ITHACA, N.Y. — The Cornell hockey team's long wait for the start of the regular season finally comes to an end at 7 p.m. Friday when the Big Red makes its first-ever trip to Lawler Rink to take on Merrimack in a non-league game. Play-by-play from Jason Weinstein can be heard in the Ithaca area on WHCU-AM (870 AM, 95.9 FM) and around the world via the station's website.
 
GAME #1: CORNELL at MERRIMACK
TIME: 7 p.m.
DATES: Friday, Oct. 28, 2016
PLACE: Lawler Rink   ·  North Andover, Mass.
RECORDS*: Cornell 0-0, 0-0 ECAC Hockey  ·  Merrimack 2-3-1, 0-0-1 Hockey East
WEBCAST: MerrimackAthletics.com
RADIO: WHCU (870 AM, 95.9 FM)
LIVE STATS: MerrimackAthletics.com

Cornell game notes (PDF)
Merrimack game notes (PDF)

About the Big Red:
Cornell is coming off a 16-11-7 season in which it fell on the wrong side of the bubble for the NCAA tournament after an ECAC Hockey quarterfinal series loss to eventual league champion and national runner-up Quinnipiac. The Big Red got off to a hot start and was 9-1-2 after defeating previously undefeated national No. 1 Providence, but Cornell later won just once in an 11-game stretch and eventually fell to eighth place in the league standings. The Big Red returns its top five scorers, eight of its nine defensemen and all three of its goaltenders.

2015-16 Highlights:
 
 
Road Warriors:
The history of Cornell hockey dates all the way back to 1900-01, but this year marks the first time the Big Red has ever started its season with five consecutive road games — and all three of the trips over that stretch are lengthy. The Big Red will traverse an estimated 2,389 miles to play the five games, amounting to about 41 hours on the bus over a 17-day span. Some of the places within 2,389 miles of Cornell's campus as the crow flies include Yellowknife, Northwest Territories (2,060 miles), the Atlantic Ocean's entrance to the Panama Canal (2,293 miles) and sophomore defensman Alec McCrea's hometown of El Cajon, Calif. (2,290 miles).
 
October Prowess:
Despite starting its season later than at least 54 Division I teams every season, Cornell has posted a 6-0-1 record over its last seven games in October. The last time it lost a game in the calendar's 10th month was against Mercyhurst in 2011.
 
On Offense:
Senior Jeff Kubiak returns after erupting for 27 points last season, which more than doubled his output from his first two years on East Hill. Sophomores Anthony Angello and Mitch Vanderlaan look to build on wildly successful debuts playing on the wings of Kubiak's line. ... Senior Matt Buckles' 11 career power-play goals starts the year 2nd-most among ECAC Hockey players. ... Junior Dwyer Tschantz and sophomore Beau Starrett are NHL draft picks looking to regain their form after injury-hindered 2015-16 seasons.
 
On Defense:
Senior Patrick McCarron is at the forefront of a group of defensemen that helped Cornell rank in the top 20 nationally in team defense for a third straight season. ... Sophomore Alec McCrea ranked second in ECAC Hockey scoring among newcomers on the blue line last year. ... Yanni Kaldis, the lone freshman defenseman, gives the Big Red a strong puck-mover that posted big numbers while earning first-team postseason honors in the BCHL last year. ... Juniors Ryan Bliss and Dan Wedman have experience playing top-four minutes.
 
In Goal:
Senior Mitch Gillam returns after posting seven shutouts last season, which was tied for the third most in the nation. He spent much of last season among the country's leaders in goals against average and save percentage after making all 34 starts for the Big Red. Gillam was also an All-Ivy League second team selection after the 2014-15 season. ... Junior Hayden Stewart and senior Ryan Coon will continue to push Gillam for playing time.

Exhibitions In Name Only:
Cornell is 24-1-3 in exhibitions since 2000, including victories against UOIT (3-1) and Brock (8-1) last weekend at Lynah Rink. Junior forward Trevor Yates led the Big Red in scoring on the weekend with five points on a goal and four assists. Sophomore forward Beau Starrett (2-2–4), and senior forward Matt Buckles (2-1–3) each had a pair of goals, and the Big Red power play was 6-for-15.

