The Casey Jones Era: Aims

[Trotsky]

When Schafer took the helm he famously declared three aims:

1. Fill Lynah
2. Beat Harvard
3. Win the ECACs

Within one season he had achieved them all, then went on to repeat each many times.

In that spirit, here are my aims for the Casey Jones Era, whether that is 5 years or 25:

1. Fill Lynah.  Our discriminator is our crowd.  It all begins there.  This also means the AD encouraging the students and not getting in their way.  Don't overwhelm them with loud piped in garbage and ads and gimmickry.  This is Cornell.  The fans lead the rink, the band supports.  The administration's job is to clear obstacles and allow the fans to intimidate the visitor while amusing themselves.

2. Beat Quinnipiac. Harvard, for all their bullshit, is still an academic institution.  Q is everything wrong with the last 50 years: commerce without standards and aggressive enshittification.  In a just world we drive Q into the sea and they finish behind Brown every year.  Well, if you aint up on things, it is not a just world. So we need to do ourselves and the free world a favor and destroy these punks whenever possible.  Sic semper numbskullus.

3. Win a National Championship.  It's just a jump to the left.  We have climbed the mountain so often, and we have seen RPI, Harvard, Yale, Union, and Q get there.  There is no reason that Cornell can't win it all.  So, win it all.

[CAS]

Recruit well.  Casey's first class - which includes 4 NHL draft picks - is very encouraging.

[BearLover]

I'm not even convinced yet he's a great coach—I mean, he probably is a good coach, but what basis do we have? A slightly over .500 record in 12 years at Clarkson? Let's have a good season or two before we start talking about national championships.  

The college hockey landscape has completely changed the last few years. ASU just signed a kid straight out of the AHL. Casey is going to need to revamp how Cornell recruits if we want to compete nationally.

[Al DeFlorio]

I'm not even convinced yet he's a great coach—I mean, he probably is a good coach, but what basis do we have? A slightly over .500 record in 12 years at Clarkson? Let's have a good season or two before we start talking about national championships.  

The college hockey landscape has completely changed the last few years. ASU just signed a kid straight out of the AHL. Casey is going to need to revamp how Cornell recruits if we want to compete nationally.

The sky continues to fall.

[Will]

This also means the AD encouraging the students and not getting in their way.  Don't overwhelm them with loud piped in garbage and ads and gimmickry.  This is Cornell.  The fans lead the rink, the band supports.

I think the ads are sadly unavoidable.  Nobody really likes them; we just learn to tolerate them.  And, personally, I agree with you.  But I can only really speak for myself.  I wonder if it's possible that the current students and maybe even some townies like myself genuinely like the "garbage" and gimmickry.  I really don't know.  All I know is that, while I could live without it, I do chuckle a bit every time they play the meme video with the pika scatting like Freddie Mercury.

[ugarte]

I'm not even convinced yet he's a great coach—I mean, he probably is a good coach, but what basis do we have? A slightly over .500 record in 12 years at Clarkson? Let's have a good season or two before we start talking about national championships.  

The college hockey landscape has completely changed the last few years. ASU just signed a kid straight out of the AHL. Casey is going to need to revamp how Cornell recruits if we want to compete nationally.

why would anyone be convinced he's great yet? the only reason people are talking about championships is because he was part of a program that was an OT shot away from the Final Four last year with a well-regarded pipeline. The rules are changing, and it might be to our disadvantage, but the doomerism is a bit much when we've all got the same thin materiail to work with.

[BearLover]

I'm not even convinced yet he's a great coach—I mean, he probably is a good coach, but what basis do we have? A slightly over .500 record in 12 years at Clarkson? Let's have a good season or two before we start talking about national championships.  

The college hockey landscape has completely changed the last few years. ASU just signed a kid straight out of the AHL. Casey is going to need to revamp how Cornell recruits if we want to compete nationally.

The sky continues to fall.

No. It wasn't falling under Schafer and there are no indications it will fall under Casey—just a lot of uncertainty.

You have a pretty impressive streak going. 150 straight forums posts that have added literally nothing to the conversation other than commentary on my posting style.

