#9 Men’s Hockey Welcomes #6 North Dakota for Season-Opening Battle of Top 10 Teams

Mike Schafer '86
The Jay R. Bloom ‘77 Head Coach of Cornell Men’s Ice Hockey

THE PUCK DROP

The No. 9-ranked Cornell men’s hockey team opens its 2024-25 campaign this weekend when it welcomes No. 6-ranked North Dakota for a two-game series between top 10 programs at Lynah Rink.

Both contests will have 7 p.m. puck drops and will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Grady Whittenburg providing play-by-play and former Cornell defenseman Tim Vanini ‘91 supplying analysis. Jason Weinstein (play-by-play) and former Big Red blueliner Tony Eisenhut ‘88 (analyst) will call the contest over the airwaves on WHCU (870 AM, 97.7 FM, cortacatoday.com).

READY FOR A TOP-10 BATTLE

This weekend will be Cornell's first time playing in a battle between top 10 programs since falling to Quinnipiac, 8-4, last Nov. 17 at M&T Bank Arena in Hamden, Conn.

It will be the first game at Lynah Rink between programs ranked within the top 10 of the USCHO.com rankings since No. 8-ranked Cornell defeated top-ranked Quinnipiac in overtime, 2-1, on Jan. 22, 2022.

Since the USCHO.com rankings were instituted in the 1997-98 season, there has been 11 games held at Lynah Rink that pitted top-10 opponents against each other. The Big Red is 5-5-1 in those games and has won the last two contests, having also defeated No. 7-ranked Clarkson, 5-1, in the regular-season finale of the COVID-19-shortened 2019-20 season in which Cornell had a 23-2-4 overall record and an 18-2-2 mark in ECAC Hockey action.

This weekend is Cornell's third all-time non-conference series between top-10 programs at Lynah Rink. The Big Red, who was ranked No. 2 nationally, welcomed No. 10 Michigan State for a two-game series to begin the 2005-06 season (Oct. 28-29) and No. 9-ranked Cornell also hosted No. 5-ranked North Dakota in the middle of the 2009-10 season (Jan. 22-23), the Fighting Hawks' only trip to Lynah prior to this weekend. Both series featured Cornell winning the opening game before falling in hopes of securing a series sweep.

Cornell is facing a non-conference opponent in a battle of top-10 programs for the first time since the No. 2-ranked Big Red defeated No. 6-ranked Ohio State, 5-2, at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas at the Fortress Invitational on Jan. 3, 2020. It is Cornell's first two-game, non-conference series featuring top-10 opponents since North Dakota's trip to Lynah in 2010.

OPENING WEEKEND

Under Mike Schafer ‘86, the Jay R. Bloom ‘77 Head Coach of Cornell Men’s Ice Hockey, Cornell holds a cumulative 35-17-4 (.661) record over the first two games of a season.

Cornell is 18-9-2 (.655) all-time in season openers under Schafer, and the program is looking to win a second straight season-opening game after defeating then-No. 11-ranked Minnesota Duluth, 4-1, last year in its opener at Lynah Rink on Oct. 27, 2023.

This weekend’s series against North Dakota marks the first time Cornell is opening consecutive seasons at home since 2017-18 (Alabama-Huntsville) and 2018-19 (Michigan State).

With North Dakota assuming the No. 6 ranking in the most recent USCHO.com poll, this weekend will be the highest-ranked opponent Cornell will play in either of its first two games of a season since Nov. 5, 1999, when it fell to No. 6-ranked RPI in overtime, 5-4, at Houston Field House in Troy.

It is the highest ranking for an opponent entering Lynah Rink in the first two games of a season since Oct. 29, 2010 (No. 10 New Hampshire).

HOME OPENERS

With Schafer at the helm of the Big Red, Cornell has a 17-6-3 (.712) record in home openers, and has won each of its last four home openers, having defeated Brown (2019-20), Alaska (2021-22), Yale (2022-23), and Minnesota Duluth (2023-24).

Cornell’s overall record in home openers — on Beebe Lake and Lynah Rink — is 56-28-8 (.652).

