Game 14 • Cornell at New Hampshire
Faceoff: Sunday, January 3, 2010 at 3:00 p.m.
Site: Whittemore Center (6,501) • Durham, N.H.
2009-10 Records: Cornell (7-4-2, 6-2-1 ECAC Hockey); New Hampshire (8-6-3, 8-2-2 Hockey East)

Media Information
Television: ESPNU • Dan Parkhurst (play-by-play) & Barry Melrose (analyst)
Radio: WHCU 870 AM • Jason Weinstein (play-by-play)
Live Stats: www.unhwildcats.com
Live Video: none
Live Audio: www.CornellBigRed.com/showcase
Tickets: Available by calling (607) 254-BEAR

Game Notes in PDF Format

ITHACA, N.Y. -- After suffering back-to-back losses for the first time this season last week at the Florida College Classic, the Cornell men's hockey team will look to right the ship on Sunday when it travels to New Hampshire for a 3 p.m. nationally televised game against the Wildcats in Durham, N.H. Sunday's game will be televised live on ESPNU, while the game can also be heard in the Ithaca area on WHCU 870 AM and worldwide through the Cornell Redcast subscription service, with Jason Weinstein providing the call.

ABOUT THE BIG RED
Probably no team is happier to see 2009 come to a close than Cornell, as the Big Red dropped back-to-back games for the first time this season in Florida at the Florida College Classic. Cornell fell behind in the opener to Colorado College before cutting the deficit to 3-2, but a third-period goal provided the insurance tally for the Tigers in the 4-2 loss. In the consolation game, the Big Red faced Princeton, and fared no better against these Tigers, allowing a pair of third-period goals to fall, 3-2. Senior Colin Greening was named to the all-tournament team for his play during the week, scoring a goal and adding an assist in the two games, while junior Joe Devin added a pair of assists. For the season, Greening and classmate Blake Gallagher share the team lead in scoring with 18 points through 13 games. Gallagher has a team-best 10 goals, while Greening has team-high honors with 12 assists. Joe Devin, Riley Nash and Brendon Nash are all also in double-figures in scoring on the year, with Devin joining Greening and Gallagher in averaging a point per game or better. In goal, Ben Scrivens has been the workhorse, posting a .924 save percentage and a 2.22 goals-against average with one shutout. Cornell's power play, which had entered the holiday break as the top unit in the nation, struggled in Florida, but is still converting on 28.6 percent of its chances (18-of-63) to rank second in the country. The Big Red has also killed off 87.5 percent of its opponents' power plays (63-of-72), good for sixth-best in the nation.

ABOUT NEW HAMPSHIRE
The Wildcats stand atop the Hockey East standings with an 8-2-2 league record, but are 0-4-1 in non-league games this season. UNH, which has not played since a 4-3 win at Providence on Dec. 11, has won four straight games and is unbeaten in its last seven, with its last loss coming on Nov. 13 at Massachusetts. The Wildcats offense is paced by Bobby Butler's 24 points in 17 games, (13-11--24), while Blake Kessel (5-13--18) and Paul Thompson (8-9--17) are also averaging a point per game or better. Goaltender Brian Foster has seen the lion's share of time this season in goal, posting a 3.44 goals-against average and a .892 save percentage. The Wildcats have converted on 12-of-75 power-play chances (16.0 percent) while killing off 54-of-72 opponents' power plays (75.0 percent).

THE SERIES WITH NEW HAMPSHIRE
Cornell and New Hampshire will be meeting for the 23rd time on Sunday, with both teams claiming victory in 11 of the previous meetings. Cornell won the last contest between the two programs, scoring a 5-2 victory over the Wildcats in the opening game of the 2006 Florida College Classic. Since the beginning of the 1995-96 season, when Mike Schafer took over the Cornell program, the Wildcats lead the series, 2-1, with both of New Hampshire's wins coming in the NCAA tournament, including a 3-2 Wildcat victory in the national semifinals in 2002-03.

ABOUT THE FLORIDA COLLEGE CLASSIC
For the third time in the 10-year history of the Florida College Classic, the Cornell men's hockey team dropped both of its games at the tournament. Cornell lost both games of the tournament in both 2001-02 and again in 2002-03. Hopefully for the Big Red, history has been kind to Cornell when losing twice in Florida, as both times, Cornell advanced to the NCAA tournament. The most recent time saw Cornell advance to the Frozen Four. In both of those seasons, Cornell had its season come to an end at the hands of this weekend's opponent, New Hampshire. Maine won the 2009 edition of the tournament with a 3-2 come-from-behind win against Colorado College.

