THE PUCK DROP
• The No. 12-ranked Cornell men’s hockey team, which boasts the nation’s top-scoring defense, faces the top-scoring offense in No. 3-ranked Denver in the Springfield Regional final on Saturday afternoon from the MassMutual Center in Springfield, Mass.
• Game action will be broadcast on ESPN2, with Clay Matvick on play-by-play and Sean Ritchlin providing analysis.
ROAD TO ST. PAUL
• Cornell is participating in its 24th NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Championship this weekend. It is the 10th-most appearances by any program and the second-most by the 12 members of ECAC Hockey, trailing fellow Ivy League program and bitter rival Harvard (27).
• Joining the Big Red in the Springfield Regional this weekend are the third-overall seed Denver (33rd appearance), Maine (19th appearance), and UMass (fifth appearance).
• Last season, Cornell upset Denver, 2-0, in the semifinal of the Manchester Regional behind a 27-save shutout by
then-sophomore goaltender Ian Shane. The blanking marked just the second time a Big Red netminder logged a shutout in the NCAA Tournament, joining Ken Dryden (30 saves against North Dakota on March 16, 1967), who did so in the national semifinal setting up Cornell to claim its first national championship title over Boston University.
NOT HIS FIRST RODEO
• Mike Schafer ’86, the Jay R. Bloom ’77 Head Coach of Cornell Men’s Ice Hockey, is coaching in his 14th NCAA Tournament this weekend. He is one of three head coaches in this year’s tournament to have coached in at least 10 tournaments, joined by Minnesota’s Bob Motzko (12) and Quinnipiac’s Rand Pecknold (10).
• Schafer, who coached his first NCAA Tournament game in his first year at the helm of the Big Red program in 1995-96, has an overall record of 11-13 (.458) in the NCAA postseason.
• Under Schafer, the Big Red has made one Frozen Four, which was in 2003, when it was held in Buffalo, N.Y.
• Schafer, a 1986 Cornell graduate, is one of nine head coaches in this year’s tournament to be coaching their alma mater. He is joined by North Dakota’s Brad Berry, Boston College’s Greg Brown, Denver’s David Carle, Western Michigan’s Pat Ferschweiler, Omaha’s Mike Gabinet, Michigan’s Brandon Naurato, Michigan State’s Adam Nightengale, and Boston University’s Jay Pandolfo.
RED-HOT RED
• Cornell is riding a season-long six-game win streak, tied with Denver for the second-longest active win streak among the 16-team tournament field, only behind Boston College (12 games).
• Since Christmas, the Big Red has logged a 16-2-5 record, and its .804 win percentage ranks second among the tournament field only behind Boston College’s .900 clip (18-2-0).
• The Big Red’s two losses to Clarkson (Feb. 24) and Union (March 1) since Dec. 25 are tied with Boston College for the fewest among the 16 programs who had entered this year’s NCAA Tournament.
HAVING AN EYE FOR THE GOAL
• With its 114 goals this season, Cornell has surpassed the century mark in scoring in its last six years of competition, dating back to 2017-18.
• It is the first time the Big Red has netted 100-plus goals in six consecutive seasons since doing so over 27 seasons from 1964-65 to 1990-91.
• The 114 goals scored are the fifth-most under Mike Schafer ’86’s tenure as Cornell’s head coach and is the highest scoring output in a single season since the Big Red scored 133 markers during its last Frozen Four run during the 2002-03 season.
SHANE NAMED GOALTENDER OF THE YEAR
• Last Thursday at the ECAC Hockey Awards banquet in Lake Placid, N.Y., junior goaltender Ian Shane was named the Ken Dryden Goaltender of the Year, presented by MAC Goaltending, becoming the sixth Big Red netminder to receive the award. He was the program’s first recipient of the conference’s award for the top goaltender since Matthew Galajda as a freshman in 2018. Matt Underhill (2002), David LeNeveu (2003), David McKee (2005), and Ben Scrivens (2010) were the others to receive the honor.
