Cornell University Athletics

When Mike Schafer was hired as Cornell's 12th head hockey coach in 1995, his goal was to bring the Big Red back to the top of the ECAC Hockey League. During his 11 seasons on the Big Red bench, he has accomplished that objective, winning four ECACHL tournament titles, tying him for second all-time, and staking a claim to three regular-season crowns. Schafer has guided his Cornell squad to six NCAA tournament appearances, including the Big Red's first run to the Frozen Four since 1980 in 2002-03. His team has consistently been ranked among the nation's elite over the last five seasons, reaching the No. 1 overall ranking in 2002-03 and 2004-05. Reflecting his success and longevity, Schafer picked up his 231st career victory on Jan. 27, 2007, against Colgate at Lynah Rink, making him the winningest coach in Cornell's illustrious history, while his tenure is shorter than only Nicholas Bawlf's 27 seasons behind the bench.

Schafer was voted the ECACHL Coach of the Year by his peers for the third time in 2005, having also received the honor in 2002 and 2003. He is a three-time finalist for the Spencer T. Penrose Award, given to the national coach of the year. With Cornell's first win of the season in 2005-06 over Michigan State, Schafer became just the second Big Red hockey coach to reach 200 career victories. Entering the 2007-08 season, he has 235 career victories to his credit.

Schafer is the only Big Red mentor to win ECACHL championships in his first two years, while his four total championships tie him with the legendary Ned Harkness for the most in Cornell history. In 1997, the team won a record-setting ninth ECACHL tournament championship and maintains the lead with 11. The 2002-03 Frozen Four team set a school record with 30 wins, going one better than the undefeated 29-0-0 national championship squad of 1969-70. The Big Red's 2002-03 ECACHL record of 19-2-1, which claimed the regular-season crown, was one of the best-ever conference finishes and was Cornell's best finish since the 1969-70 team went 21-0 in conference play.

Schafer has guided the team to 134 wins over the last six seasons, helping him to a .637 career winning percentage, ranking him sixth among active NCAA Division I head coaches.

Over the years, Schafer has coached 35 All-ECACHL picks and 15 ECACHL All-Rookie team selections. In 2004, goalie David McKee was named ECACHL co-Rookie of the Year before putting together one of the most dominant seasons ever by a goalie on his way to 2005 ECACHL and Ivy League Player of the Year honors. His 1.24 goals against average in 2004-05 was the third-best mark ever, while he tied for third in NCAA history with a .947 save percentage and broke ECACHL records for shutouts in a season (10) and in a career (15). He became the second Big Red netminder in three seasons to be named a Hobey Baker Award Hat Trick Finalist, joining David LeNeveu. LeNeveu was the league's 2003 co-Player of the Year after breaking the 45-year-old NCAA record for goals against average with his 1.20 mark. In addition, among the players who have come through Lynah Rink during Schafer's tenure as head coach include two ECACHL Players of the Year, three Ken Dryden Award winners, three Defensive Defensemen of the Year, three players who have been named Defensive Forward of the Year a total of four times, two ECACHL Rookies of the Year, seven players who have been named first-team All-ECACHL nine times and two players who have been named ESPN The Magazine Academic All-Americans a total of three times.

Schafer was a defenseman in college, and he has brought that same toughness and mentality to his coching career. His squads have been consistently ranked among the nation's best defensive teams. In three of the past five seasons, the Big Red has ranked either first or second in team scoring defense and in the top five in scoring margin. The 2004-05 edition of the Cornell men's hockey team set a post-Depression era record, allowing just 1.29 goals per game, besting the 1.36 mark posted by the 2001-02 Michigan State team and tied by the 2002-03 Big Red.

A 1986 graduate of Cornell's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences with a degree in business management and marketing, Schafer was a four-year letterman for the Big Red and a two-year captain. He capped his collegiate career by leading the team to the ECACHL championship and a No. 5 national ranking as a senior. After graduation, Schafer was named a Big Red assistant coach in September 1986. He was instrumental in recruiting 14 players who were NHL draft choices, two of whom became All-Americans. He also handled the Cornell junior varsity skaters from 1986 to 1988. During Schafer's coaching tenure with the Big Red, the skaters had ECACHL final four appearances in 1989 and 1990.

In 1990, Schafer became an assistant at Western Michigan of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association, and he was promoted to associate coach in 1994. At Western, he was recruiting coordinator, handled team administrative responsibilities and had on-ice duties working with the defensemen. Six of his recruits were named to the CCHA All-Rookie team, including the first two Rookie of the Year winners in Broncos history. In 1993-94, Western received an NCAA bid for the first time since 1986.

During his playing career at Cornell, the Big Red won a share of the Ivy League crown for three straight seasons. Schafer appeared in 107 games for the Big Red, scoring 70 points on 10 goals and 60 assists. In 1985-86, Schafer received ECACHL honorable mention and All-Ivy second-team honors for the second consecutive season. He was the recipient of the team's Ironman Award for two seasons, and he was the winner of the Cornell Hockey Boosters Award as a sophomore. Schafer served as president of the Red Key Athletic Honorary Society and was the recipient of the ECAC Medallion for academic excellence and athletic prowess.

A native of Durham, Ont., Schafer played junior hockey with the Guelph Jr. A Holody Platers, finalists in the Centennial Cup for the national championship in 1982.

Schafer and his wife, Diane, have two sons, Luke and John, and a daughter, Michelle.