RARE AIR
Yes, it's still only 13 games into the season, but Cornell senior Blake Gallagher is putting himself into some very lofty company among the all-time greats in program history. Through 13 games, Gallagher has 10 goals, averaging 0.77 goals per game. Only 17 players in program history have averaged at least a goal per game for a single season, the most recent being the legendary Joe Nieuwendyk, who averaged 1.13 goals per game in 1986. The last player to even come close to the 1.00 goals-per-game threshhold is current women's head coach Doug Derraugh, who scored 30 goals in 32 games in 1990.

ONE LONG ROAD TRIP
Cornell finds itself in the middle of an eight-game swing away from Lynah Rink, its longest stretch of games without a home game since going eight straight away from home during the 1990-91 season. That season, Cornell went from Dec. 28 to Jan. 29 without a home game and went 5-3 over the stretch. Included in this year's span are three neutral site games and five road games. Cornell last played at home on Nov. 24 against Colgate, and will not play in front of the Lynah Faithful again until Jan. 22 when it takes on North Dakota. So far, Cornell is 1-2-2 on its current road trip.

FIT TO BE TIED
Cornell's 3-3 tie against Boston University on Nov. 28 at Madison Square Garden marked the 50th tie in the coaching tenure of head coach Mike Schafer. The Big Red bench boss, in his 15th season, is averaging 3.33 ties per season during his tenure. Cornell recorded six ties in 2003-04, while posting as few as one tie in 2002-03. Additionally, while the tie was the 50th for Schafer, it also marked the 99th all-time tie in the history of the Cornell men's hockey program. Cornell reached the 100-tie mark a week later with the Big Red's 2-2 tie at Union on Dec. 5.

OVER THE CENTURY MARK
It didn't take long for Cornell senior Colin Greening to blow past the 100-point mark. Greening reached 99 with a goal and an assist at Rensselaer on Dec. 4 and was held scoreless the following night, but reached the century mark with a goal against Colorado College in the Florida College Classic. Greening wasn't satisfied with standing on 100, however, as he tallied an assist the following night against Princeton to reach 101. Greening is the 45th player in Cornell history to reach the 100-point barrier, with the last being Topher Scott, who recorded 107 career points in 137 games from 2004-08. With his next point, Cornell senior Colin Greening will become the 45th player in Cornell history to record 100 career points. The senior reached 99 with a goal and an assist at Rensselaer on Dec. 4, but was held scoreless the following night at Union. The last player to reach 100 points was Topher Scott, who recorded 107 points in 137 career games from 2004-08. Greening is tied for 42nd all-time in Cornell scoring with Murray Stephen (66 GP, 53-48--101) and Chris Grenier (104 GP, 36-65--101).

SAVING THE DAY
Ask those in college hockey circles about Cornell's goaltender, and they'll inevitably make a comment about the goaltender being good, but a product of the Big Red's defensive system in front of them. At the end of the day, though, the goaltender's job is to stop the puck, no matter what kind of defense is in front of him. And that's where Ben Scrivens finds himself now, not quite midway through his senior season. The Spruce Grove, Alberta, native, stands in second place all-time among the legendary netminders of Cornell history in career saves, just 130 behind Doug Dadswell's career total of 2,462. For his career, Scrivens has averaged 24.1 saves per game, meaning he is on pace to break Dadswell's mark on Jan. 30 at Lynah Rink against Clarkson. Scrivens also has the second and third highest single-season save totals in Cornell history in each of the past two seasons.

THE WINNER
Ben Scrivens is not only nearing the top of the Cornell career saves list, but he is also approaching the top of several other categories. Scrivens is now third in school history in career wins with 51, 25 behind Ken Dryden's 76 and 14 behind David McKee's 65. He is also second in career ties with 10, three behind McKee, and fourth in both goals-against average (1.96) and save percentage (.928). He also has 13 career shutouts, tying him with Dryden for second-most in school history.

POWERFUL PLAY
Cornell's power play unit holds down the number two  spot in the nation at 28.6 percent, having converted on 18-of-63 chances this season. Cornell has scored two or more power-play goals in five of the 11 games this season, while tallying one power-play goal in five others. Cornell has just two games this season without a power play goal, on Nov. 21 against Quinnipiac and on Dec. 30 against Princeton.

