Game 32 • Brown vs. Cornell
Faceoff: Friday, March 19, 2010 at 4:00 p.m.
Site: Times Union Center (14,236) • Albany, N.Y.

Game 33 • Cornell vs. Union/St. Lawrence
Faceoff: Saturday, March 20, 2010 at 4/7:00 p.m.
Site: Times Union Center (14,236) • Albany, N.Y.

2009-10 Records
        Cornell (16-8-3, 13-5-2 ECAC Hockey)
        Brown (12-19-4, 6-12-4 ECAC Hockey)
        Union (20-11-6, 12-6-4 ECAC Hockey)
        St. Lawrence (19-14-7, 9-8-5 ECAC Hockey)

Series Record vs. Brown: Cornell leads, 67-39-5
Season Series vs. Brown: Cornell leads, 2-0-0
    Cornell won, 6-0, on Nov. 14, in Providence, R.I.
    Cornell won, 5-3, on Feb. 12, in Ithaca, N.Y.

Series Record vs. Union: Cornell leads, 28-12-6
Season Series vs. Union: Cornell leads, 1-0-1
    Tied, 2-2, on Dec. 5, in Schenectady, N.Y.
    Cornell won, 4-1, on Feb. 26, in Ithaca, N.Y.

Series Record vs. St. Lawrence: Cornell leads, 53-40-8
Season Series vs. St. Lawrence: Cornell leads, 1-0-1
    Tied, 1-1, on Jan. 15, in Canton, N.Y.
    Cornell won, 2-1, on Feb. 29, in Ithaca, N.Y.
 
Media Information
Television:
    NHL Network
        both semifinals (live) and championship game (tape delay)
    Fox College Sports
        championship game (live)
        Greg Madden (play-by-play), Dan Fridgen (color), Bob Ahfeld (rinkside)
Radio: WHCU 870 AM • Jason Weinstein (play-by-play)
Live Stats: www.cornellbigred.com
Live Video: www.B2livetv.com
Live Audio: www.CornellBigRed.com/showcase
Tickets: Available by calling (607) 254-BEAR

ECAC Hockey Championship Weekend Notes in PDF Format

ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell men's hockey team will head to Albany, N.Y., for the ECAC Hockey semifinals and championship this weekend, to be played at the Times Union Center in downtown Albany. The Big Red will face upstart Brown in the semifinal before facing either Union or St. Lawrence in the consolation or championship game on Saturday. Both semifinals on Friday night will be televised by the NHL Network, while Saturday's championship game will be televised live on Fox College Sports and on the NHL Network on tape delay Sunday morning. Fans in the Ithaca area can hear Jason Weinstein's call of the games on WHCU 870 AM, while Cornell Redcast subscribers will also get live streaming audio of both contests. Additionally, live video of the game is available on the internet through B2 Networks.

ABOUT THE BIG RED
Cornell advanced to its third straight league championship weekend after knocking off ninth-seeded Harvard last weekend in the quarterfinal round at Lynah Rink. The Big Red claimed the opener, 5-1, behind a pair of two-goal, one-assist performances from Riley Nash and Nick D'Agostino. On Saturday, Ben Scrivens posted 17 saves for his fifth shutout of the year and Blake Gallagher had a goal and an assist as the senior registered his 100th career point as Cornell ended Harvard's season with a 3-0 victory. On the year, Gallagher leads all scorers with 37 points on 18 goals and 19 assists, while Colin Greening has 34 points on 15 goals and 19 assists. Nash leads the Big Red with 21 assists to go along with 11 goals for 32 points in 27 games. In all, 13 different skaters have scored at least 10 points this season. In goal, Scrivens has been outstanding, ranking second in the nation in both goals-against average and save percentage. He has started every game, posting a 1.89 goals-against average and a .933 save percentage on the year with five shutouts. Cornell's special teams have been outstanding as well, converting on 21.3 percent of their power-play chances (30-of-141) while killing off 87.1 percent of their short-handed opportunities (128-of-147).

