In the offseason, Cornell hired Dean Jackson[1] as an assistant coach, who had led nearby Elmira College to a Division III national championship in 2013, and had most recently been interim head coach for Penn State.
Canadian Cornell skaters were well represented in international play over the spring and summer.
During the IIHF World Championships in Plymouth, Michigan, four Big Red alumni, Laura Fortino (2013), Lauriane Rougeau (2013), Brianne Jenner (2015) and Rebecca Johnston (2012), skated for the silver-medal Canadians.
[2] In May, Team Canada named 28 players to the centralization roster, including five alumni: Fortino, Rogeau, Jenner, Johnston and Jillian Saulnier (2015), and one current player, Micah Hart.
[3][4] Following a 2017 NCAA Tournament appearance, the Big Red began the season ranked seventh[5][6] in both national polls.