ITHACA, N.Y. – The men's hockey team starts ECAC Hockey play this weekend in the midst of a four-game home stand, when it hosts Ivy League opponent Princeton at 7 p.m. Friday, then undefeated Quinnipiac at 7 p.m. Saturday at Lynah Rink. Both games will be streamed live on subscription-based Ivy League Digital Network. Jason Weinstein will handle play-by-play of the games with color commentary from Tony Eisenhut, and their call can also be heard in the Ithaca area on WHCU (870 AM, 95.9 FM).
 
PRINCETON at CORNELL
TIME: 7 p.m.
DATE: Friday, November 6, 2015
PLACE: Lynah Rink  ·  Ithaca, N.Y
RECORDS: Cornell 2-0, 0-0 ECAC Hockey  ·  Princeton 1-1, 0-0 ECAC Hockey
LIVE VIDEO: Ivy League Digital Network
RADIO: WHCU (870 AM, 95.9 FM)
LIVE STATS: CornellBigRed.com
 
#4/5 QUINNIPIAC at CORNELL
TIME: 7 p.m.
DATE: Saturday, November 7, 2015
PLACE: Lynah Rink  ·  Ithaca, N.Y
RECORDS*: Cornell 2-0, 0-0 ECAC Hockey  ·  Quinnipiac 6-0, 0-0 ECAC Hockey
LIVE VIDEO: Ivy League Digital Network
RADIO: WHCU (870 AM, 95.9 FM)
LIVE STATS: CornellBigRed.com
* — does not include Friday's results
 
Cornell game notes (PDF)
Princeton game notes (PDF)
Quinnipiac game notes (PDF)
 
About the Big Red:
Cornell started its season last weekend with a non-league sweep of Niagara in a home-and-home series. Senior forward Christian Hilbrich scored 1:46 into overtime to give the Big Red a 3-2 victory in Friday's opener at Dwyer Arena. Cornell then used a dominant first period to jump on Niagara in the rematch, cruising to a 4-0 victory in Saturday's home opener. Junior forward Jeff Kubiak scored twice, and freshman linemates Anthony Angello and Mitch Vanderlaan also had two points apiece. ... Cornell returns its top three goal-scorers, five of its top seven defensemen and all three of its goaltenders from the 2014-15 season.
 
Let's Get It Started:
Cornell has an all-time record of 58-34-7 in season openers after last Friday's victory. The Big Red is now unbeaten in its last four season debuts (3-0-1), and it has defeated Niagara in overtime in its opener twice in the last seven years (3-2 on Oct. 30, 2009 and 3-2 on Oct. 30, 2015).
 
About Princeton:
The Tigers started their season with the Capital City Classic last weekend in Trenton, N.J., following up a 3-1 loss to Yale on Friday with a victory by the same score against Maine on Saturday. Junior goaltender Colton Phinney (1-1, 1.51, .963) racked up 79 saves over the two games. Senior forward Kyle Rankin, junior forward Ben Foster, sophomore forward Eric Robinson and sophomore defenseman Joe Grabowski scored the goals. ... The Tigers are in their second season under head coach Ron Fogarty.
 
The Series Against Princeton:
Cornell has been dominant against the Tigers in previous meetings, holding a 86-51-8 lead all-time. Although the Big Red has the historical edge, the teams split a pair of games last season, with both teams taking games at their home rinks. Princeton shut down Cornell on Nov. 7, 2014 to earn a 2-1 victory at Hobey Baker Rink, before the Big Red took a 4-2 decision on Feb. 7, 2015 at Lynah Rink. Defenseman Holden Anderson's first collegiate goal came in the the final period and it was enough for the Cornell triumph.
 
About Quinnipiac:
The Bobcats rocketed up from ninth to fifth in the USCHO.com poll and fourth in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll despite not playing any games last weekend. Quinnipiac is off to an impressive 6-0 start, including a home sweep of nationally-ranked St. Cloud State two weeks ago. ... Senior forward Travis St. Denis (6-2–8, 4 PPG) was named the ECAC Hockey Player of the Month for October after his hot start. Junior forward Sam Anas (3-5–8) is an all-league preseason pick. The Bobcats are 10-for-25 on the power play (40 pct.) and a perfect 22-for-22 on the penalty kill entering the weekend. ... Senior Michael Garteig (6-0, 1.33, .947, 2 SO) is back for his third season as the starting goaltender.
 
The Series Against Quinnipiac:
After dropping both meetings with the Bobcats last season, Cornell is now 16-12-3 all-time against Quinnipiac, who joined the Division I ranks in 1998 with Rand Pecknold behind the bench. Both Big Red losses last season came by 1-0 margins.
 
Blank You Very Much:
Cornell has recorded at least one shutout in each of the last 21 seasons – a streak that was continued with a 4-0 blanking of Niagara last Saturday. Goaltender Mitch Gillam made 10 of his 19 saves in the third period while the Big Red nursed a big lead. It was the second career shutout for Gillam, who was an All-Ivy League second team selection last season. 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.
 
Exhibitions In Name Only:
Cornell is 22-1-3 in exhibitions since 2000, including an Oct. 24-25 sweep of OUA's Ryerson and Laurentian at Lynah Rink. The Big Red blitzed Ryerson with five goals in the first period, eventually winning by a 5-2 margin. Junior forward Jeff Kubiak had a goal and three assists, and junior forward Matt Buckles scored goals a little more than two minutes apart. Cornell then got all of its goals in a 6-1 win from freshmen — including four from forward Anthony Angello, a 2014 draft pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Defenseman Alec McCrea and forward Mitch Vanderlaan scored the other two goals, and junior goaltender Hayden Stewart only needed to make seven saves to earn the victory.
 
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).
 
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 last Saturday 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 donner that particular number according to the player that currently wears it. The Big Red plans to wear the jerseys again later this season.
 
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.
 
Goalie University:
Cornell has produced nine First-Team All-American goaltenders in its history and 21st-year Jay R. Bloom '77 Head Coach of Men's Hockey Mike Schafer is widely regarded as one of the top defensive minds in the game, so it should come as no surprise that the Big Red ranked seventh in the nation in goals against average last season (2.19). Junior goalie Mitch Gillam (9-9-5, 1.99 GAA, .927 SV%, SO) entered the last weekend of the regular season leading the nation in both goals against average and save percentage, and freshman goalie Hayden Stewart (2-5-1, 2.13, .923, 2 SO) was named ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Week after each of his shutouts. Gillam was named to the Mike Richter Award Watch List, with the annual honor being presented to the most outstanding goaltender in Division I men's hockey.
 
What Another Sweep Would Do ...
With two wins this weekend, the Big Red would start the season 4-0 for the first time since the 2006-07 campaign. Cornell also only swept one ECAC Hockey weekend all of last season (Nov. 21-22 vs. Yale and Brown), and it hasn't started the league schedule with two victories since the 2009-10 season.
 
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).
 
Killin' It:
The Big Red was ranked third in the nation with an 89.2 percent success rate on the penalty kill last season, trailing just Yale (90.1) and Bowling Green (89.8). Cornell has good early returns on that front this season, too, having killing all five Niagara power-play opportunities last weekend.
 
Up Next:
Cornell wraps up a four-game home stand at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 13 against Colgate, then the teams shift to Hamilton for a rematch at 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 14 at the Raiders' Starr Rink. The Big Red then makes its first true ECAC Hockey road trip Nov. 20-21 at Yale and Brown.