ITHACA, N.Y. – The 2014-15 men's hockey season inches closer this weekend with a pair of exhibitions against the U.S. National Team Development Program's Under-18 team and Ontario-based Carleton University at Lynah Rink. Both games will be streamed live on subscription-based Big Red Digital, with Jason Weinstein handling play-by-play and Tony Eisenhut providing color commentary. The audio-only feed of their call will be available for free on Big Red Digital, and it can also be heard in the Ithaca area on WHCU-AM (870).
 
#18 CORNELL vs. U.S. NTDP UNDER-18 TEAM (exhibition)
TIME: 7 p.m.
DATE: Friday, October 24, 2014
PLACE: Lynah Rink · Ithaca, N.Y
RECORDS: Cornell 0-0, 0-0 ECAC Hockey · U.S. NTDP U18s 8-3-1, 6-1 USHL
LIVE VIDEO: Big Red Digital
AUDIO: Big Red Digital
RADIO: WHCU-AM (870)
LIVE STATS: CornellBigRed.com
 
#18 CORNELL vs. CARLETON (exhibition)
TIME: 7 p.m.
DATE: Saturday, October 25, 2014
PLACE: Lynah Rink · Ithaca, N.Y
RECORDS: Cornell 0-0, 0-0 ECAC Hockey · Carleton 3-2, 3-2 OHA
LIVE VIDEO: Big Red Digital
AUDIO: Big Red Digital
RADIO: WHCU-AM (870)
LIVE STATS: CornellBigRed.com
 
Cornell game notes (PDF)
U.S. NTDP U18 game notes (coming soon)
 
ABOUT THE BIG RED
Cornell is coming off a 17-10-5 record last season, when it narrowly missed an at-large berth in the NCAA tournament. The Big Red finished fourth in the ECAC Hockey regular season standings (11-7-4), then advanced to the league's championship weekend before bowing out in a semifinal loss to eventual champion Union. ... Cornell returns 12 of its top 14 scorers from last season, led by a senior class of six. Included in that group are three players who were all tied for second in team scoring — linemates Joel Lowry (7-17–24) and John McCarron (7-17–24), and defenseman Joakim Ryan (8-16–24). Four of the team's top six defensemen have returned, and they will play in front of a new group of goalies who have a combined two games of collegiate experience heading into the season (all from sophomore Mitch Gillam). ... This is head coach Mike Schafer's 20th season at the helm of the Big Red. Associate Head Coach Ben Syer and Assistant Coach Topher Scott both return for their fourth seasons at Cornell, and Lyle Gregory has joined the staff as a volunteer assistant coach.
 
EXHIBITIONS IN NAME ONLY
Cornell is 18-1-3 in exhibitions since 2000, including a 6-0 thrashing of the Russian Red Stars in a rare midseason exhibition last January. It was Cornell's first midseason exhibition since a 4-0 victory over the U.S. National Team Development Program's Under-18 Team on Dec. 8, 2002. This is the sixth time in the last seven years the Big Red has started the season with two exhibitions. That one loss in exhibitions since 2000 came against the NTDP, when future Cornellian Andy Iles made 39 saves to backstop the visitors to a 3-2 victory on Oct. 24, 2009. The average margin of victory for Cornell's 18 wins is a whopping 4.8 goals.
 
TRENDING
The Big Red welcomes two newcomers from the U.S. National Team Development Program this season in defenseman Ryan Bliss and forward Jared Fiegl. This marks the fifth consecutive season that at least one player from the U.S. Under-18s has joined the Big Red. The others were Clint Lewis (in 2013), Gavin Stoick (in 2012), Cole Bardreau (in 2011) and Andy Iles (in 2010).
 
POLLS PROSE
The Big Red was ranked 14th in both the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine and USCHO.com polls in the preseason. But as the 53 non-Ivy League teams have started their schedules, Cornell has slipped down to 18th in the most recent USCHO.com poll and out of the top 15 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll. The last time the Big Red has fallen out of the latter poll was a two-week drought Nov. 11 and Nov. 18, 2013.
 
