Recruits 2024 and Beyond

scoop85

BearLover
I just got scooped…by scoop! Seriously, I was in the middle of typing out a very similar post. I agree with much of what you said. I’m not sure how it would work regarding the goalie situation—will the Cornell coaches hold one of them back in juniors? Frankly, whoever comes next year will just be waiting behind Shane anyway, so I don’t think it makes much sense from either Cornell’s or Katz’s/Roest’s perspective for them to both matriculate next year.

I’m curious if we see any Cornell players enter the transfer portal. Competition for playing time next year is going to be fierce. At forward, we subtract Seger and add three freshmen, all of whom seem capable of cracking the lineup, with Major and perhaps Pirtle being very likely good enough to play right away. I wonder if Pirtle goes to the USHL for a year, just because of the playing time issue. Remember, next year we also get back Kovich, who missed almost this entire season with an injury. (With that said, we had very few injuries this year, so we may need depth more next season than we did this year.)

Similarly, at D, we lose nobody and have 6 shoe-ins to play next season who are already on the team. Wolfenberg was a highly regarded recruit but seems to have gotten injured this season. He and Mosko may need to wait for Suda/Rego/Kempf to graduate before seeing regular playing time. (However, we have a bunch more defensemen in the pipeline, so even then…)

Part of the nonsense regarding the fifth year eligibility was that it inflated roster size and made playing time difficult for new recruits. With Penney/O’Leary/Rego all returning, Cornell is finally experiencing some of this. I guess we will see how loyal players like Keopple and Donaldson are to the program. Both of these players on paper should (and maybe ultimately will) get playing time. But the immediate future looks very difficult.

As far as draft picks are concerned, seems the only recruit with a legitimate shot of being drafted is DiGiulian. However, the Cornell player most likely to be drafted may already be on the team (Ben Robertson).

Logically we’d want to hold a slew of these guys back, but I assume at least a few of them may be aging out of juniors (I don’t have time to look it up), so that may not be an option across the board.

I’m not certain what the exact age cutoff is, but I believe only Parker Murray will age out of juniors next season. He is the only ‘03 recruit.

BearLover
I just got scooped…by scoop! Seriously, I was in the middle of typing out a very similar post. I agree with much of what you said. I’m not sure how it would work regarding the goalie situation—will the Cornell coaches hold one of them back in juniors? Frankly, whoever comes next year will just be waiting behind Shane anyway, so I don’t think it makes much sense from either Cornell’s or Katz’s/Roest’s perspective for them to both matriculate next year.

I’m curious if we see any Cornell players enter the transfer portal. Competition for playing time next year is going to be fierce. At forward, we subtract Seger and add three freshmen, all of whom seem capable of cracking the lineup, with Major and perhaps Pirtle being very likely good enough to play right away. I wonder if Pirtle goes to the USHL for a year, just because of the playing time issue. Remember, next year we also get back Kovich, who missed almost this entire season with an injury. (With that said, we had very few injuries this year, so we may need depth more next season than we did this year.)

Similarly, at D, we lose nobody and have 6 shoe-ins to play next season who are already on the team. Wolfenberg was a highly regarded recruit but seems to have gotten injured this season. He and Mosko may need to wait for Suda/Rego/Kempf to graduate before seeing regular playing time. (However, we have a bunch more defensemen in the pipeline, so even then…)

Part of the nonsense regarding the fifth year eligibility was that it inflated roster size and made playing time difficult for new recruits. With Penney/O’Leary/Rego all returning, Cornell is finally experiencing some of this. I guess we will see how loyal players like Keopple and Donaldson are to the program. Both of these players on paper should (and maybe ultimately will) get playing time. But the immediate future looks very difficult.

As far as draft picks are concerned, seems the only recruit with a legitimate shot of being drafted is DiGiulian. However, the Cornell player most likely to be drafted may already be on the team (Ben Robertson).

After the season he had, I have to imagine at least a few NHL teams have Robertson in their sights. If he’s not worthy of being drafted in at least a 5th or 6th round, then I have no idea what these teams can be looking at. In December the Hockey News listed him in their top 10 of draft eligible players who were passed up in the 2023 draft, and he only got better from there.

BearLover
I just got scooped…by scoop! Seriously, I was in the middle of typing out a very similar post. I agree with much of what you said. I’m not sure how it would work regarding the goalie situation—will the Cornell coaches hold one of them back in juniors? Frankly, whoever comes next year will just be waiting behind Shane anyway, so I don’t think it makes much sense from either Cornell’s or Katz’s/Roest’s perspective for them to both matriculate next year.

Schafer goes with a clear #1 in net during the season, but he has also shown flexibility to challenge him and replace him if necessary:

1997: Experimented through the season with Pelletier, settled on Elliott
2000: Burt beat out Underhill who then re-beat out Burt in arguably the only season-long fight
2002: Infamously started with Underhill before figuring out Leneveu was a deity
2007: Started with Davenport, changed to Scrivens
2011: Ran a straight-up Iles-Garman rotation all year
2022: started with McDonald-Howe, changed to Shane.

BearLover

Trotsky
If it's possible to hold guys for another year of USCHO seasoning, now would be when to do it.

17 Forwards and 11 Defenseman fighting for 12 / 6 / +1 slots, respectively, is 9 guys sitting, not including 3 goalies not named Ian Shane.

Since all 14 returning F seem to be keepers, I wonder if we will see one or more drop back? I could see Wallace on the blue line.

If Rayhill has been a healthy scratch for 3 years I guess he will be pursuing a fine career in sports journalism. I don't know if Steele was hurt this season. O'Brien is the next obvious guy on the bubble. Then you get to Kovich and Donaldson and, wow, I guess it's a good problem to have when guys of that caliber are your perma-bench.

This is of course ignoring defections, but also portal raids like Seger. Are there any faceoff specialists or snipers on bad NCHC / HE teams who would like to be the final piece of an F4 team? That's our world, now, and you know Rand will be backing up the truck.

Um, of academics. The truck of academics. Yeah.

No incoming transfers this year. I can assure you of that. There are no roster spots.

If god comes a knockin'...

Wonder if Charlie Major could get drafted this year. He’s currently 7th in the USHL in both goals & total points.

I'm thinking Robertson is a 3rd round pick. Word has gotten around.

BearLover

scoop85

BearLover
I just got scooped…by scoop! Seriously, I was in the middle of typing out a very similar post. I agree with much of what you said. I’m not sure how it would work regarding the goalie situation—will the Cornell coaches hold one of them back in juniors? Frankly, whoever comes next year will just be waiting behind Shane anyway, so I don’t think it makes much sense from either Cornell’s or Katz’s/Roest’s perspective for them to both matriculate next year.

I’m curious if we see any Cornell players enter the transfer portal. Competition for playing time next year is going to be fierce. At forward, we subtract Seger and add three freshmen, all of whom seem capable of cracking the lineup, with Major and perhaps Pirtle being very likely good enough to play right away. I wonder if Pirtle goes to the USHL for a year, just because of the playing time issue. Remember, next year we also get back Kovich, who missed almost this entire season with an injury. (With that said, we had very few injuries this year, so we may need depth more next season than we did this year.)

Similarly, at D, we lose nobody and have 6 shoe-ins to play next season who are already on the team. Wolfenberg was a highly regarded recruit but seems to have gotten injured this season. He and Mosko may need to wait for Suda/Rego/Kempf to graduate before seeing regular playing time. (However, we have a bunch more defensemen in the pipeline, so even then…)

Part of the nonsense regarding the fifth year eligibility was that it inflated roster size and made playing time difficult for new recruits. With Penney/O’Leary/Rego all returning, Cornell is finally experiencing some of this. I guess we will see how loyal players like Keopple and Donaldson are to the program. Both of these players on paper should (and maybe ultimately will) get playing time. But the immediate future looks very difficult.

As far as draft picks are concerned, seems the only recruit with a legitimate shot of being drafted is DiGiulian. However, the Cornell player most likely to be drafted may already be on the team (Ben Robertson).

Logically we’d want to hold a slew of these guys back, but I assume at least a few of them may be aging out of juniors (I don’t have time to look it up), so that may not be an option across the board.

I’m not certain what the exact age cutoff is, but I believe only Parker Murray will age out of juniors next season. He is the only ‘03 recruit.

That may well be the case. Must be some interesting conversations between the coaching staff, the recruits and their families about the best path forward for each player. I have to imagine even with the challenge of getting playing time, some of these guys who are going to be 20 will want to move forward with their college careers. Regardless it will be interesting to see who’s on the incoming recruit announcement later this year.

CAS
Wonder if Charlie Major could get drafted this year. He’s currently 7th in the USHL in both goals & total points.

.