Should Cornell record a victory on Friday, it would be the fifth consecutive home-opening win for the Big Red, which would be the program’s longest streak of wins in home openers since stringing together five wins in Schafer’s first five years as the Big Red’s bench boss from 1995-99.

The streak would be tied for the second-longest win streak in home openers in program history, trailing a span of 16 consecutive seasons (1963-78) where the Big Red outscored its opponents by 98 goals (136-38), leading to an average margin of victory of 6.13.

UP FOR THE CHALLENGE

Over its last 17 games against opponents ranked within the top six of the USCHO.com poll, Cornell has posted a 13-3-1 mark (.794).

Cornell has allowed just 11 goals over its last 12 games to opponents ranked in the top six of the USCHO.com poll. The Big Red has held opponents to two goals or less in each of the last 12 and in 16 of the previous 17 contests against opponent with a ranking of No. 6 or better.

Senior goaltender Ian Shane has served as Cornell's netminder in the last 13 games against opponents ranked No. 6 or better, posting a 10-3-0 record with a 1.06 goals-against average and .962 save percentage (352 saves on 366 shots) across 788:49 of action between the pipes.

ECAC HOCKEY PRESEASON POLL

The conference office announced on Sept. 25 that Cornell was picked to finish first in the ECAC Hockey preseason poll following a vote among the 12 head coaches.

Cornell received 10 of the 12 first-place votes, finishing with a league-leading 120 points. Quinnipiac garnered the other two first-place votes, concluding with 111 points.

Dartmouth (93 points) and Clarkson (82 points) were picked third and fourth, respectively, in the poll. Colgate (75 points), Harvard (73 points), St. Lawrence (66 points), and Union (60 points) assumed fifth through eighth place. Princeton (32 points), Yale (30 points), RPI (26 points), and Brown (24 points) rounded out the 12-team poll.

In addition to the ECAC Hockey preseason poll, junior forward Dalton Bancroft, sophomore defenseman Ben Robertson, and senior goaltender Ian Shane were named to the conference's Preseason All-ECAC Hockey team.

Shane, last season's ECAC Hockey Ken Dryden Goaltender of the Year, received preseason honors from ECAC Hockey for a second straight year, serving as the lone unanimous selection on this year's team.

Robertson was among two blueliners named to the preseason team, joined by Union's junior defenseman John Prokop. Bancroft was one of three forwards named to the preseason team, joined by Dartmouth junior Luke Haymes and Quinnipiac sophomore Mason Marcellus.

SHANE WORLD, IT'S PARTY TIME, EXCELLENT!

Junior goaltender Ian Shane has excelled inside the blue paint during his time on East Hill, posting a 49-21-10 record with a 1.71 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage in his 85 career appearances between the pipes for the Big Red.

Shane's 49 wins are the seventh-most by a Cornell goaltender in program history and is one win shy of tying Brian Cropper (1968-71) for the sixth-most victories all-time by a Cornell goaltender.

With his next win, Shane will join Western Michigan graduate student Cameron Rowe (56) and Wisconsin graduate student Tommy Scarfone (55) as the lone active Division I goaltenders to register at least 50-plus career wins.

Shane's 11 shutouts are the most by any active Division I goaltender, having two more than Scarfone (nine) and three more than North Dakota graduate student T.J. Semptimphelter (eight).

The 11 shutouts by Shane are tied with Dave LeNeveu (LEH-neh-voo) and Mitch Gillam for fifth in Cornell program history. Shane is two shutouts shy of matching Cornell Athletics and Hockey Hall of Famer Ken Dryden for fourth (13) in program history.

Senior goaltender Ian Shane's career goals-against average of 1.71 stands as the fourth-best figure in NCAA Division I history trailing LeNeveu (1.29), former Michigan State standout and 18-year NHL veteran Ryan Miller (1.54), and Dryden (1.59).

Cornell has four of the top five career goals-against averages in Division I men's hockey history as former Big Red goaltender David McKee's 1.71 figure is behind Shane by nine-thousandths of a point. Cornell has five players with sub-2.00 career goals-against averages, the most of any Division I program. Maine, Miami, and Michigan State are the only others with multiple represenatives (two).