THE SELLOUT
Cornell and Boston University combined to record just the second sell-out of a college hockey game in the history of Madison Square Garden on Nov. 28 when the two programs met at The World's Most Famous Arena. The first sellout of a college hockey game at Madison Square Garden came during the 2007-08 season in the first incarnation of Red Hot Hockey between Cornell and Boston University.

THE SELLOUT, PART TWO
Of the 13 Cornell games so far this season, seven have come in front of capacity crowds, highlighted by the Nov. 28 game at Madison Square Garden. Of Cornell's two road games, the Nov. 13 contest at Yale was a sellout, while five of Cornell's six home games were also filled to capacity. The only Cornell home game that wasn't sold out was the Nov. 21 contest against Quinnipiac, which came just 40 tickets shy of being a sellout.

WALK THE LINE
Late last season, Cornell coach Mike Schafer put together the line combination of Blake Gallagher, Colin Greening and Joe Devin, to immediate results. Only an injury to Devin that ended his season kept that line from running through the end of the year, but with all three players healthy to start the season, Schafer has reunited the trio to amazing dividends. The three players have combined to score 49 points through the first 13 games of the season, or an average 3.77 points per game.

ONE WAY TO STOP HIM
Cornell senior Colin Greening's night ended early against Quinnipiac on Nov. 21 after a very questionable hitting from behind major and game misconduct sent him to the locker room late in the first period. With Greening missing more than two-thirds of the game, he was held without a point for the first time all season, snapping his six-game point streak that saw him compile 12 points over that span. He got back to his scoring ways against Colgate on Nov. 24, potting an empty net goal for his fourth marker of the season and keeping intact his string of a point in every game he has finished this season. Greening continued that streak when he assisted on Sean Whitney's goal to open the scoring on Nov. 28 against Boston University at Madison Square Garden. Greening had just his second game without a point when he was held off the score sheet on Dec. 5 at Union.

OFFENSIVE DEFENSEMAN
Cornell's seven defenseman rotation has provided additional offense for the Big Red, as the seven players have combined to score seven goals and 28 assists for 35 points this season, or 28.9 percent of the team's offensive production. Senior Brendon Nash leads the way with two goals and eight assists for 10 points, while sophomore Sean Whitney has a goal and six assists for seven points. Freshman Nick D'Agostino also has seven points on two goals and five assists.

A TRIO FOR KRUEGER
With Sean Whitney scratched from the lineup against Colgate on Nov. 24, senior Justin Krueger stepped into Whitney's place on the first power play unit and delivered a career best three assists on the night. Prior to the game against the Raiders, Krueger had never had a multi-point game in his first 108 games at Cornell.

BREATHING ROOM
When Cornell defeated Princeton, 5-2, on Nov. 20, the Big Red snapped a string of five straight games against the Tigers that were decided by one goal. All three games played in 2008-09 were one-goal games, with Cornell winning 1-0 in Princeton, N.J., the Tigers claiming a 2-1 victory in Ithaca, N.Y., and Cornell winning the season series with a 4-3 double-overtime thriller in Albany, N.Y.  The last game in the series that was decided by more than one goal was a Feb. 17, 2007, matchup at Lynah Rink that Cornell won, 8-4. The one-goal game was back in force when Princeton rallied for a 3-2 victory in the consolation game of the Florida College Classic on Dec. 30.

SIX OF ONE...
Cornell's offense erupted for six goals against Harvard on Nov. 7, marking the first time that the Big Red put six goals on the board against its rival since a 6-3 win at Lynah Rink on Feb. 1, 2002.

...HALF DOZEN OF ANOTHER
When Cornell's offense put six goals on the board against Harvard on Nov. 7, it marked the first time in more than a full season that Cornell has scored six goals in a game. The last time Cornell scored six was on March 9, 2008, against Dartmouth in game three of the first round of the ECAC Hockey tournament at Lynah Rink. The Big Red has played 42 games since then. Prior to that, the Big Red scored six time the week just before against the Big Green.

ANOTHER SIX-PACK
With Cornell going 42 games without scoring six goals prior to the Nov. 7 win against Harvard, it took far less time to record another six-goal game, as exactly one week later, the Big Red put six goals on the board in a 6-0 victory at Brown. Cornell has scored at least five goals in four of the 13 games this season and has not scored fewer than two goals in any game.

