ITHACA, N.Y. -- Fresh off an appearance in the NCAA Regional Finals, the Cornell men's hockey team has added 10 newcomers to the roster, bolstering a veteran squad as Cornell tries to return to the Frozen Four for the first time since 2002-03. Mike Schafer, the Jay R. Bloom Head Coach of Men's Hockey, announced the class that will enroll at Cornell and play hockey beginning with the 2009-10 season.

Included in the group of 10 players is a pair who was drafted in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft in defensemen Braden Birch and Nicholas D'Agostino. Birch was a sixth-round selection (179th overall) by the Chicago Blackhawks, while D'Agostino was a seventh-round pick (211th overall) by the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Additionally, the Big Red tapped into the Ontario Junior Hockey League for half of its incoming class, including three players who were teammates last season for the St. Michael's Buzzers - one of which was D'Agostino. Former Buzzer players joining the Big Red include Erik Axell and Greg Miller, while Birch played with the Oakville Blades and Jarred Seymour with the Stouffville Spirit.

The incoming class also has a prior family connection to the Big Red, as Chris Moulson is the younger brother of Matt Moulson, who played for Cornell from 2002-06 and amassed 148 points in 134 career games and served as a captain during the 2005-06 season.

For the second straight season, the incoming group of players brings increased size to the Cornell roster. The average height and weight of the incoming class is 6-1, 189, with five players standing 6-0 or taller.
 
Cornell returns 15 lettermen from last year's squad that finished 22-10-4 overall, finishing as the runner-up in the ECAC Hockey tournament and regular season. The Big Red advanced to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2006, defeating Northeastern in the NCAA Midwest Regional Semifinal before falling to upstart Bemidji State in the final in Grand Rapids, Mich.

Incoming Players at a Glance
By position: 6 forwards, 3 defensemen, 1 goaltender
By junior hockey league: 5 Ontario Junior Hockey League, 2 British Columbia Hockey League, 1 US Hockey League, 1 Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, 1 unaffiliated
By State/Province: 7 Ontario, 1 Quebec, 1 Ohio, 1 Texas

Cornell Men's Hockey 2008-09 Incoming Player Biographies
Erik Axell - Forward/6-4/197 - Toronto, Ontario
(St. Michael's Buzzers - Ontario Junior Hockey League)
Axell spent two seasons of junior hockey with the St. Michael's Buzzers of the OJHL, playing on a line with new Cornell teammate Greg Miller. He was the team's co-rookie of the year in 2008 and was selected to the CJAHL Top Prospects game that same season. Axell tallied 65 points in 48 total games last season, scoring 15 goals and assisting on 50 others. He closed out the 2008-09 season with points in six straight games, scoring 11 points over that span. Axell also played football and lacrosse while at Upper Canada College, earning rookie of the year honors in lacrosse in 2006 and captain and defenseman of the year in lacrosse in 2009.
Cornell Coach Mike Schafer on Axell: "Erik really fits into our style of game here. He had some injuries last year, but he has really good hands and played on St. Michael's top line with Greg Miller and (Miami, Ohio, recruit) Riley Smith and produced a lot of offense for them. He's got great hockey sense and can play both center and right wing."

Braden Birch - Defenseman/6-4/205 - Hamilton, Ontario
(Oakville Blades - Ontario Junior Hockey League)
Birch, a sixth-round selection of the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2008 NHL Draft, served as an assistant captain for the Oakville Blades in 2008-09. He appeared in 62 games last year, scoring 35 points on 11 goals and 24 assists while leading Oakville to the finals of the OJHL. In 2007-08, he appeared in 32 games, scoring seven points on a goal and six assists. Birch was also selected to and named an assistant captain for Team Canada East of the World Junior A Challenge, earning a third-place finish.
Cornell Coach Mike Schafer on Birch: "Braden has really developed while playing junior hockey. At 6-4, he's very mobile on the blue line. He had a really good year in junior hockey this year. His strengths are his ability to move the puck and his mobility and size. It fits into what we wanted with this class, size and mobility on the blue line."

Nicholas D'Agostino - Defenseman/6-2/181 - Bolton, Ontario
(St. Michael's Buzzers - Ontario Junior Hockey League)
D'Agostino spent two seasons with the St. Michael's Buzzers of the OJHL and was selected after his first season with the Buzzers by the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League in the seventh round of the 2008 draft. He was named the OJHL Central Division's top defensemen last season. Serving as an assistant captain, he played in 43 games in 2008-09 with the Buzzers, scoring nine goals and 24 assists for 33 points to rank first among all defensemen. He was also named the Buzzers' Rookie of the Year after the 2007-08 season that saw him tally 23 points on five goals and 18 assists. D'Agostino was selected to represent Team Canada East at the World Junior A Challenge in 2008-09, helping that squad to a third-place finish.
Cornell Coach Mike Schafer on D'Agostino: "Nick is again what we wanted out of our defense corps. He's got great feet and is able to get up in transition. He moves the puck very well, has really good hockey sense. He ran power play and the strengths of both him and Braden are getting the puck to the net through traffic."

