Know Your Enemy: The "Red Hot Hockey" Edition

Cornell and BU Playing on The Big Stage
There are three games this season that BU fans have had circled on the calender since the schedule came out.  One is obviously the first Monday in February when BU and the Huskies go head to head in the opening round of the Beanpot.  The second game is the once in a lifetime experience of watching BU and BC battle it out at Fenway Park on February 8th.  The third is undoubtedly tonight at MSG when the old ECAC foes meet up for the second edition Red Hot Hockey.

This is a chance for kids to play at the World's Most Famous Arena in front of 18,200 fans.  This is going to be a great time, but it ain't gonna be a walk in the park for the Terriers, as they take on a tough Cornell team.

Cornell's 2008-09 season ended when they had the misfortune of running into the buzzsaw that was Bemidji State in the Midwest Regional Final. Before that disappointment, Cornell did the world a favor by bouncing Northeastern in the first round of the NCAA's in dramatic fasion by scoring two goals in the final four minutes of play. 

The Big Red are currently in a comfortable second place in ECAC with a 5-2 conference record.  They only trail the ridiculous Quinnipiac team, who is a perfect 7-0 in conference and 11-1-0 overall.

In 8 games overall, Cornell has outscored opponents by a wide 33-17 margin, thanks in large part to the outstanding play of Senior Goaltender Ben Scrivens.  Scrivens is the owner of a marvelous career over his first three plus seasons in Ithaca.

Scrivens was a snub in the Hobey Baker voting last spring, as he did not even make it into the final ten.  This, despite having a year that carried a team all the way to the round of 8 in the NCAA tournament.  And I do mean carried that team.  Scrivens posted 7 shutouts in 36 games while allowing just 1.81 goals per game and saving 93% of the shots that he saw.

Well, he may get a trip to the podium this year as a senior.  Scrivens 2.01 GAA and .927 save percentage have led Cornell to a 6-2 record.  The numbers so far are very similar to Brad Thiessen's of last season, who made it all the way to the Hobey Hat Trick by not necessarily posting the best numbers, but by posting great numbers and acting as the catalyst of a team's tournament run.

He also spent his summer hanging out at the New York Rangers' prospect development camp.  He's also a professional wrestler in the making.

But choke-hold takedowns aside, Scrivens really is the key to this game for Cornell.  And judging by the way that BU is incredibly scoring impaired, it shouldn't be much of an issue.

Next in line would be Senior Forward Blake Gallagher.  Gallagher is third in the nation with 5 power play goals through just 8 games.  He has 14 points to lead the team, as well as two game winning goals.  Gallagher is on pace for his best year at Cornell, having put up a career high in points with 28 last season.

He is also second in the nation in points per game, putting up a ridiculous 1.75 ppg, second only to world-beater James Marcou of Amherst.

Gallagher is playing so well partially thanks to Colin Greening, who has 13 points through 8 games for The Big Red.  Greening was selected in the 7th round of the NHL draft way back in 2004 by the Ottowa Senators.

The only higher scoring duo in terms of points per game is Marcou and Casey Wellman of Amherst, who average 3.53 PPG.  Gallagher and Greening average 3.37 PPG.

These two teams met two years ago at MSG, and BU dominated the contest into the third period when Cornell made it a game.  BU still managed to secure a win for He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named on the strength of MacArthur, Yip and Joe Pereira.  That was in the midst of an up and down year for the Big Red, who finished their season at 19-14-3 and managed to come in third in the ECAC tournament.

There is also a long, rich history between the Terriers and Big Red, dating back to the days of BU playing in the ECAC.  Cornell leads the all time series 23-17-1 over BU, but the Terriers have won 6 of their last 10 meetings with the Big Red.

In case you're wondering, here are the results of the team's match-ups in ECAC Championship Games:

1967: Cornell 4, BU 3
1972: BU 4, Cornell 1

BU would go on to win four consecutive ECAC titles from 1974 -- 1977, but the two teams would not meet in the conference championship again.  BU stuck around in the ECAC until the end of the 1983-84 season when they bounced, along with BC, UNH, Providence, and Northeastern.  Cornell has 11 ECAC titles, including six while BU played in the ECAC.  (ECAC History)

Two more things:

Big Red Bear

Their mascot is a bear, but they are the Cornell Big Red.  Not the Cornell Big Red Bears.  So be sure to call them the Bears all night.

And finally.....


They all shout RED very loud at "...the rockets' RED glare..." portion of the national anthem.  It's really, really, really impressive.  That's not sarcastic in the last.  10,000 hockey fans screaming the word RED in unison during the anthem is one of the coolest things you will see all night, I promise you that.