Game 30 • Harvard at Cornell
Faceoff: Friday, March 12, 2010 at 7:00 p.m.
Site: Lynah Rink (4,267) • Ithaca, N.Y.

Game 31 • Harvard at Cornell
Faceoff: Saturday, March 13, 2010 at 7:00 p.m.
Site: Lynah Rink (4,267) • Ithaca, N.Y.

Game 32 • Harvard at Cornell*
Faceoff: Sunday, March 14, 2010 at 7:00 p.m.
Site: Lynah Rink (4,267) • Ithaca, N.Y.
* if necessary

2009-10 Records: Cornell (16-8-3, 13-5-2 ECAC Hockey); Harvard (9-19-3, 7-12-3 ECAC Hockey)
Series Record: Cornell leads, 67-58-7
Season Series: Cornell leads, 2-0-0
    Cornell won, 6-3, on Nov. 7, in Ithaca, N.Y.
    Cornell won, 3-0, on Feb. 19, in Cambridge, Mass.
 
Media Information
Television: none
Radio: WHCU 870 AM • Jason Weinstein (play-by-play)
Live Stats: www.sidearmstats.com/cornell/mhockey
Live Video: www.B2livetv.com
Live Audio: www.CornellBigRed.com/showcase
Tickets: Available by calling (607) 254-BEAR

Game Notes in PDF Format

ITHACA, N.Y. -- The postseason begins for the Cornell men's hockey team, as Cornell returns from its bye to face its biggest rival, Harvard. Cornell will take on the Crimson in a best-of-three series this weekend with the winner earning a spot in the ECAC Hockey semifinals next weekend at the Times Union Center in Albany, N.Y. Game time for each night of the three-game set is 7 p.m. Live streaming video for the series is available through B2 Networks, while audio will be available through the Cornell Redcast subscription service, with Jason Weinstein on the call. The game will also be heard locally in Ithaca on WHCU 870 AM.

ABOUT THE BIG RED
Cornell was off last weekend after earning a bye into the quarterfinals of the ECAC Hockey tournament. The Big Red finished second in the league standings, one point behind regular-season champion Yale. When Cornell last played, it picked up three points in a home weekend against Union and Rensselaer, scoring a 4-1 victory over the Dutchmen and skating to a 1-1 tie against Rensselaer. Riley Nash had a goal and an assist in the win over the Dutchmen, with Blake Gallagher scoring a pair of assists. Ben Scrivens stopped 29 shots in picking up the victory for Cornell. The following night, Sean Collins scored the lone goal for the Big Red, with Scrivens stopping 24 shots in the tie. On the year, Gallagher leads the team in scoring with 34 points in 29 games, collecting 17 goals and 17 assists. Gallagher leads the team with 17 goals, with Colin Greening four back. Greening also has 17 assists for 30 points on the year, while Nash leads the team with 18 assists to go along with nine goals for 27 points in 25 games. In all, 10 players have scored in double figures on the season. In goal, Scrivens has a .931 save percentage and a 1.99 goals-against average with four shutouts. The Cornell power play has converted on 27-of-131 chances this season (20.6 percent) while killing off 123-of-141 opponents' power plays (87.2 percent).

ABOUT HARVARD
Harvard finished ninth in the league's regular season, but was the only team in the league to garner a first-round sweep when it knocked off eighth-seeded Princeton last weekend in Princeton, N.J. In the opener, Harvard got a point from 12 different players as they rallied from a two-goal deficit after two periods for a 4-2 win. Then, on Saturday, Daniel Moriarty's game-winner at the 7:11 mark of the third period would be all the offense needed as Harvard shut out the Tigers. Kyle Richter got the win in both games, including picking up the shutout on Saturday with 37 saves. On the year, Louis Leblanc leads the Crimson with 23 points on a team-best 11 goals and 12 assists, while Michael Biega is one point back with a team-high 15 assists. In goal, Richter has played the majority of time, posting a .911 save percentage and a 3.25 goals-against average with one shutout. Harvard has scored 17 power-play goals in 128 chances (17.2 percent) while killing off 121-of-151 opponents' power play opportunities (80.1 percent).