Walsh was a 6th rounder after finishing 2nd in the USHL in points behind Celebrini, so you may be right about Major, especially given his great 2nd half of the season.

I think Walsh was a fairly unique case. It’s possible, though. One analog to Robertson is Alex Green, another puck moving D who was drafted in the fourth round in 2018 after his freshman season at Cornell. Green had several inches on Robertson but nowhere near Robertson’s level of production in either juniors or during freshman year.

Trotsky
If it's possible to hold guys for another year of USCHO seasoning, now would be when to do it....

If Rayhill has been a healthy scratch for 3 years I guess he will be pursuing a fine career in sports journalism...

interesting

USHL. The Times regrets the error.

It was not a shot. Rayhill hosted the Cornell 2024 video and was fantastic. Far better than the "talent" that comes out of Bristol.

Trotsky
USHL. The Times regrets the error.

It was not a shot. Rayhill hosted the Cornell 2024 video and was fantastic. Far better than the "talent" that comes out of Bristol.

i didn't think it was. it's the offseason and we're arguing in the denver game thread over how much is the right amount of pain to feel. time to get stupid.

BearLover
I think Walsh was a fairly unique case. It’s possible, though. One analog to Robertson is Alex Green, another puck moving D who was drafted in the fourth round in 2018 after his freshman season at Cornell. Green had several inches on Robertson but nowhere near Robertson’s level of production in either juniors or during freshman year.

While Green was a nice college defenseman, Robertson just has an “it” factor that Green didn’t have. No reason Robertson shouldn’t be a middle to late round pick given his performance. Someone made a comparison to Joakim Ryan, and I agree that Robertson’s ceiling is higher. He also has a lot of Malinski-like qualities.

scoop85

BearLover
I think Walsh was a fairly unique case. It’s possible, though. One analog to Robertson is Alex Green, another puck moving D who was drafted in the fourth round in 2018 after his freshman season at Cornell. Green had several inches on Robertson but nowhere near Robertson’s level of production in either juniors or during freshman year.

While Green was a nice college defenseman, Robertson just has an “it” factor that Green didn’t have. No reason Robertson shouldn’t be a middle to late round pick given his performance. Someone made a comparison to Joakim Ryan, and I agree that Robertson’s ceiling is higher. He also has a lot of Malinski-like qualities.

Yes.

ugarte

Trotsky
USHL. The Times regrets the error.

It was not a shot. Rayhill hosted the Cornell 2024 video and was fantastic. Far better than the "talent" that comes out of Bristol.

i didn't think it was. it's the offseason and we're arguing in the denver game thread over how much is the right amount of pain to feel. time to get stupid.

And we're just the guys to do it.

Chase Pirtle is the 2nd highest scoring
‘05 in the BCHL

CAS
Chase Pirtle is the 2nd highest scoring
‘05 in the BCHL

And the ‘05 he’s right behind plays for Surrey, which is 44-8, so the other guy likely has a stronger supporting cast.

Scersk '97

scoop85
With no more games to focus on here’s a late season update for our listed recruits. We have plenty of talent in the pipeline:

I have never seen us line up the talent at center that we seem to have and are bringing in. I have to assume some of those guys are going to be converted to wing, but my god.

IIRC, Dan Lodboa was a forward when he came to Cornell, but Ned (aka "God" ) already had a few good forwards. So, he converted Dan to play as a D. Ned would later say Dan was the best hockey player he'd ever coached.

So, if history were to repeat itself, I'd take it!

Swampy

Scersk '97

scoop85
With no more games to focus on here’s a late season update for our listed recruits. We have plenty of talent in the pipeline:

I have never seen us line up the talent at center that we seem to have and are bringing in. I have to assume some of those guys are going to be converted to wing, but my god.

IIRC, Dan Lodboa was a forward when he came to Cornell, but Ned (aka "God" ) already had a few good forwards. So, he converted Dan to play as a D. Ned would later say Dan was the best hockey player he'd ever coached.

So, if history were to repeat itself, I'd take it!

I recently read a book called “They Did Everything But Win” about the Emile Francis Rangers of the 60’s and 70’s. There were some unflattering passages about Ned in the book; as I’ve heard elsewhere over the years, apparently his Red Wings players largely detested him and his “rah rah” college style approach. Certainly not the first or last time a college coach didn’t work out in the pros.

Swampy

Scersk '97

scoop85
With no more games to focus on here’s a late season update for our listed recruits. We have plenty of talent in the pipeline:

I have never seen us line up the talent at center that we seem to have and are bringing in. I have to assume some of those guys are going to be converted to wing, but my god.

IIRC, Dan Lodboa was a forward when he came to Cornell, but Ned (aka "God" ) already had a few good forwards. So, he converted Dan to play as a D. Ned would later say Dan was the best hockey player he'd ever coached.

So, if history were to repeat itself, I'd take it!

Harry Orr, Steve Giuliani, Bruce Pattison and Lodboa were all forwards when they came to Cornell, then moved to defense by Ned. Could be others I'm forgetting.

scoop85

Swampy

Scersk '97

scoop85
With no more games to focus on here’s a late season update for our listed recruits. We have plenty of talent in the pipeline:

I have never seen us line up the talent at center that we seem to have and are bringing in. I have to assume some of those guys are going to be converted to wing, but my god.

IIRC, Dan Lodboa was a forward when he came to Cornell, but Ned (aka "God" ) already had a few good forwards. So, he converted Dan to play as a D. Ned would later say Dan was the best hockey player he'd ever coached.

So, if history were to repeat itself, I'd take it!

I recently read a book called “They Did Everything But Win” about the Emile Francis Rangers of the 60’s and 70’s. There were some unflattering passages about Ned in the book; as I’ve heard elsewhere over the years, apparently his Red Wings players largely detested him and his “rah rah” college style approach. Certainly not the first or last time a college coach didn’t work out in the pros.

Question of the Day: Suppose Schafer was to coach for another seven years here, during which time he would win 2 NC's, with the second one being only the second time in NC$$ history that a Division I ice hockey team would go undefeated & untied. After that, he would spend a season as a NHL coach, during which time the pro players would reject him because of his "rah rah" college style.* Then, he would serve three years as the GM of the pro team, after which he would return to coaching college hockey at another ECAC school (not Harvard). There, before he retired, he would win his third NC.

Would you reject this scenario or welcome it?

*I haven't read "They Did Everything But Win," so I don't know if there's more criticism of Harkness. But here's how Wikipedia describes that brief cup of coffee as a NHL coach: "A veteran and aging Detroit roster had resisted adapting to Harkness's more progressive methods.[5] Things that are commonplace and obvious today, such as no cigar smoking in the locker room between periods and shorter ice shifts caused a mutiny by the veteran players.[5]"

The reference is to: Allen, Kevin; Duff, Bob (Oct 15, 2014). 100 Things Red Wings Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die. Triumph Books. ISBN 9781623689827

Swampy

scoop85

Swampy

Scersk '97

scoop85
With no more games to focus on here’s a late season update for our listed recruits. We have plenty of talent in the pipeline:

I have never seen us line up the talent at center that we seem to have and are bringing in. I have to assume some of those guys are going to be converted to wing, but my god.

IIRC, Dan Lodboa was a forward when he came to Cornell, but Ned (aka "God" ) already had a few good forwards. So, he converted Dan to play as a D. Ned would later say Dan was the best hockey player he'd ever coached.

So, if history were to repeat itself, I'd take it!

I recently read a book called “They Did Everything But Win” about the Emile Francis Rangers of the 60’s and 70’s. There were some unflattering passages about Ned in the book; as I’ve heard elsewhere over the years, apparently his Red Wings players largely detested him and his “rah rah” college style approach. Certainly not the first or last time a college coach didn’t work out in the pros.

Question of the Day: Suppose Schafer was to coach for another seven years here, during which time he would win 2 NC's, with the second one being only the second time in NC$$ history that a Division I ice hockey team would go undefeated & untied. After that, he would spend a season as a NHL coach, during which time the pro players would reject him because of his "rah rah" college style.* Then, he would serve three years as the GM of the pro team, after which he would return to coaching college hockey at another ECAC school (not Harvard). There, before he retired, he would win his third NC.

Would you reject this scenario or welcome it?

???????????????

???????????????

1 Samuel 26:9

Swampy

scoop85

Swampy

Scersk '97

scoop85
With no more games to focus on here’s a late season update for our listed recruits. We have plenty of talent in the pipeline:

I have never seen us line up the talent at center that we seem to have and are bringing in. I have to assume some of those guys are going to be converted to wing, but my god.

IIRC, Dan Lodboa was a forward when he came to Cornell, but Ned (aka "God" ) already had a few good forwards. So, he converted Dan to play as a D. Ned would later say Dan was the best hockey player he'd ever coached.

