POTSDAM, N.Y. – Cornell hits the road for four straight games in ECAC Hockey play, starting with a trip to New York's North Country region. The Big Red plays Clarkson at 7 p.m. Friday, then makes the short drive west to Canton to take on St. Lawrence at 7 p.m. Saturday. Jason Weinstein will handle play-by-play, which can be heard in the Ithaca area on WHCU (870 AM, 95.9 FM). Both games will feature free web streaming through the host school's websites.
 
GAME 19: #13/14 CORNELL at CLARKSON
TIME: 7 p.m.
DATES: Friday, Jan. 29, 2016
PLACE: Cheel Arena  ·  Potsdam, N.Y.
RECORDS: Cornell 11-5-3, 6-4-2 ECAC Hockey  ·  Clarkson 11-10-3, 3-6-3 ECAC Hockey
VIDEO (free): ClarksonAthletics.tv
RADIO: WHCU (870 AM, 95.9 FM)
LIVE STATS: ClarksonAthletics.com
 
GAME 20: #13/14 CORNELL at ST. LAWRENCE
TIME: 7 p.m.
DATES: Saturday, Jan. 30, 2016
PLACE: Appleton Arena  ·  Canton, N.Y.
RECORDS: Cornell 11-5-3, 6-4-2 ECAC Hockey  ·  St. Lawrence 11-11-2, 5-6-1 ECAC Hockey
VIDEO (free): SaintsAthletics.com
RADIO: WHCU (870 AM, 95.9 FM)
LIVE STATS: ECACHockey.com
 
Cornell game notes (PDF)
Clarkson game notes (coming soon)
St. Lawrence game notes (coming soon)
 
The Big Red Rewind:
After winning its previous five home games, Cornell was swept last weekend at Lynah Rink by Dartmouth (3-0 on Friday) and Harvard (6-2 on Saturday). The Big Red generated just 18 shots on goal against the Big Green and was done in by goals 37 seconds apart early in the second period — both via deflections off Cornell defenders. Harvard then opened a 3-0 lead Saturday before the Big Red cut the deficit to one goal after strikes by Ryan Bliss and Trevor Yates. Harvard cushioned its lead with three more goals, including its third of the night on the power play, and Cornell fell to 2-2-1 in Ivy League play.
 
Who's Who at CU:
Junior goaltender Mitch Gillam (11-5-3, 1.99, .925, 4 SO) has started all 18 of the Big Red's games to date and logged the program's third-longest shutout streak (213:17) during November. Despite the team's rough weekend last time out, Gillam still ranks 11th in the country in goals-against average and his four shutouts are tied for fifth-most in the country. ... Junior forward Jeff Kubiak (6-10–16) leads the team in scoring and rating (plus-13), and he's doing so without taking a single penalty to date. For the entire season, he's centered a line with a pair of freshman wingers on the JAM line (an acronym of their first names) — Anthony Angello (8-6–14) leads the team in goals and is ranked eighth in the country for goals per game among freshmen (0.42), and Mitch Vanderlaan (5-7–12) is third in points and tied for third in goal-scoring. ... Junior Matt Buckles (5-2–7) leads the team with four power-play goals. ... Junior forward Jake Weidner (2-9–11) ranks second in assists, defensemen Reece Willcox, Alec McCrea and Patrick McCarron all have the same scoring line (2-7–9). ... Gillam and Kubiak were nominated for the Hobey Baker Award last week.
 
About Clarkson:
The Golden Knights went through a midseason lull, but are 4-1-1 over their last six games. That includes a 2-2 tie against Yale and a 5-0 whitewashing of Brown at home last weekend. The wins have moved Clarkson up to 25th in the PairWise Rankings. ... Sophomore Sam Vigneault (9-10–19, 5 GWGs) lead the team in scoring and he typically centers the team's No. 1 line with junior A.J. Fossen (8-9–17, 5 PPGs) on the left and senior Christian Powers (4-7–11) on the right. Brett Gervais (4-9–13) is third in scoring behind Vigneault and Fossen and has a team-best plus-6 rating. ... Junior Steve Perry (6-6-1, 2.87, .885, SO) has started the majority of the Golden Knights' games in goal, but senior Greg Lewis (5-4-2, 2.08, .918, SO) has earned the nod in each of the team's last six. ... Clarkson is 7-0-2 when scoring the first goal. ... The Golden Knights are 8-1-2 at home this season, which serves as a stark contrast to its 3-9-1 mark over its other 13 games.
 
The Series Against Clarkson:
Friday's meeting will mark the 131th game between the two programs that have been battling since the 1922-23 season. The Big Red owns a 64-52-14 record against the Golden Knights, including a 5-2 victory Dec. 5 at Lynah Rink. Alec McCrea had a goal and two assists in the game, and Anthony Angello scored on a breakaway with 0.4 seconds left in the second. Cornell swept the series last season, including a 36-save Hayden Stewart shutout in a 2-0 victory on Jan. 10 at Cheel Arena.
 
About St. Lawrence:
The Saints have fallen to 26th in the PairWise Rankings after posting a 1-6 record through January so far. That one victory was a 6-2 thrashing of Brown last Friday, followed by a 3-2 loss to Yale the following night. ... Sophomore forward Joe Sullivan (7-8–15) and junior defenseman Gavin Bayreuther (6-9–15) are tied for the team scoring lead, though nine different skaters have at least 12 points. Senior Alex Hagen (6-6–12) leads the team with three power-play goals, and sophomore defenseman Nolan Gluchowski (4-8–12) has a team-best plus-10 rating. ... Sophomore goaltender Kyle Hayton (11-9-1, 2.04, .933, 2 SO) is the reigning ECAC Hockey rookie of the year. ... The Saints have struggled on the power play, converting just 12.0% of the time.
 