THE SERIES WITH HARVARD
One of the best rivalries in all of college hockey, the matchup between Cornell and Harvard should make for some entertaining playoff hockey. Cornell leads the all-time series, 67-58-7, after winning both of the meetings during the regular season. Cornell claimed a 6-3 victory on Nov. 7 at Lynah Rink and picked up a 3-0 win on Feb. 19 at the Bright Hockey Center in Cambridge, Mass. This season marks the 100th anniversary of the first meeting between Cornell and Harvard, played in 1910, and the two programs have met 132 times in the century since. Cornell head coach Mike Schafer holds a 27-12-2 mark against the Crimson since taking over the Cornell program prior to the 1995-96 season.

CORNELL/HARVARD IN THE POSTSEASON
This season will mark the eighth time in the last 11 years that Cornell and Harvard will meet in the postseason, but the first time that the two teams will meet before the semifinals since the 1999-2000 season. All-time, Cornell holds a 12-7-1 lead against the Crimson in postseason play. The two teams have met in the quarterfinal round four times prior to this season, with Cornell advancing to the semifinals in 1990, 1997 and 2000, and Harvard winning the series in 1994. Cornell and Harvard last met in the postseason in 2008 in the semifinals of the league tournament, a 3-1 Harvard victory.

UNCHARTED TERRITORY
If Cornell is going to advance to the league semifinals for the third straight year, the Big Red is going to have to do something it has never done before: beat Harvard four times in a single season. For starters, Cornell and Harvard have only met four times in a single season four times. Cornell went 3-0-1 against the Crimson in 1996-97, and was 3-1 in 1999-2000. The two teams split the series at two games apiece in 1989-90, and Harvard garnered the only four-game series sweep when it took all four contests in 1993-94. Cornell and Harvard have never met five times in the same season.

THREE FOR ALL
The last time Cornell picked up three wins in the same season over Harvard was in 2002-03, the last time that Cornell advanced to the NCAA Frozen Four. That season, the Big Red picked up a 5-2 win at Lynah Rink, a 4-3 win at the Bright Hockey Center and a 3-2 overtime victory at the Times Union Center in the league championship game.

PLAYOFF SUCCESS
This weekend's series will match up the two most prolific teams in the league's postseason. Cornell owns a .674 winning percentage (87-41-4) all-time in the league playoffs and has won a league-best 11 championships. Harvard has been nearly as successful, posting a .654 winning percentage (85-44-4) with eight titles, ranking second to Cornell in both categories.

LOCKDOWN AT LYNAH
For as good as Cornell hockey has been overall at Lynah Rink, posting an all-time winning percentage of .719, the Big Red has been even better during postseason play. Cornell holds a 44-9 all-time record in league playoff games at home (a .830 winning percentage), including a 21-6 record under head coach Mike Schafer for a .778 winning percentage. Cornell has only lost one playoff series at home, that being a two-game sweep at the hands of Quinnipiac in 2006-07.

DRAWING A BLANK
When Cornell posted a shutout at Harvard on Feb. 19, it marked just the second shutout loss in league play for the Crimson during the coaching tenure of Ted Donato. The last time Harvard was shut out in a regular-season league game was on Nov. 5, 2004, when it lost to Cornell, 2-0, at Lynah Rink.

FILL IN THE BLANK
When Cornell senior Ben Scrivens shut out Harvard on Feb. 19, it marked the first time that a Cornell goaltender had blanked the Crimson in Cambridge since Ken Dryden did so on Dec. 18, 1967. Scrivens and Dryden are the only two Cornell goaltenders to earn shutouts at Harvard during their Cornell careers.

NEW ADDITION TO AN OLD BARN
Fans who come to this weekend's playoff series against Harvard and missed the last regular-season weekend will notice a pair of new additions to the decor inside the venerable Lynah Rink. Hanging over center ice are jerseys bearing the names of the first two numbers to be retired by the Cornell hockey program. Cornell greats Ken Dryden and Joe Nieuwendyk had their numbers raised to the rafters in a pre-game ceremony on Feb. 26 before the puck dropped against Union. Both former players were on hand for the ceremony.

CALL HIM BUTTER
Riley Nash has been on a roll during the past few weeks, as the junior has scored in six of the last seven games for Cornell since returning from an injury that kept him out for two weekends. Nash has 13 points over that span, scoring four goals and nine assists with five multi-point games.

TOP OF THE CHARTS
Riley Nash and Blake Gallagher inched ever-so-close to the 100-point mark with a pair of points each two weeks ago against Union. Gallagher is tied for 47th all-time in Cornell history with 97 career points (33-64) with Nash three points back and in a tie for 55th all-time with 94 points on 34 goals and 60 assists. The pair are trying to join Colin Greening in reaching the 100-point mark this season. Greening has 113 career points on 53 goals and 60 assists, good for 37th all-time.

