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The first year of varsity hockey at both Princeton and Cornell occurred during the 1900-01 season. Coincidentally, the first-ever meeting on the ice between these programs took place at the end of their respective inaugural seasons on Saturday, March 2, 1901. Princeton became a member of the Intercollegiate Hockey Association of America upon inception and had played a full schedule against those conference opponents as well as other hockey clubs and schools. Princeton lost to Brown the night beforehand in New York City in the conference semifinals. Cornell had also played the night before when they were victorious over Pennsylvania. Their program was considered an Independent that would eventually gain membership into that conference prior to the 1909-10 season.

This first hockey game between the schools took place on neutral ice at the West Park Ice Palace in Philadelphia (that would meet its demise in a fire later that year.) Going into the game, Princeton was sporting a 7-5 record while Cornell had two games under its belt without a loss. Cornell jumped out to a 2-0 lead by halftime as there were two halves played during this era of hockey. The Ithacans – as Princeton referred to them at the time – held a 4-0 lead until the final minutes of the game when Princeton was able to net two goals and prevent a shutout. It wasn’t enough as Cornell won the first hockey game between these programs 4-2 and ended its first season with a perfect 3-0 record.

Starting lineups for Princeton and Cornell for the first-ever hockey game between these programs March 2, 1901.

The Cornell and Princeton’s men’s hockey teams will meet tonight at Hobey Baker Rink in Princeton, New Jersey. It will be the 164th game in this series that dates back almost 124 years.

Photo Credit: 1900-01 Cornell Team Photo, The 1901 Cornellian Yearbook. Secondary photo: Daily Princetonian, Vol. XXVI, No. 3, March 4, 1901

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On November 25, 2017, Boston University and Cornell met at Madison Square Garden for the sixth edition of Red Hot Hockey. The Red Hot Hockey event was introduced in 2007 when two long-time rivals squared off in New York City’s famous arena. The inaugural game drew 18,200 fans and was considered a success. Members of the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team were on hand to watch Boston University defeat Cornell. The two programs decided to make a series out of it. After this first game, the Terriers and Big Red have met every odd numbered year the weekend after Thanksgiving in Madison Square Garden in a series known as Red Hot Hockey.

After the first five editions of Red Hot Hockey, Boston University was undefeated with a record of 3-0-2. This changed in 2017. The Big Red jumped out to a 1-0 lead on a goal from Beau Starrett with less than five minutes remaining in the first period. Cornell extended the lead on a goal from Trevor Yates less than seven minutes into the second frame. Then just a little more than two minutes later, Alec McCrea scored a power-play goal to put the Big Red up 3-0. Boston University scored in the third period before Cornell could really pull away. It was a power-play goal from Dante Fabbro less than five minutes into the period. Cornell answered back when freshman Tristan Mullin scored his first collegiate goal. The Terriers would score two more goals by Chad Krys and Patrick Harper but it wasn’t enough. The Big Red held on to the 4-3 win and captured the program’s first Red Hot Hockey win and, with it, the Kelley-Harkness Cup.

In the above photo, Boston University’s Jordan Greenway skates around Cornell’s Brendan Smith during the first period of the 2017 Red Hot Hockey game at Madison Square Garden.

The two red-clad teams will meet for the eighth installment of Red Hot Hockey this weekend on November 27. Cornell is on a two-game Red Hot Hockey winning streak after registering the series’ first shut out in 2019. The game will once again take place at Madison Square Garden in New York City. For two programs that have a storied history of playing against one another since 1925, the Red Hot Hockey series adds an extra kick to this rivalry every two years.