So, if history were to repeat itself, I'd take it!

I recently read a book called “They Did Everything But Win” about the Emile Francis Rangers of the 60’s and 70’s. There were some unflattering passages about Ned in the book; as I’ve heard elsewhere over the years, apparently his Red Wings players largely detested him and his “rah rah” college style approach. Certainly not the first or last time a college coach didn’t work out in the pros.

Question of the Day: Suppose Schafer was to coach for another seven years here, during which time he would win 2 NC's, with the second one being only the second time in NC$$ history that a Division I ice hockey team would go undefeated & untied. After that ... he would return to coaching college hockey at another ECAC school (not Harvard). There, before he retired, he would win his third NC.

Would you reject this scenario or welcome it?

no! do not throw me into the briar patch!

Swampy

scoop85

Swampy

Scersk '97

scoop85
With no more games to focus on here’s a late season update for our listed recruits. We have plenty of talent in the pipeline:

I have never seen us line up the talent at center that we seem to have and are bringing in. I have to assume some of those guys are going to be converted to wing, but my god.

IIRC, Dan Lodboa was a forward when he came to Cornell, but Ned (aka "God" ) already had a few good forwards. So, he converted Dan to play as a D. Ned would later say Dan was the best hockey player he'd ever coached.

So, if history were to repeat itself, I'd take it!

I recently read a book called “They Did Everything But Win” about the Emile Francis Rangers of the 60’s and 70’s. There were some unflattering passages about Ned in the book; as I’ve heard elsewhere over the years, apparently his Red Wings players largely detested him and his “rah rah” college style approach. Certainly not the first or last time a college coach didn’t work out in the pros.

Question of the Day: Suppose Schafer was to coach for another seven years here, during which time he would win 2 NC's, with the second one being only the second time in NC$$ history that a Division I ice hockey team would go undefeated & untied. After that, he would spend a season as a NHL coach, during which time the pro players would reject him because of his "rah rah" college style.* Then, he would serve three years as the GM of the pro team, after which he would return to coaching college hockey at another ECAC school (not Harvard). There, before he retired, he would win his third NC.

Would you reject this scenario or welcome it?

*I haven't read "They Did Everything But Win," so I don't know if there's more criticism of Harkness. But here's how Wikipedia describes that brief cup of coffee as a NHL coach: "A veteran and aging Detroit roster had resisted adapting to Harkness's more progressive methods.[5] Things that are commonplace and obvious today, such as no cigar smoking in the locker room between periods and shorter ice shifts caused a mutiny by the veteran players.[5]"

The reference is to: Allen, Kevin; Duff, Bob (Oct 15, 2014). 100 Things Red Wings Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die. Triumph Books. ISBN 9781623689827

When we played at Michigan State to open the '19-'20 season, I found a copy of Kevin Allen's book in the bookstore across the street from campus. The chapter on Ned was entitled "Ned Harkness was Ahead of His Time" or something very similar. Kevin Allen was the lead hockey writer for USA Today for decades. A few years before his book came out, I had actually posted something on this website about the cigar smoking issue while Ned coached at Detroit (Maybe Kevin Allen reads elynah).

Trotsky

BearLover
I just got scooped…by scoop! Seriously, I was in the middle of typing out a very similar post. I agree with much of what you said. I’m not sure how it would work regarding the goalie situation—will the Cornell coaches hold one of them back in juniors? Frankly, whoever comes next year will just be waiting behind Shane anyway, so I don’t think it makes much sense from either Cornell’s or Katz’s/Roest’s perspective for them to both matriculate next year.

Schafer goes with a clear #1 in net during the season, but he has also shown flexibility to challenge him and replace him if necessary:

1997: Experimented through the season with Pelletier, settled on Elliott
2000: Burt beat out Underhill who then re-beat out Burt in arguably the only season-long fight
2002: Infamously started with Underhill before figuring out Leneveu was a deity
2007: Started with Davenport, changed to Scrivens
2011: Ran a straight-up Iles-Garman rotation all year
2022: started with McDonald-Howe, changed to Shane.

Is that really true about 2002? And not sure if by 2002 you mean 2001-02 or 2002-03 ... the former, Leneveu got more PT as the season went on, but Underhill started the 2002 ECAC final (and allowed a not great GWG) and the NCAAs. In 2002-03 - Underhill was gone.

adamw

Trotsky

BearLover
I just got scooped…by scoop! Seriously, I was in the middle of typing out a very similar post. I agree with much of what you said. I’m not sure how it would work regarding the goalie situation—will the Cornell coaches hold one of them back in juniors? Frankly, whoever comes next year will just be waiting behind Shane anyway, so I don’t think it makes much sense from either Cornell’s or Katz’s/Roest’s perspective for them to both matriculate next year.

Schafer goes with a clear #1 in net during the season, but he has also shown flexibility to challenge him and replace him if necessary:

1997: Experimented through the season with Pelletier, settled on Elliott
2000: Burt beat out Underhill who then re-beat out Burt in arguably the only season-long fight
2002: Infamously started with Underhill before figuring out Leneveu was a deity
2007: Started with Davenport, changed to Scrivens
2011: Ran a straight-up Iles-Garman rotation all year
2022: started with McDonald-Howe, changed to Shane.

Is that really true about 2002? And not sure if by 2002 you mean 2001-02 or 2002-03 ... the former, Leneveu got more PT as the season went on, but Underhill started the 2002 ECAC final (and allowed a not great GWG) and the NCAAs. In 2002-03 - Underhill was gone.

I recall 2002 being platoon almost all year with the exception of a couple weeks underhill was hurt?

Chris '03

adamw

Trotsky

BearLover
I just got scooped…by scoop! Seriously, I was in the middle of typing out a very similar post. I agree with much of what you said. I’m not sure how it would work regarding the goalie situation—will the Cornell coaches hold one of them back in juniors? Frankly, whoever comes next year will just be waiting behind Shane anyway, so I don’t think it makes much sense from either Cornell’s or Katz’s/Roest’s perspective for them to both matriculate next year.

Schafer goes with a clear #1 in net during the season, but he has also shown flexibility to challenge him and replace him if necessary:

1997: Experimented through the season with Pelletier, settled on Elliott
2000: Burt beat out Underhill who then re-beat out Burt in arguably the only season-long fight
2002: Infamously started with Underhill before figuring out Leneveu was a deity
2007: Started with Davenport, changed to Scrivens
2011: Ran a straight-up Iles-Garman rotation all year
2022: started with McDonald-Howe, changed to Shane.

Is that really true about 2002? And not sure if by 2002 you mean 2001-02 or 2002-03 ... the former, Leneveu got more PT as the season went on, but Underhill started the 2002 ECAC final (and allowed a not great GWG) and the NCAAs. In 2002-03 - Underhill was gone.

I recall 2002 being platoon almost all year with the exception of a couple weeks underhill was hurt?

Underhill played 21 games, Leneveu 14

[www.collegehockeynews.com]

Chris '03

adamw

Trotsky

BearLover
I just got scooped…by scoop! Seriously, I was in the middle of typing out a very similar post. I agree with much of what you said. I’m not sure how it would work regarding the goalie situation—will the Cornell coaches hold one of them back in juniors? Frankly, whoever comes next year will just be waiting behind Shane anyway, so I don’t think it makes much sense from either Cornell’s or Katz’s/Roest’s perspective for them to both matriculate next year.

Schafer goes with a clear #1 in net during the season, but he has also shown flexibility to challenge him and replace him if necessary:

1997: Experimented through the season with Pelletier, settled on Elliott
2000: Burt beat out Underhill who then re-beat out Burt in arguably the only season-long fight
2002: Infamously started with Underhill before figuring out Leneveu was a deity
2007: Started with Davenport, changed to Scrivens
2011: Ran a straight-up Iles-Garman rotation all year
2022: started with McDonald-Howe, changed to Shane.

Is that really true about 2002? And not sure if by 2002 you mean 2001-02 or 2002-03 ... the former, Leneveu got more PT as the season went on, but Underhill started the 2002 ECAC final (and allowed a not great GWG) and the NCAAs. In 2002-03 - Underhill was gone.

I recall 2002 being platoon almost all year with the exception of a couple weeks underhill was hurt?

I recall the same, at least for the regular season; Underhill got all the postseason starts. I also don't think the coaches had any trouble figuring out what they had with Leneveu, as he wound up splitting time with Underhill despite Underhill's 2000-01 season in which he became the first Big Red goaltender to post a sub-2.00 GAA since Cropper in 1970.