THREE'S A CROWD
Should both Blake Gallagher and Riley Nash reach the 100-point plateau, it would mark the first time that three Cornell players reached that level in the same season since the 1975-76 season. That year, Dave Groulx, John Harper and Jim Vaughan each reached 100 career points. Only three times in Cornell history have three players reached 100 points in a career, with the other two taking place in 1970-71 (Larry Fullan, Brian McCutcheon and Kevin Pettit) and in 1969-70 (John Hughes, Dan Lodboa and Garth Ryan).

500 GAMES BEHIND THE BENCH
The Feb. 19 game at Harvard was the 500th career game behind the bench for Cornell head coach Mike Schafer. He is the longest tenured coach in Cornell history by games and is second in terms of years coached, trailing Nicky Bawlf's 27 seasons from 1920-47.

STARTING OUT ON THE RIGHT FOOT
Cornell holds an amazing 11-1 record in Friday night games this season. The Big Red hasn't dropped a Friday night contest since losing to Yale on Nov. 13. The Friday night mark is a big reason why the Big Red has a 10-2 record in the first game of a back-to-back series this season.

LEADING THE WAY
Further establishing his place among Cornell hockey history, senior Colin Greening is vying to become the first player in program history to lead the team in goals in four straight seasons. He joins Matt Moulson (2003-04, 2004-05, 2005-06) and Roy Kerling (1977-78, 1979-80, 1981-82) as the only two players who have ever led the team in goals in three seasons, with Moulson being the only other player to lead the team in goals in three consecutive seasons. Currently, Greening is second on the team in goals, trailing Blake Gallagher by four for the team lead in that category.

BACK IN A BIG WAY
If every player were to perform the way Riley Nash has after missing four games due to injury, perhaps every player should get two weeks off. Nash has been unstoppable since his return, posting 13 points in seven games, including recording a pair of three-point games at Colgate and at Dartmouth. Nash has accounted for four goals and nine assists, factoring into the scoring on 13 of the Big Red's 24 goals since his return. Prior to missing the four games against Clarkson, St. Lawrence, Quinnipiac and Princeton, Nash had been held scoreless in four straight games, and had gone since Dec. 5 at Union without having a multi-point game.

30 THE HARD WAY
Cornell's Ben Scrivens posted 33 saves on Feb. 16 against Colgate, the eighth time this season he has been called upon to make 30 or more stops, and just the second time he has made 30 or more saves in back-to-back games. He stopped 52 shots in his last time out on Feb. 13 against Yale, setting a career high. Previously, Scrivens made 31 saves against Colorado College and 36 stops against Princeton at the Florida College Classic, both games that the Big Red lost. When Scrivens sees that much rubber, it's not a good thing, as Cornell is 2-4-2 when Scrivens has to make 30 or more saves.

SATURDAY STRUGGLES
Cornell has had its share of struggles on Saturday nights in particular and on the second day of a back-to-back series. Cornell is just 3-6-4 on Saturday nights and 3-6-3 in the second game of back-to-back nights. On the first night, Cornell holds a sparkling 10-2 record, a mark that improves to 11-1 when playing on Fridays. Cornell dropped its third straight Saturday contest on Feb. 20 at Dartmouth but snapped that losing skid with a 1-1 tie against Rensselaer on Feb. 27 to close out the regular season.

SAVING THE BEST FOR LAST
Cornell's six-member senior class had never won a game at Harvard's Bright Hockey Center until scoring a 3-0 victory on Feb. 19. The win improved Cornell's all-time record at that venue to 13-19-1.

YOU'RE LATE
The Feb. 16 date for the second meeting of the season between the Big Red and the Colgate Raiders marked the latest date that Cornell and Colgate have met during the regular season since the 1983-84 season. That year, Cornell and Colgate met in the Big Red's season finale at Lynah Rink on Feb. 28, a 6-0 Raider win. Typically, the series with Colgate has been a home-and-home weekend series taking place in late January or early February, but that series was split up this year to accommodate the Big Red's visit from North Dakota on Jan. 22-23.

