The Cornell men’s hockey team is entering the 2025-26 season with a new coaching staff and a large group of new players. This follows the retirement of Mike Schafer, who led the team for 30 years. Casey Jones, a Cornell alumnus and former associate head coach, has taken over as the Jay R. Bloom ’77 Head Coach of Cornell Men’s Ice Hockey.
Jones brings experience from his time at Clarkson, where he won an ECAC title in 2019 and made several NCAA Tournament appearances. “Absolutely there’s a lot of pressure,” Jones said about following Schafer. “It’s a hard person to follow, but there’s expectations to win here. That’s why I came. We ultimately want to win the big prize.”
The Big Red returns 12 letterwinners from last season’s team that won its second straight ECAC championship and reached the NCAA Regional Finals for a third consecutive year. However, they must replace seven of their top 11 scorers.
“One thing that was nice about being in the role I was in last year was that I got a good opportunity to build relationships and get a chance to see them all play and have a good feel for our guys coming in,” Jones said.
Over the summer, Jones promoted Sean Flanagan to associate head coach and added Chris Brown and Cam Clarke as assistant coaches, with Josh Robinson joining as director of hockey operations.
Jones stated that while his approach may differ from Schafer’s, core values remain: “I told our guys, accountability is going to be the same; we just get there different ways,” he explained. “Ultimately, it’s having the habits and the details. Our program is about details and habits.”
With 14 newcomers on the roster, depth is seen as a key strength this year. “I think a strength of our team is going to be our depth,” Jones said.
In goal, senior Remington Keopple will compete with sophomore Justin Katz and freshmen Alexis Cournoyer and Erick Roest for playing time after Ian Shane graduated. Keopple ended last season with a shutout against RPI.
“He just couldn’t knock Ian off, but you’re trying to knock off an All-American goaltender,” said Jones about Keopple’s role last year.
Cournoyer was drafted by Montréal in this year’s NHL Entry Draft and adds competition at goalie. “We’re excited about Alexis. He’s a talented goaltender, got drafted, and makes that room deep and gives us comfort that we’re going to have good goaltending,” Jones said.
On defense, four regulars are gone—three graduated and one transferred—leaving juniors George Fegaras and Hoyt Stanley as experienced returnees along with senior alternate captain Jack O’Brien.
“If you look at our team, lost our goaltender, lost a good chunk of people on the back end, so that’s where you try to build from,” Jones noted.
Transfers Michael Fisher (a San Jose draft pick) and Luke Ashton join six newcomers on defense; Fisher played last season in Penticton after time at Northeastern while Ashton arrives from Minnesota State. Freshman Xavier Veilleux was drafted by the New York Islanders and comes off a championship with Muskegon in the USHL.
“Xavier is one that we feel really strongly about,” said Jones.
Among forwards returning are junior captain Ryan Walsh (last year’s leading scorer), Jonathan Castagna (an ECAC All-Rookie Team selection), Charlie Major (who finished strong last season), Luke Devlin, Parker Murray, Winter Wallace—all expected to play bigger roles this year after injuries or limited action previously.
“We have some horses there that are coming back…Ryan [Walsh], Jonathan Castagna and Charlie Major jump to the forefront as dynamic players that should give us a real good pop offensively up front,” said Jones.
Six freshman forwards bring scoring potential: Aiden Long (eighth in USHL scoring), Caton Ryan (strong finish in BCHL), Chase Pirtle (116 points over two BCHL seasons), Reegan Hiscock (nearly point-per-game pace), Giovanni DiGiulian (51 points in Lincoln), among others.
“I feel really good about our sticks and our hockey IQ…I would guess out of the gate there’s going to be probably three of them playing in the top nine right off the bat,” added Jones regarding opportunities for freshmen.
Cornell opens its season at UMass before four straight road games including Harvard and Dartmouth for ECAC play starting November 7-8. The home opener under Coach Jones will be November 14 against Brown followed by Yale (Nov. 15), Union (Nov. 21), RPI (Nov. 22). The schedule includes notable stretches such as an eight-game homestand after winter break—the longest single-season homestand in program history—and finishes with most games on the road before closing out at home against St. Lawrence on February 28.
