A Brief History

The Big Red struggled in their early seasons in the newly formed ECAC, despite the goaltending of their first great star, future Athletic Director Laing Kennedy. But after coach Ned Harkness came over from RPI in 1963, they improved dramatically. Cornell's dynasty builder is still remembered around campus as "God," and his achievements are sufficient testament. Ned's recruiting zeal brought the best talent in college hockey to Ithaca, including the Ferguson brothers (Doug and Dave), Harry Orr, Brian Cornell, Brian McCutcheon, Pete Tufford, and Dan Lodboa.  Over Harkness' final four seasons, 1967 through 1970, three with future NHL Hall of Famer Ken Dryden in net, the Big Red won four consecutive ECAC championships, to go with two national championships and an incredible 110-5-1 record.  Dryden's successor, Brian Cropper, led the 1970 team won the NCAA title at 29-0-0: the only perfect champion in NCAA history.

Dick Bertrand took the helm in the 70's, at the height of the great rivalry with fellow ECAC power BU. Bertrand guided the Big Red to ECAC titles in 1973 and 1980, the latter sparked by offensive greats Lance Nethery and Brock Tredway, and the All-American goaltending duo of Daren Eliot and Brian Hayward.  The team stayed in annual NCAA title contention until the last years of the 70's.

Lou Reycroft coached in the early 80's, and Harvard became the dominant rival after BU and several other teams left the ECAC. Cornell won a storybook ECAC title in 1986, winning both games in the Boston Garden in overtime, and backstopped by subsequent NHL player Joe Nieuwendyk, goalie Doug Dadswell, and team captain Mike Schafer.

McCutcheon returned as coach and brought together several blue-chip performers in the late 80's and early 90's. These squads, featuring future NHL workhorse Kent Manderville, defensive stalwart Dan Ratushny, and scorer Doug Derraugh, were frequently promoted in the press as national title contenders. Paris Duffus continued Cornell's tradition of phenomenal goaltenders. The legacy of these teams is mixed, as they made it to four consecutive ECAC Final Fours, yet came away empty.

After a downturn in the mid-90's, Schafer returned as a head coach with the express mission of waking Lynah's echoes. The Renaissance came more quickly and dramatically than any of the Faithful could have dreamed. Sparked by goaltender Jason Elliot, the Big Red responded with back-to-back ECAC championships in 1996 and 1997, and two NCAA seeds. A win in the 1997 Western Regional left Cornell just one game short of the NCAA Final Four.

As the 21st century dawned, the team reloaded in the span of two standout classes with Mark and Matt McRae, Doug Murray, Ryan Vesce, Stephen Bâby, and Sam Paolini.  The squad made trips to the ECAC championship game in 2001 and 2002, the latter in front of the goaltending duo of Matt Underhill and David LeNeveu.  The 25 wins in 2002 was their best in 30 years.  In 2003, they added blue chip forwards Shane Hynes, Matt Moulson and Chris and Cam Abbott, and climbed ever higher: to their tenth ECAC championship, #1 in the polls, their first trip to the Frozen Four in 23 years, and a record-setting 30 victories.

David McKee joined the squad in time to replace LeNeveu and lead the team to break their former defensive records, while capturing ECAC Rookie of the Year and then Player of the Year as a Freshman. Meanwhile, the talented Sasha Pokulok joined the blueline, and was chosen in the first round of the NHL entry draft.  The Red won their eleventh ECAC Championship in 2005, skating their way to their third season of at least 25 wins in the previous four.

In the summer of 2006, McKee, Pokulok and Ryan O'Byrne signed early pro contracts and Moulson and the Abbot twins graduated (Hynes had jumped a year earlier), yet the Big Red still managed a first round ECAC bye, due to an outstanding freshman class. In 2007, buoyed by the strong leadership of senior Topher Scott and the ECAC rookie of the year Riley Nash, Cornell returned to Albany. Barring another spate of early departures, the Big Red, led by talented forwards Michael Kennedy and Colin Greening, seem poised to again challenge for conference and national prominence.

First Team All-Americans