KEEPING BUSY
Cornell goaltender Ben Scrivens had the busiest night of his four-year career on Feb. 13 against Yale. The senior netminder stopped 52 of the 54 shots he faced on the night in the 2-1 overtime loss to the Bulldogs. The 52 saves easily surpassed his previous career-high of 45, set on Nov. 30, 2007, at Lynah Rink against Massachusetts. It also marked the first time a Cornell goaltender stopped 50 shots or more since David McKee stopped 59 in the legendary triple-overtime loss to Wisconsin in the 2006 NCAA Midwest Regional Final in Green Bay, Wis., a span of 126 games. The 52 saves also blew away Scrivens' previous season high of 36, set on Dec. 30 against Princeton.

RUBBER TO THE ROAD
Ben Scrivens had a busy period in the second period of the Big Red's 2-1 loss to Yale on Feb. 13. He stopped 19-of-20 shots faced during the period, one shy of his career high for saves in a single period, set on Nov. 7, 2008, at Princeton.

PACKING THEM IN
Cornell has sold out all but one of its home games this season, with only the Nov. 21 game against Quinnipiac falling short of the 4,267 capacity at Lynah Rink. Even still, in that game, Cornell still drew 4,227 fans to Lynah Rink, just 40 short of a sell-out. The Big Red is one of only nine teams in the country to have averaged 99 percent capacity or higher this season and ranks 17th in average attendance. Cornell has had 59,693 fans view a game at Lynah Rink so far this season, ranking 20th in Division I, despite having the 26th-largest rink in the country and only 14 home dates. Cornell is the highest-drawing team from ECAC Hockey, both in total attendance and in per-game average.

A FRIENDLY ROAD ENVIRONMENT
While Lynah Rink is unquestionably the Big Red's favorite place to play, a close second might be Quinnipiac's TD Bank Sports Center, where the Big Red has never suffered a loss. Cornell is 2-0-1 all-time at the three-year-old facility, including a 2-0 victory over the Bobcats on Feb. 5. Included in those three games are a pair of shutouts from Ben Scrivens, who first blanked the Bobcats with 25 saves on Nov. 8, 2008, before stoning all 32 shots in his most recent appearance. In three career appearances at the arena, Scrivens has allowed only two goals.

SAVING THE DAY
With his save on a shot by St. Lawrence's Mike McKenzie in the second period on Jan. 29, Ben Scrivens became Cornell's all-time leader in career saves, surpassing the previous tally of 2,462 of Jason Elliott from 1994-97. Scrivens now has 2,744 career saves and ranks among the team's all-time leaders in every goaltending record. Scrivens also has the second and third highest single-season save totals in Cornell history in each of the past two seasons.

WHAT A RELIEF
A day after posting his third shutout of the season, Ben Scrivens had what could only be considered an “off-day” on Feb. 6 at Princeton, allowing four goals in 26 minutes. Enter sophomore Mike Garman, making his first appearance of the season and just the third of his career in relief. Garman, a seldom-used backup who would probably start for most other teams around the nation and in ECAC Hockey, made 21 saves on the game and kept the Tigers off the board, allowing Cornell to climb back into the game, 4-3, at the end of two periods.

FOUR-SQUARE
Cornell's offense scored four goals in first 10 minutes of the second period against Clarkson on Jan. 30, just the third time this season that the Big Red has scored four times in one period. The last time that happened came on Nov. 14 at Brown, when Cornell scored four times in the third period in a 6-0 victory. Cornell also scored four goals in the third period against Harvard on Nov. 7 in a 6-3 win at Lynah Rink.

THREE IS THE MAGIC NUMBER
Three seems to be the key number for the Cornell offense in getting a victory this season, as the Big Red is 13-2-1 on the year when scoring three or more goals. The lone tie came when Cornell drew with Boston University, 3-3, on Nov. 28 at Madison Square Garden, while Cornell lost for just the first time this season when scoring three goals at Princeton on Feb. 6. The Big Red then lost for the second time this year when scoring three or more when it dropped a 5-4 contest at Dartmouth on Feb. 20. When scoring fewer than three goals, the Big Red is just 4-6-3, with wins over Rensselaer, North Dakota, St. Lawrence and Quinnipiac.

LAST MAN STANDING
When Riley Nash missed four games due to injury earlier this season, the number of Cornell players who have never missed a game shrunk to just two in senior Colin Greening and freshman Greg Miller. That number dropped to just one, as Miller was out of the lineup for the Big Red's 6-2 win at Colgate on Feb. 16. Greening has appeared in all 132 games since stepping on campus four years ago.

