Alumni ‘We Made Good Strides this Year with a Young Team’ Stories You May Like Olympic Champion Is a Trailblazer in Women’s Pro Ice Hockey Remembering Dave Nulle, Big Red Hockey’s Beloved ‘Zamboni Guy’ Language of Lynah: How Well Do You Know Your Hockey Chants? Casey Jones ’90 reflects on his first season as the Big Red men's ice hockey coach—from Ivy glory to the perils of the 'portal' By Beth Saulnier When Casey Jones ’90 arrived on the Hill as a freshman ice hockey recruit from a small town in Québec, he was 18 years old and—as he describes it with a laugh—“140 pounds soaking wet.” Flash forward four decades: not only can the CALS alum look back fondly on a stellar career as a Big Red player; he has just completed his first season at the program’s helm. While it was Jones’s rookie year in the top job, it was hardly his debut mentoring players on Lynah ice: he’d previously coached here in 1991–93 and 2008–11 (and then went on to spend 13 years as head coach at Clarkson). Cornell AthleticsPlaying for the Big Red in 1986–87. After being named the successor to his longtime friend and colleague Mike Schafer ’86—who was retiring after three decades—Jones spent a year in the transitional role of associate head coach. For Jones and the Big Red, the 2025–26 season was one to be proud of. The team finished with a 22-11-1 record, clinched the Ivy League championship for the sixth time in eight years, and received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament (though its first and only game ended in a 5-0 loss to Denver, the eventual champ). The team finished with a 22-11-1 record, clinched the Ivy League championship for the sixth time in eight years, and received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. In late April, Jones—whose formal title is the Jay R. Bloom ’77 Head Coach of Cornell Men’s Hockey—reflected on the season in a chat with Cornellians. How are you feeling after this first season? I certainly enjoyed being back. It was a fun year. Obviously, when a season ends so abruptly—with the one-and-done [loss to Denver]—it’s unreal, and maybe we’d like to get a bit more out of it at the end. But now, sitting back and looking at the totality of it—winning the Ivies and being in the top 10 for most of the year, while having 14 new players and three new staff members—I feel pretty good about what we accomplished together. Five of your players were graduating seniors. How are you feeling about your prospects for next year? College sports is in a weird place. The postseason is a lot harder and tougher to navigate than in years past, so you have to be nimble and be able to pivot. Leilani Burke / Cornell AthleticsLeading a practice during the 2025 ECAC championship. But we made good strides this year with a young team, and we feel good about our recruiting; we’re looking to come back next year with a really deep roster. You mentioned the postseason has changed; how, and why is it more challenging? It’s a different landscape. Now you have pay-to-play in college athletics, and there’s the Transfer Portal [which allows hockey players, over a 15-day period in April, to register their interest in switching schools]. The postseason is a lot harder and tougher to navigate than in years past, so you have to be nimble and be able to pivot. We’re trying to navigate the Ivy League rules within that—and sometimes all that movement doesn’t line up with the admissions cycle. Right after a season, retention of roster is very important. We lost a couple of guys [Jonathan Castagna ’27 and Hoyt Stanley ’27] to the pros this year, which is really exciting. They had great careers here—but when young players are drafted, those NHL teams decide when they’re ready to play. DJ Jacobi / Cornell AthleticsCoaching the Big Red against UMass in Amherst. So you have to be prepared, and we were out in front of it: we expected to lose a couple of players to the pros, so we recruited accordingly. What we maybe weren’t prepared for was having one of the guys in the portal: our young goalie [Alexis Cournoyer ’29], who’s heading to the University of Wisconsin. That caught us a bit off guard. But we pivoted and got a really good player coming in, and off we go. What was the high point of the season for you? Stories You May Like Olympic Champion Is a Trailblazer in Women’s Pro Ice Hockey Remembering Dave Nulle, Big Red Hockey’s Beloved ‘Zamboni Guy’ I don’t know if there was an exact high point, but we won a three-game series at home against Harvard in the [ECAC] playoffs. Lynah was rocking, and our Faithful were out in full force. Ned Dykes, DVM ’74The Faithful and the Pep Band at a home game against Dartmouth. But for me, it’s the totality of the season with the young team that we had. We decided