SCITUATE > CAMBRIDGE
In this case, the town of Scituate, Mass., nearly single-handedly scored more points than then entire Harvard roster when the two teams met on Nov. 7 at Lynah Rink. Boosted by seven points from brothers Joe and Mike Devin, the three Scituate natives on the Cornell roster equaled the entire scoring output from the Harvard roster. Joe Devin scored twice, including the game-winner, and added an assist, while twin brother Mike scored one goal and added three assists. The pair were aided by fellow Scituate native Sean Whitney, who chipped in an assist against the Crimson.

THE DRIVE FOR FIVE
Cornell scored at least five goals in both games during the weekend of Nov. 6-7 against Dartmouth and Harvard, marking the first time in nearly three years that the Big Red has scored at least five in back-to-back games. Cornell scored six goals against Union on Dec. 2, 2006, then scored five against New Hampshire on Dec. 29, 2006, in the opening game of the Florida College Classic.

10-GOAL WEEKEND, FOUR-POINT WEEKEND
Cornell scored 11 goals on Nov. 6-7 against Dartmouth and Harvard, marking the first time the Big Red had scored at least 10 in a weekend since the first round of the ECAC Hockey tournament on March 7-9, 2008, against Dartmouth. That weekend, the Big Red scored 12 goals in three games after scoring three in the opener, three in a game two loss, and six in the clinching game three. The last time Cornell scored 10 goals or more in a two-game weekend was on Jan. 4-5, 2008, when it scored six against Niagara on Friday night and four on Saturday.

START ME UP
Cornell has an all-time record of 55-32-6 in season openers after opening the 2009-10 campaign with a 3-2 overtime win against Niagara on Oct. 30. Cornell has won two the first game of the season in back-to-back seasons after scoring a 1-0 win over Princeton to kick off the 2008-09 campaign. Under head coach Mike Schafer, the Big Red is 10-4-1 in season openers.

HAPPY DEBUTS
Four members of Cornell's freshman class made their official collgiate debut in the win against the Purple Eagles on Oct. 30. Forwards Greg Miller, John Esposito and Erik Axell each found themselves in the starting lineup, as did defenseman Nick D'Agostino. D'Agostino also picked up the second assist on Joe Devin's overtime game-winner against Niagara. A fifth member of the freshman class, Braden Birch, made his official debut on Nov. 6 against Dartmouth.

A MIGHTY WIND-SOR
Tyler Roeszler and Nick D'Agostino scored two goals each as Cornell opened the exhibition season with a 7-0 win over Windsor on Oct. 23. Patrick Kennedy, Blake Gallagher and Dan Nicholls also added goals Michael Garman got the start in goal for the Big Red, stopping all 20 shots he faced on the night.

EXHIBIT B
Sean Whitney and Riley Nash both scored  as the Cornell men's hockey team closed out the exhibition season with a 3-2 loss to the U.S. Under-18 National Team on Oct. 24 at Lynah Rink. Ithaca-native Andy Iles had 39 saves in the victory for Team USA, while Cornell's Ben Scrivens stopped 24 shots in the loss. Joe Devin, Greg Miller and Blake Gallagher each chipped in an assist. Cornell finished the game 0-for-5 on the power play, while Team USA was 1-for-5 with the man advantage.

QUIETLY MAKING NOISE
One of the most overlooked players on the Big Red roster is ironically, one of the most visible in goaltender Ben Scrivens. Entering his senior season, Scrivens ranks among the top-10 goaltenders in NCAA history in several categories, though he typically gets passed over for league and national recognition because of Cornell's defensive reputation. Scrivens enters the year ranked tied for eighth in save percentage (.928) and tied for ninth in goals-against average (1.96). Additionally, last season, he tied for 15th all-time with his six single-season shutouts, and, should he start every game this season, he would break David McKee's NCAA record of consecutive starts by a goaltender of 102.

I FEEL A DRAFT
Cornell has six players on the roster for 2009-10 who have been previously selected in the NHL Entry Draft. Seniors Colin Greening and Justin Krueger, junior Riley Nash, sophomore Sean Collins and freshmen Braden Birch and Nick D'Agostino have been picked in the NHL draft over the last five seasons.