• Shane, who registered a 12-4-4 record in conference games, also had a league-leading 1.81 goals-against average, finishing two points better than Quinnipiac’s Vinny Duplessis (1.83).
• The Manhattan Beach, Calif., native was named ECAC Hockey’s MAC Goaltending Goaltender of the Month four times (October, November, January, February) and was a six-time MAC Goaltending Goaltender of the Week (Oct. 30, Nov. 6, Nov. 27, Jan. 2, Feb. 12, and Feb. 19).
• Despite not being named one of the three finalists for the Mike Richter Award last Thursday, Shane became the second Cornell goaltender (third instance) to be identified as a semifinalist for the award, as announced by the American College Hockey Association on Feb. 14.
• Galajda was the lone Big Red netminder to be named a semifinalist for the award, finishing as a two-time finalist for his play in the 2017-18 and 2019-20 seasons.
CLEAR THE TROPHY CASE!
• Two weeks ago, ECAC Hockey released its all-league teams, with Cornell having two players named to the All-Rookie Team and a pair of First- and Third-Team selections.
• Jonathan Castagna and Ben Robertson were named to the All-Rookie Team, becoming Cornell’s first tandem to garner All-Rookie honors since Mike Devin and Riley Nash in 2008.
• Sophomore forward Dalton Bancroft and Robertson were announced as Third Team All-ECAC Hockey selections, serving as the first Cornell duo to earn third-team distinctions since goaltender Galajda and defenseman Alex Green in 2020. Robertson is just Cornell’s second first-year player (first skater) to earn a spot on any of three All-ECAC Hockey teams, as Galajda was a first-team pick in 2018.
• Senior forward Gabriel Seger and Shane received First Team All-ECAC Hockey honors, as Shane was one of four unanimous first-team selections (Quinnipiac forward Collin Graf, Dartmouth forward Luke Haymes, and Union defenseman John Prokop). It was the 11th time the Big Red had multiple first-team honorees and the first since forward Morgan Barron and defenseman Yanni Kaldis in 2020.
• In addition to ECAC Hockey honors, Shane was unanimously named the Ivy League Player of the Year, and Mike Schafer ’86 took home his fourth Coach of the Year award in the last six seasons. Seger, the Big Red’s Academic All-Ivy selection, joined Shane in earning First Team All-Ivy distinctions, while Castagna and Robertson garnered Second Team All-Ivy honors.
HOCKEY HUMANITARIAN AWARD
• After being named one of 18 nominees for this year’s Hockey Humanitarian Award, junior defenseman Hank Kempf was selected as one of five finalists, as announced by the Hockey Humanitarian Award Foundation on Feb. 12.
• Kempf is Cornell’s third consecutive nominee, and the fifth overall, from either Big Red hockey program to be named a finalist. He joins women’s hockey players Erin Schmalz, Alyssa Gagliardi, Morgan Richardson, and former men’s player Sam Paolini, who won the award in 2003.
• Since the award was first conferred in 1997, Kempf is the ninth Big Red player nominated for the prestigious award and is just the fourth from the men’s program, joining Paolini, Topher Scott, and Andy Iles.
• Kempf is the lone Cornell player nominated for the award that was not in their senior season.
SHOWSTOPPER SHANE
• Junior goaltender Ian Shane has excelled inside the blue paint during his time on East Hill, posting a 49-20-10 record with a 1.70 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage in his 83 appearances between the pipes.
• Shane’s 49 wins are the seventh-most by a Cornell goaltender in program history. With his next triumph, Shane will become the seventh Big Red netminder to reach 50 career wins, matching Brian Cropper (1968-71) for the sixth-most victories in a Big Red career.
• With his shutout of Brown on Feb. 16, Shane increased his career shutout total to 11, matching Dave LeNeveu and Mitch Gillam for the fifth-most shutouts by a Cornell goaltender. Shane is two shutouts away from matching Cornell Athletics and Hockey Hall of Famer Ken Dryden for fourth (13).
