As men’s hockey readies for its 168th tilt against its longtime Ivy League and ECAC foe Harvard, many fans have spent the hours between classes at local grocery stores in pursuit of the perfect fish to heave onto the Lynah Rink ice.
Yet as supermarket shelves are swept in search of the apt slimy creature regardless of Cornell’s “no fish policy,” few question exactly why their Cornell acceptance has led them to purchasing a raw fish for a hockey game. Even fewer understand the roots of the rivalry which, before fish, featured live chicken.

Sun File Photo
After fans of the Crimson tossed a live chicken at then-goaltender Dave Elenbaas on Jan. 6, 1973, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the rowdy crowd at Lynah Rink ensured to not let the prank go unanswered. The rematch in Ithaca — a 9-4 win on Feb. 17, 1973 — was the first to feature a dead fish sailing onto the ice surface. The game also saw the reciprocation of Harvard’s stunt — poking fun at Cornell’s agriculture school — as a Cornellian placed a live chicken next to Harvard netminder Joe Bertagna.
The rivalry is even enshrined in both novel and film form. The 1970 novel Love Story, adapted into a film featuring Ali McGraw and Ryan O’Neal, reenacts a duel between the two teams. Cornell is victorious in both depictions, and the film played a large role in catalyzing the broader branding of the rivalry. Even now, the pep band plays the theme from Love Story when the Crimson takes the ice before the first two periods of every Cornell-Harvard matchup as an homage to the story.
After a battle throughout the 1970s between the two fanbases of the top Ivy League teams, things escalated out of control in the late 70s into the 1980s. As now head coach Mike Schafer ’86 suited up for the first time as a player in 1982, so continued relentless antics and some of the most iconic games between the teams in their 115-year-old rivalry.
After he traded in skates for a whistle, even more instant classics took place at the helm of Schafer and his staff, including a last-second victory, playoff battles and even a matchup under the lights of Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Leaderboard 2
Ahead of likely his final Cornell-Harvard game as both a player and a coach, Schafer mentioned a handful of games that stand out to him across his lengthy tenure in Ithaca.
“There’s highs and lows in the series, that’s for sure,” Schafer told The Sun. “It’s just provided a lot of great memories, both for and against, and it’s just a lot of fun.”
December 10, 1983 – Cornell 6, Harvard 5
Newsletter Signup
What Schafer did not mention when citing this game was the stick he broke before puck drop. Before the players skated up to the blueline during introductions as they do today, skaters would instead make their way to center ice at the beginning of each game. Against Harvard, the Red would attempt to “snow” the opposing players — in other words, stopping hard to produce an explosion of ice.
As Schafer, at that point a 21-year-old sophomore, skated to the center of the ice, he held a stick with the words “Harvard Sucks” painted on it and broke it over his helmet-clad head in front of a raucous crowd. Rumor has it that the stick was pre-cut ahead of the spectacle by Schafer himself.
The game’s excitement didn’t stop there. Cornell fell behind early, trailing 4-0 at one point, before storming back to stun the Crimson, 6-5.
December 8, 1985 — Cornell 3, Harvard 11
This game perhaps reflects one of the “downs” in the storied rivalry between the Crimson and the Red.
“I remember being [at Lynah Rink] and getting hammered, 11-3, my senior year,” Schafer said. “And we end[ed] up winning the championship that year.”
It’s true — Cornell would go on to win seven of its next eight and ultimately defeated Clarkson, 3-2, in overtime at the ECAC championship. Goaltender Doug Dadswell was the MVP.

Sun File Photo
March 22, 2003 – Cornell 3, Harvard 2 (OT)
Though this was Schafer’s third title as a coach, it stands out as one of his most memorable bouts with the Crimson. Despite trailing, Sam Paolini ’03 notched the game-winner 1:23 into the overtime period, particularly notable due to Paolini’s scoring touch against Harvard. Eight of his 36 career goals came against Harvard.
“I don’t know what it is,” said Paolini, who has eight of his 36 career goals — nearly a quarter of his scoring — against Harvard. “There’s no way of explaining it. I was telling Coach [Mike Schafer] that I wish I could score more against teams that aren’t Harvard. But they’re our big rival. Who better to score your points against?”
November 10, 2006 – Cornell 3, Harvard 2
Schafer noted Michael Kennedy’s ’09 game-winning, breakaway goal, which came in yet another come-from-behind victory for Cornell against its archrival. Cornell trailed 2-1 with five minutes remaining in the game, as an equalizer preceded Kennedy’s game-winner that he reflected upon, telling The Sun: “It was the biggest [goal] I have ever scored in my life.”
The win made Cornell 5-0 in league play to begin the season.
November 12, 2017 – Cornell 3, Harvard 2

Cameron Pollack/Sun File Photo
Perhaps one of the most electric goals at Lynah Rink this century, Alec McCrea ’19 halted the Red’s seven-game losing streak against Harvard with a game-winning goal that came with just 1.4 seconds left on the clock. The win crowned Cornell as the final undefeated team in the nation at the time, going a perfect 6-0 to start its 2017-2018 season.
“The guys will remember [these] kinds of games,” Schafer told The Sun postgame. “That’s why there’s such a big rivalry — the games are always like that.”
January 24, 2025 – ???
It’s true – the games are always like that. In the regular season, the Cornell-Harvard game hasn’t been decided by more than two goals since early 2023, and the edition at Lynah Rink hasn’t seen a win by two-plus goals since Jan. 27, 2017 (in the regular season).
Yet before the teams take the ice for what will be an important weekend in regard to the ECAC playoff race, fish will be slung and “Harvard Sucks!” chants will bellow throughout the old Lynah Rink, just as they always have since 1910.
Read the preview of this weekend’s Cornell-Harvard tilt here. Puck drop is slated for 7 p.m. at Lynah Rink.