ONE OF THE BEST IN THE NATION

Among goaltenders with at least 1,500 minutes played, Shane is the lone active Division I netminder with a career goals-against average under 2.00. Shane's 1.71 career figure is 37 points better than the second-place holder, Boston College sophomore Jacob Fowler (2.08).

Shane ranks second in career save percentage among active Division I goaltenders with at least 500 career saves, trailing Boston College sophomore Jacob Fowler (.927). Shane is one of four active netminders with at least a .920 career save percentage, joining Colorado College junior Kaidan Mbereko (.9203) and Denver senior Matt Davis (.9201).

COME ON BACK!

Cornell is returning 88 percent of its goals and 86 percent of its points from last season, ranking within the top 10 nationally.

The Big Red is one of four programs in the country that returns at least 85 percent of its goals and points from last season. It is joined by Harvard (99 percent of goals, 98 percent of points), Bentley (92 percent of goals and points), and Dartmouth (92 percent of goals, 91 percent of points).

Cornell's 88 percent of goals returning from last year ranks as the fourth-highest average in Division I hockey, trailing Harvard (99 percent), Bentley (92 percent), and Dartmouth (92 percent). Five of the top 10 figures are from ECAC Hockey programs, joined by Brown (85 percent — 5th) and St. Lawrence (73 percent — 10th).

Of Cornell's 115 goals scored last season, 101 are back on this year's roster. This makes the Big Red one of three Division I programs to return at least 100 of its goals scored from last season, joining Denver (129) and Michigan State (102).

Cornell's 86 percent of its points return from last season, tied with New Hampshire for sixth in Division I hockey. Harvard (98 percent), Bentley (92 percent), Dartmouth (91 percent), Princeton (89 percent), and Bowling Green (87 percent) are ahead of the Big Red.

The Big Red brings back 266 of its 310 points registered last season, ranking as the fourth-most by a Division I program this season, trailing Denver (328), Boston College (303), and Michigan State (278).

SPREADING THE WEALTH

Cornell received production from nearly every skater who appeared in at least one game last season, as 21 of the 23 skaters (91.3 percent) registered at least one point, and 19 of the 21 players with a point last season logged at least two points.

The Big Red had five players register at least 10-plus goals a year ago, highlighted by Gabriel Seger's 14 goals. Dalton Bancroft (12), Ryan Walsh (12), Jonathan Castagna (11), and Kyle Penney (10) were the others. It was Cornell's most players with 10-plus goals in a season since 2007-08 (14, Colin Greening; 12, Riley Nash; 10, Topher Scott; 10, Raymond Sawada; 10, Michael Kennedy).

Last year, the freshman class contributed the most, leading the program in goals (44), assists (70), and points (114). Cornell's 10-player junior class was right behind with 105 points (36 goals, 69 assists).

STOUT DEFENSE

Cornell has boasted one of the nation's stingiest defensive units, ranking in the top 10 in scoring defense each of the last seven campaigns and in nine of the last 10 seasons it has competed in.

Over the last eight-plus years, Cornell has averaged 1.94 goals allowed per game, only one of two Division I programs to yield under two goals against per game, joining Minnesota State (1.93). The Big Red has ranked within the top 10 in scoring defense seven times during the span, the most by any Division I program with Minnesota State (six) and Quinnipiac (five) right behind.

Last season, the Big Red allowed the fewest goals in Division I hockey, surrendering just 65 goals across the 35 games it played, 14 goals fewer than second-place Quinnipiac (79).

The Big Red led all Division I programs in scoring defense last season, giving up an average of 1.86 goals per game, which was 17 points ahead of second-place Wisconsin (2.03). Cornell has finished  either first or second in scoring defense four times in the last six seasons it has participated in.

HOME, SWEET, HOME

Entering Wednesday's contests, Cornell has recorded the third-best win percentage on home ice since the 2017-18 season.

The Big Red owns a 69-18-8 record (.768) at Lynah Rink over the last seven-plus years, trailing Minnesota State (111-26-4 — .801) and Denver (97-22-12 — .786).

