# 2022–23 Cornell Big Red men's ice hockey season

The 2022–23 Cornell Big Red Men's ice hockey season was the 106th season of play for the program and 61st in ECAC Hockey. The Big Red represented Cornell University in the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season, were coached by Mike Schafer in his 27th season, and played their home games at Lynah Rink.

## Season

Entering the season, was expected to be strong defensive team, as it usually was under Mike Schafer. However, after his health scare in January '22, it remained to be seen if he was still physically able to do the job. While that was being sorted, the team itself was mostly set. Many of the key offensive players from the previous season were returning. Ian Shane was the incumbent starting goaltender, having won the job in the second half of '22 while co-captains Sam Malinski and Travis Mitchell were leading the defense.
Despite all of the returning brain trust, Cornell was slow off the mark and got swept by Minnesota Duluth to open their season. Their performance was a little better over the following two weeks but the Big Red were still a bit off, only able to earn splits. It wasn't until min-November that the team was able to sort itself out and consistently put forth a solid effort. Over a 2-month span, the Big Red went 8–1–1 to recover their position in the polls, losing only against arch-rival Harvard. During that run, the Big Red returned to their stifling defensive style and severely limiting chances against Shane. Over the course of the season, Cornell averaged under 21 shots against per game, one of the best marks in the nation, and allowed less than 2 goals against per game.
Cornell continued to play strong in the second half, winning its way into the top 10 by taking down then #1 Quinnipiac. The Big Red handed the Bobcats just their second loss on the season and put themselves into a solid position for an at-large bid. A slight slip up at the end of the season pushed the Big Red into the bubble but, as they still had the conference tournament, there was no need to panic. Cornell won its 25th Ivy League title after defeating Yale in its final game of the regular season. They were able to do this despite being swept by, and having a worse record than, Harvard because two of the Crimson's victories came in overtime while the Big Red received full points for all 8 of their wins.
The postseason began with Cornell sitting at home and awaiting their opponent as the Big Red received a bye into the quarterfinals. Because of their spot in the NCAA bubble, the Big Red needed to win the first round matchup. Unfortunately, they ended up drawing Clarkson, who had already defeated them twice during the regular season. Luckily, Cornell was able to overcome recent history and the team played lock-down defense stop the Golden Knights from generating much in the way of offense. Clarkson ended up getting just 36 shots on goal in two games while the Cornell power play lifted them to consecutive wins and a trip to the semifinals. While the wins did little improve Cornell's PairWise ranking, several other teams vying for the postseason had lost in their tournaments and all bug guaranteed the Big Red a spot in the tournament.
The semifinal pitted Cornell against Harvard and the two long-time rivals fought a furious battle of contrasting styles. As stout as Cornell's defense was, Harvard had a high-powered offense and forced the Big Red to defend hard all game. While they were able to hold off the Crimson attack, that meant limiting their own chances. After 60 minutes neither team was able to score and the match headed into overtime. Harvard continued to press, forcing the Big Red to defend the entire time. In four and a half minutes, Harvard got 5 shots on goal to Cornell's 0 with the final being the game-winner. The loss was disappointing but, once all the tournaments were sorted out, Cornell was above the cut line and returned to the NCAA field for the first time in 4 years.
Cornell received a 4-seed, but got the best possible draw by being set opposite to Denver. The Pioneers' offense had faltered in their own postseason run and that continued into the match with the Big Red. Jack O'Leary opened the scoring less than 3 minutes into the game and that was all Cornell needed. While Ben Berard added a second marker several minutes later, Ian Shane stopped all 27 shots to produce just the second shutout victory in program history and the first since Ken Dryden in 1967. The region final saw the Big Red set against another old rival in Boston University and the match was a defensive struggle from the start. combined the two team were able to get just 35 shots on goal but it was the Terriers who managed to score first. Cornell's lack of star power up front prevented them from making a strong comeback and when BU got a 2–0 lead in the third the outcome seemed bleak. With Shane on the bench for an extra attacker, Dalton Bancroft cut the lead in half with 28 seconds left in regulation. Unfortunately, the team was unable to find the tying goal in the waning moments and saw their season come to an end.