SITTING ATOP THE IVY
Cornell won the Ivy League championship outright in 2014. It's the second time in the last three years the Big Red claimed the Ivy crown, the 17th time it's done so outright and the 21st time overall in program history. Cornell came up just short of even more history when a 1-0 loss to Dartmouth on Feb. 28 proved to be the squad's only loss against the Ancient Eight last season. Just three times in program history has the Big Red completed the Ivy League schedule undefeated. The last time Cornell was unbeaten in Ivy games was 1996, when it was 9-0-1 in Mike Schafer's first season as the Big Red's head coach. The other two occasions were in 1969 and 1970.
 
ABOUT U.S. UNDER-18 TEAM
Early indications suggest Friday's game will be a battle, as the NTDP Under-18s have a very respectable 1-2-1 record in four games against NCAA Division I teams so far this season — all of whom are ranked in the USCHO.com poll. The victory came Oct. 4 at Miami, and the tie was Oct. 16 at Providence. Even the losses were far from blowouts, as the NTDPs scored four goals in both losses to Michigan and Boston University. With 60 goals in just 12 games, the Under-18s are averaging 5.00 goals per game, with a 20.7 percent success rate on the power play. ... Twenty of the team's 22 players on the current roster are already committed to Division I programs. The Big Red has welcomed at least one player from the NTDPs in each of the last five seasons. ... Jeremy Bracco leads the team in scoring with eight goals and 15 assists for 23 points in just 12 games. Matthew Tkachuk leads the team with nine goals to go with nine assists. His 18 points are third on the team, one behind Auston Matthews' 19 on six goals and 13 assists. ... Luke Opilka has started seven of the 12 games in goal, sporting a 5-2 record, 2.58 goals-against average and .908 save percentage.
 
ABOUT CARLETON
The Ravens are based in Ottawa, Ontario and compete in Canadian Interuniversity Sport. Carleton is 3-2 in Ontario University Athletics play coming into Friday's game against Royal Military College. Both Carleton and its opponent have scored at least two goals in each of the games, with the Ravens scoring nine times in a victory last Friday against Ontario Institute of Technology. ... The Ravens have three former NHL draft picks on their team. Everyone on the roster has experience in various Canadian junior leagues, plus two former professionals and three former players from the NCAA. Goalie Patrick Killeen falls into both categories, posting a 2-1 record, 4.13 goals-against average and .892 save percentage in three games after playing the last three seasons in the Pittsburgh Penguins' minor-league system. Forward Mitch Zion is a familiar name after he played parts of two seasons with Clarkson. ... Joe Pleckaitis leads the team in scoring with six goals and three assists for nine points. Former Providence College forward Damian Cross has two goals and six assists for eight points. ... The Ravens have played another exhibition against an NCAA team this season, losing Oct. 4 at St. Lawrence, 4-0. The game was marred by 21 penalties to create 16 power plays.
 
THE SERIES WITH THE U.S. UNDER-18 TEAM
Friday's game will be the fifth time in the last seven years that the NTDP has visited Lynah Rink. The teams didn't meet last season, with the Big Red winning the last meeting, 6-2, on Oct. 19, 2012. Cornell's Christian Hilbrich, then a freshman, scored twice in the game.
 
THE SERIES WITH CARLETON
The Ravens' last trip to Lynah was in 2011, when the Big Red scored five consecutive goals en route to a 5-1 victory. Then freshmen, Joel Lowry had a goal and an assist, and Cole Bardreau scored a goal. John McCarron, Joakim Ryan and Jacob MacDonald also played in the game for the Big Red.
 
BLANK YOU VERY MUCH
Cornell has recorded at least one shutout in each of the last 19 seasons – a streak that was kept alive with a 1-0 overtime victory against Clarkson in Game 3 of the ECAC Hockey Championship quarterfinals last March. The last time the Big Red went a full season without posting a shutout came during the 1994-95 season under former coach Brian McCutcheon, as Cornell finished that year 11-15-4. The following year marked the first season for current head coach Mike Schafer, and his clubs have never gone a full year without recording a shutout.
 
