Did McKee just have a bad weekend?

First and foremost, I know that "a win's a win", and I'm happy that we had a 4-point weekend. However, as people pointed out after the disappointing Vermont-Dartmouth road trip, we absolutely had to win these three solidly. So the team did what they had to do.

That said, many points of concern can be raised about this weekend's games. On the one hand, I'm happy that we're in a position to talk about "points of concern" after three consecutive wins at home. On the other, what's up with McKee? He let in the game loosing goal at Dartmouth, though since I wasn’t there I don’t know if much could have been done. He did well against Canisius, but that’s not saying much. However, he let in two against Yale. That’s a little much, no? And then three against Princeton? I was at both games, and from where I was it seemed like only one of the goals per night was a real toughie to block. His GAA is still very good, even nationally, but can we really afford to take 2 and 3 goals against teams like Yale and Princeton? At home? It’s one thing to take that many when we can score 5 or 6 ourselves. But what about tougher teams and on the road? We have seen that we have real trouble scoring then. So I’m hoping that McKee was just having a bad weekend.

What are other people’s thoughts?

I thought the defense played terrible this weekend and McKee was only average. McKee did make big saves in both games though. A goal Friday night was directly attributed to a Cook turnover deep in the offensive zone that led to an odd man rush that led to a goal. And Pokuluk made a bad decision to pinch on a powerplay against Princeton that led to the short handed breakaway goal. In general, McKee has been above average this year. At times he has been really good and at times just decent. I think he's doing fine though.

I agree with calgARI '07 in that the defense was more to blame this weekend. However, the goal off the Cook turnover also highlighted McKee's less than stellar performance. With his butt in the net he let the play come to him instead of cutting down the angle and forcing the break to make a premature decision with the puck.

I'll comment on Dartmouth, which was absolutely not McKee's fault... well, okay, he gave up a rebound, but it was a breakaway due to a turnover in our half of the neutral zone, and it was about the 3rd odd man rush in 45 seconds against us. You can only give them so many chances...

Man, only at Cornell can two goals be "a little much." McKee isn't steller, but he does make some very clutch saves, and then maybe gives up a softie. He had a few great kick and gloves saves both nights, with us up by 1 (against Pton, at least).

Personally, I dunno, this weekend our offense looked really sharp. Yes, I know its Yale and Princeton, but we were making plays that it seems like we wouldn't have even attempted before. For instance, we had some more aggressive moves on the PP, where before we would just pass it around the outside until we took a shot. On Friday, and some on Saturday, they had this "walk it in from the side" move. I don't think it produced anything, but it made some great shots and added a new weapon. I'm wondering if Schafer is actually taking offense seriously for once, after 4 goals total over two weekends. You just can win that way, no matter your D.

Don't get me wrong, I believe in a strong, disciplined defense, and it should absolutely be Cornell's focus, but I'd give up a goal extra per game for a team that can actually make some offensive opportunities happen, and not just shoot with their fingers crossed. I guess we'll see if there's any merit to this in Florida, or if it was just the sub-par competition.

McKee had a mediocre weekend, and the defense had mediocre weekend. The difference between this year and all other Schafer years except for '96 and '03 is, we still won, with relative ease. I know, to some extent we lucked out in opponent -- if this had been Dartmouth/Vermont, it might have been bad. But what a difference in this generation, er, I mean offense. The Abbotts woke up, Knoepfli was stellar, and the Big Line was its usual intimidating self. Even Topher scored!

Add to that Princeton's got one of the best power plays in the country. They suck at most everything else, but they can score on the PP.

Everybody can have an off weekend. Relax.

McKee gotten beaten on a breakaway in the third period against Princeton but he stopped others before in other games. What does a good goalie do against breakaways - save half of them? 40%? 70%? Maybe this is just random tjat McKee let in an SHG.

We weren't going to hold every opponent to 0, 1 or 2 goals. At least we have the distinction of having the season open with a nice round number of games - 10 - where we held everyone to <= 2 goals.

In the four point Yale/Princeton weekend, we didn't get any game misconducts or next-game DQs for checking from behind.

The power play got good again, that or lucky, against Princeton and Yale.

We were explosive in the middle period against Yale.