## Departures

| Player | Position | Nationality | Cause |
| Kyle Betts | Forward | Canada | Graduation (signed with Utah Grizzlies) |
| Zach Bramwell | Forward | Canada | Graduation (retired) |
| Justin Ertel | Forward | Canada | Returned to juniors (North Bay Battalion) |
| Cody Haiskanen | Defenseman | United States | Graduation (signed with Idaho Steelheads) |
| Joe Howe | Goaltender | Canada | Signed professional contract (Toronto Marlies) |
| Brenden Locke | Forward | Canada | Graduation (signed with Trois-Rivières Lions) |
| Nate McDonald | Goaltender | Canada | Graduate transfer to Guelph |
| Dan McIntyre | Forward | Canada | Left program (retired) |
| Liam Motley | Forward | Canada | Graduation (retired) |
| Benjamin Tupker | Forward | Canada | Transferred to Union |

## Recruiting

| Player | Position | Nationality | Age | Notes |
| Dalton Bancroft | Forward | Canada | 21 | Centre Hastings, ON |
| Nick DeSantis | Forward | United States | 20 | Collegeville, PA |
| Sean Donaldson | Forward | Canada | 21 | Vancouver, BC |
| Remington Keopple | Goaltender | United States | 20 | Hudson, WI |
| Ryan McInchak | Goaltender | United States | 23 | Trenton, MI; transfer from American International |
| Jack O'Brien | Defenseman | Canada | 19 | White Rock, BC |
| Gabriel Seger | Forward | Sweden | 22 | Uppsala, SWE; transfer from Union |
| Winter Wallace | Forward | United States | 20 | Boulder, CO |

## Roster

As of September 1, 2022.

