Season Outlook: Cornell Set to Attain Ultimate Goal

ITHACA, N.Y. -- For the Cornell men's hockey team, every year, the ultimate goals are the same: to win an ECAC Hockey championship and compete for a national title. In some years, those goals are more realistic than in others, where everything comes together: a potent offense, a lock-down defense, a clutch goaltender and stellar special teams units.

As the Cornell men take to the ice this year, it appears as though the 2009-10 season will be one of those seasons where the Big Red has all the pieces to make a run at both the league and national crowns. It starts up front with the top three scorers back from a year ago, and it continues with the defense that returns five seasoned veterans with a trio of talented rookies, and to the goal, where one of the nation's top goaltenders returns.

When you add it all up, it's easy to see why the Big Red has its sights set on winning a league title in Albany in March and continuing through to the Frozen Four in Detroit in April.

Forwards
While senior Colin Greening and junior Riley Nash garner most of the headlines, it's easy to miss the amount of sheer talent the Big Red returns to the offensive lineup this season. Greening and Nash kept fans on the edge of their seats during the offseason about their decision to return to Cornell and put off turning professional for a year.

Nash led the team in scoring last season, tallying 13 goals and 22 assists for 35 points. Greening, meanwhile, posted a team-best 15 goals while recording 31 points a year ago. The pair combined to form a potent power-play combination, as they joined up for 11 power-play goals last season.

Joining the pair of NHL draft picks as a returning 20-plus point scorer is senior Blake Gallagher, who tallied seven goals and 21 assists for 28 points last season. Gallagher also showed off his mental toughness down the stretch, playing the last four games of the year on a badly sprained ankle. He, too, joined in on the power play, posting five of his seven goals with the man advantage.

The key to Cornell's success this season, however, lies in getting production from outside of those three. Juniors Joe Devin, Patrick Kennedy and Tyler Roeszler and sophomores Locke Jillson and Sean Collins will be looked upon to increase their offensive production to take some of the opposing defense's attention away from the likes of Nash, Greening and Gallagher.

Last season, Devin began to emerge as a key scorer after the winter break, but an injury in early February sidelined him for the stretch run. Still, he finished the year with eight goals and four assists for 12 points, with two of those goals standing as the game-winner. Kennedy, meanwhile, tallied nine points on four goals and five assists, including a pair of power-play tallies. Roeszler provided a spark early in the year, recording a goal and six assists. If each of the three can stay healthy and in the lineup, their production should increase, making the Big Red even more potent offensively.

Jillson and Collins both had the typical freshman year ups-and-downs in getting adjusted to college hockey. Jillson finished the year with a goal and eight assists for nine points, while Collins posted three goals and three assists on the season.

With the departure of the ECAC Hockey Defensive Forward of the Year in Tyler Mugford, a trio of returners will look to pick up where he left off in defending the opposition's top line. Senior Joe Scali, junior Dan Nicholls and sophomore Jordan Kary each saw time on the Big Red's fourth line last season, and will likely get a shot at that role again this season. Like others among the forwards, increased offensive production should result in more ice time, as the three of them combined for one goal and five assists last season.

The forwards will be boosted by the addition of five talented newcomers. Junior hockey teammates Greg Miller and Erik Axell will bring their established chemistry to the Cornell lineup, where they'll be joined by Chris Moulson, John Esposito and Vince Mihalek. Moulson is the younger brother of former Cornell star and current professional player Matt Moulson, while Esposito is the younger brother of former NHL first round draft pick Angelo Esposito. As with all of the forwards, offensive production coupled with defensive awareness will be the key to getting on the ice early.

Defense
Five defensemen return from last season, each of whom saw extensive time throughout the year. With a veteran group returning, the Big Red is again setting its sights on being the top defensive team in the country.

Leading the way are a pair of seniors who have logged countless minutes on the ice, both on special teams and at even strength. Brendon Nash gets the accolades, earning a spot on the ECAC Hockey all-league team in the preseason, after scoring 18 points last season on two goals and 16 assists. The more defensive of the two seniors, Justin Krueger, has been a key figure on the penalty killing unit over his first three seasons and should provide additional leadership among the defensive corps. Krueger contributed five points a year ago on a goal and four assists.

The three other returning defensemen are junior Mike Devin and sophomores Keir Ross and Sean Whitney. Devin was a regular running the power play last season, but like his brother, was injured late in the year and missed the stretch run. Devin chipped in 10 points on three goals and seven assists in 31 games. Ross, meanwhile, earned the team's top freshman award last year after scoring three goals and four assists for seven points. He also saw significant minutes on the ice in all phases of the game and will likely continue to do so. Whitney appeared in 14 games, mostly all during the second half of the season, and added three points on a trio of assists.

Joining that quintet are three outstanding freshmen who should all compete immediately for playing time. Two of them, Nick D'Agostino and Braden Birch, were selected in the 2008 NHL draft, with the third, Jarred Seymour, earning international experience this summer for Team Australia. The addition of the three freshmen give the Big Red a multitude of options on the blue line.

Goalies
Ben Scrivens returns for his senior season after finishing in the top 10 in the country in save percentage, goals-against average and win percentage last season. Scrivens has posted better numbers every year that he has been at Cornell and should look to challenge David McKee's all-time career shutout total this season.

Last year, Scrivens became the first Cornell goaltender to open up the season with back-to-back shutouts, blanking both Princeton and Quinnipiac to open the season. He has also recorded the school's longest shutout streak at 206:44, spanning four games over two seasons. Continued solid play from Scrivens will be a key to the Big Red's attempt to win trophies this season.

Getting the first crack at unseating the incumbent will be sophomore Mike Garman. Garman was the number two goaltender a year ago and saw time in two games, recording 12 saves in a relief effort at St. Lawrence. Garman has the ability to push Scrivens for playing time, in turn making both netminders even better.

Providing additional depth in the goal is freshman Omar Kanji. Kanji was a bit unknown prior to entering college, but posted some outstanding numbers in junior hockey, including a 58-save shutout performance in his Junior A debut.

The Schedule
One of the most difficult schedules in recent history should translate into the Big Red being tested come playoff time. Cornell will play a pair of non-conference contests against North Dakota in January, while also playing a game at 2009 NCAA tournament team New Hampshire and a game at Madison Square Garden against last year's national champion, Boston University. The Big Red will also face Colorado College at the Florida College Classic in Estero, Fla., with Maine and Princeton rounding out the tournament field.

For the Big Red in 2009-10, though, the key to the schedule is in the ECAC Hockey slate of games. With the league posting three teams in the top 12 of the nation in most of the preseason polls, the league is as strong as it's ever been. And with Yale and Princeton boasting legitimate NCAA aspirations, the Big Red players know that every game will require maximum effort in order to come away with a victory.