Give My Regards
I recall the same, at least for the regular season; Underhill got all the postseason starts. I also don't think the coaches had any trouble figuring out what they had with Leneveu, as he wound up splitting time with Underhill despite Underhill's 2000-01 season in which he became the first Big Red goaltender to post a sub-2.00 GAA since Cropper in 1970.

Underhill starts (game number):

2
3
4
5

At this point, Underhill has played 4 straight games, including Lynah East, which he loses 3-4 in overtime.

7
9
11
12
14
16
18
20
22
24
27

11 starts in 22 games during the middle of the season, a pure rotation

29
30
31
32
33
34
35

Final 7 games are all Underhill, including the full post-season. Note that Underhill breaks the rotation with games of GA 1, 1, 2, 0.

My understanding is that Wishart is headed to play at Middlebury.

Such a difficult thing to predict who will develop and how. Guys who lit it up in juniors sometimes get to college and are a little fried and maybe don't push as much as they once did. Or maybe they hit a ceiling while other kids really do not. I have a son who is a good player and what they tell you is that as you move up you have to improve and dominate at every level that you reach. That's hard to do! I think its safe to say that the USHL is largely D1 commits and that provides the highest level of competition for players to develop so that's probably the best place to play if you're a D1 commit. So expect a kid like Charlie Major to come in and contribute immediately a la Ryan Walsh. Sean Donaldson dominated the BCHL which is different. Jacob Kraft didnt dominate but put up great numbers for Cedar Rapids in the USHL. DeGiulian was drafted by the Lincoln Stars and my understanding is he will play juniors for a least a year.

As my son's coach put it this year, you're not playing college hockey until you're on the ice playing college hockey!

Pghas
My understanding is that Wishart is headed to play at Middlebury.

Such a difficult thing to predict who will develop and how. Guys who lit it up in juniors sometimes get to college and are a little fried and maybe don't push as much as they once did. Or maybe they hit a ceiling while other kids really do not. I have a son who is a good player and what they tell you is that as you move up you have to improve and dominate at every level that you reach. That's hard to do! I think its safe to say that the USHL is largely D1 commits and that provides the highest level of competition for players to develop so that's probably the best place to play if you're a D1 commit. So expect a kid like Charlie Major to come in and contribute immediately a la Ryan Walsh. Sean Donaldson dominated the BCHL which is different. Jacob Kraft didnt dominate but put up great numbers for Cedar Rapids in the USHL. DeGiulian was drafted by the Lincoln Stars and my understanding is he will play juniors for a least a year.

As my son's coach put it this year, you're not playing college hockey until you're on the ice playing college hockey!

Well said. I am not involved with junior hockey, but from following recruiting, college success is certainly difficult to predict. We’ve even seen players be drafted by NHL teams and struggle to make Cornell’s lineup (eg. Cairns, Tschantz, Song) or barely produce. I agree with you that putting up a lot of points in the USHL is the surest sign of college success. But still far from guaranteed. Dwyer Tschantz put up really good numbers in the USHL, for example. In his case I think he suffered some injuries, but I’m pretty sure he was a healthy scratch a lot too.

The Donaldson situation seems particularly aberrational. Seventh in the BCHL in points/4th in goals, but can’t crack the lineup as a sophomore. Did he plateau once he got to college? Is he unreliable on defense? Does Cornell have a glut of left shot forwards? Looking purely at the junior hockey numbers of the forwards in last year’s freshman class, it would have been impossible to tell that Bancroft (insane numbers in the OJHL, which is weaker than the BCHL) would be the best performer, then DeSantis (very good numbers in the USHL), then Wallace (good numbers in the USHL), then Donaldson (fantastic numbers in the BCHL). Obviously, hockey (and especially Cornell Hockey) is way more than just offensive numbers—maybe that’s the point.

One thing notable about all of this is that Donaldson and Keopple and the other guys not seeing the ice haven’t entered the transfer portal. At other programs, players like them would have bolted the minute the season ended (or sooner). It says a lot about how Schafer runs the team that these guys are sticking with it.

BearLover

Pghas
My understanding is that Wishart is headed to play at Middlebury.

Such a difficult thing to predict who will develop and how. Guys who lit it up in juniors sometimes get to college and are a little fried and maybe don't push as much as they once did. Or maybe they hit a ceiling while other kids really do not. I have a son who is a good player and what they tell you is that as you move up you have to improve and dominate at every level that you reach. That's hard to do! I think its safe to say that the USHL is largely D1 commits and that provides the highest level of competition for players to develop so that's probably the best place to play if you're a D1 commit. So expect a kid like Charlie Major to come in and contribute immediately a la Ryan Walsh. Sean Donaldson dominated the BCHL which is different. Jacob Kraft didnt dominate but put up great numbers for Cedar Rapids in the USHL. DeGiulian was drafted by the Lincoln Stars and my understanding is he will play juniors for a least a year.

As my son's coach put it this year, you're not playing college hockey until you're on the ice playing college hockey!

Well said. I am not involved with junior hockey, but from following recruiting, college success is certainly difficult to predict. We’ve even seen players be drafted by NHL teams and struggle to make Cornell’s lineup (eg. Cairns, Tschantz, Song) or barely produce. I agree with you that putting up a lot of points in the USHL is the surest sign of college success. But still far from guaranteed. Dwyer Tschantz put up really good numbers in the USHL, for example. In his case I think he suffered some injuries, but I’m pretty sure he was a healthy scratch a lot too.

The Donaldson situation seems particularly aberrational. Seventh in the BCHL in points/4th in goals, but can’t crack the lineup as a sophomore. Did he plateau once he got to college? Is he unreliable on defense? Does Cornell have a glut of left shot forwards? Looking purely at the junior hockey numbers of the forwards in last year’s freshman class, it would have been impossible to tell that Bancroft (insane numbers in the OJHL, which is weaker than the BCHL) would be the best performer, then DeSantis (very good numbers in the USHL), then Wallace (good numbers in the USHL), then Donaldson (fantastic numbers in the BCHL). Obviously, hockey (and especially Cornell Hockey) is way more than just offensive numbers—maybe that’s the point.

One thing notable about all of this is that Donaldson and Keopple and the other guys not seeing the ice haven’t entered the transfer portal. At other programs, players like them would have bolted the minute the season ended (or sooner). It says a lot about how Schafer runs the team that these guys are sticking with it.

It says a lot about the players too. Think of a second string wrestler who is essentially the practice partner for a first stringer. John Irving, the author, talks about not being able to complete 4 years at Pitt (I think it was Pitt) as a practice partner. And he thinks those that can do that have character that many do not.

marty

BearLover

Pghas
My understanding is that Wishart is headed to play at Middlebury.

Such a difficult thing to predict who will develop and how. Guys who lit it up in juniors sometimes get to college and are a little fried and maybe don't push as much as they once did. Or maybe they hit a ceiling while other kids really do not. I have a son who is a good player and what they tell you is that as you move up you have to improve and dominate at every level that you reach. That's hard to do! I think its safe to say that the USHL is largely D1 commits and that provides the highest level of competition for players to develop so that's probably the best place to play if you're a D1 commit. So expect a kid like Charlie Major to come in and contribute immediately a la Ryan Walsh. Sean Donaldson dominated the BCHL which is different. Jacob Kraft didnt dominate but put up great numbers for Cedar Rapids in the USHL. DeGiulian was drafted by the Lincoln Stars and my understanding is he will play juniors for a least a year.

As my son's coach put it this year, you're not playing college hockey until you're on the ice playing college hockey!

Well said. I am not involved with junior hockey, but from following recruiting, college success is certainly difficult to predict. We’ve even seen players be drafted by NHL teams and struggle to make Cornell’s lineup (eg. Cairns, Tschantz, Song) or barely produce. I agree with you that putting up a lot of points in the USHL is the surest sign of college success. But still far from guaranteed. Dwyer Tschantz put up really good numbers in the USHL, for example. In his case I think he suffered some injuries, but I’m pretty sure he was a healthy scratch a lot too.

The Donaldson situation seems particularly aberrational. Seventh in the BCHL in points/4th in goals, but can’t crack the lineup as a sophomore. Did he plateau once he got to college? Is he unreliable on defense? Does Cornell have a glut of left shot forwards? Looking purely at the junior hockey numbers of the forwards in last year’s freshman class, it would have been impossible to tell that Bancroft (insane numbers in the OJHL, which is weaker than the BCHL) would be the best performer, then DeSantis (very good numbers in the USHL), then Wallace (good numbers in the USHL), then Donaldson (fantastic numbers in the BCHL). Obviously, hockey (and especially Cornell Hockey) is way more than just offensive numbers—maybe that’s the point.