[BearLover]

I'm not even convinced yet he's a great coach—I mean, he probably is a good coach, but what basis do we have? A slightly over .500 record in 12 years at Clarkson? Let's have a good season or two before we start talking about national championships.  

The college hockey landscape has completely changed the last few years. ASU just signed a kid straight out of the AHL. Casey is going to need to revamp how Cornell recruits if we want to compete nationally.

why would anyone be convinced he's great yet? the only reason people are talking about championships is because he was part of a program that was an OT shot away from the Final Four last year with a well-regarded pipeline. The rules are changing, and it might be to our disadvantage, but the doomerism is a bit much when we've all got the same thin materiail to work with.

We'll still be a top team in our conference, but things are trending in the wrong direction nationally. We just can't take advantage of the same things that many other schools do, such as the transfer portal, NIL/revenue sharing, and loose admissions standards/willingness to bring in literally anybody (see ASU and Bemidji bringing in literal professional players). These are all new phenomena within the past few years. They aren't traditional material that all teams have been able to work with. Rather, they are new material that is available to some teams but not to us. (Well, loose admissions standards have always been a thing, but there are now way more avenues for abuse with CHL and pro players becoming eligible.)

A few months back I noted 3 things that I hoped Casey would focus on which I felt were lacking under Schafer.

The first was Lynah atmosphere/attendance, basically the same thing Trotsky said. Based on what people are saying in the 2025-26 Schedule thread, early returns are not good. I'm not sure how much of an effect Casey really has here, but he surely has some, and I was hopeful a fresh perspective could help. Reduce ticket prices, serve beer at the games, etc.—really need more people in the door. Our crowds are what set the program apart.

The second was greater use of the transfer portal. Some on this forum doubted this was possible, but Casey brought in two players immediately (two D with potential), the same number Schafer brought in over the past four seasons combined (Seger and a third string goalie). While it's clear we cannot use the portal as much as other programs, we can use it more than Schafer did. So far I'm overall happy with how portal use is going, though time will tell how good the new players are.

The third was putting together some kind of NIL plan. This is (as I acknowledged at the time) a pipe dream. I don't know how it would work given the total lack of institutional support. I believe revenue sharing (which the Ivy League opted out of) would have been a more effective means of paying players than NIL because donations would be tax deductible and payments would not be subject to the NIL clearinghouse approval. But we can't revenue share because the Ivy League won't allow it. So the only way to pay players would be NIL. As I said a few months ago, we have the wealthy donors, and there's nothing Cornell or the Ivy League could do to stop it. I have absolutely no hope this will happen within the next few years, but if college hockey continues in the direction it's headed, then in the not-too-distant-future paying players will be a necessity to stay relevant.

Cornell hockey offers something very unique which insulates the program from the downsides of this new world of college hockey. That is why I expect us to remain a top team in our conference. But to win a national title, business as usual won't cut it.

[Trotsky]

if college hockey continues in the direction it's headed, then in the not-too-distant-future paying players will be a necessity to stay relevant.

I don't mind paying players so that in itself is not a deal breaker.  But we can apply that template to worse things.  And there is a line where if that is the price I hope we don't "stay relevant."  Adjusting to fit into a corrupt system is not a victory.

What is the point of the whole enterprise of college athletics?  Once it was to give ordinary students here for education who also wanted to do a sport that option, along with a big dose of Victorian "muscular Christianity."  Then it was school sponsorship to allow them to find good competition.

But at some point* in the evolution of every college sport the cart starts to drag the horse.  We've already burned the village to "save" it in football and basketball.  I hope hockey doesn't follow.

* _{Probably 8 seconds after it goes on TV.}

[Tom Lento]

I'm not even convinced yet he's a great coach—I mean, he probably is a good coach, but what basis do we have? A slightly over .500 record in 12 years at Clarkson?

I admit I don't understand how to evaluate college hockey records with all the OT/SOL point BS from the past several seasons, but FWIW Casey's record on CHN is listed as 234-185-56 for a .552 win percentage.

Keith Allain was 282-254-54 (.524) at Yale.
Schafer was 561-300-117 (.633) at Cornell.

I think there's really no doubt that Casey Jones is at least a good coach, and probably an excellent one. I'm also inclined to think that if Allain was capable of leading a team to a national title Jones is too, although for a good coach in the Ivies I suspect that's mostly a function of luck.

