Old Fashioned Hockey

Opened in 1957, and home to the Big Red for nearly 70 years, Lynah Rink has been the site of intense competition between the Crimson and Big Red. Senior captain of the Crimson Men’s Hockey team, Mason Langenbrunner, described Lynah Rink as “One of the only 'barns' left in college hockey that is a true old barn. There is nothing pretty about it — it’s a gritty place to play, and the energy matches that.”

From the first step into Lynah Rink, the Crimson prepare to play the villain. As the venue sits eerily quiet, players tape sticks and gain composure for the challenge ahead. Tension builds with every moment in anticipation of the opening puck drop. 

In the cramped quarters of the visiting locker room, echoes of crowd noise begin to swell. Student-athletes sit in their stalls anxiously anticipating the challenge that lie ahead. 

While this matchup has been played since 1910, an incident occurring on Jan. 6, 1973, sparked the creation of this rivalry’s most notable tradition. On that day in 1973, a Crimson fan at what was then called Donald C. Watson Rink hurled a chicken onto the ice directed toward the Cornell goaltender. This lit a fire within the “Lynah Faithful” of Cornell, and when the Crimson traveled to Ithaca on Feb. 17, 1973, a Big Red fan threw a retaliatory dead fish onto the ice in the direction of the Harvard players. Every year since this act of retaliation, the Lynah Faithful hurl dead fish toward the Crimson as it takes the ice.

Not long after fish are flung onto the ice, the Lynah Faithful open their newspapers in time for the announcement of the Crimson starting line. As the announcer reads the final Crimson name, newspapers rain onto the ice like a hail storm. 

When the Crimson travel to Lynah Rink, it is more than just a game, it's a spectacle. One where the traditions are traced back to the early days of college hockey. No matter the circumstances, when Crimson and Big Red clash, it is always a marquee event.