One thing notable about all of this is that Donaldson and Keopple and the other guys not seeing the ice haven’t entered the transfer portal. At other programs, players like them would have bolted the minute the season ended (or sooner). It says a lot about how Schafer runs the team that these guys are sticking with it.

It says a lot about the players too. Think of a second string wrestler who is essentially the practice partner for a first stringer. John Irving, the author, talks about not being able to complete 4 years at Pitt (I think it was Pitt) as a practice partner. And he thinks those that can do that have character that many do not.

Is it naive of me to say that maybe these kids also value their education and don’t expect to play in the NHL and recognize that a Cornell degree has a lifetime value that maybe other degrees do not.

marty

BearLover

Pghas
My understanding is that Wishart is headed to play at Middlebury.

Such a difficult thing to predict who will develop and how. Guys who lit it up in juniors sometimes get to college and are a little fried and maybe don't push as much as they once did. Or maybe they hit a ceiling while other kids really do not. I have a son who is a good player and what they tell you is that as you move up you have to improve and dominate at every level that you reach. That's hard to do! I think its safe to say that the USHL is largely D1 commits and that provides the highest level of competition for players to develop so that's probably the best place to play if you're a D1 commit. So expect a kid like Charlie Major to come in and contribute immediately a la Ryan Walsh. Sean Donaldson dominated the BCHL which is different. Jacob Kraft didnt dominate but put up great numbers for Cedar Rapids in the USHL. DeGiulian was drafted by the Lincoln Stars and my understanding is he will play juniors for a least a year.

As my son's coach put it this year, you're not playing college hockey until you're on the ice playing college hockey!

Well said. I am not involved with junior hockey, but from following recruiting, college success is certainly difficult to predict. We’ve even seen players be drafted by NHL teams and struggle to make Cornell’s lineup (eg. Cairns, Tschantz, Song) or barely produce. I agree with you that putting up a lot of points in the USHL is the surest sign of college success. But still far from guaranteed. Dwyer Tschantz put up really good numbers in the USHL, for example. In his case I think he suffered some injuries, but I’m pretty sure he was a healthy scratch a lot too.

The Donaldson situation seems particularly aberrational. Seventh in the BCHL in points/4th in goals, but can’t crack the lineup as a sophomore. Did he plateau once he got to college? Is he unreliable on defense? Does Cornell have a glut of left shot forwards? Looking purely at the junior hockey numbers of the forwards in last year’s freshman class, it would have been impossible to tell that Bancroft (insane numbers in the OJHL, which is weaker than the BCHL) would be the best performer, then DeSantis (very good numbers in the USHL), then Wallace (good numbers in the USHL), then Donaldson (fantastic numbers in the BCHL). Obviously, hockey (and especially Cornell Hockey) is way more than just offensive numbers—maybe that’s the point.

One thing notable about all of this is that Donaldson and Keopple and the other guys not seeing the ice haven’t entered the transfer portal. At other programs, players like them would have bolted the minute the season ended (or sooner). It says a lot about how Schafer runs the team that these guys are sticking with it.

It says a lot about the players too. Think of a second string wrestler who is essentially the practice partner for a first stringer. John Irving, the author, talks about not being able to complete 4 years at Pitt (I think it was Pitt) as a practice partner. And he thinks those that can do that have character that many do not.

I think there is a sense of accomplishment for a player at just getting to a certain level. If you have put in the work and effort to make it to playing in prep school, or in college, or at Cornell, how much more is there? That's not to say these kids dont want to play or care, but to many of them, academics may be the more important part of this picture (and should be). They aren't going to the NHL, they play varsity hockey at Cornell, and maybe they dont get into as many games as they'd like. Just being part of that team, at that level, where you all consider every guy just as important as the next, and going to a great school - who can blame a kid for not wanting to transfer to Union or Clarkson or even Yale or Brown? At some point it is not just the single-minded purposeness of climbing the hockey ladder, its also about your life experience and path.

Pghas

marty

BearLover

Pghas
My understanding is that Wishart is headed to play at Middlebury.

Such a difficult thing to predict who will develop and how. Guys who lit it up in juniors sometimes get to college and are a little fried and maybe don't push as much as they once did. Or maybe they hit a ceiling while other kids really do not. I have a son who is a good player and what they tell you is that as you move up you have to improve and dominate at every level that you reach. That's hard to do! I think its safe to say that the USHL is largely D1 commits and that provides the highest level of competition for players to develop so that's probably the best place to play if you're a D1 commit. So expect a kid like Charlie Major to come in and contribute immediately a la Ryan Walsh. Sean Donaldson dominated the BCHL which is different. Jacob Kraft didnt dominate but put up great numbers for Cedar Rapids in the USHL. DeGiulian was drafted by the Lincoln Stars and my understanding is he will play juniors for a least a year.

As my son's coach put it this year, you're not playing college hockey until you're on the ice playing college hockey!

Well said. I am not involved with junior hockey, but from following recruiting, college success is certainly difficult to predict. We’ve even seen players be drafted by NHL teams and struggle to make Cornell’s lineup (eg. Cairns, Tschantz, Song) or barely produce. I agree with you that putting up a lot of points in the USHL is the surest sign of college success. But still far from guaranteed. Dwyer Tschantz put up really good numbers in the USHL, for example. In his case I think he suffered some injuries, but I’m pretty sure he was a healthy scratch a lot too.

The Donaldson situation seems particularly aberrational. Seventh in the BCHL in points/4th in goals, but can’t crack the lineup as a sophomore. Did he plateau once he got to college? Is he unreliable on defense? Does Cornell have a glut of left shot forwards? Looking purely at the junior hockey numbers of the forwards in last year’s freshman class, it would have been impossible to tell that Bancroft (insane numbers in the OJHL, which is weaker than the BCHL) would be the best performer, then DeSantis (very good numbers in the USHL), then Wallace (good numbers in the USHL), then Donaldson (fantastic numbers in the BCHL). Obviously, hockey (and especially Cornell Hockey) is way more than just offensive numbers—maybe that’s the point.

One thing notable about all of this is that Donaldson and Keopple and the other guys not seeing the ice haven’t entered the transfer portal. At other programs, players like them would have bolted the minute the season ended (or sooner). It says a lot about how Schafer runs the team that these guys are sticking with it.

It says a lot about the players too. Think of a second string wrestler who is essentially the practice partner for a first stringer. John Irving, the author, talks about not being able to complete 4 years at Pitt (I think it was Pitt) as a practice partner. And he thinks those that can do that have character that many do not.

I think there is a sense of accomplishment for a player at just getting to a certain level. If you have put in the work and effort to make it to playing in prep school, or in college, or at Cornell, how much more is there? That's not to say these kids dont want to play or care, but to many of them, academics may be the more important part of this picture (and should be). They aren't going to the NHL, they play varsity hockey at Cornell, and maybe they dont get into as many games as they'd like. Just being part of that team, at that level, where you all consider every guy just as important as the next, and going to a great school - who can blame a kid for not wanting to transfer to Union or Clarkson or even Yale or Brown? At some point it is not just the single-minded purposeness of climbing the hockey ladder, it’s also about your life experience and path.

I agree with all this stuff. Kudos to the coaching staff for recruiting this type of player, emphasizing the degree, and getting the players to buy in. The players themselves I’m certain are making a smart and rational decision about their future by sticking with Cornell even given a lack of ice time. But the vast majority of college hockey players would not make the same choice.

marty

BearLover

Pghas
My understanding is that Wishart is headed to play at Middlebury.

Such a difficult thing to predict who will develop and how. Guys who lit it up in juniors sometimes get to college and are a little fried and maybe don't push as much as they once did. Or maybe they hit a ceiling while other kids really do not. I have a son who is a good player and what they tell you is that as you move up you have to improve and dominate at every level that you reach. That's hard to do! I think its safe to say that the USHL is largely D1 commits and that provides the highest level of competition for players to develop so that's probably the best place to play if you're a D1 commit. So expect a kid like Charlie Major to come in and contribute immediately a la Ryan Walsh. Sean Donaldson dominated the BCHL which is different. Jacob Kraft didnt dominate but put up great numbers for Cedar Rapids in the USHL. DeGiulian was drafted by the Lincoln Stars and my understanding is he will play juniors for a least a year.

As my son's coach put it this year, you're not playing college hockey until you're on the ice playing college hockey!

Well said. I am not involved with junior hockey, but from following recruiting, college success is certainly difficult to predict. We’ve even seen players be drafted by NHL teams and struggle to make Cornell’s lineup (eg. Cairns, Tschantz, Song) or barely produce. I agree with you that putting up a lot of points in the USHL is the surest sign of college success. But still far from guaranteed. Dwyer Tschantz put up really good numbers in the USHL, for example. In his case I think he suffered some injuries, but I’m pretty sure he was a healthy scratch a lot too.

