2020–21 Cornell Big Red men's ice hockey season

2020–21 Cornell Big Red men's ice hockey season
Conference	ECAC Hockey
Home ice	Lynah Rink
Rankings
USCHO	NR
USA Today	NR
Record
Coaches and captains
Head coach	Mike Schafer
Assistant coaches	Ben Syer Sean Flanagan Mitch Stephens
Cornell Big Red men's ice hockey seasons « 2019–20 2021–22 »

The 2020–21 Cornell Big Red Men's ice hockey season would have been the 105th season of play for the program and the 60th season in the ECAC Hockey conference. The Big Red represented Cornell University and played their home games at Lynah Rink in Ithaca, New York.

Season

As a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic the entire college ice hockey season was delayed. Despite the issues, Cornell and most of ECAC Hockey were expecting to start playing some time in November. After the teams had assembled and began practicing, however, a sizable number of Yale's players tested positive for coronavirus. On October 16, Yale raised the campus alert status from green to yellow when the 18th member of the men's ice hockey team tested positive.^[1] Less than a month later, the Ivy League, Cornell's primary conference, announced that it was cancelling all winter sports for 2020–21. Additionally the schools would not be participating in any Spring sports until the end of February.^[2] The announcement was not particularly surprising, considering that, unlike other conferences, the Ivy League does not rely on revenue generated from its athletic programs.

Because the NCAA had previously announced that all winter sports athletes would retain whatever eligibility they possessed through at least the following year, none of Cornell's players would lose a season of play.^[3] However, the NCAA also approved a change in its transfer regulations that would allow players to transfer and play immediately rather than having to sit out a season, as the rules previously required.^[4] Because of this, players who would have been members of Cornell for the 2021 season had a pathway to leave the program and immediately play for another university.

Departures

Player	Position	Nationality	Cause
Morgan Barron	Forward	Canada	Signed professional contract (New York Rangers)
Noah Bauld	Forward	Canada	Graduation
Matt Cairns	Forward	Canada	Transfer (Minnesota–Duluth)
Cam Donaldson	Defenseman	United States	Transfer (Massachusetts)
Alex Green	Defenseman	United States	Signed Professional Contract (Tampa Bay Lightning)
Yanni Kaldis	Defenseman	Canada	Graduation (signed with Bakersfield Condors)
Jeff Malott	Forward	Canada	Graduation (signed with Manitoba Moose)
Peter Muzyka	Defenseman	Canada	Returned to Juniors (New Mexico Ice Wolves)

Recruiting

Player	Position	Nationality	Age	Notes
Jack Lagerstrom	Defenseman	United States	20	Edina, MN
Jack O'Leary^†	Forward	United States	20	Smithtown, NY
Kyle Penney^†	Forward	Canada	20	Cole Harbour, NS
Tim Rego^†	Defenseman	United States	19	Mansfield, MA

† played junior hockey or equivalent during the 2020–21 season

Roster

As of October 7, 2020^[5]

