Mike Schafer is the men's ice hockey coach at Cornell University. He graduated from Cornell in 1986 with a degree in business management after leading the team to its first conference tournament championship in six years. Schafer retired as a player after his senior season and immediately became an assistant with the Big Red. Schafer left his alma mater after the 1989–90 season, taking a similar position with the Western Michigan Broncos of the WCHA. Five years later, after a downturn in the program that saw three consecutive losing seasons Cornell replaced Brian McCutcheon with Schafer as head coach. Schafer quickly returned the Big Red to prominence, winning the ECAC Hockey conference tournament his first two seasons back in Ithaca. Schafer has remained with Cornell ever since, becoming the longest tenured and the winningest coach in team history.

The Cornell Big Red men's ice hockey team is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college ice hockey program that represents Cornell University. Cornell competes in the ECAC Hockey conference and plays its home games at Lynah Rink in Ithaca, New York. Six of the eight Ivy League schools sponsor men's hockey and all six teams play in the 12-team ECAC. The Ivy League crowns a champion based on the results of the games played between its members during the ECAC season.