Hockey Head Coach Mike Schafer poses for a portrait with incoming Head Coach Casey Jones at Lynah Rink on Wednesday, November 13, 2024. (Ryan Young / Cornell University)

After Three Decades, Big Red Men’s Ice Hockey Passes the Torch

Stories You May Like

Fascinating Facts About Lynah Rink, Big Red Hockey’s Chilly Abode

A Conversation with Coach Schafer

For the Lynah Faithful, Ice Hockey Is a Matter of Tradition

As Mike Schafer ’86 prepares to retire, he and successor Casey Jones ’90 chat about their love of the game, Lynah pride, and more

By Beth Saulnier

Regardless of the final tally of wins, losses, and ties, the 2024–25 men’s ice hockey season will be remembered as a legendary one for the Big Red—because it marks the final outing for Mike Schafer ’86 as head coach.

After leading the team for three decades, Schafer is retiring. His successor? A fellow alum, Casey Jones ’90, who previously coached on the Hill in 1991–93 and 2008–11 and went on to spend 13 years as head coach at Clarkson.

Scenes from the Cornell Men’s Hockey game against Colgate University at Lynah Rink on Friday, December 6, 2024. (Ryan Young / Cornell University)Ryan Young / Cornell University
The Big Red battles Colgate in Lynah in December 2024.

Schafer and Jones—who rejoined the Big Red in summer 2024, for a transitional year as associate head coach—have long been colleagues and friends. In fact, their relationship stretches back to Jones’s freshman fall, when he was a newly recruited Big Red player and Schafer was in his first year as an assistant coach.

Even beyond their stellar records as Big Red players and coaches, the two have much in common. Both are Canadians (Schafer from Ontario, Jones from Québec) who strapped on hockey skates practically from the time they could walk.

Schafer coaching men's ice hockey during the 1998-1999 season.Cornell Athletics
Schafer coaching during the 1998–99 season.

They’re not only both CALS alums, they share a major (agricultural economics). Each married a fellow Cornellian (Diane Composti Schafer ’86 and Kimberlee Voci Jones ’95), although the Schafers were undergrad sweethearts and the Joneses didn’t connect until after Casey graduated.

And both root for the same NHL team from their native country—though that’s a bit of a sore subject.

As Schafer prepares to retire and Jones to segue into the top job, Cornellians sat down with them in the hockey offices in Lynah for a wide-ranging chat.

Can you think back to when you two first met?

CJ: It was my freshman year. Mike had just finished playing and was kept on as assistant coach. He pretty quickly became the guy the players went to. He was out recruiting quite a bit, but he was the facilitator for us on the staff.

MS: I just remember how skinny he was. [He laughs.] I’d never seen him play during the recruiting process, and the first time I met him, I thought, “Man, this guy’s gonna struggle in college hockey.” But he quickly established himself—using his skill and his hockey sense not only to play, but excel.

Casey Jones as a student with Prof. Gene German
provided
Jones (right) with his undergrad advisor, food marketing professor Gene German, PhD ’78.

What do you love about hockey?

CJ: I think it’s the greatest team sport. It brings out the competitive juices in me. I grew up with it and have been around it my whole life. The fact that I’m still able to be a part of it—it’s exciting.

MS: It has been the fabric of my life, from childhood. I like that it’s a sport that you can play for your whole life. And I’ve seen the camaraderie it creates—from playing pickup hockey here in the community, all the way to someone like Joe Nieuwendyk ’88, who’s in the Hall of Fame. It’s a special game.

I think hockey is the greatest team sport. It brings out the competitive juices in me.

Casey Jones

What’s your fondest memory of playing for the Big Red?

MS: My first two years, the league was pretty competitive, and we didn’t make the playoffs. So winning the ECAC title in 1986, as a senior—that was outstanding.

CJ: There was a coaching change when I was here, and my senior year, the program was getting back on track and we had a good year—and then we drew Harvard in the playoffs. We’d had zero success with them during my career. But we swept them at home, and the fans came onto the ice. I’d never experienced that before, and it’s still a special memory.

Schafer playing for the Big Red men's hockey team playing Brown at Lynah Rink on Feb. 22, 1986.Cornell Athletics
Schafer on the ice in Lynah in February 1986, and ...
Casey Jones playing hockey for the Big RedCornell Athletics
... Jones playing for the Big Red the following season.

Over the years as coaching colleagues, did you keep in touch?