Cornell's .768 win percentage on home ice over the previous seven-plus years is 32.4 points ahead of Quinnipiac (90-31-4 — .736), who has the second-highest win percentage in ECAC Hockey during the span. The Big Red is also 36.8 points ahead of fourth-place North Dakota (94-31-11 — .732) and 81.4 percentage points better than the top-ranked team in Hockey East, UMass, who has the eighth-best record during the span (80-34-9 — .687).

MAKING A STRONG IMPRESSION

When opening a brand-new season, the uncertainty of how first-year players will acclimate to the college game is seemingly always questioned. That has not been the case for Cornell over the last six seasons, as the Big Red has had a freshman score in each of its previous six season-opening contests, and in seven of its last eight season openers.

Last year against Minnesota Duluth, Ryan Walsh scored a power-play goal at the 12:12 mark of the second period to give Cornell a 3-0 lead in an eventual 4-1 victory over the Bulldogs. Winter Wallace (2022-23), Ondrej Psenicka (2021-22), Jack Malone (2019-20), Max Andreev (2018-19), and Morgan Barron (2017-18) are the others to score their first collegiate goals in the Big Red’s last six season openers.

Anthony Angello also scored in his first collegiate game in 2015-16, giving Cornell a first-year goal-scorer in seven of the previous eight seasons in which the Big Red has competed.

AYE, AYE, CAPTAIN!

Senior forward Kyle Penney was named captain of the Cornell hockey team for a second consecutive season on Sept. 5.

Penney is the seventh player under Mike Schafer '86's tenure as the Big Red's head coach to be named a two-time captain, joining Mitch Vanderlaan '19, John McCarron '15, Colin Greening '10, Stephen Bâby '03, Kyle Knopp '99, and Brad Chartrand '96. Penney is the 14th player in Cornell program history to be named a two-time captain.

"He does everything the right way and cares about his teammates," Schafer said. "He connects across all classes. He speaks up and picks his spots to make his point. He's not soft-spoken but doesn't waste his words. He checks all the boxes of great leaders. It's an honor for him to be a two-time captain, and was going to be evident that the honor was going to be bestowed upon him."

Joining Penney on the leadership team for the season will be senior defensemen Hank Kempf and Tim Rego and senior forward Jack O'Leary, who will all serve as alternate captains.

ON THE PLUS SIDE…

Senior forwards Ondrej Psenicka and Kyle Penney and senior defenseman Tim Rego rank within the top 10 nationally for the highest career plus-minus ratings among active Division I hockey players.

Psenicka's plus-49 rating ranks fourth nationally, trailing Denver forward Jack Devine (plus-62), Ohio State defenseman Aidan Hansen-Bukata (plus-54), and Minnesota State forward Rhett Pitlick (plus-51). Rego ranks ninth with his plus-43 rating and Penney is tied with St. Cloud State blueliner Josh Luedtke for 10th with a plus-42 figure.

Cornell is the only Division I program with three players with career plus-minus ratings north of plus-40. Denver and Minnesota have two players with plus-minus ratings of at least plus-40.

Rego's plus-43 rating is the fifth-highest figure by a Division I defenseman, trailing Hansen-Bukata (plus-54), Minnesota's Mike Koster (plus-47), Michigan's Jacob Truscott (plus-46), and Boston College's Eamon Powell (plus-45). Fellow senior defenseman Hank Kempf (plus-34) is tied with Western Michigan's Brian Kramer for the 10th-highest plus-minus rating by a blueliner.

The Big Red is one of three programs with at least two defensemen with a rating of at least plus-30, joined by Denver (Boston Buckberger — plus-41 and Zeev Buium — plus-37) and Minnesota (Mike Koster — plus-47 and Luke Mittelstadt — plus-36).

CORNELL + PAIRWISE = WISE PAIR

Cornell is one of four programs to have finished in the top 16 of the annual Pairwise Comparison Ratings at least seven times since 2015-16, joining Denver (eight), North Dakota (seven), and Quinnipiac (seven).

Over the last eight years, seven of which Cornell has competed, the Big Red has an average finish in the Pairwise of 11.0, ranking fifth among Division I programs, trailing Denver (7.0), Minnesota (8.9), North Dakota (9.9), and Minnesota State (10.0).

