NEW YORK – For the first time since Red Hot Hockey's inauguration in 2007, Cornell and Boston University will both be ranked in the two major national college hockey polls when they clash at 8 p.m. Saturday at famed Madison Square Garden in New York. The game will be broadcast for free on Ivy League Digital Network. Jason Weinstein will handle play-by-play, with Tony Eisenhut provided color commentary. Their call can also be heard in the Ithaca area on WHCU (870 AM, 95.9 FM).
 
#15/16 CORNELL vs. #11/12 BOSTON UNIVERSITY
TIME: 8 p.m.
DATE: Saturday, November 28, 2015
PLACE: Madison Square Garden  ·  New York, N.Y.
RECORDS: Cornell 6-1-1, 4-1-1 ECAC Hockey  ·  Boston University 7-4-2, 3-2-2 Hockey East
VIDEO: Ivy League Digital Network
RADIO: WHCU (870 AM, 95.9 FM)
LIVE STATS: GoTerriers.com
 
Cornell game notes (PDF)
Boston University game notes (coming soon)
 
About Red Hot Hockey:
Cornell and Boston University will play the fifth edition of the biennial Red Hot Hockey series tonight. The first four games have sold out The World's Most Famous Arena in 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2013. Cornell has also started The Frozen Apple series in even-numbered years, having defeated Michigan in 2012 and Penn State in 2014.
 
About the Big Red:
Cornell is coming off consecutive shutouts at #9/10 Yale and Brown last weekend, with junior Mitch Gillam stopping all 57 shots he faced to earn ECAC Hockey Player of the Week honors. The game at Yale finished scoreless, while junior forward Jake Weidner set up sophomore forward Trevor Yates for the lone goal at Brown. The Big Red is now unbeaten in its last four games. ... Cornell scored at least three goals in its first six games, with junior forward Jeff Kubiak (3-6–9) getting on the scoresheet in each of those contests. He leads the team in scoring, rating (plus-8) and faceoff percentage (60.2). Freshman forward Anthony Angello (4-3–7) leads the team in goals. ... Gillam (6-1-1, 1.59, .938, 3 SO) has been the Big Red's exclusive goaltender to date, ranking seventh in the country in goals-against average and 10th in save percentage.
 
About Boston University:
Before Tuesday's 3-0 shutout of Bentley, the Terriers split last weekend with visiting Michigan. BU scored three goals in the final 10 minutes for a wild 3-2 victory on Friday, which included a Wolverines penalty shot stopped by sophomore Connor LaCouvee when the game was tied. Michigan jumped out to an early lead again Saturday en route to a 4-2 victory. The loss halted a six-game unbeaten streak, which included a pair of ties against Providence — the nation's top-ranked team and the squad which topped the Terriers in last season's national championship game. ... Senior forward Danny O'Regan (4-13–17, 3 PPGs) leads the team in scoring, with senior forward Ahti Oksanen (7-6–13) leading the way in goals. Freshman forward Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson (4-9–13) is also tied for second on the team in points. ... LaCouvee (5-2-2, 2.63, .917) has started nine of the team's 13 games in goal, though Sean Maguire made 15 saves to post Tuesday's shutout against Bentley.
 
The Series Against Boston University:
Two longtime rivals, Cornell and Boston University have met 44 times, with the Big Red holding a 23-19-2 lead in the all-time series. The two programs have combined to win seven NCAA championships, with the Big Red defeating the Terriers for the title in 1967, Cornell's first national championship. Moving to recent times, Boston University has won three of the first four versions of Red Hot Hockey, with the 2009 meeting ending in a 3-3 tie. The last time the teams met in 2013 at Madison Square Garden, the Big Red dominated territorially only to come up on the short end of a 3-2 score. The Terriers also won the first incarnation of Red Hot Hockey at Madison Square Garden in 2007, 6-3, snapping a three-game Cornell winning streak in the series. Under Cornell head coach Mike Schafer, the Big Red is 3-5-1 against BU.
 
