THE PUCK DROP
• The Cornell men's hockey team continues its six-game road trip to open the 2022-23 season this weekend when the Big Red travels to the North Country to square off against Empire State rivals St. Lawrence and Clarkson.
SCHAFER REACHES MILESTONE
• Mike Schafer '86, the Jay R. Bloom ‘77 Head Coach of Men’s Hockey, reached a historic milestone last Friday at Hobey Baker Memorial Rink in Princeton, N.J.
• With the Big Red's 3-1 victory over Princeton, Schafer notched his 500th career head coaching victory, becoming the 21st Division I hockey head coach to reach 500 career wins.
• Schafer is just the seventh active head coach — the fourth at the Division I level — to log 500 career coaching victories. The other Division I coaches include Mercyhurst’s Rick Gotkin (589), ECAC Hockey counterpart Rand Pecknold of Quinnipiac (586), and Notre Dame’s Jeff Jackson (562).
• Schafer’s 500 career wins stand as the most by a Cornell hockey head coach and is the most by any active head coach of Cornell's 37 varsity sports.
BACK TO THE FRIENDLY NORTH COUNTRY
• Cornell returns to the North Country this weekend, which has been rather kind to the Big Red as of late. Over Cornell's last 10 games in St. Lawrence County, the Big Red is unbeaten, posting a 6-0-4 record against St. Lawrence and Clarkson at their respective arenas.
• The last time Cornell lost to either St. Lawrence or Clarkson on the road was Jan. 30, 2016, when St. Lawrence posted a 2-1 overtime victory over the Big Red at Appleton Arena.
• Six of the last 12 road games against St. Lawrence and Clarkson have needed overtime, and the Big Red is 0-2-4 in those games. The last road overtime victory over the Saints or Golden Knights came on Feb. 18, 2012, against St. Lawrence in a 4-3 win.
• Cornell's goaltending has been strong over the last 15 road games against the northern-most ECAC schools, giving up two goals or less in 12 of the 15 and allowing three or less in 14 of the 15.
KILLING (PENALTY) TIME
• Cornell enters this weekend with one of the top penalty killing units at the Division I level. After last weekend's games, the Big Red is tied with Maine for the fifth-best penalty kill unit nationally, successfully killing 13 of its opponent's 15 power plays (88.9 percent).
• Only Ohio State (94.6 percent), UConn (93.2 percent), Harvard (92.9 percent), and Michigan State (89.7 percent) have higher percentages than the Big Red.
• Of the teams currently ranking in the top-10 in penalty killing units, Cornell is currently scheduled to play UConn (Nov. 26 at Madison Square Garden) and Harvard (Dec. 2 at Lynah Rink and Jan. 28 at Bright-Landry Hockey Center).
• The two power-play goals allowed is tied with Ohio State for the second-fewest allowed by a Division I program this season. Harvard (one goal) has allowed less goals while down a man.
SHANE'S STRONG START
• Sophomore goaltender Ian Shane has had a strong start to the season, posting a 1.54 goals-against average and a .940 save percentage.
• Shane's 1.54 goals-against average ranks sixth nationally and is second among ECAC netminders, trailing Harvard's Mitchell Gibson, who leads the nation with his 1.00 goals-against average.
• The .940 save percentage by Shane currently leads all ECAC Hockey goaltenders and ranks fifth nationally. UMass Lowell's Henry Welsch (.952), Northeastern's Devon Levi (.950), UConn's Logan Terness (.950), and Minnesota Duluth's Matthew Thiessen (.948) are those ahead of Shane.
• Shane's .940 save percentage currently stands as the third-best figure by a Cornell goaltender in program history, with a minimum of 75 percent of season's games played. David McKee's program-record .947 figure set in 2004-05 and Hockey Hall of Famer Ken Dryden's .945 clip in 1966-67 are currently ahead of Shane.
• Shane has a 1.02 goals-against average in conference contests, which ranks as the third-lowest this season. He is narrowly behind Harvard's Mitchell Gibson and Quinnipiac's Yaniv Perets, who both have 1.00 goals-against averages in conference play. Shane's .953 save percentage makes him the ECAC leader in save percentage in conference games. Princeton's Ethan Pearson (.944) is currently in second place.