No.	S/P/C	Player	Class	Pos	Height	Weight	DoB	Hometown	Previous team	NHL rights
3		Cody Haiskanen	Senior	D	6' 4" (1.93 m)	198 lb (90 kg)	1997-03-27	Fargo, North Dakota	Fargo (USHL)	—
4		Joe Leahy	Junior	D	6' 4" (1.93 m)	192 lb (87 kg)	1997-04-29	Waterloo, Ontario	Salmon Arm (BCHL)	—
5		Sebastian Dirven	Sophomore	D	6' 3" (1.91 m)	196 lb (89 kg)	1998-06-22	Bainsville, Ontario	Central Illinois (USHL)	—
7		Cam Donaldson	Senior	F	5' 8" (1.73 m)	169 lb (77 kg)	1998-07-14	Pittsboro, North Carolina	Powell River (BCHL)	—
8		Jack Lagerstrom	Freshman	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2000-03-30	Edina, Minnesota	Tri-City (USHL)	—
9		Jack O'Leary	Freshman	F	5' 7" (1.7 m)	160 lb (73 kg)	2000-03-28	St. James, New York	Cedar Rapids (USHL)	—
10		Travis Mitchell	Sophomore	D	6' 3" (1.91 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	1999-11-25	South Lyon, Michigan	Omaha (USHL)	—
11		Kyle Betts	Senior	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	177 lb (80 kg)	1997-09-17	Flesherton, Ontario	Powell River (BCHL)	—
12		Tim Rego	Freshman	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	2000-10-31	Mansfield, Massachusetts	Brooks (AJHL)	—
13		Jack Malone	Sophomore	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	2000-10-13	Madison, New Jersey	Youngstown (USHL)	VAN, 180th overall 2019
14		Ben Tupker	Sophomore	F	6' 3" (1.91 m)	191 lb (87 kg)	1999-12-23	Collingwood, Ontario	Carleton Place (CCHL)	—
15		Max Andreev	Junior	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	184 lb (83 kg)	1998-10-22	Moscow, Russia	Central Illinois (USHL)	—
17		Zach Bramwell	Junior	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	192 lb (87 kg)	1999-05-09	Hamilton, Ontario	Oakville (OJHL)	—
18		Misha Song	Junior	D	6' 1" (1.85 m)	183 lb (83 kg)	1997-01-31	Beijing, China	Madison (USHL)	NYI, 172nd overall 2015
19		Michael Regush	Junior	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	211 lb (96 kg)	1998-09-12	Surrey, British Columbia	Youngstown (USHL)	—
20		Matt Stienburg	Sophomore	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	186 lb (84 kg)	2000-10-07	Halifax, Nova Scotia	St. Andrew's College (CISAA)	COL, 63rd overall 2019
21		Zach Tupker	Sophomore	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	187 lb (85 kg)	1999-12-23	Collingwood, Ontario	Carleton Place (CCHL)	—
22		Kyle Penney	Freshman	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	2000-07-18	Lawrencetown, Nova Scotia	Chilliwack (BCHL)	—
23		Liam Motley	Junior	F	6' 3" (1.91 m)	203 lb (92 kg)	1997-05-08	Calgary, Alberta	Whitecourt (AJHL)	—
24		Sam Malinski	Sophomore	D	5' 11" (1.8 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1998-07-27	Lakeville, Minnesota	Bismarck (NAHL)	—
26		Tristan Mullin	Senior	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	196 lb (89 kg)	1996-10-09	Cartwright, Manitoba	Powell River (BCHL)	—
28		Brenden Locke	Senior	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	177 lb (80 kg)	1997-10-09	Iroquois Falls, Ontario	Cobourg (OJHL)	—
29		Ben Berard	Sophomore	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	192 lb (87 kg)	1999-02-13	Duncan, British Columbia	Powell River (BCHL)	—
32		Austin McGrath	Senior	G	6' 1" (1.85 m)	179 lb (81 kg)	1998-02-10	Lloydminster, Alberta	Lloydminster (AJHL)	—
33		Nate McDonald	Junior	G	6' 2" (1.88 m)	181 lb (82 kg)	1999-08-11	North Bay, Ontario	Markham (OJHL)	—
35		Matthew Galajda	Senior	G	6' 0" (1.83 m)	192 lb (87 kg)	1997-10-07	Aurora, Ontario	Victoria (BCHL)	—

Standings

2020–21 ECAC Hockey Standings v t e
	Conference record												Overall record
	GP	W	L	T	OTW	OTL	3/SW	PTS	PT%	GF	GA		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA
#11 Quinnipiac †	18	10	4	4	1	1	3	37	.685	54	34		29	17	8	4	100	59
#20 Clarkson	14	6	4	4	1	2	2	25	.595	29	25		22	11	7	4	62	52
St. Lawrence *	14	4	8	2	1	1	1	15	.357	30	37		17	6	8	3	40	45
Colgate	18	5	9	4	1	0	1	16	.352	34	51		22	6	11	5	48	66
Brown	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-		0	-	-	-	-	-
Cornell	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-		0	-	-	-	-	-
Dartmouth	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-		0	-	-	-	-	-
Harvard	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-		0	-	-	-	-	-
Princeton	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-		0	-	-	-	-	-
Rensselaer	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-		0	-	-	-	-	-
Union	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-		0	-	-	-	-	-
Yale	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-		0	-	-	-	-	-
Championship: March 20, 2021 † indicates conference regular season champion (Cleary Cup) * indicates conference tournament champion (Whitelaw Cup) Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll

Schedule and results

Season cancelled

Awards and honors

Player	Award	Ref
Kyle Betts	ECAC Hockey Student-Athlete of the Year	[6]

Players drafted into the NHL

2021 NHL Entry Draft

Round	Pick	Player	NHL team
3	79	Justin Ertel^†	Dallas Stars
7	208	Hank Kempf^†	New York Rangers

† incoming freshman Source:^[7]

References

1. Joseph, Elizabeth (October 16, 2020). "18 members of Yale's men's ice hockey team test positive for Covid-19". CNN. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
2. "Ivy League cancels winter sports season, delays spring play". ESPN. November 12, 2020. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
3. "NCAA approves blanket waiver for 2020 fall sports athletes to retain year of eligibility". CBS Sports. August 21, 2020. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
4. "DI Council grants waiver to allow transfer student-athletes to compete immediately". NCAA. December 16, 2020. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
5. "2020-21 Men's Ice Hockey Roster". Cornell University. Retrieved October 6, 2024.
6. "Cornell's Kyle Betts Named Student-Athlete of the Year". ECAC Hockey. March 22, 2021. Retrieved April 4, 2021.
7. "NCAA player rankings, selections in 2021 NHL Draft". USCHO.com. Retrieved July 24, 2021.