## Standings

2022–23 ECAC Hockey Standingsvte :
| | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record |
| | GP | W | L | T | OTW | OTL | SW | PTS | GF | GA | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA |
| #1 Quinnipiac † | 22 | 20 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 60 | 87 | 30 | 41 | 34 | 4 | 3 | 162 | 64 |
| #10 Harvard | 22 | 18 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 49 | 86 | 48 | 34 | 24 | 8 | 2 | 125 | 81 |
| #9 Cornell | 22 | 15 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 47 | 78 | 42 | 34 | 21 | 11 | 2 | 112 | 66 |
| St. Lawrence | 22 | 12 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 37 | 56 | 58 | 36 | 17 | 19 | 0 | 88 | 102 |
| #18 Colgate * | 22 | 11 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 36 | 71 | 58 | 40 | 19 | 16 | 5 | 113 | 109 |
| Clarkson | 22 | 9 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 31 | 60 | 60 | 37 | 16 | 17 | 4 | 102 | 98 |
| Rensselaer | 22 | 9 | 13 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 26 | 52 | 74 | 35 | 14 | 20 | 1 | 84 | 115 |
| Union | 22 | 8 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 26 | 45 | 68 | 35 | 14 | 19 | 2 | 86 | 117 |
| Princeton | 22 | 8 | 14 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 26 | 57 | 73 | 32 | 13 | 19 | 0 | 89 | 112 |
| Yale | 22 | 6 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 22 | 35 | 62 | 32 | 8 | 20 | 4 | 57 | 94 |
| Brown | 22 | 5 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 20 | 41 | 69 | 30 | 9 | 18 | 3 | 65 | 91 |
| Dartmouth | 22 | 4 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 16 | 44 | 70 | 30 | 5 | 24 | 1 | 64 | 106 |
| Championship: March 18, 2023 † indicates conference regular season champion (Cleary Cup) * indicates conference tournament champion (Whitelaw Cup) Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll |||||||||||||||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date | Time | Opponent$^#$ | Rank$^#$ | Site | TV | Decision | Result | Attendance | Record |
| Exhibition ||||||||||
| October 15 | 7:00 PM | Ottawa* | #19 | Lynah Rink • Ithaca, New York (Exhibition) | ESPN+ | Shane | W 5–1 | 948 | |
| October 20 | 7:00 PM | Guelph* | #20 | Lynah Rink • Ithaca, New York (Exhibition) | ESPN+ | Shane | W 8–1 | 739 | |
| Regular Season ||||||||||
| October 28 | 8:00 PM | at #19 Minnesota Duluth* | #20 | AMSOIL Arena • Duluth, Minnesota | MY9 | Shane | L 2–3 | 4,158 | 0–1–0 |
| October 29 | 8:00 PM | at #19 Minnesota Duluth* | #20 | AMSOIL Arena • Duluth, Minnesota | MY9 | Keopple | L 2–4 | 4,395 | 0–2–0 |
| November 4 | 7:00 PM | at Princeton | | Hobey Baker Memorial Rink • Princeton, New Jersey | ESPN+ | Shane | W 3–1 | 2,171 | 1–2–0 (1–0–0) |
| November 5 | 7:00 PM | at #7 Quinnipiac | | M&T Bank Arena • Hamden, Connecticut | ESPN+ | Shane | L 0–2 | 3,439 | 1–3–0 (1–1–0) |
| November 11 | 7:00 PM | at St. Lawrence | | Appleton Arena • Canton, New York | ESPN+ | Shane | W 5–1 | 1,395 | 2–3–0 (2–1–0) |
| November 12 | 7:00 PM | at Clarkson | | Cheel Arena • Potsdam, New York | ESPN+ | Shane | L 1–4 | 2,782 | 2–4–0 (2–2–0) |
| November 18 | 7:00 PM | Yale | | Lynah Rink • Ithaca, New York | ESPN+ | Shane | W 5–2 | 3,717 | 3–4–0 (3–2–0) |
| November 19 | 7:00 PM | Brown | | Lynah Rink • Ithaca, New York | ESPN+ | Keopple | W 5–1 | 3,695 | 4–4–0 (4–2–0) |
| November 22 | 7:00 PM | Sacred Heart* | | Lynah Rink • Ithaca, New York | ESPN+ | Shane | W 2–1 | 2,772 | 5–4–0 |
| November 26 | 8:00 PM | vs. #6 Connecticut* | | Madison Square Garden • Manhattan, New York (The Frozen Apple) | ESPN+ | Shane | W 6–0 | 12,247 | 6–4–0 |
| December 2 | 7:00 PM | #7 Harvard | | Lynah Rink • Ithaca, New York (Rivalry) | ESPN+ | Shane | L 1–2 | 4,267 | 6–5–0 (4–3–0) |
| December 3 | 7:00 PM | Dartmouth | | Lynah Rink • Ithaca, New York | ESPN+ | Shane | W 1–0 | 4,267 | 7–5–0 (5–3–0) |
| December 29 | 7:00 PM | American International* | | Lynah Rink • Ithaca, New York | ESPN+ | Shane | W 8–4 | 2,927 | 8–5–0 |
| December 30 | 7:00 PM | American International* | | Lynah Rink • Ithaca, New York | ESPN+ | Shane | T 3–3 $^{OT}$ | 3,024 | 8–5–1 |
| January 6 | 7:00 PM | at Union | #18 | Achilles Rink • Schenectady, New York | ESPN+ | Shane | W 6–1 | 2,185 | 9–5–1 (6–3–0) |
| January 7 | 4:00 PM | at Rensselaer | #18 | Houston Field House • Troy, New York | ESPN+ | Shane | W 6–4 | 2,724 | 10–5–1 (7–3–0) |
| January 14 | 4:00 PM | at #7 Boston University | #15 | Agganis Arena • Boston, Massachusetts | ESPN+ | Shane | L 3–4 | 5,346 | 10–6–1 |
| January 20 | 7:00 PM | #1 Quinnipiac | #16 | Lynah Rink • Ithaca, New York | ESPN+ | Shane | W 4–0 | 3,794 | 11–6–1 (8–3–0) |
| January 21 | 7:00 PM | Princeton | #16 | Lynah Rink • Ithaca, New York | ESPN+ | Shane | W 3–2 | 4,267 | 12–6–1 (9–3–0) |
| January 27 | 7:00 PM | at Dartmouth | #11 | Thompson Arena • Hanover, New Hampshire | ESPN+ | Shane | W 3–2 | 2,001 | 13–6–1 (10–3–0) |
| January 28 | 7:00 PM | at #10 Harvard | #11 | Bright-Landry Hockey Center • Boston, Massachusetts (Rivalry) | ESPN+ | Shane | L 2–6 | 3,095 | 13–7–1 (10–4–0) |
| February 3 | 7:00 PM | Rensselaer | #11 | Lynah Rink • Ithaca, New York | ESPN+ | Shane | W 3–1 | 3,723 | 14–7–1 (11–4–0) |
| February 4 | 7:00 PM | Union | #11 | Lynah Rink • Ithaca, New York | ESPN+ | Shane | W 10–1 | 3,903 | 15–7–1 (12–4–0) |
| February 10 | 7:00 PM | Colgate | #11 | Lynah Rink • Ithaca, New York | ESPN+ | Shane | W 3–2 | 4,267 | 16–7–1 (13–4–0) |
| February 11 | 7:00 PM | at Colgate | #11 | Class of 1965 Arena • Hamilton, New York | ESPN+ | Keopple | T 4–4 $^{SOL}$ | 2,271 | 16–7–2 (13–4–1) |
| February 17 | 7:00 PM | Clarkson | #11 | Lynah Rink • Ithaca, New York | ESPN+ | Shane | L 3–4 | 3,102 | 16–8–2 (13–5–1) |
| February 18 | 7:00 PM | St. Lawrence | #11 | Lynah Rink • Ithaca, New York | ESPN+ | Shane | L 0–1 | 4,267 | 16–9–2 (13–6–1) |
| February 24 | 7:00 PM | at Brown | #13 | Meehan Auditorium • Providence, Rhode Island | ESPN+ | Shane | W 5–0 | 1,177 | 17–9–2 (14–6–1) |
| February 25 | 7:00 PM | at Yale | #13 | Ingalls Rink • New Haven, Connecticut | ESPN+ | Shane | W 5–1 | 2,837 | 18–9–2 (15–6–1) |
| ECAC Hockey Tournament ||||||||||
| March 10 | 7:00 PM | Clarkson* | #12 | Lynah Rink • Ithaca, New York (Quarterfinal Game 1) | ESPN+ | Shane | W 2–1 | 3,752 | 19–9–2 |
| March 11 | 7:00 PM | Clarkson* | #12 | Lynah Rink • Ithaca, New York (Quarterfinal Game 2) | ESPN+ | Shane | W 3–1 | 3,935 | 20–9–2 |
| March 17 | 7:30 PM | vs. #6 Harvard* | #10 | Herb Brooks Arena • Lake Placid, New York (Semifinal, Rivalry) | ESPN+ | Shane | L 0–1 $^{OT}$ | 3,533 | 20–10–2 |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||||||
| March 23 | 5:30 PM | vs. #4 Denver* | #12 | SNHU Arena • Manchester, New Hampshire (East Regional Semifinal) | ESPNews | Shane | W 2–0 | 3,631 | 21–10–2 |
| March 25 | 4:00 PM | vs. #5 Boston University* | #12 | SNHU Arena • Manchester, New Hampshire (East Regional Final) | ESPNU | Shane | L 1–2 | 7,143 | 21–11–2 |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from USCHO.com Poll. All times are in Eastern Time. Source: ||||||||||