MS: When I became head coach here in 1995, I tried to hire him, but he’d just taken a job at Ohio State a few weeks earlier. But we stayed in touch.

CJ: He was probably my closest confidante, especially after I became a head coach; you need that mentor, the person that you can lean on: “Hey, have you experienced this before?”

It’s been great to share ideas; this is the first time in my career that I’ve been able to work with another head coach.

Mike Schafer

How does it feel to be back together, coaching as colleagues again?

MS: It’s been great to share ideas; this is the first time in my career that I’ve been able to work with another head coach. I’ve always said: you don’t know what it’s like to be a head coach until you are one.

So to have him come back with that experience—on the ice, in the locker room, in one-on-one meetings, someone that talks to the players like a head coach, who has a long-term vision—that’s been really fun. We can lean on each other, right across the office. It’s been outstanding to have him back here.

Men’s Hockey Head Coach Mike Schafer is seen on the bench during the Big Red’s game against Colgate University at Lynah Rink on Friday, December 6, 2024. (Ryan Young / Cornell University)Ryan Young / Cornell University
Game time: Jones (left) and Schafer behind the Big Red bench.

CJ: Mike is a much different coach than he was when I was here, before I went to Clarkson [in 2011]. I love the development of the program, how it has evolved. So it’s not coming back to something that’s old; I’m learning a lot of new things. It feels fresh and exciting.

Watching hockey in Lynah is among the most iconic Cornell traditions. What does it feel like to be stewards of that?

MS: It feels great. I think at an academic institution like Cornell, the importance of athletics can sometimes be lost—but they have huge importance for students’ mental health and wellbeing.

There’s something really special about the game-night environment, where the students look across and see the faculty and townspeople, and the faculty and townspeople look across and see the students. Cornell hockey has always brought that pride—that we could compete on a national level and win.

The student section at Cornell Men’s Hockey game against Colgate University at Lynah Rink on Friday, December 6, 2024. (Ryan Young / Cornell University)Ryan Young / Cornell University
Forever upstanding: The student section of the Lynah Faithful.

CJ: As a player, I remember how proud I was of the support we got on the road; Cornellians kind of take over the rink, and it becomes a bit of a home game. Alumni stay connected to the University through the program on the road, seeing friends in those venues. That’s something we talk about in recruiting—how fortunate the athletes are. To me, it speaks volumes.

Casey, when you were coaching for Clarkson and playing against Cornell, what was it like for you to be on the opposite side from your alma mater?

CJ: I remember my first time back in Lynah: I walked across the ice and got called a traitor the whole way. I was like, “Hey, come on—I just left!” But I appreciated that Mike stopped and said hi prior to the game, and we got a chance to get out of that competitive element.

Cornell hockey has always brought that pride—that we could compete on a national level and win.

Mike Schafer

Stories You May Like

Fascinating Facts About Lynah Rink, Big Red Hockey’s Chilly Abode

A Conversation with Coach Schafer

The 60 minutes the game’s going on, you’re in the heat of battle. But outside of that, it goes right back to reality, where there are a lot of friends and familiar faces.

Mike, most head coaches don’t stay in their job for 30 years. Could you reflect on why you’ve stayed this long?

MS: Well, I didn’t get fired. [He laughs.] There’s an old saying: “Coaches are hired to be fired.” And I remember my wife saying, “You know, no one’s ever been in this job at Cornell longer than seven years.”

The Cornell Big Red men's ice hockey team competes against Denver on March 23, 2023 at SNHU Arena in Manchester, N.H.Matt Dewkett / Cornell Athletics
Schafer at a 2023 NCAA Regional Semifinals game, which the Big Red won 2-0.

I had opportunities to go to other programs throughout my career. But you get so entrenched with your family living in the community, it would have been selfish of me to leave.

I always wanted to win a national championship—but I felt that I could try to achieve that goal within the parameters of the Ivy League [which, unlike many competitors, does not allow athletic scholarships]. Overall, I’ve been very fortunate with great assistant coaches and outstanding athletes. Thirty years—it went by quick.

As a player, I remember how proud I was of the support we got on the road; Cornellians kind of take over the rink, and it becomes a bit of a home game.

Casey Jones

Casey, why do you think Mike has been so successful over the past three decades?

CJ: Number one is the staff he attracts—the continuity of people who have worked for him. Number two, he’s competitive, and he has great ethics and morals. Obviously all of that funnels into his development of the players, and the teams he has built have competed at a high level. Those foundations have stayed pretty consistent.