Whether or not he's a good fit for the Cornell HC position remains to be seen, but there's no real reason to think he isn't.

There is also no real reason to think he'll be as consistently successful as Schafer was. Nothing against Jones, Schafer was just a truly remarkable coach.

[adamw]

I'm not even convinced yet he's a great coach—I mean, he probably is a good coach, but what basis do we have? A slightly over .500 record in 12 years at Clarkson? Let's have a good season or two before we start talking about national championships.  

The college hockey landscape has completely changed the last few years. ASU just signed a kid straight out of the AHL. Casey is going to need to revamp how Cornell recruits if we want to compete nationally.

This is a stretch (go figure), and no one should be worried about what ASU or Bemidji (and now Quinnipiac) has done. It's hyperbole to say "straight out of the AHL" ... The kid was in the ECHL - which is where players go after major junior when they've aged out and have nowhere else to go. The ECHL is filled with players barely as good - if at all - than what is currently in college.  The fact that he was "called up" to the AHL and played a few games, is commonplace for Double-A players and means pretty much nothing.  He played half a season in the ECHL after aging out of MJ. That's about it.

As for Casey, I've said it a thousand times - but let's do it again. He's a top shelf recruiter, and certainly a good to great coach. Equaling Schafer is a high bar. Casey is right there. He basically coached the Ohio State team that went to a Frozen Four - in addition to recruiting 3 first rounders. If you know the history there, you know what I mean when I say he basically was the head coach of that team.  What he did at Clarkson, in and out of the pandemic, was very good, given they have less to work with than Cornell does when it comes to recruiting in this landscape. He lost 2 All-American goalies at the last minute when they bailed out to go to "bigger" schools.  Goaltending was their biggest problem in the last few years, and they still knocked on the door of the NCAAs.

I'm not going to bother arguing about this - but that's it in a nutshell.

[The Rancor]

I'm not even convinced yet he's a great coach—I mean, he probably is a good coach, but what basis do we have? A slightly over .500 record in 12 years at Clarkson? Let's have a good season or two before we start talking about national championships.  

The college hockey landscape has completely changed the last few years. ASU just signed a kid straight out of the AHL. Casey is going to need to revamp how Cornell recruits if we want to compete nationally.

This is a stretch (go figure), and no one should be worried about what ASU or Bemidji (and now Quinnipiac) has done. It's hyperbole to say "straight out of the AHL" ... The kid was in the ECHL - which is where players go after major junior when they've aged out and have nowhere else to go. The ECHL is filled with players barely as good - if at all - than what is currently in college.  The fact that he was "called up" to the AHL and played a few games, is commonplace for Double-A players and means pretty much nothing.  He played half a season in the ECHL after aging out of MJ. That's about it.

As for Casey, I've said it a thousand times - but let's do it again. He's a top shelf recruiter, and certainly a good to great coach. Equaling Schafer is a high bar. Casey is right there. He basically coached the Ohio State team that went to a Frozen Four - in addition to recruiting 3 first rounders. If you know the history there, you know what I mean when I say he basically was the head coach of that team.  What he did at Clarkson, in and out of the pandemic, was very good, given they have less to work with than Cornell does when it comes to recruiting in this landscape. He lost 2 All-American goalies at the last minute when they bailed out to go to "bigger" schools.  Goaltending was their biggest problem in the last few years, and they still knocked on the door of the NCAAs.

I'm not going to bother arguing about this - but that's it in a nutshell.

Mike Schafer also didn't pluck Casey Jones out of a hat. They've known each other for 30 years. If anyone is concerned about the Legacy and Future of Cornell Hockey, it's Coach Schafer. And if anyone knows what it's like to be a student athlete at Cornell, its Casey Jones. I like our odds.

[Jeff Hopkins '82]

I'm not even convinced yet he's a great coach—I mean, he probably is a good coach, but what basis do we have? A slightly over .500 record in 12 years at Clarkson? Let's have a good season or two before we start talking about national championships.  

The college hockey landscape has completely changed the last few years. ASU just signed a kid straight out of the AHL. Casey is going to need to revamp how Cornell recruits if we want to compete nationally.