ON THE POWER PLAY
Cornell's three power-play goal outburst against Clarkson on Jan. 30 marked the first time that the Big Red had scored at least two power-play goals since Nov. 28 against Boston University, and the first time scoring three with the man advantage since Nov. 6 against Dartmouth. The Big Red backed that outburst up with one power-play goal at Quinnipiac on Feb. 5 and another two the following night at Princeton. Cornell has scored a power play goal in 15 of the 29 games this season and has scored more than once with the man advantage seven times.

YOU CAN'T SPELL “BIG RED” WITHOUT “D”
While the Big Red offense has cooled off from its hot start, the Big Red still holds one of the nation's top records due in large part to one of the nation's stingiest defenses. Cornell is ranked second in the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 2.07 goals per game. Cornell also ranks seventh in the nation in scoring margin.

SPECIAL TEAMS SUCCESS
Championship teams usually have strong special teams units, and this year's edition of the Big Red is no exception to that. Cornell's power play is ranked 11th in the nation, converting on 20.6 percent of its chances, while the penalty killing unit is ranked sixth in the country, having killed off 87.2 percent of opponents' power plays.

A RARE OCCASION
The visit from North Dakota on Jan. 22-23 marked just the second time a current member of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association has ever visited the nearly 53-year-old Lynah Rink. The only other current WCHA member to have visited Lynah Rink is Denver, which played two games at Lynah on Dec. 29-30, 1979. Both of those games went in favor of the Big Red, which won 5-4 and 4-3 on its way to a berth in the national semifinals. That same season also saw Notre Dame, which at the time was a member of the WCHA but is now a member of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association, visit Lynah Rink on Nov. 23, 1979, and come away with a 5-4 overtime victory.

CORNELL VS. THE WCHA
The Big Red's split against North Dakota marked the second straight season that the Big Red went 1-1 against the Fighting Sioux. Cornell is now 3-5 all-time against North Dakota and 17-18-1 against WCHA teams. Of those 36 games against current WCHA members, Cornell has only played four at Lynah Rink, going 3-1. This season, the Big Red is 1-2 against WCHA foes after dropping a 4-2 decision to Colorado College on Dec. 29 at the Florida College Classic. Cornell head coach Mike Schafer holds a 7-7-1 all-time in his 15 games behind the bench against WCHA opponents.

HOME AT LAST
Cornell's game on Jan. 22 against North Dakota marked the first time the Big Red had played at Lynah Rink in nearly two full months. The Big Red had played eight straight games away from home, including three neutral site games, in between appearances at Lynah Rink. The eight-game road trip was Cornell's longest since the 1990-91 season that saw the Big Red also play eight consecutive games away from home. Cornell went 3-2-3 on this most recent eight-game road swing, with wins over Rensselaer, New Hampshire and Clarkson, and ties against Boston University, Union and St. Lawrence. Cornell's two losses both came in Estero, Fla., in the Florida College Classic on Dec. 29-30, 2009.

CLOSE CALL
With Blake Gallagher's goal with just under 10 seconds remaining on Jan. 23 against North Dakota, the Big Red avoided being shut out for the first time this season. Cornell was last shut out on March 21, 2009, against Yale in the ECAC Hockey championship game. With the Big Red at 25 games played this season, Cornell has yet to be shut out. The last time Cornell went this long without being blanked by an opponent to open the year came during the 2006-07 season, when Cornell was shut out by Quinnipiac in the ECAC Hockey quarterfinal round, 1-0, in the 30th game of the season.

ONE IS THE LONLIEST NUMBER
The Big Red's 1-1 tie at St. Lawrence on Jan. 16 marked the first time this season that the Big Red scored fewer than two goals in a game.

THE ONLY ONE
Cornell's 1-0 win over North Dakota marked the first and only time this season that the Fighting Sioux lost a non-conference contest. North Dakota went 5-1-2 in its non-league games this year including the split with the Big Red. Other victims of the Fighting Sioux include Merrimack twice, Niagara and Ohio State, with the two ties coming against Miami and Notre Dame.

NORTH COUNTRY OF NIGHTMARES
All teams have their share of troubles when heading to New York's North Country, and Cornell has been no exception to that rule in recent seasons. Cornell's win on Jan. 15 at Clarkson snapped an eight-game losing streak in the North Country. The Big Red last won at either venue during the 2004-05 season when it pulled off the rare sweep of Clarkson and St. Lawrence. Since then, the Big Red has tallied just six of a possible 20 points, with three of those points coming this season. Clarkson's Cheel Arena and St. Lawrence's Appleton Arena are two of the three ECAC Hockey venues that the Big Red has a losing record at, with Harvard's Bright Hockey Center the third. After this season's results, Cornell is now 6-11-3 at Cheel Arena and 17-19-5 at Appleton Arena.

