ITHACA, N.Y. — The Cornell men's hockey team hits the road for the first time this season, shifting back to non-league play for the start of a two-game series Friday and Saturday at Northern Michigan — the program's first regular-season trip to the Upper Peninsula.
The series can be seen on FloHockey.tv, which streams all games from WCHA venues. The games can also be heard on WHCU (870 AM, 97.7 FM) with play-by-play from Jason Weinstein.
SERIES INFORMATION
#17 Cornell at Northern Michigan
GAME 1: Friday, Nov. 9, 2018
GAME 2: Saturday, Nov. 10, 2018
TIME: 7:07 p.m.
PLACE: Berry Events Center • Marquette, Mich.
RECORDS: Cornell 2-2, 2-0 ECAC Hockey, 2-0 Ivy League;
Northern Michigan 3-5, 2-2 WCHA
VIDEO: FloHockey.tv —
Friday |
Saturday
RADIO:
WHCU (870 AM, 97.7 FM)
LIVE STATS:
NMUwildcats.com
GAME NOTES:
Cornell |
Northern Michigan |
ECAC Hockey
The Big Red Rewind:
• Cornell is coming off a four-point weekend at Lynah Rink in its ECAC Hockey and Ivy League debut via victories of 4-2 over Yale and 3-2 over Brown. The Big Red never trailed in either game before holding off rallies from both visitors.
•
Morgan Barron scored twice, and
Yanni Kaldis had a goal and an assist in the victory over the Bulldogs.
Cam Donaldson opened the scoring on the power play, and Barron's first goal gave the Big Red a 3-0 lead inside 22 minutes.
• The Bulldogs scored twice on the power play to cut their deficit to one in the third period before Barron's empty-netter iced the game. It marked his first collegiate multi-goal game.
•
Matt Nuttle opened the scoring in the second period against the Bears, then
Michael Regush's first collegiate goal gave the BIg Red the lead for good. Barron's last of three goals on the weekend capped the three-goal middle frame for Cornell, and it gave him game-winners in consecutive games.
•
Matthew Galajda needed to make just 39 saves over the two games, perhaps none bigger than a stop on a breakaway by Yale's first-team all-league forward Joe Snively in the fifth minute of a scoreless game Friday.
• With the Ivy League's late start, Cornell's regular season didn't commence until Oct. 26-27. Michigan State swept the non-league series at Lynah Rink, handing Cornell its first 0-2 start since 2010-11 (which ended with an ECAC Hockey championship game berth).
About The Big Red:
• Junior
Yanni Kaldis (3-2–5; 2 PPG), a two-time All-Ivy League first-team defenseman, holds the early team lead in scoring. Kaldis was also named to the All-ECAC Hockey third team last year.
• Sophomore forward New York Rangers draft pick
Morgan Barron (3-1–4) has scored all of his goals in the last two games and has a whopping 25 shots on goal through four contests.
• Senior forward and two-time captain
Mitch Vanderlaan (0-4–4) has the early lead in assists and is tied with Barron for second in team scoring entering the weekend. The Big Red's second-year captain is far and away the team's active leading scorer over his collegiate career with 71 points in 100 games (Kaldis ranks second at 38).
•
Matt Nuttle (1-1–2), one of three senior pillars on defense, is off to a quick start with a plus-5 rating. He was second in the nation last year at plus-23.
• Sophomore goaltender
Matthew Galajda (2-2, 3.38, .860) rebounded from a rough series against Michigan State to post a pair of victories against Yale and Brown. Three of the four goals conceded in those games came on the opposition's power play.
• Special teams have been a struggle in the early going, with Cornell entering the weekend ranked last in the nation in combined special teams (32.4%).
• After turning in the program's first 25-win season in 13 years, Cornell entered this season as the media and coaches favorite in ECAC Hockey and ranked eighth in the nation in both national preseason polls.
The Year That Was:
• The 2017-18 season was memorable for the Big Red, which earned an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament for a second straight year and the 21st time in program history.
