On Saturday night at Madison Square Garden, the Cornell and Boston University men’s hockey teams emerged from their locker room for the final time moments before the national anthem. Around them, alumni, students and college hockey fans representing both schools greeted the teams with cheers — and plenty of boos. The 17,478 supporters who packed MSG for the matchup were the most the rivalry had seen since 2013.
“Obviously this is an incredible atmosphere to play in and something I’m not really used to,” said freshman forward Reegan Hiscock. “The first bit was definitely jitters, but I found I settled in pretty well.”
The allure of the biennial Red Hot Hockey matchup, held for the first time in 2007, isn’t something that starts to sink in when players first take the ice, or even when the season schedule gets released in the summer. Instead, the opportunity to play at MSG is something that every Cornellian knows about when they first join the men’s hockey program.
“It’s something I knew about for sure. It’s a pretty big game every year,” Hiscock said. “From being told by coaches and players coming in, I was aware of this game and obviously I knew it was a big one.”
While Hiscock — who scored Cornell’s only goal in Saturday’s game — went on to emphasize that, when he was on the ice, it felt like any other game, but the impact of the largely pro-Cornell crowd was felt by both teams. Boston University head coach Jay Pandolfo dubbed the 90 percent-full arena “hostile” and credited his team for being able to win under the unique conditions.
“Just to know that you can play that way in a game like this is going to help our team,” Pandolfo said.
Despite playing at an NHL rink, Cornell’s gameday schedule was relatively normal.
While the team’s usual optional morning skate couldn’t take place since the New York Rangers needed the ice for a 2 p.m. game against the Tampa Bay Lighting, Cornell’s Saturday pre-game schedule didn’t contain any surprises.
“We have a routine down pat,” said head coach Casey Jones ’90. “I was there last year and experienced it, [for] Schmidty [Cornell equipment manager Sean Schmidt] and our staff, it’s pretty routine for them.”
Cornell’s locker room was set up around 4 p.m., and the two teams took the ice at 7:20 p.m., just 40 minutes before the scheduled puck drop. When Jones was asked if any of the changes to the normal gameday routine affected the way his team prepared or played, his answer was a quick no.
“They did the same thing,” Jones said. “I thought we were ready to play tonight.”
Just like the gameday schedule, the run up to Saturday felt pretty similar to any other road trip. Monday was an optional practice day, with players taking the opportunity to rest and heal after a fast-paced weekend sweep against Union and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
The Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday practice schedules were also fairly normal, with players traveling home — or to teammates houses — and to New York City for Thanksgiving dinners on Thursday. The team practiced one last time at Lynah Rink on Friday, before taking the bus into New York City that afternoon (Jones was surprised by the lack of traffic on the bus).
Despite the loss, the game remains incredibly important to both Cornell’s men’s hockey program and its alumni network. Former Red skaters played against BU alumni hours before the varsity programs squared off, and Jones was inundated with messages from former players and friends from his time at Cornell, who he joked were “putting more pressure on me than anybody.”
Plus, the convenient location of the game allows thousands of Cornell alumni to reconnect with their school’s hockey program.
“It’s just a good opportunity,” Jones said. “Our alumni circle it on their calendars and they get there. For us, it shows the power of our fans and the Lynah Faithful to get here for this game.
“It’s exciting. Obviously this is one of the reasons why you come to Cornell. To play in games like this.”
Eli Fastiff is a senior editor on the 143rd editorial board and a member of the class of 2026 in the College of Arts and Sciences. You can follow him on X @Eli_Fastiff and reach him at efastiff@cornellsun.com.