to be process-oriented and quit worrying about outcomes. We didn’t know where we were going to land. We’d had four defensemen graduate. Our starting goalie had graduated. So we kind of set expectations. We expect to win all the time here—but with that many new players, our philosophy was, “Let’s stack as many good days in a row as we can.” We expect to win all the time here—but with that many new players, our philosophy was, 'Let’s stack as many good days in a row as we can.' Was there a moment that you look back on as the most challenging of the season? We thought we were in a really good spot as a team, and then we just got it handed to us at home by Quinnipiac [in January, 4-1]. It really put us in our place. Probably—though at the time, we didn’t realize it—it reset the bar for us. We’d been feeling pretty good about ourselves, and we were getting a little loose. Ultimately, we learned a good lesson that night. Leilani Burke / Cornell AthleticsHeading into Lynah for a game. What was it like to be in Madison Square Garden for the biennial Red Hot Hockey game in November? We played really well against BU—especially coming off losing to them in the [NCAA] tournament last year—and we had one of the better crowds ever to be at that game for us. Looking back, we can’t fault our effort; we just lost [2-1]. It was one of those games where you chalk it up to, “That’s sports.” But we did a good job of learning from those situations, moving forward, and using them to propel us to where we got to in our season. How is the fact that you played for the Big Red yourself as an undergrad informing your role as head coach? I had an absolutely phenomenal experience here as a student athlete. So I’m sure that comes across in recruiting: you can talk the talk, because you walked the walk, right? Also, having played here I know what exam weeks are like, what prelims are like—the stress that goes into being a student athlete here. I think all those things help immensely. I had an absolutely phenomenal experience here as a student athlete. So I’m sure that comes across in recruiting: you can talk the talk, because you walked the walk, right? If you could tell your freshman self that you would someday be head coach of this team, what might you have thought back then? Yeah, I don’t think I or my peers would have thought that would be true. [He laughs.] When I got here, they thought I was someone’s younger brother. But coming from a small town like Témiscaming, Québec—who would have known? And lastly, what do you see as the Big Red’s greatest strengths? We have a tremendous niche. How many programs have our support with the Lynah Faithful, offer our education, and have the ability to compete for—and win—championships regularly? Devin Flores / Cornell UniversityForward Jake Kraft ’27 battles Harvard. People panic when they see a player going to the portal, but you’ve got to trust the process. We do a good job of getting players who believe in the value of a Cornell education; they come here because it’s a great hockey tradition and a great place to develop as a person. So I feel really good about that, and I’m excited going forward. The support of our alumni and our fan base is critical—and this year, our home crowd was unbelievable. (Top: Portrait by Ryan Young / Cornell University.) Published May 5, 2026 Comments Fred Scholl, Class of 1968 5 May, 2026 Hopefully we can fill the goal keeper position. Reply Will Devine 6 May, 2026 They already have. They got an interesting goalie transfer coming in from Maine. Reply Eric Hansen, Class of 1992 6 May, 2026 Great first season Casey! Enjoyed watching you play (1992 grad) and now coach. Best wishes in the coming seasons. Reply Pat Zimmer, Class of 1973 6 May, 2026 Great interview about a great season. Casey makes me proud! Reply Scott Pesner, Class of 1987 6 May, 2026 Casey, on behalf of the Cornell Hockey Association, thank you for an amazing season! We’re looking forward to next season, and look forward to seeing our favorite returning players and a new crop of players donning the Big Red sweaters. And side note (free advertising?) for those of you who may want to hear Casey’s preview prior to each home game weekend, the CHA’s coach’s club lunches are livestreamed to its members for those who can’t attend in person (go to the CHA website–/blogs.cornell.edu/cornellhockeyassociation/ — for more info!). Reply Leave a Comment Cancel replyOnce your comment is approved, your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *Comment * Name * Class Year Email * Save my name, email, and class year in this browser for the next time I comment. Δ Other stories You may like Ask the Expert What’s Up with Weeds? 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