The Donaldson situation seems particularly aberrational. Seventh in the BCHL in points/4th in goals, but can’t crack the lineup as a sophomore. Did he plateau once he got to college? Is he unreliable on defense? Does Cornell have a glut of left shot forwards? Looking purely at the junior hockey numbers of the forwards in last year’s freshman class, it would have been impossible to tell that Bancroft (insane numbers in the OJHL, which is weaker than the BCHL) would be the best performer, then DeSantis (very good numbers in the USHL), then Wallace (good numbers in the USHL), then Donaldson (fantastic numbers in the BCHL). Obviously, hockey (and especially Cornell Hockey) is way more than just offensive numbers—maybe that’s the point.

One thing notable about all of this is that Donaldson and Keopple and the other guys not seeing the ice haven’t entered the transfer portal. At other programs, players like them would have bolted the minute the season ended (or sooner). It says a lot about how Schafer runs the team that these guys are sticking with it.

It says a lot about the players too. Think of a second string wrestler who is essentially the practice partner for a first stringer. John Irving, the author, talks about not being able to complete 4 years at Pitt (I think it was Pitt) as a practice partner. And he thinks those that can do that have character that many do not.

“it takes more skill than I can tell
To play the second fiddle well”
-Charles Spurgeon

I don’t know about skill, but certainly your devotion, focus, and persistence have to be off the charts.

I also think there's a great sense of accomplishment working one's way off the bench and onto the ice. I'd like to think everyone that Schafer recruits has this ethos that the journey is the destination.

Swampy
I also think there's a great sense of accomplishment working one's way off the bench and onto the ice. I'd like to think everyone that Schafer recruits has this ethos that the journey is the destination.

i also think there's some self-awareness that if you can't earn your way into the starting lineup in college you may not be the next jonathan quick and you adjust your expectations.

Chase Pirtle is one of the 3 finalists for BCHL rookie of the year.

marty
It says a lot about the players too. Think of a second string wrestler who is essentially the practice partner for a first stringer. John Irving, the author, talks about not being able to complete 4 years at Pitt (I think it was Pitt) as a practice partner. And he thinks those that can do that have character that many do not.

It takes more skill than I can tell
to play the second fiddle well.
-Charles Spurgeon

I'm not so sure about skill, but certainly your dedication and self-motivation have to be off the charts.

The NHL’s Central Scouting Service’s final ranking was released yesterday. Gio Diguilian came in as the 124th ranked North American skater, up from 153 in the mid-term ranking. Unless I missed anyone he looks like the only Cornell recruit or player in the rankings.

Hard to believe there are 225 better players of his age than Robertson

Robertson will be 20 this September. To be eligible for the ‘24 draft you have to be under 20 on 12/31/24

Ah, ok. Folks have been talking about him as if he still had a draft year.

arugula
Ah, ok. Folks have been talking about him as if he still had a draft year.

I think he is typically mentioned as a blue chip free agent.

Trotsky

arugula
Ah, ok. Folks have been talking about him as if he still had a draft year.

I think he is typically mentioned as a blue chip free agent.

The conversation here has largely sprung from an unknown past comment that he had another year of draft eligibility. I, for one, had been assuming that he was draft eligible based on that comment, subsequent conversation and my own customary lack of interest in researching something that I was satisfied someone else had gotten right.

randyranger
Robertson will be 20 this September. To be eligible for the ‘24 draft you have to be under 20 on 12/31/24

Says here
[en.m.wikipedia.org].
“Ice hockey players born between January 1, 2004, and September 15, 2006, are eligible for selection in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft.”

Robertson was born September 18, 2004, so would be eligible. The 2023 draft is the only draft he has been eligible for so far (until this year’s).

So I return to my prior comment: hard to believe there are 250 skaters better than Robertson.

Recruit Chase Pirtle was named BCHL rookie of the year.

getting a sense based on what's out there in the metaverse that Gio DeGiulian may be coming next year and not playing juniors at all. We could probably use the scoring if he's ready.

Pghas
getting a sense based on what's out there in the metaverse that Gio DeGiulian may be coming next year and not playing juniors at all. We could probably use the scoring if he's ready.

That would surprise me given that Seger is our only known loss up front and we already have a few forwards scheduled to arrive in the fall.

scoop85

Pghas
getting a sense based on what's out there in the metaverse that Gio DeGiulian may be coming next year and not playing juniors at all. We could probably use the scoring if he's ready.

That would surprise me given that Seger is our only known loss up front and we already have a few forwards scheduled to arrive in the fall.

you could be right, I had from a very good source he was playing juniors but there's just stuff out there to the contrary. who is already coming?

Pghas

scoop85

Pghas
getting a sense based on what's out there in the metaverse that Gio DeGiulian may be coming next year and not playing juniors at all. We could probably use the scoring if he's ready.

That would surprise me given that Seger is our only known loss up front and we already have a few forwards scheduled to arrive in the fall.

you could be right, I had from a very good source he was playing juniors but there's just stuff out there to the contrary. who is already coming?

I think at forward Parker Murray and Charlie Majog are pretty much a certainty for the fall. Possibly Aiden Long too. Hard to see bringing in much more than that given the existing log-jam. FWIW Heisenberg lists only Major and Murray as coming this year at forward, and the only defenseman he has coming in is Nick Wolfenberg. Heisenberg also shows only Erick Roest coming in at goal, with Justin Katz seemingly coming in 2025 (ironically, Katz and Roest are born 2 days apart).

I would like to see BCHL rookie of the year Chase Pirtle come this year.

CAS
I would like to see BCHL rookie of the year Chase Pirtle come this year.

I know he was drafted in the USHL draft, so perhaps he'll spend a year there before heading to Cornell. I know he's talented, but he may be better off getting top line minutes in juniors than trying to fight for ice time with us.

Elite Prospects has Giovanni DiGiulian coming to Cornell this Fall.

Moving over from the older thread, it would be interesting to note our most-hyped incoming players. I'm not privy to that information, so I have no insight. It's also easy to be polluted by the actual results of careers once here.

I do recall Riley Nash as having a "thank god he chose us!" presence in fans' minds before he entered.

I seem to recall Ryan Hughes and Doug Murray being heralded, and maybe the McRae brothers. But it's just not a world I interact with. There are people here with more access though, if they care to share stories or cases both of those who came and those who slipped away.

Trotsky
Moving over from the older thread, it would be interesting to note our most-hyped incoming players. I'm not privy to that information, so I have no insight. It's also easy to be polluted by the actual results of careers once here.

I do recall Riley Nash as having a "thank god he chose us!" presence in fans' minds before he entered.

I seem to recall Ryan Hughes and Doug Murray being heralded, and maybe the McRae brothers. But it's just not a world I interact with. There are people here with more access though, if they care to share stories or cases both of those who came and those who slipped away.

There are a few posters here who seem to have kids playing high-level youth hockey who have offered some insight, but outside of these cases I think most of us are just going off of the same publicly available sources.

If anyone is interested in trying to evaluate prospects as a layperson (like me), I can offer the following suggestions:
—The most up-to-date list of commits (for all teams) is Chris Heisenberg’s spreadsheet.
—to assess a given committed player, look up their stats on a website like Elite Prospects.
—Evaluating stats can be tricky. First of all, if a player is still in prep school or on a U18/U16 team, it’s difficult to evaluate them unless there is a clear point of comparison, such as perhaps a past recruit from the same program (eg. Cornell has had so many players from St. Andrews at this point that we can compare their prep school stats to each other), or another player on their team who is committed to a peer school (eg. a teammate is committed to Harvard).
—Once a player is already in juniors, their stats become easier to evaluate. The best league is the USHL. Then the BCHL. Then probably the AJHL, NAHL, OJHL, and CCHL, in some order. In the USHL, if a forward has a point per game, that is elite. In the BCHL, a bit more than a point per game is elite. A defenseman who averages 2/3 of a point per game in the USHL is really good. Of course, this is all contextual. Some players end up on high scoring teams, some don’t.
—I’m not sure if league matters as much for goalies. Goalies are hard to evaluate in general. Still, a .920 save percentage is really good. Particularly in the USHL, that would put him at the top of the league. Again, context matters; the defense surrounding the goalie could be awful, for example.
—All of the above can be viewed as a bit of a sliding scale based on age. For example, an 18-year-old putting up great junior numbers is more impressive than a 20-year-old doing that.
—Obviously, internet stats only go so far. There are many parts to a good hockey player beyond scoring. But there is definitely a correlation between numbers and college success, particularly the better the league you go (i.e. the BCHL and especially the USHL).
—Maybe the best publicly available source for evaluating prospects is the NHL Central Scouting Rankings, which is based on the opinions of real scouts who have actually watched the recruits play. If a player shows up in the rankings, they’re usually good. If a player ends up getting drafted, which is usually the case for a player in the top 100 of the rankings, high probability they’re good, potentially very good.
—However, the rankings cover only draft-eligible players (ages 18-20), so they miss players who are too young or have aged out. Moreover, it is widely known that the rankings have a blind spot towards “overagers.” For example, last year Ryan Walsh was unranked but got drafted, and this year Ben Robertson is unranked.