ANOTHER MILESTONE REACHED
Cornell's game at New Hampshire on Jan. 3 marked the 1,700th contest all-time in Cornell history. It was also the 972nd all-time victory for the Big Red.
 
DRAWING EVEN
Cornell's 5-2 win at New Hampshire on Jan. 3 brought the Big Red back to the .500 mark on the season in non-league games. With the split against North Dakota, Cornell finished the non-league slate at 3-3-1.

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 career points 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, who now has 113 career points, 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. Greening most recently passed the career total of Bill Hanson (1970-73) and associate head coach Casey Jones (1986-90), who had 112 points in their careers. Next up for Greening is Stephen Bâby's 115 career points from 1999-2002.

THE WINNER
Ben Scrivens is not only standing atop 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 61, 15 behind Ken Dryden's 76 and four back of David McKee's 65. He is also second in career ties with 12, one behind McKee, and fourth in both goals-against average (1.97) and save percentage (.929). He also has 16 career shutouts, moving him past Ken Dryden for second-most in school history. Scrivens now trails the career leader, David McKee, by just two in that category.

LOWE'S SENIOR CLASS
Colin Greening is one of 10 finalists for the 2010 Lowe's Senior Class Award, an award presented to the top student-athlete in the country. The award was designed to reward those student-athletes for staying in school all four years and their contributions to the classroom, community and in competition. Fans can vote online at www.seniorclassaward.com/vote/hockey_2009_10.  The winner will be announced at the Frozen Four in Detroit, Mich.

VOTE FOR HOBEY
The first phase of voting for the 2010 Hobey Baker Award is now open, with three Cornellians on the ballot. Seniors Ben Scrivens, Blake Gallagher and Colin Greening are the Big Red's three candidates for the award. The 10 finalists for the award will be announced on March 18.

 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. Maine won the 2009 edition of the tournament with a 3-2 come-from-behind win against Colorado College.

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.

OFFENSIVE DEFENSEMEN
Cornell's seven defenseman rotation has provided additional offense for the Big Red, as the seven players who have seen ice time this season have combined to score 11 goals and 59 assists for 70 points this season, or 27.7 percent of the team's offensive production. Senior Brendon Nash leads the way with two goals and 16 assists for 18 points, followed closely by freshman Nick D'Agostino's 15 points on two goals and 13 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. He has since added another multi-point game with a pair of assists on Jan. 3 at New Hampshire, and duplicated that feat again on Jan. 15 at Clarkson.

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 had 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.

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. Most recently, freshman Chris Moulson made his Cornell debut on Jan. 16 at St. Lawrence. The remaining three members of the freshman class – goaltender Omar Kanji, forward Vince Mihalik and defenseman Jarred Seymour –have yet to see game action this season.

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. Should he start every game this season, he could break David McKee's NCAA record of consecutive starts by a goaltender of 102. Scrivens has started in 99 straight games for the Big Red, the second-highest total in NCAA history.

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 293 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 seven, with St. Lawrence's Joe Marsh well ahead with 455 career victories in his 24 seasons behind the Saints bench.

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.

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.

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 132 career games played after appearing in all 29 games so far this season.

TRIPLE DIGITS
Five 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 132 career games played, while Justin Krueger has appeared in 130 contests for the Big Red. Joining the pair in triple digits are Blake Gallagher, who played in his 100th career game in the season opener against Niagara and now stands at 128, and Brendon Nash, who reached the 100-game mark on Jan. 3 at New Hampshire and now has played in 115 career games. The most recent players to reach 100 were Ben Scrivens, who played in his 100th career game on Jan. 22 against North Dakota and has appeared in 112 career contests, and Joe Scali, who played in his 100th career game on Feb. 13 against Yale and now stands on 104. Next up on the list is junior Riley Nash, who has played in 97 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 senior Blake Gallagher, who has 97 points in 128 career games, and junior Riley Nash,  who has tallied 94 points in 97 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
The winner of this weekend's series earns a berth in the ECAC Hockey semifinals next weekend at the Times Union Center in Albany, N.Y.