ITHACA, N.Y. — Senior Yanni Kaldis is one of the best play-making defensemen in ECAC Hockey. He consistently leads the team in ice time, playing a pivotal role on the power play, at even strength and shorthanded. He even leads the team with 43 blocked shots.
 
But he showed another way in which he can be dangerous over the weekend, scoring three goals and adding an assist in the Cornell men's hockey team's home sweep of Union and Rensselaer – a feat that led to him being named the ECAC Hockey Player of the Week on Monday.
 
Kaldis more than double his goal total for the season in just two games' work, splashing the net for the first time since Nov. 16.
 
"It felt really good. I feel like I've been getting closer (to scoring). I hit a couple posts last weekend," Kaldis said after Friday's 5-2 victory over Union. "I mean, the coaches have been harping at me to shoot the puck more. Today is just one of those days when they went in."
 
It was a similar story the next night, when Kaldis guided a wrist shot through traffic for another power-play goal. Though he leads the team with 13 points on the power play, Kaldis is typically more of a puck distributor than a shooter. But by making himself more of a direct threat, it helps open up space for his teammates.
 
"I think when we move the puck around, we have good players so we should be able to make some good plays," Kaldis said.
 
Cornell had nine power-play goals in just five games during the first 15 days of February, which leads the nation. One of the keys has been basing the attacker on what the defense is doing instead of just having a rigid approach to trying to accomplish one or two specific things.
 
A good example was Kaldis' strike on Friday. In the process of helping the Big Red gain the offensive zone, he ended up down in the right corner. As the puck went back to junior forward Morgan Barron back at the point, Kaldis cut toward the front of the net and tipped the puck over the Union goaltender's left shoulder. It worked so seamlessly, was it a specific situation worked on in practice or breaking down video?
 
"No," Kaldis said with a big smile.
 
With 22 points on the year, Kaldis now ranks 12th in the nation in points per game for defensemen and second among ECAC Hockey players. His 83 career points to date is the most for a Cornell defenseman since the 2003 season, when Doug Murray '03 and Mark McRae '03 broke that plateau.
 
The Big Red has now won seven of the league's weekly honors this season and the second player of the week (Barron was the other in November).
 
Up next for Cornell (19-2-4, 14-2-2 ECAC Hockey), which remains ranked second in the USCHO.com and USA Hockey/USA Hockey Magazine polls this week, is a trip to Yale at 7 p.m. Friday and Brown at 7 p.m. Saturday. With at least one point in the two games, the Big Red would clinch its third straight Ivy League title.