The Big Red's average finish in the Pairwise rankings over the last eight years paces all ECAC Hockey programs by 2.5 points (Quinnipiac — 13.5) and is ahead of Boston University (14.3), the top average in Hockey East, by 3.3 points.

HAIL TO THEE, OUR ALMA MATER!

Mike Schafer '86, the Jay R. Bloom '77 Head Coach of Cornell Men's Ice Hockey, is one of 24 Division I head coaches to serve as their alma mater's head coach this season.

Roughly 38 percent of the 64 active Division I programs will have an alumnus as their head coach this season. Half of the head coaches within ECAC Hockey meet the criteria as Schafer is joined by Yale's Keith Allain, Harvard's Ted Donato, Colgate's Mike Harder, Clarkson's Jean-François Houle, and Brown's Brendan Whittet.

ECAC Hockey paces the nation with six alums, while Hockey East and NCHC have five apiece.

ALL HE DOES IS WIN, WIN, WIN…

Mike Schafer '86, the Jay R. Bloom '77 Head Coach of Cornell Men's Ice Hockey, is one of eight active collegiate men's hockey head coaches with at least 500 career victories behind the bench.

Schafer's 542 wins are tied with legendary Army head coach Jack Riley (1950-86) and Bowdoin bench boss Terry Meagher (1983-2016) for the 23rd-most wins by a head coach in college hockey history. With his next victory, Schafer would assume sole possession of 23rd place in college hockey history. He is 13 wins shy of matching former Michigan Tech head coach John MacInnes (555) for 22nd in college hockey history.

Among active Division I men's head coaches, Schafer has the fourth-most career wins, trailing Quinnipiac's Rand Pecknold (644), Mercyhurst's Rick Gotkin (608), and Notre Dame's Jeff Jackson (593).

SCOUTING NORTH DAKOTA

North Dakota enters this weekend with a 3-2-0 record, posting a victory over Providence in its season opener before splitting two-game series on the road against Minnesota State and at home to then-No. 3-ranked Boston University last weekend in Grand Forks.

Cameron Berg (3-3—6) leads North Dakota in goals and points, while Owen McLaughlin (0-5—5) has the team lead in assists.

T.J. Semptimphelter, a transfer from Arizona State, has started four of North Dakota's five games so far, posting a 3-1-0 record with a 2.53 goals-against average and a .906 save percentage. Hobie Hedquist (0-1-0, 2.08, .923) started the other contest for the Fighting Hawks.

The Fighting Hawks boast the nation's top power play, converting on 46.2 of its man advantages early on in the season. In 2024 alone, North Dakota has converted on 33.3 percent of its power plays (28-of-84), the best clip in the nation in the calendar year.

57 YEARS, 1068 MILES, 10 MEETINGS

The series between Cornell and North Dakota is even at 5-all through the first 10 meetings between two of college hockey's legendary hockey programs.

After losing four of the first five meetings to North Dakota, Cornell has turned the tide and won four of the last five meetings, three of which came on the Fighting Hawks' home ice.

This weekend will be North Dakota's second-ever trip to Lynah Rink, with the other time coming in the middle of the 2009-10 season (Jan. 22 and 23, 2010).