A young Casey Jones dressed for hockey
provided
A young Jones, suited up for the ice.

Mike, why is Casey the right person to succeed you in this job?

MS: When you watch him in the recruiting process, when you watch him deal with his athletes, the conversations he has with his players—he’s honest while being caring and respectful. I think a lot of coaches get caught up in trying to sugarcoat.

He’s had that characteristic from when he was a player, when he was a captain and a leader within his team, and it has carried on as a coach.

He’s well respected across the country, and it always goes back to relationships and how he handles himself—being forthright with people, but at the same time holding them accountable and not just trying to be their friend.

He’s had success within a team, in recruiting players, and in working with alumni—across all spectrums of what it means to be a head coach.

Thirty years—it went by quick.

Mike Schafer

Casey, Mike has said that one of the most important things in a player is their “hockey sense.” What does that mean to you?

CJ: It’s probably the number-one quality in a player. In hockey, we don’t get to reset like in football; it’s a very fluid game. You've got to have confidence and the ability to make quick decisions—to read the ice and, as I always say, “live in the gray.”

The players who can live in the gray area, where we haven’t told them exactly what to do in that situation—they have good hockey sense. And if your players have good hockey sense, you can really grow as a team.

Schafer coaching on the iceRiley Joslin / Cornell Athletics
Schafer in his element.

As a senior, Casey won the annual award for sportsmanship. How would you both define being a good sportsman?

CJ: It’s playing the game the right way. Something that has jumped out to me most about this team is that we have tremendous sportsmanship. We play hard within the boundaries of the game. We know how to practice hard and play hard without taking liberties.

That is what I consider to be sportsmanship: you tip your hat to your opponent, and know that the competition stays within the 60 minutes of the game. And when you win, you handle it the right way.

Casey Jones taking a shot on the Harvard goalie as a student playerprovided
Jones takes a shot on the Harvard goalie during his playing days.

MS: Yeah, I’ve never been claimed to be a good sportsman. [He laughs.]

I think a good sportsman—a coach or a player—knows that a sport is competitive, but it’s never personal. But honestly, I always felt that “good sportsmanship” can have negative connotations, because it can imply that an athlete is not competitive, or they’re timid. To win the award that Casey got, you also have to be a great and very competitive player.

In hockey, we don’t get to reset like in football; it’s a very fluid game. You've got to have confidence and the ability to make quick decisions.

Casey Jones

Mike, what will you miss most about this job?

MS: The relationships and the day-to-day—working with the staff, developing a game plan, watching video, having heart-to-heart conversations with the athletes. Helping them as people, not just as players; that’s my favorite part of the job.

And then going on the ice, watching them practice and get better. There are only so many games, and I’ll miss the competition. But the camaraderie that exists inside the building—you don’t find that anywhere else.

Mike Schafer with wife Diane Composti Schafer ’86
provided
Mike with wife Diane Composti Schafer ’86.

What do your retirement plans look like?

MS: I don’t have a bucket list per se, but there are some things I’ve always wanted to do. Go to the Québec Winter Festival. Play with my son at a three-on-three pond hockey tournament up in New Hampshire or Maine or Alaska. Go on golf trips with friends, travel with my wife, see family. And during the fall and winter—just do things on Fridays and Saturdays.

The downside about coaching is that from mid-August to mid-May, you’re in coaching mode. I’m looking forward to giving my mind a chance to relax.

Business-wise, I don’t know what that looks like. Everybody’s advised me not to do anything for six months—but who knows?

Casey, Mike is on the record as a long-suffering fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Whom do you root for?

CJ: Don’t go there. [He laughs.] I’m a Leafs fan too, and I’m also long suffering. But I’m a fan, no question; Darryl Sittler was my childhood hero.

The downside about coaching is that from mid-August to mid-May, you’re in coaching mode. I’m looking forward to giving my mind a chance to relax.

Mike Schafer

Lastly, you’ve both had former players go pro. What’s it like to see guys you’ve coached playing in the NHL?

CJ: It’s hard to describe, but it’s a pretty special feeling—especially when you’ve had the chance to recruit them and bring them along and watch them grow, and then see them reach their goals at the pinnacle of the game.

Casey & Kimberlee Voci Jonesprovided
Casey with wife Kimberlee Voci Jones ’95.

MS: One thing I would add is that as a coach, I’ve had a lot of pride over the years, not just seeing players in the NHL—but being doctors or teachers or guys running their own businesses, or being successful on Wall Street, or being great dads and husbands.