ABOUT BROWN
The upstart Bears have scored a pair of series victories, advancing through the first round with an upset over sixth-seeded Rensselaer in three games, before knocking off top-seeded Yale in three games last weekend. The Bears have done it with outstanding goaltending, allowing just five goals in the four wins in the postseason. In the decisive third game against Yale on Sunday, Jack Maclellan's short-handed goal in the first period was the only scoring needed as goaltender Mike Clemente stopped all 44 shots he faced to blank the nation's top scoring offense. On the year, Maclellan leads the Bears offensively with 34 points on 15 goals and 19 assists in 34 games, while Aaron Volpatti has a team-best 16 goals to go along with 15 assists for 31 points. Brown has had 10 different players record double figures in points this season. In between the pipes, it's been Clemente carrying the load, seeing 83.3 percent of the action in goal for the Bears. Clemente has a 3.36 goals-against average and a .902 save percentage, with his only shutout of the season coming in the quarterfinals game three against Yale. Where Brown has struggled is on special teams, converting on just 14.0 percent of its power-play chances (24-of-171) while killing off 78.3 percent of its short-handed opportunities (155-of-198).

THE SERIES WITH BROWN
Cornell leads the all-time series against the Bears, 67-39-5, after sweeping the season series this year. Cornell opened the series with a 6-0 blanking of the Bears on Nov. 14 in Providence, R.I., before taking a 5-3 meeting on Feb. 12 at Lynah Rink. Cornell has won four straight meetings against the Bears, and Cornell head coach Mike Schafer holds a 25-3-3 record all-time against Brown.

AGAINST BROWN IN THE POSTSEASON
Brown is one of the few ECAC Hockey opponents that Cornell has rarely faced in postseason play, as the two teams have met just four times outside of the regular season. Cornell and Brown last met in the league semifinals on March 21, 2003, with Cornell winning by a 2-0 score. That season also marked the last time that Cornell advanced to the NCAA Frozen Four. This will be the third meeting between the Big Red and the Bears in the league semifinal round, with Brown winning the first meeting, 6-2, on March 12, 1976, at Boston Garden. Cornell and Brown have split the four postseason meetings all-time, with the Bears claiming a 4-3 win in the quarterfinal round at Meehan Auditorium in 1965 and Cornell winning a quarterfinal game at Lynah Rink, 11-2, in 1967, on the way to the program's first national title.

CORNELL VS. THE TOURNAMENT FIELD
Cornell is probably happy to see the three other teams in this season's ECAC Hockey championship weekend, as the Big Red has not lost to any of the other three programs this season. Cornell is 2-0 against Brown while posting a 1-0-1 mark against both Union and St. Lawrence, the two teams playing in the other semifinal.

CORNELL IN THE LEAGUE FINAL FOUR
This season will mark the Big Red's 32nd appearance all-time in the league's final four, and Cornell will be searching to extend its league leading title count to 12. Cornell has advanced to the league championship game 19 times in school history, winning 11 of those. The Big Red's last championship came during the 2005 season when it knocked off Harvard, 3-1. The Big Red advanced to the league championship weekend in each of the past two seasons, finishing third in 2008 and second in 2009.

THROUGH HARVARD TO ALBANY
Cornell earned its berth by knocking out its archrival, Harvard, in the quarterfinal round for the fourth time in five chances. The Big Red has faced the Crimson 22 times in postseason play and now holds a 14-7-1 lead in the series againt Harvard in the league playoffs.

UNCHARTED TERRITORY
This year's edition of the Big Red carved out a spot for itself in Cornell history when it became the first Big Red team ever to win four games against Harvard in the same season. Cornell and Harvard have only met four times in a single season five times, and the Big Red has never had a perfect season against Harvard until now. In 1996-97, Cornell went 3-0-1 against Harvard, and in 1999-2000, Cornell was 3-1 against its rival. The two teams split the four meetings in 1989-90, while Harvard claimed its only series victory with a four-game sweep in 1993-94.

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
Cornell has the highest winning percentage of all teams in ECAC Hockey, claiming victory in 67.9 percent of its league playoff games (89-41-4). The Big Red has won a league-best 11 ECAC Hockey championships.

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 46-9 all-time record in league playoff games at home (a .830 winning percentage), including a 23-6 record under head coach Mike Schafer for a .793 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.