We were 4x10 on PP or 40% (2x5 each night while the opponents were 2x11 or 18% (1x6 Yale, 1x5 Princeton) and Princeton was #1 in the nation on PP (that could be an early season fluke, but they did look good). Cornell remains #1 in team defense, 1.45GAA, and moves up to #6 in offense. Of teams in the top 20 on both offense and defense, note the goals differential:

Team Differential
Cornell 2.28
Minnesota 1.87
Michigan 1.68
Colorado College 1.64
Wisconsin 1.5
Ohio State 1.44
Maine 1.28
Minnesota-Duluth 0.56

I noticed whenever we needed a good check to get us fired up this weekend it never came. Only two of the players made it happen at all (Hynes and Vart) and there both forwards. We need atleast one defensemen to step up and be an enforcer! Hornby (again, a forward) did a great job of it last year but I think it took away from some of his offensive capabilities. So O'Byrne, Glover, Gleed--KILL SOMEBODY!!!!

Ah, short memory...O'Byrne already spends way too much time in the box--he's on pace to match his PIM's from his rookie campaign. The good news is that he hasn't had a penalty since Dartmouth, I believe, but it has also loosened up his coverage.

I was most concerned about the turnovers in our own zone. Very sloppy. We're still getting short handed opportunities, we're controlling the tempo, our work rate is extremely high, and the passing through neutral ice is crisp. Hell, Moulson was able to score while shooting a screamer lazily off of his back foot! I'm not worried.

But there's other things to talk about...Topher hitting after the whistle , Fulton screwing up calls and running into players, the band playing less during stoppages of play (seriously, is it just me?), and our concentration to score at the beginning and end of periods. And we're undefeated at home!

I do wish we didn't have three weeks off...

Still issues with the breakout. It relies too much on the defenseman carrying the puck making the right decision and this is not so simple considering they will be facing a different forecheck every game. Glover had some big hits this weekend, only he made a ton of mistakes. O'Byrne looked out of sorts. Pokuluk is 6'5" and not remotely physical. I think Gleed has been good though, perhaps why he was moved to the top defensive pair with Downs.

I thank heaven we have three weeks off. It'll give me a chance to focus on final exams without feeling guilty about my skewed priorities.

Beeeej

[Q]atb9 Wrote:

the band playing less during stoppages of play (seriously, is it just me?)[/q]

It's not just you, but honestly, I have no problem with this whatsoever, at least during the second period. It gives me the opportunity to taunt the goalie some more. Hey, it worked great against Modelski and Yale, and maybe against Leroux and Princeton as well. Okay, I'm not really claiming credit for the wins against those two teams this weekend. But, then again, 8 of the weekend's 11 goals came during the second period. Hmm...

I stand right next to the conductor and there were several times this weekend (mostly against Yale as I recall) that there were interruptions to their normal routine. They said there were a few unscheduled announcements backed by the Tuba cheer that caused a long period without play.

During the firs period at least, the band was playing a lot because we were all trying to taunt the goalie by chanting sweeeeep tap tap etc. and were not loud enough to overcome the band.

It's true, Pokulok is very light on contact for such a big guy. He's also very uneven at times. Most of the time he plays very solidly, is rarely out of position and keeps his cool. But sometimes he just does some real silly shit. Like those few times in past games when he would clear through our crease with enemy players closeby. Or this Sat. against Princeton his bad call gave Princeton a shorthanded breakaway. I suppose it's a rookie adjustment period thing...

[Q]Jacob '06 Wrote:

During the firs period at least, the band was playing a lot because we were all trying to taunt the goalie by chanting sweeeeep tap tap etc. and were not loud enough to overcome the band.[/q]

is "tap tap" back in? i remember four years of deterioration to just "bend over"
i always enjoyed "splash it all over your face" with the water bottle

Yeah, but I do love how Varteressian scored against us.... that was a GREAT play!! (Was i the only one who saw him kick the puck in accidentally)

We tried. It's very difficult to drown out the "bend over"s but by the third period there were enough of us to be heard I think. Perhaps it was only being in the middle of A, but I don't know. Definitely more fun, and can be followed by bend over if so desired. Hopefully we can really get it going again, but few goalies have been so idiosynchratic to lend themselves to the more involved chanting. Anyway, keep it up kids.

