ITHACA, N.Y. – After seeing the departure of one of the top all-around classes in Cornell men's hockey history, the Big Red will add six players to the roster for the 2010-11 season, announced on Wednesday by Mike Schafer, the Jay R. Bloom Head Coach of Men's Hockey. The class provides depth in all three areas of the ice, bringing in three forwards, two defensemen and a goaltender in Ithaca-native Andy Iles.

While local fans are most familiar with Iles, who attended Ithaca High School and led the Little Red to a state championship in 2007, the group is an impressive mix of size and skating ability with an added element of international experience. Iles played the 2009-10 season with the U.S. U18 National Team, earning a gold medal at the IIHF U18 World Championships and leading his team to a 3-2 victory over the Big Red in an exhibition game at Lynah Rink on Oct. 24, 2009.

Also included in the group of six players is defenseman Kirill Gotovets, who was selected in the seventh round of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft by the Tampa Bay Lightning (183rd overall pick). Gotovets also represented his native Belarus in the 2010 IIHF World Championships, played in May in Germany.

Another familiar name on the list of newcomers is Armand de Swardt, who was listed among the newcomers a year ago, but decided to defer enrollment at Cornell just days before the 2009 fall semester began. De Swardt returned for a full season of junior hockey with the Wenatchee Wild of the NAHL and will make his long-awaited Lynah Rink debut this fall.

The six newcomers bring even more size and strength to the Big Red lineup, with three players standing 6-2 or taller and four players weighing in at 190 pounds or more.

Each of the six additions will have the chance to contribute immediately for the Big Red, which lost six key contributors from the 2009-10 team. Gone are 100-point scorers Colin Greening and Blake Gallagher, career saves and shutouts leader Ben Scrivens, All-America defenseman Brendon Nash, the ECAC Hockey Defenseman of the Year in Justin Krueger and one of the top defensive forwards in the country in Joe Scali. Three of those players (Greening – Ottawa; Nash – Montreal; Scrivens – Toronto) have signed with NHL clubs, while Krueger remains the property of Carolina, the club that drafted him, until August 1.

Cornell returns 15 lettermen from last year's squad that finished 21-9-4 overall and won the ECAC Hockey tournament title. The Big Red advanced to the NCAA tournament for the second straight season, falling to New Hampshire in the NCAA East Regional Semifinal in Albany, N.Y.

Incoming Players at a Glance
By position: 3 forwards, 2 defensemen, 1 goaltender
By junior hockey league: 2 USHL, 1 AJHL, 1 BCHL, 1 NAHL, 1 Minnesota High School
By State/Province/Country: 1 Alberta, 1 British Columbia, 1 Quebec, 1 New York, 1 Texas, 1 Belarus

Cornell Men's Hockey 2010-11 Incoming Player Roster

Name	Ht.	Wt.	Pos.	Hometown / Last Team
Mathieu Brisson	6-2	195	D	Longueuil, Quebec / Omaha Lancers (USHL)
Rodger Craig	6-5	215	F	Red Deer, Alberta / Grande Prairie Storm (AJHL)
Armand de Swardt	6-5	210	F	Plano, Texas / Wenatchee Wild (NAHL)
Kirill Gotovets	5-11	194	D	Minsk, Belarus / Shattuck-St. Mary's
Andy Iles	5-9	180	G	Ithaca, N.Y. / USNDTP
Dustin Mowrey	5-9	185	F	Burnaby, British Columbia / Victoria Grizzlies (BCHL)

Cornell Men's Hockey 2010-11 Incoming Player Biographies

Mathieu Brisson – Defenseman / 6-2 / 195 – Longueuil, Quebec
(Omaha Lancers – United States Hockey League)
Brisson spent the 2009-10 season with the Omaha Lancers of the USHL, winning the West Division regular-season crown. He earned the league's defensive player of the week award once during the season, scoring four points in two games in mid-December. For the year, Brisson appeared in 55 of Omaha's 60 games, scoring 22 points on five goals and 17 assists with a +13 rating and accumulating 55 minutes in penalties. Of his 22 points, seven came on the power play in the form of one goal and six assists, while two of his goals were game-winners. Despite being one of the youngest players in the league, Brisson ranked third on the team in scoring among defensemen.

