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Cornell men’s hockey coach Mike Schafer will retire after 2024-25

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Mike Schafer, head men’s hockey coach at Cornell University for nearly three decades, has announced that 2024-25 will be his final season leading the program.

Schafer, 61, is the longest-tenured and winningest head coach in Cornell history and the 13th all-time winningest coach in Division I men’s hockey. Since taking over in the summer of 1995, he has a record of 542-289-111 over 28 seasons.

Cornell athletic director Nicki Moore has announced that Casey Jones, a former Cornell captain and assistant coach, will take over as the program’s 13th head coach following Schafer’s retirement. Jones joins the Cornell staff as associate head coach after 13 seasons as head coach at Clarkson University, where he had a record of 234-185-56.

The Big Red went 22-7-6 this past season and defeated the University of Maine 3-1 in the NCAA tournament before falling 2-1 to eventual champion University of Denver in a national quarterfinal.

“I had a 38-year coaching career in college hockey, 33 of which were at Cornell,” Schafer said in a story that appeared on Cornell’s website. “It has been a great experience helping the players and teams achieve their goals over the years while creating Big Red pride and building spirit through Cornell hockey. I think this is the perfect time for me to start the transition to retirement.”

Moore described Schafer as “a legend in the world of college hockey.”

“For nearly four decades, as a player, captain, assistant and ultimately head coach, Mike has poured his heart and total effort into the success of the program, and more importantly into the individual student-athletes who have played for him and thrived both on and alongside the ice thanks to his mentorship,” Moore said in the story on Cornell’s website.

Schafer was an assistant coach at Western Michigan for five seasons before returning to Cornell as head coach. As a defenseman at Cornell from 1982 to 1986, he was captain for two years and was part of three straight Ivy League titles. He was an assistant at Cornell for four seasons before leaving for Western Michigan.

His impact at Cornell reached another level as a head coach. During Schafer’s tenure, the Big Red has advanced to the NCAA tournament 14 times. That included a trip to the Frozen Four in 2003, Cornell’s first appearance in the NCAA semifinals since 1980.

Schafer was a co-winner of the Spencer Penrose Award as the top coach in Division I men’s hockey during the 2019-2020 season. Cornell had a 23-2-4 record and was ranked No. 1 in the country when the COVID-19 pandemic ended its season prematurely. The pandemic also kept Cornell from playing in 2020-2021.

Other accolades for Schafer include being selected as ECAC Coach of the Year five times and Ivy League Coach of the Year four times.

Schafer and his wife Diane are the parents of sons Luke and John, and daughter Michelle.

Follow Andrew Legare on Twitter: @SGAndrewLegare. You can also reach him at [email protected]. To get unlimited access to the latest news, subscribe or activate your digital account today