CLIMBING THE CHARTS
Cornell head coach Mike Schafer is quickly moving up the ranks of the coaching fraternity in his win totals. Now in his 15th season, Schafer has 283 career victories, ranking him third in ECAC Hockey, but with the shortest tenure of the two ahead of him in the rankings. Schafer trails only Quinnipiac's Rand Pecknold by 10, with St. Lawrence's Joe Marsh well ahead with 443 career wins.

WHAT'S IN A NUMBER?
Sophomore defenseman Sean Whitney will be wearing jersey number 19 this season, the same number that his older brother, Ryan, wears for the Anaheim Ducks of the National Hockey League.

IT'S A FAMILY AFFAIR
In what seems to be an annual trend for the Cornell hockey team, there are two sets of brothers on the roster in 2009-10. Twins Joe and Mike Devin are juniors, while the Nash family has senior defenseman Brendon and junior forward Riley as members of the Big Red.

BROTHERLY LOVE
A glance around the college hockey landscape shows 13 collegiate players who have older brothers as regular players in the NHL. Two of those 13 players happen to play for the Big Red, as sophomore defenseman Sean Whitney's brother, Ryan, is a defenseman for the Anaheim Ducks. Additionally, freshman forward Chris Moulson's older brother, Matt, is a forward for the New York Islanders. Cornell joins New Hampshire, North Dakota and Union (coincidentally, all three are opponents on the schedule in 2009-10 for a total of five games) with having two players whose older brothers are currently in the NHL.

ONE LONG SEASON
In 2007-08, the Big Red tied the 2002-03 campaign with the most games in a single season in school history at 36. That mark was again equaled last year as the Big Red went 22-10-4, just the third time in program history that Cornell has played 36 games. The Big Red advanced to the NCAA Midwest Regional Final, where it fell to Bemidji State, 4-1, in the 36th game of the year.

IRON MAN
Senior Colin Greening has a shot at breaking the school consecutive games record this season. Entering the year with 103 straight games played, the Big Red captain needs to play in 36 games this season to eclipse the mark of 138, set by Jeremy Downs from 2002-05. He is currently at 116 career games played after appearing in all 13 games so far this season.

TRIPLE DIGITS
Three Cornell players have played in more than 100 games in their Big Red careers, with another two nearing the century mark. Colin Greening leads the way with 116 career games played, while Justin Krueger has appeared in 114 contests for the Big Red. The most recent member to hit triple digits is Blake Gallagher, who played in his 100th career game in the season opener against Niagara and now stands at 112. Nearing the century mark are Brendon Nash, who has appeared in 99 games, and Ben Scrivens, who has played in 95 contests.

EVEN MORE TRIPLE DIGITS
With Colin Greening becoming the 45th player to record 100 career points, another two players are racing to becomethe 46th and 47th players to reach the century mark. Hot on his heels on the race to 100 is junior Riley Nash, who has tallied 79 points in 85 career games, and Blake Gallagher, who has 81 points through 112 career games.

IN THE AIR TONIGHT
All of Cornell's games this season can be heard in the Ithaca area on WHCU 870 AM. Jason Weinstein returns for his fifth season calling Big Red hockey action.

ON THE TUBE
Five of Cornell's regular season games are scheduled to be on television this season, with the first being the Big Red's game at Union on Dec. 5, televised in the Albany area by Time Warner Sports. The other four games are all slated to be after the New Year, including the Big Red's game against North Dakota on Jan. 22. Other games to be televised include the game at New Hampshire on Jan. 3, at Quinnipiac on Feb. 5 and at Colgate on Feb. 16. Last season, Cornell played in 12 televised games, going 8-4 when on television.

REDCAST
Live streaming video of most of Cornell's home hockey games is available through Cornell REDCast. In addition to streaming video of home games, fans can also get live audio of all of Cornell's road games. REDCast is a subscription-based joint venture of Cornell athletics and Internet Consulting Services (ICS). Numerous subscription options, including yearly, monthly, sport-by-sport and pay-per-view passes, provide viewing and listening flexibility without the worry of automatic renewal. REDCasts are available on all computer operating systems.

UP NEXT
Cornell takes a weekend off before returning to ECAC Hockey action with a trip to New York's North Country for a pair of games against Clarkson and St. Lawrence. The Big Red opens the trip against the Golden Knights on Jan. 16 in a 7 p.m. contest before facing St. Lawrence the following night, also at 7 p.m.