HOME AWAY FROM HOME
Cornell has gone 7-3 in ECAC Hockey playoff games played at the Times Union Center in Albany, N.Y. Since the championship moved to Albany, N.Y., for the 2003 season, the Big Red has claimed the championship twice, with only Harvard matching that total. Cornell's six appearances in the league tournament weekend are the most among league schools.

NOTHING TO SEE HERE
Ben Scrivens became the first goaltender in program history to post a pair of shutouts against Harvard in the same season. Scrivens blanked the Crimson, 3-0, on Feb. 19, in Cambridge, Mass., before posting another 3-0 shutout in game two of the league quarterfinals on March 13 at Lynah Rink.

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 in attendance at the league quarterfinal series against Harvard and missed the last regular-season weekend noticed 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 eight of the last nine games for Cornell since returning from an injury that kept him out for two weekends. Nash has 18 points over that span, scoring six goals and 12 assists with seven multi-point games.

TOP OF THE CHARTS
Blake Gallagher became the second player this season and the 46th in school history to reach the 100-point mark with an assist on March 13 against Harvard. Gallagher tallied three points on the weekend to reach 100 for his career, with the last point coming as an assist on Colin Greening's empty net goal. Riley Nash, meanwhile, moved one point shy of 100 for his career with a five-point weekend against the Crimson. Gallagher is tied for 45th all-time with Garth Ryan, while Nash ranks tied for 47th all-time with Joe Gallant and Doug Stienstra. Colin Greening reached 100 points earlier this season and now has 117 career points, good for 36th all-time.

THREE'S A CROWD
With the next point from Riley Nash, he will join Blake Gallagher and Colin Greening in reaching the 100-point mark for their careers, marking the first time that three players reached that level in the same season since the 1975-76 season, when 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 only the legendary Nicky Bawlf's 27 seasons directing the Cornell program from 1920-47.

STARTING OUT ON THE RIGHT FOOT
Cornell holds an amazing 12-1 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 11-2 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 three 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 18 points in nine games, including recording a trio of three-point games at Colgate, at Dartmouth and against Harvard. Nash has accounted for six goals and 12 assists, factoring into the scoring on 18 of the Big Red's 32 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 4-6-4 on Saturday nights and 4-6-3 in the second game of back-to-back nights. On the first night, Cornell holds a sparkling 11-2 record, a mark that improves to 12-1 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. The Big Red finally won a Saturday game for the first time since Jan. 30 (a 5-3 win against Clarkson) when it defeated Harvard in game two of the ECAC Hockey quarterfinals, 3-0, on March 13.

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 five teams in the country to have averaged 99 percent capacity or higher this season and ranks 17th in average attendance. Cornell has had 68,224 fans view a game at Lynah Rink so far this season, ranking 19th in Division I, despite having the 26th-largest rink in the country and only 16 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 2,787 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 15-2-1 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 134 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 17 of the 31 games this season and has scored more than once with the man advantage eight 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 1.97 goals per game. Cornell also ranks sixth 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 seventh in the nation, converting on 21.3 percent of its chances, while the penalty killing unit is ranked fifth in the country, having killed off 87.1 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 117 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.

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 63, 13 behind Ken Dryden's 76 and two 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 (1.94) and save percentage (.930). He also has 17 career shutouts, moving him past Ken Dryden for second-most in school history. Scrivens now trails the career leader, David McKee, by just one 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.

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 both games this weekend, he would break David McKee's NCAA record of consecutive starts by a goaltender of 102. Scrivens has started in 101 straight games for the Big Red

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 295 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 six, 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 134 career games played after appearing in all 31 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 134 career games played, while Justin Krueger has appeared in 132 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 130, and Brendon Nash, who reached the 100-game mark on Jan. 3 at New Hampshire and now has played in 117 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 114 career contests, and Joe Scali, who played in his 100th career game on Feb. 13 against Yale and now stands on 106. Next up on the list is junior Riley Nash, who has played in 99 contests.

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 the ECAC Hockey tournament will receive the league's automatic berth into the NCAA tournament. The selections for the NCAA tournament will be made on Sunday, March 21, at 11:30 a.m.