Sam Paolini still holds the Section V high school hockey record for assists in the regular season with 44 during the 1994-95 season - when he was in 8th grade. He would register 88 assists over his two years as a Spencerport Ranger before moving on to Choate Rosemary Hall for his last three years of high school. Last season he played his freshman year of college hockey at the Division I level for the Big Red at Cornell University. He played in only 12 of the team's 32 games, scoring one goal and four assists with his first collegiate point coming in a game at Harvard and his first goal at Clarkson.

Fast forward to the week before Thanksgiving 2000. Now 6' 1" and 195 lbs. and a sophomore at Cornell, Paolini takes the ice at home at Lynah Rink against the University of Maine as the leading scorer for the Big Red. He has already matched his total of five points for all of last year in the first five games of the 2000-01 season including a game-winning goal November 11 at R.P.I. "I wasn't guaranteed a spot at the start of the season, but I worked hard to earn a spot. Now that I've started scoring, coach (Mike Schafer) has put me in a more offensive role. I'm getting the points by working hard in the corners and being physical."

Hockey runs deep in the Paolini household. During his two seasons in the Ranger uniform, Sam got to play with his brother Tom who is now a sophomore with Hamilton College. Tom still holds the Ranger record for most points in a season with 64 set in 1993-94. And father Sam Sr. can be seen virtually any night of the week, when he's not at Cornell or Hamilton, at one of the many hockey rinks around the area supporting the Amerks or one of the many youth hockey teams. With the Big Red participating in the Syracuse Invitational over Thanksgiving weekend, the team was invited to enjoy the holiday meal at the Paolini residence.

Though he struggled with the transition his freshman year, Sam is happy with his decision to attend Cornell. "It was a huge jump from prep school to Division I hockey, but I think I'm caught up now and I'm definitely comfortable with the speed of the game here. I never played power play at this level until this season, but I'll do the job of standing in front of the net any day of the week." Sounds like someone who's earned his role instead of having it handed to him.