I think that’s the pride of working at a school like Cornell—having those longstanding relationships, not just the hockey, but outside the game, too.

Top: Schafer (left) and Jones in Lynah. (Ryan Young / Cornell University)

Published January 15, 2025


Comments

  1. Warren Kurtzman, Class of 1987

    Great interview! I was fortunate to see both Mike and Casey play while I was an undergraduate and their success as players, coaches, and people is awesome to see. Let’s Go Red!

  2. Dale Eccles

    Congrats Mike on an outstanding career. Durham proud

  3. Dave Wohlhueer

    I knew both men as players and then as coaches during my career as Cornell sports information director. Loved them both as different type players, and then watching them succeed as coaches in their selected occupations.

  4. Catherine Hennessey

    Great article! Casey Jones is an outstanding athlete from my hometown of Témiscaming, Québec and I am so proud of the fine man he is. Congratulations, Mike Schafer and good luck, Casey!

  5. Tom Smith Tseng, Class of 1987

    I came back to Cornell in January 1989 and thoroughly enjoyed watching a young Casey Jones playing Cornell hockey and wearing the Captain’s C his senior year. Very few people out there can honestly understand the ethos and values of this program helmed by Coach Mike Schafer over the past 30 years. Thank you Mike for all that you have done and is still doing for Cornell Athletics, and welcome home Casey…I am still holding my Section K tickets in the same seats when you were a senior on the Hill! Best wishes to you both!

  6. Dianne Schafer

    Mike is a great coach
    He is even a greater family man.
    You have made the great Hockey Town of Durham even greater.

  7. Joyce macmillan

    Congrats Mike on a great career, you have made Cornell your life’s work . You can be so proud of your career and all your accomplishments. Durham people have watched your life’s work and are so Proud of you!

  8. Jean-Marc Raymond

    I coached Casey during his minor hockey years in his home town and knew that he would go far. Congratulations Casey.

  9. Ken Colling

    I’m so happy about both Mike and Casey ‼️ Thank you Mike ‼️ Casey, looking forward to the future ‼️

  10. TERENCE MCGLASHAN, Class of 1967

    Excellent review on Mike and Casey’s association with Cornell hockey over the years, Mike as a player and coach and Casey as a player and replacement coach to be. I was so fortunate to be recruited in 1963 by Ned Harkness to attend Cornell on a hockey scholarship. We remained good friends after Ned retired until his passing.

  11. Janis Nearingburg

    Congratulations Mike! What an amazing career and name you’ve made for yourself do to hard work and the love for hockey. I’m so proud of you I sure am glad we were just kids when you guys would stick me in net during road hockey because none of you guys wanted to I remember just jumping out of the net for some of those shots. Enjoy your retirement and all the best in your new adventures!!

  12. David Wootton, Class of 1987

    Waves of nostalgia … I was at the 1983 Cornell-Harvard game in which Coach Schafer broke his stick over his head to get the crowd and the team worked up, then Cornell came back from a 0-4 first period deficit to an incredible 6-5 win, including a goal from Schafer. He was a great leader as a player, and his leadership as a coach has been outstanding.

    Thank you Mike for your commitment to the team and the university, and enjoy the years ahead.

    Good luck Casey!

  13. Alan Tausz

    I have been a fan of Cornell Hockey since 1967 when I came to Cornell as a freshman. Nothing has made me prouder than to know Coach Shafer and to see how he helps develop his players as not only good hockey players but as good people who care about their families and their community. I will miss him as coach but feel Casey will carry on the traditions and high standards of Cornell Hockey.

  14. craig brush, Class of 1972

    Mike, You have had an unbelievable ride. Cornell was lucky to have you for so long. Now go do some really fun things in retirement, but first win the last game of the year!

  15. Larry Rosen, Class of 1988

    Yelling ‘Kill, Schafer, Kill!’ was one of my favorite memories of Cornell Hockey in the 1980s. I really enjoyed being first in line sleeping out for tickets; rooting for guys like Schafer, Nieuwendyk, Dadswell, Derraugh, McInnis, and Natyshak (along with many others); and traveling to away games and tournaments. I will throw in a good word for Lou Reycroft, whom I thought was a good coach before Mike Schafer. I also feel bad that Mike Schafer was cheated out of a great championship run by Covid. Mike will be missed. Good luck for the future.

Leave a Comment

Once your comment is approved, your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Other stories You may like