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

2022–23 Cornell Big Red men's ice hockey season
NCAA Tournament, Regional Final
Conference	3rd ECAC Hockey
Home ice	Lynah Rink
Rankings
USCHO	#9
USA Today	#9
Record
Overall	21–11–2
Conference	13–4–1
Home	12–3–1
Road	7–6–1
Neutral	2–2–0
Coaches and captains
Head coach	Mike Schafer
Assistant coaches	Ben Syer Sean Flanagan Mitch Stephens
Captain(s)	Sam Malinski Travis Mitchell
Alternate captain(s)	Max Andreyev Matt Stienburg
Cornell Big Red men's ice hockey seasons « 2021–22 2023–24 »

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.

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.^[1] While that was being sorted, the team itself was mostly set. Many of the key offensive payers 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.^[2] 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.^[3] 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.^[4]

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

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

As of September 1, 2022.^[5]

No.	S/P/C	Player	Class	Pos	Height	Weight	DoB	Hometown	Previous team	NHL rights
2		Peter Muzyka	Senior	D	6' 3" (1.91 m)	194 lb (88 kg)	2000-05-14	Toronto, Ontario	New Mexico (NAHL)	—
3		Jack O'Brien	Freshman	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	2003-03-07	White Rock, British Columbia	Nanaimo (BCHL)	—
4		Hank Kempf	Sophomore	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	2002-04-15	Wilmette, Illinois	Muskegon (USHL)	NYR, 208th overall 2021
5		Sebastian Dirven	Senior	D	6' 3" (1.91 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	1998-06-22	Bainsville, Ontario	Central Illinois (USHL)	—
7		Jimmy Rayhill	Sophomore	D	5' 9" (1.75 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	2001-03-17	New Hartford, New York	Odessa (NAHL)	—
8		Jack Lagerstrom	Junior	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	177 lb (80 kg)	2000-03-30	Edina, Minnesota	Tri-City (USHL)	—
9		Jack O'Leary	Sophomore	F	5' 7" (1.7 m)	162 lb (73 kg)	2000-03-28	St. James, New York	Lincoln (USHL)	—
10		Travis Mitchell (C)	Senior	D	6' 3" (1.91 m)	207 lb (94 kg)	1999-11-25	South Lyon, Michigan	Omaha (USHL)	—
11		Sean Donaldson	Freshman	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	2001-03-28	Vancouver, British Columbia	Nanaimo (BCHL)	—
12		Tim Rego	Sophomore	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	172 lb (78 kg)	2000-10-31	Mansfield, Massachusetts	Brooks (AJHL)	—
13		Jack Malone	Senior	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	193 lb (88 kg)	2000-10-13	Madison, New Jersey	Youngstown (USHL)	VAN, 180th overall 2019
15		Max Andreev (A)	Senior	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	182 lb (83 kg)	1998-10-22	Moscow, Russia	Central Illinois (USHL)	—
16		Gabriel Seger	Junior	F	6' 4" (1.93 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	1999-11-15	Uppsala, Sweden	Union (ECAC)	—
17		Dalton Bancroft	Freshman	F	6' 3" (1.91 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	2001-02-26	Madoc, Ontario	Trenton (OJHL)	—
18		Kyler Kovich	Sophomore	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	182 lb (83 kg)	2002-01-31	Coquitlam, British Columbia	Tri-City (USHL)	—
19		Sullivan Mack	Sophomore	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	189 lb (86 kg)	2000-07-05	Anchorage, Alaska	Salmon Arm (BCHL)	—
20		Matt Stienburg (A)	Senior	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	2000-10-07	Halifax, Nova Scotia	St. Andrew's College (CISAA)	COL, 63rd overall 2019
21		Zach Tupker	Senior	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	187 lb (85 kg)	1999-12-23	Collingwood, Ontario	Carleton Place (CCHL)	—
22		Kyle Penney	Sophomore	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	204 lb (93 kg)	2000-07-18	Lawrencetown, Nova Scotia	Chilliwack (BCHL)	—
23		Winter Wallace	Freshman	F	6' 3" (1.91 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	2002-01-21	Boulder, Colorado	Youngstown (USHL)	—
24		Sam Malinski (C)	Senior	D	5' 11" (1.8 m)	189 lb (86 kg)	1998-07-27	Lakeville, Minnesota	Bismarck (NAHL)	—
26		Ondřej Pšenička	Sophomore	F	6' 6" (1.98 m)	211 lb (96 kg)	2001-01-07	Prague, Czech Republic	Waterloo (USHL)	—
27		Michael Suda	Sophomore	D	6' 1" (1.85 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	2002-07-03	Cheektowaga, New York	Fargo (USHL)	—
28		Nick DeSantis	Freshman	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	155 lb (70 kg)	2002-05-02	Collegeville, Pennsylvania	Madison (USHL)	—
29		Ben Berard	Junior	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	192 lb (87 kg)	1999-02-13	Duncan, British Columbia	Powell River (BCHL)	—
30		Ian Shane	Sophomore	G	6' 0" (1.83 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	2000-09-24	Manhattan Beach, California	Bismarck (USHL)	—
33		Remington Keopple	Freshman	G	6' 2" (1.88 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	2002-03-21	Somerset, Wisconsin	Des Moines (USHL)	—
34		Ryan McInchak	Junior	G	6' 0" (1.83 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	1999-02-28	Trenton, Michigan	American International (AHA)	—

^[7]

Note: USCHO did not release a poll in weeks 1, 13, or 26.^[8]

† incoming freshman ^[11]