• Shane’s 13 shutouts are tied with Wisconsin’s Kyle McClellan for the third-most by all active Division I goaltenders. Michigan Tech’s Blake Pietila (24) and Minnesota’s Justen Close (13) are the only two netminders ahead of Shane and McClellan.
SHANE’S WORLD
• Since Jan. 1, junior goaltender Ian Shane has a 16-2-3 record with a 1.59 goals-against average and a .929 save percentage, ranking first and fourth, respectively, among goaltenders with at least 15 games played during the span.
• Ahead of Shane with higher save percentages since the calendar flipped to 2024 are Yale’s Jack Stark (.933), AIC’s Nils Wallstrom (.932), and Minnesota’s Justen Close (.930).
• Shane’s 1.70 career goals-against average stands as the fourth-best in NCAA Division I history, trailing former Cornell netminder David LeNeveu (1.29), former Michigan State standout Ryan Miller (1.54), and Cornell Athletics and Hockey Hall of Famer Ken Dryden (1.59). Fellow Big Red goaltender David McKee is four-thousandths of a point behind Shane, giving Cornell four of the top five career goals-against averages in NCAA Division I hockey history.
• Among active leaders, Shane is one of two active Division I netminders with a career goals-against average under 2.00, joined by Minnesota State’s Keenan Rancier (1.98).
• Along with his impressive career goals-against average, Shane ranks fifth among active Division I goaltenders in career save percentage (.923). Wisconsin’s Kyle McClellan (.926), Boston College’s Jacob Fowler (.925), Notre Dame’s Ryan Bischel (.9245), and Minnesota’s Justen Close (.9242) are ahead of the Cornell netminder.
REACHING THE CENTURY MARK
• With his third-period goal against RPI on Feb. 9, senior forward Gabriel Seger became the 14th active player to reach the century mark in points. Seger has since upped his career point total to 116 (35 goals and 81 assists) standing as the 11th-most by an active Division I skater.
• Seger has the fifth-most points by a player in this year’s NCAA Division I Men’s Hockey Championship, trailing North Dakota’s Riese Gaber (64-65—129), Quinnipiac’s Collin Graf (54-75—129), Denver’s Massimo Rizzo (39-87—126), and Minnesota’s Bryce Brodzinski (59-58—117).
• Among active ECAC Hockey players, Seger is one of three active skaters to eclipse the century mark for points, joining Graf and Clarkson’s Mathieu Gosselin (44-73—117).
• Of the 21 active players who have surpassed the century mark for career points, Seger (Union ? Cornell) is one of five who have transferred, joining Graf (Union ? Quinnipiac), Lukas Sillinger (Bemidji State ? Arizona State), Alex Campbell (Clarkson ? Northeastern), and Ryan Naumovski (Niagara ? Augustana).
RACKING UP THE POINTS
• During his tenure on East Hill, senior forward Gabriel Seger has amassed 73 points (21 goals, 52 assists), marking the most points by a Big Red player over his first two seasons at Cornell since Ryan Hughes collected 75 points (25 goals, 50 assists) from 1989-91.
• Seger’s 52 assists are tied with Pete Tufford (1966-68) and Joe Nieuwendyk (1984-86) for the ninth-most by a Cornell player in his first two seasons with the program and is two assists away from tying Dave Ferguson, who had 54 assists from 1964-66.
• Seger’s 73 points (21 goals, 52 assists) are tied with Dan Lodboa (28-45—73 in 1967-69) and John Olds (27-46—73 in 1978-80) for the 26th-most points by a Big Red player in his first two seasons with the program.
POINT SEGER
• Senior forward Gabriel Seger (14-28—42) has 43 points this season, the most by a Big Red player since Ryan Vesce (19-26—45) in 2002-03.
