After starting the season with four-straight road games — long ones, at that — No. 20 men’s hockey is heading home.
“We want to play in front of our fans. We're excited about it,” said head coach Casey Jones ’90. “I'm hoping [the fans] come out in full force here. They're excited to see our new guys and get acquainted with our team. But we're going to take one game at a time here.”
Cornell picked up three of a possible six points last weekend, beating Harvard on Friday before dropping a close 2-1 game to Dartmouth on Saturday. After the emotional win over an archrival, the Red came out flat 24 hours later.
“I thought we were resilient Saturday night [in] that we hung around … but we weren’t as good as we need to be,” Jones said. “[We] learned a little bit about ourselves that we have to be a little sharper on Saturday after a win, and coming off a rivalry game of Harvard, sometimes that's the kind of trap game.”
This weekend, in its first action at home, the Red (2-2-0, 1-1-0 ECAC) will face Brown and Yale teams that collected four and five points, respectively, against Quinnipiac and Princeton last weekend. Brown (1-2-1, 1-0-1 ECAC) will open Cornell’s home slate before Yale (2-1-0, 2-0-0 ECAC).
Cournoyer’s Crease
From the beginning of the season, the message to the goaltending group has been clear — anyone can play, but if someone gets hot, someone gets hot.
Freshman goaltender Alexis Cournoyer — the ECAC Rookie of the Week — has certainly been that.
“He’s playing well. There's competition for that position right now, he’s playing well,” Jones said. “He made the decision there easy when he's been closing the door and all that. There is competition at that position, but he's certainly taking advantage of opportunity.”
In three starts, Cournoyer is 2-1-0 and has allowed just four goals. His .956 save percentage ranks second in the ECAC and fourth nationally, trailing just behind Dartmouth goaltender Emmett Croteau’s .957.
Scouting the Opponents
Brown dropped a pair on the road against Air Force to begin its season, but has bounced back well with the start of ECAC play. The Bears’ goaltender, senior Tyler Shea, stopped 26 of 27 shots to eke out a 2-1 win over Princeton, before exploding for 39 saves — and forcing overtime — against then-No. 7 Quinnipiac.
Brown’s top line of Ryan St. Louis, Brian Nicholas and Ivan Zadvernyuk is one to keep an eye on — and contain — on Friday. Each forward has three points and also spends time on the Bears’ power play, which has converted at a 20 percent clip so far this season.
“That's a good line. That’s the first line on most teams in college hockey, right?” Jones said. “I think they play fast, I’ve thought on tape they're really aggressive on their forecheck and I thought their systems five-on-five were tight.”
Cornell played a tight game against Brown at Lynah last year, allowing the first goal before it took a goal with 53 seconds remaining — plus an empty-netter — to eke past the Bears. Lynah Rink, Jones said, is not an easy place to play for either team involved.
“It’s the place to play in the league for environment,” Jones said. “So we like that. Everyone else is just as excited to play here as we are. We told our young guys they better be prepared for A games. We're not going to get a C game from anybody here this year. We're going to get their A games and we have to be ready.”
On the other hand, Yale boasts a brand new head coach — Keith Allain announced his retirement this summer after almost two decades, giving way to interim head coach Joe Howe. Yale has had a turbulent opening to its season. After losing 6-1 to Dartmouth, the Bulldogs upset Connecticut rival then-No. 7 Quinnipiac, 4-2. Yale earned the series sweep the next night with a 2-1 win over Princeton and is currently tied with four teams atop the ECAC.
“They certainly bounced back from [the Dartmouth loss] last weekend in getting five of six points,” Jones said. “[Forward David] Chen was dynamic there last weekend with the points he put up. But that was a big weekend. I think the win against Quinnipiac was [huge].”
In net, Cornell has long faced — and struggled against — Jack Stark. But the junior netminder was pulled after allowing six goals against Dartmouth on Nov. 2, leaving sophomore Noah Pak to take over. Pak has posted a .946 save percentage in three games (two starts and the third period against Dartmouth), stopping 53 of the 56 shots he’s seen.
Honoring Dryden
On Friday, Cornell will honor Ken Dryden ’69 as part of Ken Dryden Tribute Night. Dryden, who died on Sept. 5, will be memorialized on a new helmet decal that the team will wear for the rest of the season. Additionally, the first 500 fans who attend the game will receive a commemorative decal as a giveaway from Cornell Athletics.
Dryden will be honored before puck drop. The ceremony is set to begin at 7 p.m., with the puck dropping at 7:05 p.m. The ESPN+ broadcast will begin promptly at 7 p.m., meaning that fans unable to attend the game in person can tune into the pregame ceremony.
Members of the Dryden family will be in attendance on Friday, and the late NHL Hall-of-Famer will be honored throughout the night through tribute videos from those closest to him.
“You look in the history of Cornell, there's not many more bigger names than him, right?” Jones said. “And I think the special thing about him is what he's done outside of hockey too, after being phenomenal [in the NHL]. His legacy in hockey is obviously easy to see, but what he's done in Canada and [in] politics and his business life has been special. We’re excited to be able to honor him, and especially the fact that there's gonna be some family here, too. It's special.”
Jane McNally is a senior editor on the 143rd editorial board and was the sports editor on the 142nd editorial board. She is a member of the Class of 2026 in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. You can follow her on X @JaneMcNally_ and reach her at jmcnally@cornellsun.com.
