ITHACA, N.Y. — Rising senior forward Ryan Walsh has been named team captain of the Cornell men's hockey team for a second consecutive season, it was officially announced Tuesday morning (May 26) by Casey Jones '90, the Jay R. Bloom '77 Head Coach of Cornell Men's Ice Hockey.

Walsh will be the 20th player in program history to serve as a multi-year captain and the seventh to serve as a solo captain multiple times, joining Ralph Lally (1906-08), Curtis Yohe (1908-10), Frank Tone (1922-24), Harold Clark (1929-31), John McCarron (2013-15), and Kyle Penney (2023-25).

"Being a solo captain for a second straight year places him among a select few in the long history of Cornell hockey," Jones said. "It's a reflection of the respect he's earned every day in our room. He embodies what it means to be a Cornell hockey player. He is committed to our process, driven by the culture that has been built, and believes in what Cornell means both now and long after hockey.

"Our leadership had a tall task this past year with 14 new players and having him back to lead our team for a second consecutive season is exciting as he grew so much from his experiences this past season."

"I'm really excited and grateful for the opportunity to lead this group again next season," Walsh said. "We have a special group of guys. I'm looking forward to building on what we accomplished this year and competing for a championship with this team and program."

Coming off a 33-point campaign as a junior (10-23—33) in which he led the team in assists and ranked second in points, Walsh was one of two players with at least 20 assists and one of three with 30-plus points. Walsh led all Cornell players with six power-play goals and had 11 of his 33 points come while the Big Red was on the power play (6-5—11).

Registering multiple points in 10 games this past season, Walsh had a career night against RPI on Nov. 22, becoming the first Cornell player with at least five assists in a game since head coach Casey Jones had five helpers in a 10-2 win over Brown on Jan. 6, 1989. Walsh also wrapped up the season with multi-point games in three of his last four outings.

Along with his offensive production, Walsh was also a key contributor on faceoffs, winning 53.6 percent of the draws he took (340-of-634). Walsh won at least 10 draws in 19 games, highlighted by winning a career-high 22 faceoffs against Harvard in the opening game of the Big Red's best-of-three-game quarterfinal series on March 13.

The entire leadership group for the upcoming 2026-27 season, including alternate captains, will be announced at a later date.