PUTTING THE BODY ON THE LINE
• Cornell defenseman Travis Mitchell and forward Matt Stienburg both rank in the top 10 in ECAC Hockey for blocked shots per game.
• Mitchell has blocked 11 shots over Cornell's first four games, good for fourth among ECAC players with an average of 2.75 blocks per game.
• Stienburg has the most blocked shots by an ECAC forward (nine) and his 2.25 average is the highest by a forward, ranking sixth in the conference.
• The Big Red are just one of three ECAC Hockey programs to have multiple players in the top 10 in blocked shots, joined by Brown and Princeton.
• In last weekend's pair of games, Mitchell and Stienburg blocked six shots apiece. Their 3.00 blocks-per-game average in conference play is tied for fourth in ECAC Hockey. Brown's Luke Krys (3.75), Princeton's Noah de la Durantaye (3.67), and Brown's Samuli Niinisaari (3.50) have higher clips.
ECAC ACTIVE LEADERS
• After spending his first three seasons at Union — a fellow ECAC school — junior Gabriel Seger has the fourth-most faceoff wins by an active player in the conference (576). Quinnipiac's Skyler Brind'Amour has the most with 971. Senior forward Max Andreev has won 496 draws, ranking as the sixth-most faceoffs won by an active ECAC player.
• Along with being in the top 10 for most faceoffs won, Andreev is tied with Dartmouth's Tanner Palocsik for the fourth-most assists by an active ECAC player (39). Quinnipiac's Ethan de Jong has the conference's lead with 66 helpers.
• Fellow senior forward Ben Berard is tied with Clarkson's Alex Campbell for the eight-most goals scored by an active ECAC player with 22 career tallies. de Jong also has the active goals lead with 46 goals in 151 games. Berard also has the most hat tricks by an ECAC player with two.
• Cornell defensemen Travis Mitchell and Sam Malinski, and Andreev, rank in the top 10 in highest plus-minus figures among active ECAC players. Mitchell, Malinski, and Andreev are tied for the fourth-highest plus-minus rating (plus-33). Mitchell and Malinski are tied for the second-highest rating by a blueliner, trailing Quinnipiac's Zach Metsa, who has an ECAC Hockey-leading plus-64 rating. Andreev has the third-highest rating by a forward, behind Quinnipiac's Ethan de Jong (plus-49) and Michael Lombardi (plus-47).
ECAC PRESEASON POLL
• ECAC Hockey announced Sept. 21 during its annual Media Day call that the Cornell hockey team was slated to finish fourth.
•Quinnipiac was dubbed the preseason favorite after receiving eight first-place votes, finishing with 118 points. Harvard received the remaining four first-place votes, logging a 109-point total. Clarkson was the only other program to have a point total over the century mark (105).
•Cornell followed Clarkson with its 90 points, while Colgate finished in fifth with 77 points. RPI (70), St. Lawrence (57), and Union (45), Dartmouth (43), Yale (32), Brown (26), and Princeton (20) rounded out the poll.
LEADERSHIP GROUP ANNOUNCED
• Senior defensemen Sam Malinski and Travis Mitchell were named co-captains, while fifth-year forward Max Andreev and senior forward Matt Stienburg were tabbed co-alternate captains on Sept. 29.
• All four players will be assuming leadership roles for the first time with the Cornell hockey program.
WELCOME BACK!
• Cornell returns 81 percent of its goals scored from last season, which was the eighth-highest percentage by a Division I program entering the 2022-23 season.
• Air Force led the nation, returning all of its scoring from the 2021-22 season. Penn State (93 percent) had the second-highest total, while Dartmouth (86 percent), Northeastern (85 percent), Sacred Heart and Yale (84 percent), and St. Lawrence (83 percent) were ahead of the Big Red.
• Of the programs remaining seven teams in the top eight, Cornell will be playing four of the teams this season (Dartmouth, Sacred Heart, St. Lawrence, and Yale).