• With his three-assist performance against Dartmouth last Friday, Seger became just the sixth player in the Mike Schafer ’86 era, dating back to 1995-96, to register a 40-point season, joining Brad Chartrand (24-21—43 in 1995-96), Kyle Knopp (10-32—42 in 1998-99), Stephen Bâby (8-33—42 in 2002-03), Vesce (19-26—45 in 2002-03), and Matt Moulson (22-20—42 in 2004-05).
• Last weekend’s three-point effort made Seger the sixth Cornell player (seventh instance) since 1980-81 to register a 40-point season within his first two seasons with the Big Red program. The other occurrences came from Jeff Baikie in 1980-81 (25-26—51), Gary Cullen in 1983-84 (13-29—42), Duanne Moeser in 1983-84 (19-31—50), Joe Nieuwendyk in 1984-85 (21-24—45) and 1985-86 (26-28—54), and Ryan Hughes in 1989-90 (18-34—52).
• In his 34 games this season, Seger has a point in 24 contests, which includes 12 multi-point games. Seger’s 12 multi-point games are tied with Quinnipiac’s Collin Graf, whom Seger was teammates with at Union in 2021-22, for the second-highest total in ECAC Hockey. Only Graf’s teammate, Jacob Quillan, has more multi-point games with 14.
THANKS FOR THE HELP!
• After registering 23 assists last year in his first season at Cornell, senior forward Gabriel Seger has upped his output to 29 assists this season, the most by a Cornell player since Stephen BÂBY had 33 assists during the 2002-03 campaign.
• Seger is one of three Cornell players to record at least 29 assists under Mike Schafer ’86’s tutelage, joining Kyle Knopp (32) in 1998-99 and Bâby (33) in 2002-03.
• In Cornell’s modern era, dating back to 1957-58, Seger is the ninth player to register 23-plus assists in his first two seasons with the Big Red, joining Murray Deathe, David and Doug Ferguson (1964-66), John Hughes (1967-69), Larry Fullan (1969-71), John Harper (1973-75), Lance Nethery (1975-77), and Roy Kerling (1977-78, 1979-80), and Joe Nieuwendyk (1984-86).
• In addition to his 52 assists at Cornell, Seger had 29 helpers in his first two collegiate seasons at Union, giving him 81 career assists, standing as the third-most by an active Division I skater, trailing Northern Michigan’s Andre Ghantous (103) and Denver’s Massimo Rizzo (87).
• Of the players in this year’s NCAA Division I Men’s Hockey Championship, Seger has the second-most assists, trailing Rizzo and is one of three players with 70-plus helpers, joined by Quinnipiac’s Collin Graf (75).
NET 30
• Following his assist on Kyle Penney’s empty-net goal in the Big Red’s 3-0 shutout of Brown on Feb. 16, senior forward Gabriel Seger became the first Cornell player to have consecutive 30-point seasons since Morgan Barron in 2018-19 (15-19—34) and 2019-20 (14-18—32).
• Seger, who had seven goals and 23 assists last season, became the first Big Red player with 30 points in his first two years at Cornell since Riley Nash in 2007-08 (12-20—32) and 2008-09 (13-21—34).
• The Feb. 16 assist made Seger the 26th player in the program’s modern era, since 1957-58, to reach the 30-point plateau in each of his first two seasons. It is just the third instance under Mike Schafer ’86, joining Kyle Knopp (1995-97) and Nash (2007-09), and is the 11th time since 1975-76 the feat has been accomplished. The others include Lance Nethery, Brock Tredway, Roy Kerling, John Olds, Gary Cullen, Duanne Moeser, Joe Nieuwendyk, Trent Andison, Knopp, and Nash.
FOUR SCORE…
• Cornell is one of four Division I programs with at least two players with multiple four-point games this season. Freshman forward Jonathan Castagna logged four-point games against Princeton on Jan. 19 (3-1—4) and at Union on Feb. 10 (2-2—4), while senior forward Gabriel Seger registered his four-point outings — both of which came via two goals and two assists — at Colgate on Dec. 1 and in the Big Red’s series-clinching win over Harvard in the ECAC Hockey quarterfinals on Feb. 16.