CORNELL - NORTH DAKOTA CONNECTIONS

Bennett Zmolek was teammates with Jack O’Leary (2018-20) and Michael Suda (2019-20) on the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders ... Zmolek also played alongside Tyler Catalano and Winter Wallace on the Youngstown Phantoms during the 2020-21 season ... During the 2022-23 season, Catalano and Andrew Strathmann were teammates on the Phantoms, which won the Clark Cup ... Jake Livanavage played with Ian Shane on the Chicago Steel that won the Clark Cup in 2020-21 ... Ben Robertson, Livanavage, Cade Littler, and Owen McLaughlin were teammates on the U.S. NTDP Juniors and U.S. NTDP Under-17 team in 2020-21 ... Livanavage and Luke Devlin represented Team USA at the 2021 Hlinka Gretzky Cup ... Charlie Major was teammates with Livanavage and Jayden Perron on the 2022-23 Chicago Steel, which was coached by former Cornell goaltender Mike Garman ... Dane Montgomery and Ondrej Psenicka were teammates on the 2019-20 Waterloo Black Hawks ... Mac Swanson and Marian Mosko played on the Fargo Force in 2022-23 ... Cameron Berg was teammates with Hank Kempf for two years (2019-21) on the Muskegon Lumberjacks ... Berg, Ben Strinden, Kempf, and Devlin were all on the 2020-21 Lumberjacks squad ... George Fegaras, Sacha Boisvert, and Cody Croal played on the Lumberjacks for the 2022-23 season ... Carter Wilkie, Abram Wiebe, and Kyle Penney spent the 2019-20 season on the Chilliwack Chiefs ... Wiebe and Penney also played together in Chilliwack in 2020-21 ... Wiebe and Liam Steele played on the Chiefs in 2022-23 ... Caleb MacDonald and Steele played at Stanstead College in 2021-22 ... Jake Kraft, Ryan Walsh, and Littler were teammates on the 2022-23 Cedar Rapids RoughRiders ... Littler was also teammates with Parker Murray for three seasons in the BCHL, split between the Penticton Vees and Wenatchee Wild from 2021-24 ... Winter Wallace and Jackson Kunz played on Shattuck St. Mary’s 18U Prep team in 2019-20.

#14 MEN'S HOCKEY COMPLETES SWEEP OF #5 NORTH DAKOTA, 3-1

BOX SCORE I RECAP | HIGHLIGHTS

GRAND FORKS, N.D. (JAN. 8, 2022) — Cornell capped a rare two-game sweep of North Dakota at Ralph Engelstad Arena, scoring three unanswered goals for a second straight night for a 3-1 victory. It was the first time the Fighting Hawks have been swept at home in more than four years.
 
Freshman goaltender Ian Shane continued the stellar start to his collegiate career by making 32 consecutive saves to close out the game after North Dakota (13-8) scored its lone goal on its first shot of the night at the 2-minute mark on a power play.
 
Arguably the most pivotal save of Shane's night came in the only four-plus minutes of the game in which Cornell (11-3-1) trailed. North Dakota's Mark Senden was pulled down on a short-handed breakaway, leading to the first penalty shot against a Cornell goaltender over the program's last 96 games. Shane made the save, keeping the Big Red's deficit at one goal with 15:31 to play in the first period.
 
The stop loomed even larger when Cornell pulled even about two minutes later. On a play that closely resembled his game-winning goal from Friday night, Kyler Kovich swept in a rebound from the top of the crease to tie the game at 1. Another freshman forward, Ondrej Psenicka, then pulled the Big Red ahead with his seventh goal of the season when he tipped in a point shot from classmate Hank Kempf with 3:21 to play before the intermission.
 
North Dakota had the edge in play during the second period, but got nothing to show for it thanks to nine saves from Shane. The Big Red then earned a little breathing room with 7:52 to play in the third on Brenden Locke's fifth goal of the season. He swept in a rebound created by a shot from senior defenseman Cody Haiskanen, a native of nearby Fargo.

#8 MEN'S HOCKEY SHOWCASES OFFENSE IN EXHIBITION VICTORY OVER TORONTO

BOX SCORE | RECAP | HIGHLIGHTS | GALLERY

ITHACA, N.Y. (OCT. 26, 2024) — The No. 8-ranked Cornell men's hockey team showcased its scoring prowess in front of a sold-out crowd of 4,267 at Lynah Rink on Saturday night, defeating the University of Toronto, 6-2, in its lone exhibition of the 2024-25 campaign.

Sophomore defenseman Ben Robertson paced the Big Red offense behind a three-point effort, all of which came from assists. Sophomore forwards Ryan Walsh and Jonathan Castagna each tallied two goals for the Big Red. Senior forwards Sullivan Mack and Kyle Penney also lit the lamp for Cornell. Senior defenseman Tim Rego rounded out the Big Red quartet of players to register multi-points, assisting on two of Cornell's three first-period markers.

Goaltending duties for Cornell were split between senior Ian Shane, junior Remington Keopple, and freshman Justin Katz. Shane opened the night by making three first-period stops, while Keopple stopped three of four Toronto shot attempts in the middle stanza. Katz made a team-high seven saves on eight shots during his time in goal in the third period.