The Series Against St. Lawrence:
In a series that began during the 1926-27 campaign, Cornell holds a 58-44-8 all-time lead. That includes a 2-1 victory on Dec. 4 at Lynah Rink, when Teemu Tiitinen opened the scoring a shade over two minutes in and Jake Weidner scored the eventual winner in transition late in the second. Last season was the first time since the 2006-07 campaign that the Big Red was swept by the Saints, with St. Lawrence picking up a pair of two-goal games. Mike Schafer is 22-18-6 against St. Lawrence.
 
Gillam's Groove:
Junior goaltender Mitch Gillam was named ECAC Hockey Goalie of the Week on Nov. 17, then earned Player of the Week and NCAA First Star honors on Nov. 24 followed by a 40-save effort Nov. 28 against Boston University. In that span, he posted the third-longest shutout streak in program history, spanning 213 minutes, 17 seconds over four games — including consecutive shutouts at Yale and Brown. That marked the Big Red's first back-to-back shutouts since Andy Iles did so Dec. 2-3, 2011 against St. Lawrence and Clarkson, and it was the Big Red's first consecutive road shutouts since Ben Scrivens blanked Princeton and Quinnipiac from Nov. 7-8, 2008. An odd twist on Gillam's five career shutouts is that he's only won three of them — Dec. 28, 2014 against Lake Superior State and Nov. 20, 2015 against Yale were both scoreless ties.
 
The Little Things Aren't So Little:
While junior forward Jake Weidner is tied for fourth on the team in scoring (2-9–11), his contributions go way deeper than those numbers — especially with increased ice time as a result of the early-season absence of John Knisley. Entering Friday's game, Weidner is the team's leading faceoff man (57.5%), and he ranks sixth in the country for shot blocks per game among forwards (1.37).
 
What, Me Worry?:
Four of Cornell's 11 victories 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 previous three seasons when it faced a 1-0 deficit. Cornell was a remarkable 4-0 when yielding the first goal until its Dec. 29 loss to Ohio State.
 
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 point streak since Brian Ferlin's seven-game stretch from Dec. 28, 2013 to Jan. 31, 2014. With his next point, Kubiak would have as many points this season as he had in 57 games through his freshman and sophomore seasons.
 
Special Threads:
The Big Red wore special jerseys for its home opener which were recently auctioned off to bids totaling $10,400. Proceeds from the auction will go 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.
 
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).
 
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 and later had two goals against Merrimack on Jan. 9 to garner ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Week honors a few days later. Angello's eight goals lead the team, and he ranks eighth in the country in goals per game among freshmen (0.42).
 
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.
 
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's four shutouts in just the first half of this season. The last time the Big Red went a full season without posting a shutout came during the 1994-95 season.
 
Onward and Upward:
With a Jan. 9 win over Merrimack, Cornell had already matched its win total from the 2014-15 season — and it still hadn't reached the halfway point of this season. The Big Red's two wins over the Warriors, coupled with victories over St. Lawrence and Clarkson in early December, also gave Cornell its first consecutive home sweeps since the 2008-09 season.
 
Working Overtime:
The Big Red went to overtime six times before Jan. 1 for the first time in program history. Now with seven overtime appearances, Cornell still has a ways to go to match the program record for overtime games in a season, though — the Big Red played 12 in each of the 1985-86, 2010-11 and 2011-12 campaigns. Cornell is 3-1-3 in its six overtime games to date, with its three OT winners tied for the national lead with Michigan Tech, Penn State and Yale.
 
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.
 
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).
 
Little Apples:
•  Cornell has not swept the regular-season series against Clarkson and St. Lawrence since the 2004-05. The Big Red could do so with a pair of wins this weekend.
•  Cornell went 13 games before it faced its first two-goal deficit of the season (Dec. 29 vs. Ohio State). The Big Red hadn't trailed by at least two goals in a game at any other point this season before last weekend, when it fell behind 3-0 in both games.
•  Cornell has scored just five goals in the third period. While that's the lowest total in the country, the Big Red has only trailed in the final period four times this year.
•  The Big Red became the last team in the country to either score or surrender an empty-net goal this season with Dwyer Tschantz's first goal of the season on Jan. 8. Cornell then yielded its first empty-net goals of the season last weekend.
•  With Alec McCrea, Trent Shore and Brendan Smith all in the lineup Jan. 9 against Merrimack, the Big Red dressed three freshmen defensemen for the first time since Jan. 20, 2008 against Clarkson (Jordan Berk, Mike Devin and Jacob Johnston).
•  With a loss or tie Friday against Clarkson, Cornell would be on a five-game winless skid for the first time since a seven-game losing streak Jan. 19-Feb. 9, 2013. Losses at Clarkson and St. Lawrence were a part of that stretch.
•  This weekend's games feature some of the best faceoff teams in the country. Clarkson ranks sixth in the country (54.0%), while St. Lawrence is 15th (52.2%) and Cornell is 17th (51.8%).
 
Up Next:
Cornell wraps up its northward trek at 7 p.m. Saturday at St. Lawrence. The Big Red then continues its stretch of four straight ECAC Hockey road games Friday, Feb. 5 at Quinnipiac and Saturday, Feb. 6 at Princeton.