Is it me or did Pokulok make the whole other teams look stupid at a few occasions this season...

[Q]Jam Wrote:

Is it me or did Pokulok make the whole other teams look stupid at a few occasions this season...[/q]

His skill level is seriously unbelievable for a defenseman his size.

Well, it did go off his skate, but I think it would be going to far to say he kicked it in. I think the puck was simply speeding along, deflected off his skate and went it. It's unfortunate, and I'm sure he can't help feeling a little stupid, but this stuff happens.

Wasn't it Downs whose skate that went off of?

Was it? I could be wrong, but I don't think so. I think it was Varteressian's skate. I think I recall one of my buddies wondering at the time if he'll get an assist for that.

[Q]calgARI '07 Wrote:

His skill level is seriously unbelievable for a defenseman his size. [/q]

Forget the size qualifier. I've tried since the last home weekend, and I'm hard pressed to come up with anyone in the past who was a better puck-handler as Pokulok is now at this stage of his career. I can list players who would consistantly lose the puck moving into traffic or corners, and you could just expect that. Sasha is the complete opposite. I just feel confident that if he's challenged by a forecheck or traffic along the boards, he's going to come out with the puck. Sure, he looks awkward sometimes, and as we saw Saturday, isn't immune from making mistakes. He's going to have terrific assist numbers, because of his stick-handling alone. And if he signs up for the Stephen Bâby seminar for improving your power-skating, or the Doug Murray shooting clinic, he's going to be a very special player.

I'm almost positive it was Vart, but I guess I'm not 100% positive. Besides, Downsy is way too solid (before I get crazy responses, I realize that no one is too solid to allow a freak goal off their skate, but I love Downs' game and think his efforts often go unsung. And how bout that bit of offense we've seen so far this year!).

It worked very well in the canisius game and we got very in to the goalies head. Me and my group of 14 people total with seats have been adamant about doing the sweep and tap tap the last few games and I think it is catching on throughout section A. I think it is definitely more fun than the repeated bend over b/c it gets to the goalie more. We'll see how it goes as the season goes on.

Hell yeah, lets hear it for Downs! I've been very impressed with his game this season. How about that excellent block against Yale? You know, the one in the 2nd period, when there were two Yale players going toward our goal with just Downs in between them? Not only did he get in the way and prevent a pass, but he also read the Yale guy perfectly when he was making his cornershot around and behind Downs. Downs sprawled out and stopped the puck with his feet, while still flat on his stomach and still watching the Yale player. It was just brilliant.

Downs is a great player to be sure. But he's not perfect. For instance, in the away game against Vermont, he was directly responsible for one of the Vermont goals. Downs turned over the puck pretty much directly in front of the goal, and McKee didn't have a chance. In any case, Downs is a skilled player and I still think he's the best defensive defenseman we have.

Actually that was Cook that made the pass to the UVM player right in front of the goal.

We need access to a captured video feed, higher res than the Webcast (or what comes out the other end of the pipe), accessible to eLynah and the world at large so we can decide if it's Cook or Downs or Vart or who that turned the puck over in front of McKee, or whose skate it was deflected off of or kicked in. And maybe to give credit to the missing second assists when Cornell scores. Some day.

[Q]CowbellGuy Wrote:

Actually that was Cook that made the pass to the UVM player right in front of the goal.[/q]

Whoops, you're right. My bad. In any case, Downs isn't perfect, I'm just lacking a clear example inside my head right now.

[q]Downs isn't perfect[/q]Of course he isn't perfect. If he were he'd be cooling his heels right now waiting for Bettman and Goodenow to get their heads out of their...

It would be nice to win 6-0 and 5-0, but I'll take 6-2 and 5-3 wins over 2-0 games any weekend, even though the coach is probably not as happy. IMO it's much better to have some balance between offense and defense than relying on defense alone to win games. There's too little margin for error if you're trying to win 1-0 and 2-1 all the time. A few bad bounces and all the hard work goes down the drain. If the offense is clicking, some bad luck and a couple mistakes can be overcome. Plus it's a lot more fun for all of you lucky enough to be at the games.

Now if the Red can only score 3+ goals per game down in Florida....