Highlights From Friday's 3-1 Exhibition Win Over UOIT:
 

Highlights From Saturday's 8-1 Exhibition Win Over Brock:


About Merrimack:
The Warriors earned a two-game home sweep of Colgate last weekend before rallying for a 2-2 tie with Boston College in their Hockey East opener on Tuesday. Merrimack's offense awakened for nine goals over the weekend after mustering just two goals in three losses to Sacred Heart, Clarkson and St. Lawrence to open the season. The Warriors were picked to finish ninth among Hockey East's 12 teams in the league's preseason coaching poll. ... Junior forward Brett Seney (1-4–5) leads the team in scoring and senior forward Hampus Gustafsson (3-1–4) has the early lead in goals. They were tied for the team lead in scoring last year, though Seney missed seven games due to injury. ... Sophomore goaltender Drew Vogler (2-2-1, 2.52, .915) has appeared in all six games this year after splitting time with junior Collin Delia (0-1, 16.59, .333) last year. ... Mark Dennehy is in his 13th season as the head coach at Merrimack.
 
The Series Against Merrimack:
The Big Red and Warriors have only met on four previous occasions, including a two-game Cornell sweep in a series Jan. 6-7 last season at Lynah Rink. Mitch Gillam made 26 saves for a shutout in a 3-0 victory in the opener, then the Big Red used a pair of Anthony Angello goals to jump out to a big lead early the next night en route to a 5-2 win. ... The first two meetings between these programs came during the now-defunct Syracuse Invitation Tournament. Cornell won the first matchup, 4-1, on Dec. 28, 1996, then Merrimack took a 3-2 decision on Nov. 28, 1999.
 
Never Too Close For Comfort:
The Big Red had four 1-0 victories last season for the first time in program history. Cornell also set a team record by going to overtime in 14 of its 34 games last year. The previous record was 12, set in 1985-86, then matched in 2010-11 and 2011-12. Cornell went to overtime in seven of its final 15 games, with a 4-3-7 record in those games. The last time the Big Red went to overtime in an exhibition game was actually against Brock in a game that ended in a 2-2 deadlock on Oct. 20, 2012.
 
Freshman Force:
The jump to college hockey can be a big one for newcomers, but forward Anthony Angello — a 2014 draft pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins — clearly felt right at home as a freshman last season. Angello was 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. Angello then scored the overtime winner Nov. 14 at Colgate and was been named ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Week twice (Jan. 12 and March 1) on his way to posting a team-high 11 goals.
 
Feel The Draft?:
Cornell has five players on the roster who have been selected in the NHL Entry Draft, including four from 2014. Sophomore forward Beau Starrett (Chicago Blackhawks) was selected earliest in the group, having been taken in the third round with the 88th overall pick. Classmate Anthony Angello, also a forward, was selected in the fifth round by the Pittsburgh Penguins. Junior forwards Jared Fiegl (Arizona Coyotes) and Dwyer Tschantz (St. Louis Blues) were then picked in the seventh round. Senior forward Matt Buckles was taken by the Florida Panthers in the fourth round of the 2013 draft.

Helping Out:
Members and friends of the Cornell men's hockey program embarked on another mission trip to the Dominican Republic through the Portal de Belén Foundation over the summer. It was the fourth time the program has participated, following trips in 2009, 2012 and 2014. Current members of the team Ryan Bliss, Alec McCrea, Anthony Angello, Dan Wedman, Alex Rauter, Hayden Stewart, Trent Shore, Jared Fiegl and Dwyer Tschantz were on this year's trip, as well as Mike Schafer, the Jay R. Bloom '77 Head Coach of Men's Hockey.
 
 
Gillam's Groove:
Senior goaltender Mitch Gillam posted the third-longest shutout streak in program history last season, spanning 213 minutes, 17 seconds over four games in November — 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 eight career shutouts is that he's only won six of them — Dec. 28, 2014 against Lake Superior State and Nov. 20, 2015 against Yale were both scoreless ties.

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 and he is now just nine wins away from 400. 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).
 
Up Next:
Cornell continues its season-opening travels with visits to four Ivy League rivals — Dartmouth (Nov. 4), Harvard (Nov. 5), Brown (Nov. 11) and Yale (Nov. 12) — before its official home opener against Quinnipiac on Friday, Nov. 18. The Big Red's next three games will all be streamed on ESPN3.