Gillam In A Groove:
Junior goaltender Mitch Gillam was named the ECAC Hockey Player of the Week on Tuesday after he stopped all 57 shots he saw last weekend in games at Yale and Brown in which the opponents outshot the Big Red. Gillam became the first Cornell goalie to post consecutive shutouts since Andy Iles did so Dec. 2-3, 2011 against St. Lawrence and Clarkson, and these were the Big Red's first consecutive road shutouts since Ben Scrivens blanked Princeton and Quinnipiac from Nov. 7-8, 2008. Named to the Mike Richter Award Watch List before the season, Gillam's shutout streak has now reached 167 minutes, 41 seconds, which is a career-best and the sixth-best in program history (see table on opposite page). An odd twist on Gillam's four career shutouts is that he's only won two of them — Dec. 28, 2014 against Lake Superior State and last Friday against Yale were both scoreless ties.
 
Wasting No Time:
Junior forward Jeff Kubiak entered the season with 17 career points through his first two seasons, but he followed that up with nine points in the first six games this year. He had the Big Red's six-game points streak since Brian Ferlin's seven-game stretch from Dec. 28, 2013 to Jan. 31, 2014. Kubiak returns to the New York area this weekend after having attended the New York Islanders' prospect camp this summer.
 
Freshman Force:
The jump to college hockey can be a big one for newcomers, but freshman forward Anthony Angello — a 2014 draft pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins — has felt right at home with Cornell. Angello is the Big Red's first player to have points in his first four collegiate games since Ryan Moynihan from Nov. 8-16, 1996 — which was Mike Schafer's second season as head coach of his alma mater. He then scored the overtime winner Nov. 14 at Colgate.
 
What, Me Worry?:
Three of Cornell's six victories entering this weekend have come in games in which it has surrendered the first goal. The Big Red had a combined record of 14-34-5 over the last three seasons when it faced a 1-0 deficit.
 
Blank You Very Much:
Cornell has recorded at least one shutout in each of the last 21 seasons – a streak that has easily been continued behind junior goaltender Mitch Gillam in just the first four weeks of this season. The last time the Big Red went a full season without posting a shutout came during the 1994-95 season.
 
Class of Captains:
On the day of its season opener at Niagara, Cornell announced that its entire senior class — Christian Hilbrich, John Knisley, Teemu Tiitinen and Reece Willcox — would serve as captains during its final season on East Hill. It marks the first time in program history the Big Red has shared the captaincy among four players, though it's worth noting that only two players will wear the 'C' at any given time. Hilbrich and Willcox will serve as on-ice captains for the team's away games, while Knisley and Tiitinen will do so in home games.
 
Special Threads:
The Big Red wore special jerseys for its home opener Oct. 31 which will be auctioned off at a later date with proceeds going to a mission and service trip to the Dominican Republic this summer, led by head coach Mike Schafer and current players. In addition to the special design the red jerseys with a thick horizontal white stripe across the midsection, the jerseys featured name plates of the greatest Cornell hockey player to have ever donned that number according to the player that currently wears it.
 
Feel The Draft?:
Cornell has six players on the roster who have been selected in the NHL Entry Draft, including four from 2014. Freshman forward Beau Starrett (Chicago Blackhawks) was selected earliest in the group, having been taken in the third round with the 88th overall pick. Fellow newcomer Anthony Angello, also a forward, was selected in the fifth round by the Pittsburgh Penguins. Sophomore forward Jared Fiegl (Arizona Coyotes) and Dwyer Tschantz (St. Louis Blues) were then picked in the seventh round. Junior forward Matt Buckles was taken by the Florida Panthers in the fourth round of the 2013 draft, and senior defenseman Reece Willcox was selected by the Philadelphia Flyers in the fifth round of 2012's event.
 
Empire State of Mind:
Cornell's roster has numerous connections to New York. While his hometown is in Minnesota, Eric Freschi was born in New York City and lived in Manhattan for a couple years. Matthew Nuttle, John Knisley and Anthony Angello hail from Upstate New York, and Alex Rauter and Chad Otterman are both from northern New Jersey. Christian Hilbrich attended New York Rangers prospect camp last summer, and both Jeff Kubiak (2015) and Mitch Gillam (2012) have attended New York Islanders prospect camps.
 
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 16 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).
 
Up Next:
Cornell closes out the fall semester portion of its schedule with home games against St. Lawrence on Friday, Dec. 4 and Clarkson on Saturday Dec. 5. After a three-week hiatus for final exams and the holidays, the Big Red will reconvene in Estero, Fla. for the two-day Florida College Classic. Cornell opens the tournament on Dec. 28 against defending national champion Providence before taking on either Boston College or Ohio State the following day.