that feat since Ben Scrivens late in the 2010 season.
 
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.
 
ABOUT ST. LAWRENCE
The Saints won eight of their first 13 games, but enter this weekend winless in their last six games. In its first action since the holiday break, St. Lawrence notched a tie and a loss last weekend at Northeastern. ... Senior forward Patrick Doherty (5-11–16) leads the team in scoring. He had a short-handed goal and an assist in the season's first meeting against Cornell. ... Doherty typically centers a line with senior Gunnar Hughes (6-5–11) and junior Tommy Thompson (4-7–11) on the wings. They are both tied for second in team scoring with sophomore left wing Drew Smolcynski (1-10–11), and Thompson leads the team with a plus-14 rating in 19 games. ... Sophomore defenseman Gavin Bayreuther (3-5–8) is one of the top offensive blueliners in the league and leads the team with 51 shots on goal. ... Freshman Kyle Hayton (8-8-2, 2.20, .931, 4 SO) has been at the forefront of the Saints' season, immediately stepping into the starting role after the graduation of four-year starter Matt Weninger. Hayton has started all but one game in goal for SLU. ... Greg Carvel is in his fourth season as the Saints' head coach, sporting a 55-63-13 career record.
 
THE SERIES WITH ST. LAWRENCE
Cornell leads the all-time series against St. Lawrence, 57-43-8, including victories in five of the teams' last eight meetings. In its last visit to Appleton Arena, the Big Red used a four-goal first period to vault itself to a 5-2 victory  on Nov. 16, 2013. Joel Lowry had two power-play goals and an assist in the game. The teams then engaged in a wild 4-4 tie in the rematch in January 2014 at Lynah Rink, then the Saints topped the Big Red, 4-2, on Nov. 15, 2014. Junior forward Christian Hilbrich has two goals and two assists for four points in two career games against the Saints. Cornell head coach Mike Schafer is 21-17-6 all-time against the Saints. Cornell and St. Lawrence first met during the 1926-27 season. 
 
ABOUT CLARKSON
The Golden Knights are 7-8-4, but they sit in third place in ECAC Hockey with just one loss in their first seven league games. Clarkson came off the holiday hiatus by rallying to top American International, 4-3, on Dec. 30. The Golden Knights are unbeaten in their last four league games after the Big Red handed them a 2-1 overtime loss on Nov. 14. Clarkson tied Colgate, 2-2, the following night, swept Quinnipiac and Princeton at home the next weekend, then outlasted rival St. Lawrence, 2-1, on Dec. 6. ... Senior winger Joe Zarbo (7-4–11) leads the team in scoring and has already eclipsed his goal total from last season, but the Golden Knights' offense is generally powered by scoring depth. Clarkson has six players with seven or nine points. Sophomore defenseman James de Haas (3-6–9) leads the team with a plus-7 rating. Junior winger Pat Megannety (3-3–6) has a team-high three points on the power play. ... Sophomore Steve Perry (7-6-1, 1.89, .914, SO) is the team's primary goaltender. In ECAC Hockey games, he leads the league with a 0.99 goals-against average and .958 save percentage. ... Casey Jones, a 1990 Cornell graduate and former Big Red associate head coach, is in his fourth season at the helm of the Golden Knights. He has a 53-62-21 career record.
 
THE SERIES WITH CLARKSON
The Big Red and Golden Knights have met 128 times coming into this weekend, with Cornell owning a 62-52-14 lead in the all-time series. The Big Red has just three losses in the teams' last 16 meetings, and its last two victory in the series have come in overtime. Cornell finished off an ECAC Hockey Championship quarterfinals series with Brian Ferlin's OT goal in Game 3 last season, then sophomore forward Eric Freschi scored an overtime short-handed goal in the Big Red's 2-1 victory on Nov. 14. Mike Schafer holds a 35-17-7 record against the Golden Knights in his 19-plus years as head coach of the Big Red.
 
KILLIN' IT
The Big Red is ranked fifth in the nation with a 89.7 percent success rate on the penalty kill. Within that number is an impressive streak against two-man disadvantages. Cornell is a perfect 17-for-17 killing off three-on-five scenarios over the last three seasons, spanning a total of 15 minutes, 36 seconds. The last time Cornell surrendered a five-on-three goal was against Yale on Feb. 11, 2012.
 
SURGES AND OUTAGES
The Big Red power play sits firmly in the middle of the pack nationally, mainly due to inconsistently. 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. The Big Red was then 7-for-18 on the power play over its next four games — including the season's first meetings with St. Lawrence and Clarkson. Cornell is 0-for-11 with the man advantage in its last five games.
 
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).
 
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.
 
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 60.2 percent of his draws entering the weekend, which ranks second among ECAC Hockey players who have appeared in at least 10 games this season (Union's Mike Vecchione leads the way at 61.3 percent). Sophomore forward Jeff Kubiak has also been solid on draws with a 56.3 percent success rate.
 
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. During his sophomore and junior seasons, he was 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.
 
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).
 
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.
 
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.
 
UP NEXT
At the halfway point of its regular season, Cornell will play exclusively ECAC Hockey games the rest of the way. The Big Red wraps up its season-high stretch of six games away from home Jan. 16-17 at Union and Rensselaer. Both games will be televised regionally on Time Warner Cable SportsChannel.