• Cornell is joined in the rare feat by Denver (Massimo Rizzo — 4; Jack Devine, Tristan Broz, and Zeev Buium — twice), Michigan (Gavin Brindley and Rutger McGroarty — thrice, and T.J. Hughes — twice), and Boston College (Cutter Gauthier and Will Smith — twice).
THE GAME’S ON HIS STICK
• Freshman forward Ryan Walsh has scored 12 goals this season and paces the Big Red in game-winning goals with five.
• With his game-winning tally last Friday against Dartmouth, Walsh broke his tie with Brock Tredway (1977-78) and Michael Regush (2018-19) for the most game-winning goals by a Cornell freshman in a season. Walsh also broke away from the nine-way tie for the second-most game-winning goals in a Cornell player’s first season.
• His game-winning goal against Dartmouth made Walsh the first player with five game-winning goals in a season since Anthony Angello in 2017-18 while entering a seven-way tie with Doug Marrett (1972-73), Joe Nieuwendyk (1985-86), Trent Andison (1990-91), Doug Stienstra (1997-98), Ryan Vesce (2002-03), Nick D’Agostino (2011-12), and Angello for the eighth-most game-winning goals in a season.
• Walsh and John Hughes are the lone Big Red players in the program’s modern era, since 1957-58, to net at least five game-winning goals in his first season with the Big Red, as Hughes also reached the threshold as a sophomore in 1967-68.
YOUTH MOVEMENT
• Freshmen forwards Jonathan Castagna (11-14—25) and Ryan Walsh (12-10—22) and defenseman Ben Robertson (5-18—23) have all registered at least 20 points this season, making them the first Cornell trio of first-year players to register 20 points in the same season.
• Cornell is one of five Division I programs to have three freshmen with at least 23 points, joined by Boston College (Will Smith, Gabe Perreault, and Ryan Leonard), Boston University (Macklin Celebrini, Shane Lachance, and Tom Willander), Denver (Zeev Buium, Miko Matikka, and Boston Buckberger), and Penn State (Aidan Fink, Matt DiMarsico, and Reese Laubach).
CLIMBING THE RANKINGS
• With his assist against Dartmouth last Friday, freshman defenseman Ben Robertson tied Chris Norton (4-19—23 in 1984-85) for the most points by a first-year blueliner in program history.
• Robertson’s 18 assists are tied with Bruce Frauley (1-18—19 in 1987-88) for the second-most helpers by a Cornell freshman defenseman in program history since first-year players were eligible to play beginning with the 1975-76 campaign.
• Robertson’s 23 points (5-18—23) are tied with Army’s Mac Gadowsky (4-19—23) for the ninth-most points by a freshman defenseman in Division I hockey. His 18 helpers are the 11th-most assists by a first-year blueliner in Division I Hockey.
• Among ECAC Hockey rookies, Robertson has the most points by a first-year blueliner, three ahead of Dartmouth’s CJ Foley (5-15—20), and the fourth-most points by an ECAC Hockey freshman. Quinnipiac’s Mason Marcellus (14-22—36) and Andon Cerbone (12-14—26), as well as Robertson’s teammate Jonathan Castagna (11-14—25), have more points.
STOUT DEFENSE
• Cornell has boasted one of the nation’s stingiest defensive units, ranking in the top 10 in scoring defense in the last six seasons it has competed in.
• The Big Red has allowed the fewest goals in Division I hockey this season, surrendering 63 goals across its 34 games, 10 fewer than second-place Quinnipiac (72) before its game against Wisconsin on Friday night in Providence, R.I.
• The Big Red’s 1.85 goals allowed per game also leads the nation, making Cornell one of two programs to allow less than two goals per game, joined by Quinnipiac.
