This past weekend, I traveled back to Cornell for alumni weekend to see a bunch of my former teammates and to congratulate Coach Schafer for his own “senior night” after being at the helm of the Big Red for 30 years.
As I sit here and write this, I can’t help but feel so grateful. Having the opportunity to reconnect with the people that helped shape who I am was so incredibly rewarding. Cornell Hockey is Cornell Hockey because of the people. It was a weekend full of belly laughs telling old stories, reminiscing on the great times, giving the latest on our growing families, and reflecting on the values Cornell taught us.
Honestly, reflecting back on the weekend, it was the epitome of what life is all about – creating memories with the people you love.
Sometimes we get so bogged down in the day to day we forget that. Doing the things we love, with the people that we love, there’s nothing in the world better or more meaningful. Man, the boys were so fired up being back at the rink together. Every single one of us would’ve given anything to throw that jersey on one more time and go to battle with each other.
And for that, we all owe Coach Schafer an extreme debt of gratitude for opening the Cornell door for us. And for me, twice, as a player and as a coach.
Without his and our other coaches’ belief in us we wouldn’t have been able to experience the thrill of winning championships and playing in front of the best fans in college hockey. Without his pushing us we wouldn’t have learned the life lessons that made us better husbands, fathers, friends, and leaders in our communities.
People ask me all the time about what it was like to play and coach at Cornell. I think the biggest thing for me, is that when you say “Cornell Hockey” you know exactly what that means, both on and off the ice. Identity is the most important ingredient in championship teams, and I’d be hard pressed to find many other schools in the country where the identity is so engrained and lived.
When you throw the jersey on, you know exactly what it means to be a Cornell Hockey player. When you take the jersey off and go into the community, you know exactly what it means to be Cornell Hockey player as well.
That’s a testament to Schafe. For Schafe it’s all about the identity and playing for something bigger than yourself. It’s about the logo on the front of the jersey and the brother to your side in battle. It’s about the alumni who gave us the expectation of winning championships which is why so many of us chose Cornell. It’s about the support staff who spent countless hours with us, giving us every ounce of their energy to help us be at our best. It’s about the town and university who support our team, leading to one of the best game atmospheres in college hockey.
And most importantly it’s about our responsibility to leave the place better than when we arrived for future groups of players coming through.
As players, we don’t really realize how much work and how much intention goes into creating that kind of culture. When I came back as a coach, it was amazing to see how much time and effort behind the scenes went into creating the opportunities for players to build the lasting bonds of brotherhood. To build the belief and love in each other and belief and love in the logo.
I think that’s the true gift that Schafe gave us. Those intentional opportunities and his demanding of the buy in to playing for something bigger than ourselves not only helped us win championships on the ice, but it gave us best friends for life off of it.
One of the coolest moments of the weekend for me was when one of my teammates gave me a huge hug, one of those big meaningful hugs, and said thank you for taking care of him as a younger player. I learned that from an upperclassman that did the same with me. And I’m sure my guy who gave me the big hug did that for a younger player when he was an upperclassman as well.
That tradition of serving others and passing the goodness down through each class is why Cornell has been so successful so consistently over the past three decades. It’s a factory of building leaders and mentally tough and resilient men. The legacy Coach Schafer leaves won’t be just hung up in banners at Lynah Rink. It will live on in how we coach, how we lead, and how we make an impact on others. For all of us, our example and how we lead will live on in those we serve.
I say this every week on the podcast, but hockey is the greatest game on the planet. And it’s the greatest game on the planet because of the people in it. That was on full display this past weekend in Ithaca, and I’m so grateful for every single person that’s been put in my life through my time there. My heart is full, man. Go Big Red.