Armand de Swardt - Forward/6-5/205 - Plano, Texas
(Chicago Steel - United States Hockey League)
A big, physical player, de Swardt spent the 2008-09 season with the Chicago Steel of the USHL. He compiled three points in 29 games, scoring a pair of goals to go along with an assist. Prior to his stop in the USHL, he played two seasons with the Dallas Stars AAA club.
Cornell Coach Mike Schafer on de Swardt: "Last year was a weird year for Armand. He broke his ankle in June and didn't come back and play until December. At 6-5, and with great mobility, it was a frustrating year for him in hockey, but what we've seen of him in the previous two years up to that was someone with great mobility and offensive skill for a 6-5 player. He's got an edge to his game and can play both center and left wing. Experience will be his biggest question mark just from the fact that he played a half a year of junior hockey in a limited role last year. All indications from what we've seen of him previously, though, is that he's a tremendous talent."

John Esposito - Forward/5-10/170 - Montreal, Quebec
(Notre Dame Hounds - Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League)
Esposito played junior hockey with the Notre Dame Hounds of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, appearing in 51 games and scoring 15 goals and 22 assists for 37 points. He had eight multi-point games on the year while scoring four power play goals and adding one game-winner.
Cornell Coach Mike Schafer on Esposito: "I think John could be the most skilled player coming in out of the class. He's the youngest, and has great offensive instincts and great hands. We really expect John to be a power-play type of player for us. He played at Notre Dame, a great hockey school, and we're happy to have his skill level coming into our program."

Omar Kanji - Goaltender/5-10/155 - Thornhill, Ontario
(Upper Canada College)
Kanji was a two-time most-valuable player for the Upper Canada College varsity team, a first in program history, after posting a cumulative .925 save percentage and a 2.23 goals-against average in 60 games. He was named to the Toronto Star High School Hockey All-Star Team in 2008-09, and was selected to the Stanstead Invitational All-Star Team. Kanji played Junior A hockey before the prep season began and posted a league-best 58-save shutout in his debut. Kanji also played soccer, golf and tennis, winning the soccer team's golden boot award as the leading scorer.
Cornell Coach Mike Schafer on Kanji: "Omar was highly recommended to us character-wise, and we wanted someone who can come in as our number three goaltender with great character. We wanted someone who wanted to work hard, much along the lines of a kid like Dan DiLeo - a great teammate and knows his role coming into the program. He'll start out as our third goaltender, and he's a great student and a great kid."

Vince Mihalek - Forward/5-11/185 - Willowick, Ohio
(Westside Warriors - British Columbia Hockey League)
Mihalek played last season with the Westside Warriors of the British Columbia Hockey League, compiling 10 goals and 20 assists for 30 points in 58 games and was named the team's most improved player. Prior to moving to the BCHL, he spent a season with the Cedar Rapids Rough Riders of the USHL, scoring four goals and four assists in 31 games.
Cornell Coach Mike Schafer on Mihalek: "Vince is still a young kid, but has great skating speed and had a better year last year out at Westside. He showed great offensive talent when he played at Gilmour Academy in Cleveland, and we hope he continues to progress as a player."

Greg Miller - Forward/5-11/197 - Toronto, Ontario
(St. Michael's Buzzers - Ontario Junior Hockey League)
Miller spent each of the last three seasons with the St. Michael's Buzzers of the OJHL, accumulating 111 goals and 138 assists in 220 games over that span. Serving as the team captain in 2008-09, he compiled 40 goals and 52 assists last season to finish tied for fourth in the league scoring race. He scored 11 power-play goals and one short-handed goal last season, while also scoring three game-winning goals. Miller also represented Team Canada East in the World Junior A Challenge, helping that squad to a third-place finish. He competed in the Battle of Ontario all-star game, earning game most valuable player honors.
Cornell Coach Mike Schafer on Miller: "Greg Miller is someone who was a late get for us in the recruiting process. He's a great offensive talent. The strength of his game is the ability to shoot the puck and score goals. He was the captain at St. Michael's and was teammates with Erik Axell and Nick D'Agostino. He was someone we recruited two years ago and things didn't work out for both of us. We're fortunate that we were able to land him this time around."

Chris Moulson - Forward/5-11/190 - Mississauga, Ontario
(Alberni Valley Bulldogs - British Columbia Hockey League)
Moulson spent the last two seasons with the Alberni Valley Bulldogs, compiling 66 points on 17 goals and 49 assists over that span. Last season, he scored six goals and had 27 assists in 60 games, scoring one short-handed goal and one game-winner and finishing fourth on the team in scoring. He also served as an assistant captain for the Bulldogs last season.
Cornell Coach Mike Schafer on Moulson: "Obviously fans are familiar with Chris with his brother, Matt being here, and some of the things we saw with Chris are similar characteristics to his brother. He's got great hands in tight around the net and has the ability to score goals. We hope he's able to make the similar transition to college hockey."

Jarred Seymour - Defenseman/6-3/195 - Toronto, Ontario
(Stouffville Spirit - Ontario Junior Hockey League)
Seymour spent two seasons with Stouffville, appearing in a total of 100 games over the two seasons. Last year, he played in 44 games, tallying 10 points on three goals and seven assists while recording 100 minutes in penalties. In his first year with the Spirit, he played in 56 games and scoring two goals and 10 assists for 12 points. A native of Sydney, Australia, Seymour played for the Aussies in the 2009 IIHF Division I World Championship in Lithuania, playing in five games and leading all scorers with a goal and three assists.
Cornell Coach Mike Schafer on Seymour: "Jarred again is in the mode of what we wanted on defense. He's 6-4, very mobile, and played in the World Championships for Australia. He's just a kid who's got very raw, natural ability."