BearLover

Trotsky
Moving over from the older thread, it would be interesting to note our most-hyped incoming players. I'm not privy to that information, so I have no insight. It's also easy to be polluted by the actual results of careers once here.

I do recall Riley Nash as having a "thank god he chose us!" presence in fans' minds before he entered.

I seem to recall Ryan Hughes and Doug Murray being heralded, and maybe the McRae brothers. But it's just not a world I interact with. There are people here with more access though, if they care to share stories or cases both of those who came and those who slipped away.

There are a few posters here who seem to have kids playing high-level youth hockey who have offered some insight, but outside of these cases I think most of us are just going off of the same publicly available sources.

If anyone is interested in trying to evaluate prospects as a layperson (like me), I can offer the following suggestions:
—The most up-to-date list of commits (for all teams) is Chris Heisenberg’s spreadsheet.
—to assess a given committed player, look up their stats on a website like Elite Prospects.
—Evaluating stats can be tricky. First of all, if a player is still in prep school or on a U18/U16 team, it’s difficult to evaluate them unless there is a clear point of comparison, such as perhaps a past recruit from the same program (eg. Cornell has had so many players from St. Andrews at this point that we can compare their prep school stats to each other), or another player on their team who is committed to a peer school (eg. a teammate is committed to Harvard).
—Once a player is already in juniors, their stats become easier to evaluate. The best league is the USHL. Then the BCHL. Then probably the AJHL, NAHL, OJHL, and CCHL, in some order. In the USHL, if a forward has a point per game, that is elite. In the BCHL, a bit more than a point per game is elite. A defenseman who averages 2/3 of a point per game in the USHL is really good. Of course, this is all contextual. Some players end up on high scoring teams, some don’t.
—I’m not sure if league matters as much for goalies. Goalies are hard to evaluate in general. Still, a .920 save percentage is really good. Particularly in the USHL, that would put him at the top of the league. Again, context matters; the defense surrounding the goalie could be awful, for example.
—All of the above can be viewed as a bit of a sliding scale based on age. For example, an 18-year-old putting up great junior numbers is more impressive than a 20-year-old doing that.
—Obviously, internet stats only go so far. There are many parts to a good hockey player beyond scoring. But there is definitely a correlation between numbers and college success, particularly the better the league you go (i.e. the BCHL and especially the USHL).
—Maybe the best publicly available source for evaluating prospects is the NHL Central Scouting Rankings, which is based on the opinions of real scouts who have actually watched the recruits play. If a player shows up in the rankings, they’re usually good. If a player ends up getting drafted, which is usually the case for a player in the top 100 of the rankings, high probability they’re good, potentially very good.
—However, the rankings cover only draft-eligible players (ages 18-20), so they miss players who are too young or have aged out. Moreover, it is widely known that the rankings have a blind spot towards “overagers.” For example, last year Ryan Walsh was unranked but got drafted, and this year Ben Robertson is unranked.

Thanks, BearLover. This is very helpful. According to Elite Propsects, Central Scouting lists DiGiulian as #124.

For comparison, Chase Pirtle, who's coming in 2025, was the BCHL ROY and scored 52 points in 54 games this year. But even though he's only 19 now, he doesn't seem to be ranked by NHL Central Scouting.

Might as well post it here. Ithaca Voice picks up press release announcing that Ithaca is going to share a USPHL team, The Elmira Impact, with Elmira. They call it a semi-pro team, but later emphasize that the players don't get paid so they can retain their amateur status. Ithaca games will be at The Rink in Lansing.

The rubber meets the road in the NHL draft.

Taking the round, to try to compensate for the larger pool of players by relating it to the larger number of teams:


Rd 1 (2) Pokulok, Nash
Rd 2 (8) Nieuwendyk, Manderville, Ratushny, Hughes, Belzile, Pelletier, LeNeveu, Sawada
Rd 3 (10) Dryden, Lowe, O'Byrne, Hynes, Starrett, Cairns, Stienburg, Ertel, Fegaras, Castagna

Trotsky
The rubber meets the road in the NHL draft.

Taking the round, to try to compensate for the larger pool of players by relating it to the larger number of teams:


Rd 1 (2) Pokulok, Nash
Rd 2 (8) Nieuwendyk, Manderville, Ratushny, Hughes, Belzile, Pelletier, LeNeveu, Sawada
Rd 3 (10) Dryden, Lowe, O'Byrne, Hynes, Starrett, Cairns, Stienburg, Ertel, Fegaras, Castagna

Pokuluk and LeNeveu were drafted after their freshman years. Excluding Riley, whose brother was already on his way to Cornell, only one player (Samara) in 30 years of Schafer was drafted in the first or second round by the time he showed up on campus.

David Harding
Might as well post it here. Ithaca Voice picks up press release announcing that Ithaca is going to share a USPHL team, The Elmira Impact, with Elmira. They call it a semi-pro team, but later emphasize that the players don't get paid so they can retain their amateur status. Ithaca games will be at The Rink in Lansing.

The quote about amateur status actually says something about to become anachronistic:

Ithaca Voice
Players in the USPHL are not compensated, though Kolpien said they are basically working under a full-time hockey schedule. In part, Kolpien said this is because players would lose their amateur eligibility if they accepted a players’ salary, which would prevent them from playing in any NCAA program after their time with the Impact. [emphasis added]

While I've been following discussions about the NC$$ proposing to start paying college athletes salaries, I haven't seen this aspect of it discussed. If the NC$$ no longer refrains from paying its "student" athletes to maintain the amateur facade, then what about programs that feed the NCAA? Besides high school & prep sports, there's Pop Warner for football, AAU for basketball, USHL/BCHL/ ... USPHL for hockey, etc.

Trotsky
The rubber meets the road in the NHL draft.

Taking the round, to try to compensate for the larger pool of players by relating it to the larger number of teams:


Rd 1 (2) Pokulok, Nash
Rd 2 (8) Nieuwendyk, Manderville, Ratushny, Hughes, Belzile, Pelletier, LeNeveu, Sawada
Rd 3 (10) Dryden, Lowe, O'Byrne, Hynes, Starrett, Cairns, Stienburg, Ertel, Fegaras, Castagna

Morgan Barron?

Swampy

David Harding
Might as well post it here. Ithaca Voice picks up press release announcing that Ithaca is going to share a USPHL team, The Elmira Impact, with Elmira. They call it a semi-pro team, but later emphasize that the players don't get paid so they can retain their amateur status. Ithaca games will be at The Rink in Lansing.

The quote about amateur status actually says something about to become anachronistic:

Ithaca Voice
Players in the USPHL are not compensated, though Kolpien said they are basically working under a full-time hockey schedule. In part, Kolpien said this is because players would lose their amateur eligibility if they accepted a players’ salary, which would prevent them from playing in any NCAA program after their time with the Impact. [emphasis added]

While I've been following discussions about the NC$$ proposing to start paying college athletes salaries, I haven't seen this aspect of it discussed. If the NC$$ no longer refrains from paying its "student" athletes to maintain the amateur facade, then what about programs that feed the NCAA? Besides high school & prep sports, there's Pop Warner for football, AAU for basketball, USHL/BCHL/ ... USPHL for hockey, etc.

How about the level above what used to be Junior B from Canada? And for good measure, why couldn't someone play in the AHL for a year or two and then matriculate at Q for Pecknold's "boys?

marty

Trotsky
The rubber meets the road in the NHL draft.

Taking the round, to try to compensate for the larger pool of players by relating it to the larger number of teams:


Rd 1 (2) Pokulok, Nash
Rd 2 (8) Nieuwendyk, Manderville, Ratushny, Hughes, Belzile, Pelletier, LeNeveu, Sawada
Rd 3 (10) Dryden, Lowe, O'Byrne, Hynes, Starrett, Cairns, Stienburg, Ertel, Fegaras, Castagna

Morgan Barron?

Sixth round pick.

BearLover

marty

Trotsky
The rubber meets the road in the NHL draft.

Taking the round, to try to compensate for the larger pool of players by relating it to the larger number of teams:


Rd 1 (2) Pokulok, Nash
Rd 2 (8) Nieuwendyk, Manderville, Ratushny, Hughes, Belzile, Pelletier, LeNeveu, Sawada
Rd 3 (10) Dryden, Lowe, O'Byrne, Hynes, Starrett, Cairns, Stienburg, Ertel, Fegaras, Castagna

Morgan Barron?