## Scoring statistics

| Name | Position | Games | Goals | Assists | Points | PIM |
| Gabriel Seger | C/LW | 30 | 7 | 23 | 30 | 19 |
| Ben Berard | LW | 34 | 11 | 17 | 28 | 8 |
| Sam Malinski | D | 34 | 8 | 18 | 26 | 29 |
| Max Andreev | F | 31 | 6 | 16 | 22 | 24 |
| Dalton Bancroft | RW | 33 | 9 | 12 | 21 | 19 |
| Nick DeSantis | F | 30 | 9 | 11 | 20 | 12 |
| Travis Mitchell | D | 34 | 6 | 13 | 19 | 20 |
| Kyle Penney | C | 33 | 7 | 11 | 18 | 4 |
| Jack Malone | RW/C | 34 | 8 | 9 | 17 | 6 |
| Jack O'Leary | F | 29 | 6 | 11 | 17 | 8 |
| Ondřej Pšenička | RW | 34 | 8 | 7 | 15 | 10 |
| Zach Tupker | C | 34 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 20 |
| Sullivan Mack | F | 25 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 8 |
| Sean Donaldson | LW | 22 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 0 |
| Tim Rego | D | 33 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 16 |
| Winter Wallace | RW | 23 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 18 |
| Matt Stienburg | C | 18 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 18 |
| Michael Suda | D | 33 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| Sebastian Dirven | D | 34 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 23 |
| Kyler Kovich | LW | 16 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Jack Lagerstrom | D | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Hank Kempf | D | 31 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10 |
| Jack O'Brien | D | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ryan McInchak | G | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Remington Keopple | G | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ian Shane | G | 33 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Total | | | 112 | 195 | 307 | 290 |

## Goaltending statistics

| Name | Games | Minutes | Wins | Losses | Ties | Goals Against | Saves | Shut Outs | SV % | GAA |
| Ian Shane | 33 | 1852:53 | 20 | 10 | 1 | 53 | 581 | 5 | .916 | 1.72 |
| Remington Keopple | 5 | 174:28 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 52 | 0 | .852 | 3.10 |
| Ryan McInchak | 3 | 11:21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | .667 | 5.29 |
| Empty Net | - | 16:57 | - | - | - | 3 | - | - | - | - |
| Total | 34 | 2055:39 | 21 | 11 | 1 | 66 | 635 | 5 | .906 | 1.93 |

## Rankings

| Poll | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 (Final) |
| USCHO.com | 19 | - | 19 | 19 | 20 | 20 | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | - | 18 | 15 | 16 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 12 | - | 9 |
| USA Today | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 20 | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | 20 | 20 | NR | 17 | 14 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 11 | 12 | 9 | 9 |
Note: USCHO did not release a poll in weeks 1, 13, or 26.

## Awards and honors

| Player | Award | Ref |
| Sam Malinski | AHCA All-American East Second Team | |
| Sam Malinski | ECAC Hockey First Team | |

## Players drafted into the NHL
### 2023 NHL Entry Draft

| Round | Pick | Player | NHL team |
| 3 | 70 | Jonathan Castagna $^†$ | Arizona Coyotes |
| 4 | 108 | Hoyt Stanley $^†$ | Ottawa Senators |
| 6 | 188 | Ryan Walsh $^†$ | Boston Bruins |
† incoming freshman