FIVE-ON-THREE PROWESS
There are few situations in hockey more dire than when a team is facing a two-man disadvantage, but the Big Red has made a habit of rising to the occasion in those scenarios. Cornell is a perfect 15-for-15 killing off a two-man disadvantage over the last two seasons, spanning a total of 13 minutes, 12 seconds. The last time Cornell surrendered a five-on-three goal was against Yale on Feb. 11, 2012.
 
NOT JUST A DEFENSEMAN
Senior blueliner Joakim Ryan ranked 11th in the nation in points per game for defensemen (0.75) last season. He was tied for second on the team in scoring with 24 points, and his eight goals ranked third on the team. Over the last two years, he has been on the ice for 88 of the team's 160 goals (55 percent). The production was nothing new for the San Jose Sharks draft pick, who set a program record for goals by a freshman defenseman in 2011-12 with seven. Ryan was named to both the media's and coaches' Preseason All-ECAC Hockey Teams.
 
FEEL THE DRAFT?
Cornell has seven players on the roster who have been selected in the NHL Entry Draft, including two picks from last June. Freshman forward Jared Fiegl was selected in the seventh round by the Arizona Coyotes, with the only other Big Red player selected by the organization being David LeNeveu in 2002. Freshman forward Dwyer Tschantz was then selected 11 picks later by the St. Louis Blues — the first time the organization has selected a Cornell product in 15 years. Other NHL draft picks on the team include defensemen Reece Willcox (Philadelphia Flyers) and Joakim Ryan (San Jose Sharks), forwards John McCarron (Edmonton Oilers), Joel Lowry (Los Angeles Kings) and Matt Buckles (Florida Panthers).
 
THE 35th TO 350
Already the winningest coach in program history, Mike Schafer hit 350 victories for his career — all of which have come from behind the Big Red's bench — with a 4-2 win over Princeton on Nov. 1, 2013. He became the 35th coach all-time to rack up 350 victories across all NCAA divisions. Schafer is also just the third coach to pass 350 victories with Ivy League tenure, joining Ned Harkness (Cornell, Union and Rensselaer) and Tim Taylor (Yale).
 
GLOBAL INFLUENCE
The Big Red has 17 players on the roster born in the  United States. Cornell also now has players native to four different countries on its squad. Aside from the bulk of its roster hailing from the United States and Canada, Cornell also has a player from Denmark (Christian Hilbrich) and Finland (Teemu Tiitinen).
 
NOW THAT'S A STREAK
It has been 1,547 games since the Big Red has been shutout in back-to-back contests. The streak dates back to December 1963 with games vs. Clarkson and St. Lawrence.
 
LET'S GET IT STARTED
Cornell has an all-time record of 57-34-6 in season openers, claiming its third straight win in a season debut with a 5-3 victory last year at Omaha. The Big Red also went on to win the rematch the following night, 4-3, with seven of the weekend's nine goals scored on the power play. Under current head coach Mike Schafer, the Big Red is 12-6-1 in season openers.
 
GOLDEN AGAIN
Junior forward Cole Bardreau won a gold medal while serving as an assistant captain for the United States at the 2013 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship in Ufa, Russia. It wasn't the first time Bardreau's earned gold with the U.S. either — he also wore an "A" while capturing gold at the IIHF Under-18 World Championship in April 2011. Junior defenseman Joakim Ryan was also among the 45 players who started in camp for the United States before the roster was trimmed in advance of the World Junior championships.
 
UP NEXT
The long wait for the regular season will finally end on Friday, Oct. 31, when the Big Red opens with a non-league game against Omaha. The Big Red will then take on the Mavericks in a rematch the following night, also at Lynah Rink, before opening its league schedule on the road at Princeton (Nov. 7) and Quinnipiac (Nov. 8).