Sixth round pick.

Some of these examples provide what may be a very attractive aspect of Cornell hockey: its track record of developing successful pro players.

Trotsky
Elite Prospects has Giovanni DiGiulian coming to Cornell this Fall.

I might have known this before but forgotten.

He's a coaches kid. His father was an assistant coach at UVM for 9 years, then Middlebury for 2, and HC for the last 12 at D2 St. Michael's.

There was discussion earlier about the homegrown kids getting away, and our not landing the offspring of he guys that went pro. But landing a coach's kid seems like a but of a coup.

After much speculation, it's official. Four freshmen are entering the program this fall.

Murray’s dad was an excellent NHLer. Hopefully the apple doesn’t fall far. Major’s uncle was my classmate and nice contributor for four years. Sounds like a good class. Plugs a goalie hole for the future. Obviously didn’t need a ton with all the returnees.

dbilmes
After much speculation, it's official. Four freshmen are entering the program this fall.

"Katz! Dogs!" chant, anyone?

arugula
Murray’s dad was an excellent NHLer. Hopefully the apple doesn’t fall far. Major’s uncle was my classmate and nice contributor for four years. Sounds like a good class. Plugs a goalie hole for the future. Obviously didn’t need a ton with all the returnees.

Major put up great numbers in the USHL and should be able to contribute from day 1. Wolfenberg is hard to judge because he missed almost all of last year with an injury. Maybe he can fight for a spot as the 7th D. The top 6 spots look pretty locked right now (barring injury, of course). Murray seems to have raw potential given his size and genes, but he will already be 21 by the time the season starts, so it’s hard to say how much more room he has to grow (as a hockey player—clearly not much more room to grow size-wise). Katz will fight with Keopple for the backup position this year and then hopefully fight with Keopple and Roest for the starting job the following year.

Should be a very good team this year. We’ve lost our best player, but everyone else will be returning another year older. And Major should contribute from the get-go.

Beeeej

dbilmes
After much speculation, it's official. Four freshmen are entering the program this fall.

"Katz! Dogs!" chant, anyone?

Maybe "Katz! Mice!" instead?

Pretty much everyone assumed we’d have a small class coming in, so no surprise there. I didn’t expect DiGiulian to be in this class given how few openings we have on the roster. I expected to see Roest rather than Katz to be in the incoming class, but not shocked it was the other way around.

Will

Beeeej

dbilmes
After much speculation, it's official. Four freshmen are entering the program this fall.

"Katz! Dogs!" chant, anyone?

Maybe "Katz! Mice!" instead?

Well, at least it won't be hard to come up with a song for him.

Will

Beeeej

dbilmes
After much speculation, it's official. Four freshmen are entering the program this fall.

"Katz! Dogs!" chant, anyone?

Maybe "Katz! Mice!" instead?

Probably won't come up much. Shane's gonna be the everyday goalie; we got the new guy Justin Katz.

Swampy

Will

Beeeej

dbilmes
After much speculation, it's official. Four freshmen are entering the program this fall.

"Katz! Dogs!" chant, anyone?

Maybe "Katz! Mice!" instead?

Well, at least it won't be hard to come up with a song for him.

Or this

How about "Katz! Pussies!" for the cheer.

Jeff Hopkins '82
How about "Katz! Pussies!" for the cheer.

Spoken like an 82.

Jeff Hopkins '82

Swampy

Will

Beeeej

dbilmes
After much speculation, it's official. Four freshmen are entering the program this fall.

"Katz! Dogs!" chant, anyone?

Maybe "Katz! Mice!" instead?

Well, at least it won't be hard to come up with a song for him.

Or this

How about "Katz! Pussies!" for the cheer.

You trying to get Mike to yell at the crowd one more time for the road?

You always play the oldies on a final tour.

Trotsky

Jeff Hopkins '82
How about "Katz! Pussies!" for the cheer.

Spoken like an 82.

Ahhh, get off my lawn!

The NHL draft begins Friday. I am going to give arbitrary odds to the following Cornell players/recruits getting drafted:
DiGiulian 50%
Robertson 33%
Major 15%
Arsenault 10%
Pirtle 10%

Most likely outcome: one Cornellian drafted

BearLover
The NHL draft begins Friday. I am going to give arbitrary odds to the following Cornell players/recruits getting drafted:
DiGiulian 50%
Robertson 33%
Major 15%
Arsenault 10%
Pirtle 10%

Most likely outcome: one Cornellian drafted

Ok. I lost a tooth playing a pickup game and found a Bitcoin under my pillow. So who's taking the action on this?

I don't know why Robertson isn't a sure thing for the draft. He has the skills, vision, and presence. There is no downside.

BearLover
The NHL draft begins Friday. I am going to give arbitrary odds to the following Cornell players/recruits getting drafted:
DiGiulian 50%
Robertson 33%
Major 15%
Arsenault 10%
Pirtle 10%

Most likely outcome: one Cornellian drafted

In Corey Pronman’s 7 round mock draft in the Athletic a few days ago, Major was the only Cornell player selected, as the very last pick in the mock.

Trotsky
I don't know why Robertson isn't a sure thing for the draft. He has the skills, vision, and presence. There is no downside.

In my exchange with Pronman, he said he liked Robertson but that he wasn’t dynamic enough. Whatever that means.

Also said he lacked competitiveness. Hmmm

arugula
Also said he lacked competitiveness. Hmmm

FFS.

Trotsky
I don't know why Robertson isn't a sure thing for the draft. He has the skills, vision, and presence. There is no downside.

I’m no NHL scout but the downside might be his ability to defend larger NHL players. And whether his offensive skills are truly elite enough to translate to the NHL level.

arugula

Trotsky
I don't know why Robertson isn't a sure thing for the draft. He has the skills, vision, and presence. There is no downside.

In my exchange with Pronman, he said he liked Robertson but that he wasn’t dynamic enough. Whatever that means.

I think your exchange was with Wheeler

Correct.

Zero Cornell recruits or current players chosen in the draft. As for the rest of the ECAC, it looks like 3 from Harvard, 2 from Clarkson, and 1 from Quinnipiac were taken.

[www.collegehockeynews.com]

With Clarkson having 7 draft picks on last year’s team, & 2 recruits selected today, Casey appears to be a very good recruiter

It might be his assistant. I think all staffs are different.

New commit!!!
According to Chris Heisenberg Cornell picked up Maddex Marmulak from Nova Scotia. He is a right shot forward that can play center or right wing and was the league MVP of the Nova Scotia U18 Major Hockey League. According to Heisenberg he will be coming to CU in either 2026 or ‘27. Not sure where he will be playing next season.

Redpucks1!
New commit!!!
According to Chris Heisenberg Cornell picked up Maddex Marmulak from Nova Scotia. He is a right shot forward that can play center or right wing and was the league MVP of the Nova Scotia U18 Major Hockey League. According to Heisenberg he will be coming to CU in either 2026 or ‘27. Not sure where he will be playing next season.

Might be playing in Cedar Rapids next season:
[www.instagram.com]

USHL - that would be great. Thanks Phil!

Probably a coincidence, but with Casey back a Quebec > BCHL prospect seems about right.

[bit.ly]

One of my favorite days of the year is August 1st - the first day of college hockey recruit commitments. This year it will be 2008's committing.
A year ago I had 3 players in mind for Cornell; William Moore/Ithaca connection, Cooper Dennis/Ithaca connection and Aiden Lane/St. Andrews College hockey. I really thought at least one of them would end up at Cornell, but all three ended up being a swing and a miss. (Moore - BC / Dennis - Michigan / Lane - Harvard).

This year there is only one player that is pretty certain to head to Ithaca in the future. Nolan Long, St. Andrews College, is the brother of current Cornell commit Aiden Long. Seems like a fair bet that he would have CU at the top of his list.

The others I would be interested in is just wishful thinking with the exception of the goalie on the list who is attending St. Andrews College.
1. Cameron Chartrand - Quebec native, which Casey seems to get a fair number of players from the province. He's a defenseman that played for the BK Selects last season. Will play for Dubuque in the USHL this season and is very highly regarded. Canada U17 Development Camp invitee.
2. Mateo Beites - Goalie/St. Andrews College. Recently invited to the U17 Canada Camp.
3. Jonathan Morello - Center / Very highly regarded Clarkson commit. A 2024 Boston draft pick, he had a real solid development camp with the Bruins. Would love it if he committed to Clarkson based on Casey being the coach and decided to switch his commitment to Cornell but, again, probably a long shot.