Rodger Craig – Forward / 6-4 / 215 – Red Deer, Alberta
(Grande Prairie Storm – Alberta Junior Hockey League)
Craig is a prototypical power forward with excellent skating ability. He appeared in 57 games during the 2009-10 season, including the final 25 with the Grande Prairie Storm of the AJHL after being traded in mid-season from the Okotoks Oilers, where he played the first 32 contests of the year. For the full season, Craig scoring 16 points on seven goals and nine assists, with three goals and two assists coming in the final 25 games with Grande Prairie. He also picked up 37 penalty minutes on the year to go along with one short-handed goal and one game-winner. Craig also played the 2008-09 season with Okotoks, compiling 19 points on eight goals and 11 assists in 59 games.

Armand de Swardt – Forward / 6-5 / 210 – Plano, Texas
(Wenatchee Wild – North American Hockey League)
De Swardt is another big power forward who has shown strong mobility on the ice. He played in 49 games for Wenatchee of the NAHL in 2009-10, scoring 37 points on 15 goals and 22 assists during the season. He also was a +22 while recording 104 minutes in penalties. De Swardt recorded one three game-winning goals on the year, with two of those coming in the playoffs. He was named the league's player of the week in early March after picking up five points in two games. In 2008-09, de Swardt played 29 games with the Chicago Steel of the USHL after recovering from a broken ankle, scoring two goals and adding one assist.
 
Kirill Gotovets – Defenseman / 5-11 / 194 – Minsk, Belarus
(Shattuck-St. Mary's)
Gotovets will become the first Belarusian to suit up for the Big Red in its history, and will bring with him an extensive amount of international experience. He played for his native country in the IIHF Division I U20 World Championship in December and was a member of the full national team in the IIHF World Championships in May in Germany. A 2009 draft pick of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Gotovets has spent the last 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons at Shattuck-St. Mary's in Faribault, Minn. He played in 44 of the teams' 55 games last season, tallying eight goals and 19 assists for 27 points while recording 73 minutes in penalties. Gotovets also was the recipient of the Kramer Cup at SSM for the top student-athlete in the school.

Andy Iles – Goaltender / 5-9 / 180 – Ithaca, N.Y.
(US National Team Development Program)
Iles was one of two goaltenders on the United States U18 National Team at the US National Team Development Program, based in Ann Arbor, Mich., during the 2009-10 season. He was a member of the squad that won the IIHF U18 World Championship in Belarus in April. In all competitions, Iles posted a 20-6-1 record with three shutouts, a 2.16 goals-against average and a .916 save percentage. In games against international teams, he appeared in seven contests, going 5-1 with one shutout and a 1.74 goals-against average and a .918 save percentage. He also earned the USHL's goaltender of the week award on March 1 after picking up two wins and a 1.00 goals-against average in a pair of starts. Iles posted a 10-4 record in USHL games with a pair of shutouts, recording a 2.29 goals-against average and a .918 save percentage. Prior to joining the USNTDP, he played the 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons at The Salisbury School, earning the New England Prep School title in his second year there and being named the US Hockey Report's Goaltender of the Year. As a freshman in 2006-07, he led Ithaca High School to its fifth state championship, earning second-team all-state honors and being named the Section III Player of the Year after posting a .960 save percentage, a 0.93 goals-against average and nine shutouts.

Dustin Mowrey – Forward / 5-9 / 185 – Burnaby, British Columbia
(Victoria Grizzlies – British Columbia Hockey League)
Mowrey averaged better than a point per game during the 2009-10 season with Victoria of the BCHL, scoring 36 goals and 33 assists for 69 points in 64 games with the Grizzlies. He picked up 11 goals on the power play, one short-handed and had four-game winning goals to go along with 68 minutes in penalties. He finished the season ranked 31st in the league in scoring, and was first on the roster for the Grizzlies. Mowrey spent two seasons with Victoria, playing in 60 games with the Grizzlies in 2008-09 and scoring eight goals and 18 assists for 26 points. Prior to heading to Victoria, he claimed a Junior B provincial championship and took third place at the national tournament.