• While also leading the nation in winning percentage (.788) and team defense (1.58), Cornell won the Cleary Cup (ECAC Hockey regular season championship) for the ninth time and its 22nd Ivy League championship .
• The Big Red is the first team to lead the nation in team defense, then return its entire blue line corps and starting goaltender since Michigan State in 2001-02.
The Offensive Defense:
• One of the keys to Cornell's success last season was an increase in offensive production from its defensemen. After receiving 13 goals from blueliners in each of the previous two seasons, the Big Red had 21 goals from defensemen last year.
• That trend has continued again early this year, with five of the Big Red's 12 goals entering this weekend coming from defensemen (Kaldis 3; Nuttle and Cairns 1 each).
Wasting No Time:
•
Max Andreev scored the Big Red's first goal on Oct. 26, making the program's first native of Russia also the first freshman to score the team's first goal of a season since
Joe Devin '11 did so against RIT on Oct. 27, 2007.
Feel The Draft?:
• Cornell has five players on the roster who have been selected in the NHL Entry Draft — one in each of the last five drafts. Sophomore defenseman
Matt Cairns (Edmonton Oilers) was selected earliest in that group, having been taken in the third round with the 84th overall pick in 2016.
• Junior forward
Beau Starrett (Chicago Blackhawks) was also taken in the third round during the 2014 draft. One other forward is a draft pick in
Morgan Barron, who was snagged in the sixth round by the N.Y. Rangers in 2017. He then became the first freshman in program history to have at least one point in each of his first seven games.
• Three underclassmen represent the Big Red's three NHL Draft picks along the blue line.
Alex Green leads that group after his outstanding collegiate debut led to a fourth-round selection by the Tampa Bay Lightning last summer.
• Defenseman
Misha Song (N.Y. Islanders in 2015) is the only newcomer to have his NHL rights already owned.
About Northern Michigan:
• Under new head coach Grant Potulny, the Wildcats last year posted their first 25-win season since 2001-02. The campaign ended with a 2-0 loss to Michigan Tech in the WCHA Championship. The team has since been tabbed to finish second in the WCHA Preseason Coaches' Poll.
• The Wildcats have split their first two league series of the season, first at home Oct. 26-27 against Bemidji State and then last weekend at surprising early-season juggernaut Bowling Green.
• Four-year starting goaltender Atte Tolvanen (3-5, 2.50, .917, 2 SO) made 35 saves to earn the shutout Saturday at BG. In his 100th collegiate start, it was his 10th career shutout.
• Junior right winger Darien Craighead (4-1–5; 2 PPG) leads the team in goals and is part of a four-way tie for the lead in overall scoring with senior winger Troy Loggins (1-4–5), senior center Adam Rockwood (1-4–5) and junior defenseman Philip Beaulieu (1-4–5).
• Rockwood led the team in scoring with 48 points on eight goals and 40 assists last year, and Loggins ranked second with 23 goals. They were on the same line in the team's last game at Bowling Green, and together they have 53 of the team's 175 shots on goals so far (30.3%).
• Northern Michigan has an experienced blue line, with four seniors and one junior among its regular defensemen.
The Series Against Northern Michigan:
• The teams an even 3-3 split in their six all-time meetings, with Cornell pulling even after a 5-2 victory in the first round of the last iteration of the Florida College Hockey Classic on Dec. 28, 2016 in Estero, Fla.
•
Mitch Vanderlaan capped the scoring for the Big Red in that game, with
Beau Starrett and
Jeff Malott also collecting assists. Both Northern Michigan goals came on the power play, and Atte Tolvanen made 37 saves.
• The first three meetings came in NCAA tournament play in 1980 and 1981, then Cornell won 4-3 in overtime on Jan. 2, 1987 in Hartford, Conn.
Up Next:
• Cornell returns home to resume ECAC Hockey play on Nov. 16 against Quinnipiac and Nov. 17 against defending champion Princeton.