2024-25 Roster

If you’ve never been to a Big Red hockey game at Cornell’s Lynah Rink, there are quite a few things you’ve never experienced. You’ve never camped in line to get season tickets and ensure your spot as one of the raucous and devoted "Lynah Faithful." But most importantly, if you’ve never been to Lynah, you’ve never experienced all the best that college hockey offers.

Lynah Rink, which enters its 68th year serving as the home of Big Red hockey this season, was formally dedicated on April 6, 1957, a month after its opening to the public on March 4, 1957. The facility, which was built following a $500,000 anonymous donation (approximately $5.59 million in 2024), honors the late James Lynah '05, who served as the director of athletics at Cornell from 1935-43.

The donation to build Lynah Rink reresurrected the Cornell hockey  program following a 10-year hiatus, ensuring hockey returned as a varsity sport for the 1957-58 season.

Cornell began sponsoring hockey as a varsity sport with the 1900-01 season, which featured all Big Red home games played on the university’s outdoor rink on Beebe Lake. Due to a series of abnormally mild winters, the program was left — literally — on thin ice, causing Cornell to drop the program entirely after the 1947-48 campaign.

Since its opening in March of 1957, Lynah Rink has received numerous face-lifts since hosting its inaugural event on March 21, 1957, a 7-3 victory for the NHL’s New York Rangers in an exhibiton against the Rochester Americans of the American Hockey League (AHL). Hockey Hall of Fame goaltender Gump Worsley stopped 44 shots in the victory for the Rangers.

Among the renovations, Cornell spent nearly $1 million in the summer of 2000, to replace the rink floor, drainage system, frost protection and refrigeration piping, and adding new boards and seamless glass.

During the summer of 2006, a 16,700-square-foot expansion added new locker rooms, coaches offices, study lounges, new athletic training space, and approximately 450 new seats in the seating bowl.

Over last season’s winter break, updated Cornell branding on the façade and south concourse brought a more modern look to the facility.

Though many physical aspects of Lynah Rink have changed over time, the crowd remains constant. Lynah Rink can hold 4,267 boisterous Cornell hockey fans, who provide unwavering support for the Big Red while creating an unparalleled atmosphere in college hockey.

Although many rinks in the nation are bigger in capacity, few are known to be louder. The Cornell fans, aptly named the "Lynah Faithful," stream into every home contest, making themselves as much a part of the game as the players do. Whether they’re cheering for the Big Red or joining the pep band in their rendition of "Give My Regards to Davy," the Lynah Faithful reaffirms the old saying, "There’s no place like home."

Since the doors opened on Lynah Rink, the Cornell men's hockey program has won a pair of NCAA Division I men’s hockey championships in 1967 and 1970, garnering an ECAC Hockey-record 13 tournament championships (1967-70, 1973, 1980, 1986, 1996-97, 2003, 2005, 2010, 2024) and 26 Ivy League titles, 22 of which have been won outright.

Cornell will continue its four-game, season-opening homestand next weekend when it opens ECAC Hockey and Ivy League play when it welcomes Yale and Brown to Lynah Rink.

Puck drop for both contests against the Bulldogs and Bears are scheduled for 7 p.m., and will be available to watch on ESPN+ and can be heard on the airwaves on WHCU (870 AM, 97.7 FM).

The Big Red owns the series lead over both Yale, 92-62-9, and Brown, 87-44-8. Cornell is unbeaten over its last eight against Yale, going 7-0-1 during the span and having an 30-7 edge in scoring. Cornell's seven-game win streak over the Bulldogs was snapped last year with its 1-1 tie at Lynah Rink, which solidified the Big Red's Ivy League-leading 26th league title.

Against Brown, Cornell is 45-8-6 all-time against the Bears under Mike Schafer ‘86’s tenure as head coach, the best record against any ECAC Hockey opponent. Of late, the Big Red has a 18-1-3 record in the last 22 meetings, outscoring the Bears by a 79-28 margin. In the last four games alone, Cornell has outscored Brown 20-2.