This is a stretch (go figure), and no one should be worried about what ASU or Bemidji (and now Quinnipiac) has done. It's hyperbole to say "straight out of the AHL" ... The kid was in the ECHL - which is where players go after major junior when they've aged out and have nowhere else to go. The ECHL is filled with players barely as good - if at all - than what is currently in college.  The fact that he was "called up" to the AHL and played a few games, is commonplace for Double-A players and means pretty much nothing.  He played half a season in the ECHL after aging out of MJ. That's about it.

As for Casey, I've said it a thousand times - but let's do it again. He's a top shelf recruiter, and certainly a good to great coach. Equaling Schafer is a high bar. Casey is right there. He basically coached the Ohio State team that went to a Frozen Four - in addition to recruiting 3 first rounders. If you know the history there, you know what I mean when I say he basically was the head coach of that team.  What he did at Clarkson, in and out of the pandemic, was very good, given they have less to work with than Cornell does when it comes to recruiting in this landscape. He lost 2 All-American goalies at the last minute when they bailed out to go to "bigger" schools.  Goaltending was their biggest problem in the last few years, and they still knocked on the door of the NCAAs.

I'm not going to bother arguing about this - but that's it in a nutshell.

Mike Schafer also didn't pluck Casey Jones out of a hat. They've known each other for 30 years. If anyone is concerned about the Legacy and Future of Cornell Hockey, it's Coach Schafer. And if anyone knows what it's like to be a student athlete at Cornell, its Casey Jones. I like our odds.

+1

[Beeeej]

I'm not even convinced yet he's a great coach—I mean, he probably is a good coach, but what basis do we have? A slightly over .500 record in 12 years at Clarkson?

I admit I don't understand how to evaluate college hockey records with all the OT/SOL point BS from the past several seasons, but FWIW Casey's record on CHN is listed as 234-185-56 for a .552 win percentage.

Keith Allain was 282-254-54 (.524) at Yale.
Schafer was 561-300-117 (.633) at Cornell.

I think there's really no doubt that Casey Jones is at least a good coach, and probably an excellent one. I'm also inclined to think that if Allain was capable of leading a team to a national title Jones is too, although for a good coach in the Ivies I suspect that's mostly a function of luck.

That's the wonderful and yet horrible thing about the NCAA tournament - anything can happen over the course of four single-elimination games. Allain was capable of leading that Yale team to a third-place finish in the ECAC with a reasonably decent 18-12-3 record, yet a loss in the conference tourney semifinals. They were literally the last at-large team into the NCAA tourney. But once you're in, you just have to win four in a row (two of which they did win handily, the other two in overtime). They deserved the championship because they won the four games they had to win, but it was definitely closer to the fluke end of the scale - stepping up in a big moment - than Quinnipiac's title was in 2023. Of course you have to be a good coach to get those four wins out of your team especially when they're not favored - but that win was all the more frustrating to many of us because of the sheer number of regional finals we've been to with Schafer as coach, with only one Frozen Four and no titles to show for it.

All of which is beside the point - Trotsky started this thread to suggest what Casey's aims should be compared to what Schafer's were thirty years ago, not to make predictions for Casey. I think they're perfectly reasonable, and I hope he achieves all three, and soon.

[Scersk '97]

That's the wonderful and yet horrible thing about the NCAA tournament - anything can happen over the course of four single-elimination games. Allain was capable of leading that Yale team to a third-place finish in the ECAC with a reasonably decent 18-12-3 record, yet a loss in the conference tourney semifinals. They were literally the last at-large team into the NCAA tourney. But once you're in, you just have to win four in a row (two of which they did win handily, the other two in overtime). They deserved the championship because they won the four games they had to win, but it was definitely closer to the fluke end of the scale - stepping up in a big moment - than Quinnipiac's title was in 2023.

Indeed, Allain probably should've won with the 2010 team, which laid an egg in the ECACs, affecting their seeding, or the 2011 team, which lost a barnburner to BC in the regional final. So 2013 was like winning the Oscar for the great movie that didn't win two years ago but that probably would've won in any other year. A lifetime achievement award, of sorts.