Cornell gets slapped with baby powder by Steve Schlanger

[www.collegesports.com]

Josh (Ithaca): Do you think that Cornell is actually the 4th best team in the country this year or is it a product of other teams losing while Cornell plays in a weaker overall conference?

Steve Schlanger: I think that has a lot to do with it. For instance, this week they are ranked ahead of teams like Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. I would take any of those three teams over Cornell at this point of the season.

Solid, Steve. And this came a few questions after:

Art (Ft. Wayne): Who is the best player you have seen this year? Who surprised you?

Steve Schlanger: Probably the best player I have seen is Ryan Potulny, with Robbie Earl a close second. Doing the games in the nidwest and in the west, I don't get to see as many of the players from the northeast as I would like, so it is hard for me to comment on anyone from that region.

West-wing conspiracy!

Sounds like Steve Schlonger is a bit of a WCHA homer. It's fine with me, I hope that everyone from here on out underestimates this team.

Cornell hasn't really proven they are of the top caliber yet. I still think they are a secondary contender and will continue to think that until they beat a primary contender which will have to happen in the NCAA's. That being said, the guy is obviously a WCHA homer. As well, I think Cornell's defensive system would handle the likes of Wisconsin and Michigan much the way they handled Mankato in 2003. I'm more concerned about Denver , Wisconsin, and CC to a lesser extent who are all excellent offensively and also very good defensively meaning they can win the low scoring games as well as the high scoring.

Shrug. I worried a lot more about western bias when the selection process was subjective. Now, it doesn't hurt, and if it helps Cornell sneak up on somebody, fine and dandy.

[Q]pfibiger Wrote:

Sounds like Steve Schlonger is a bit of a WCHA homer.[/q]

[Q]calgARI '07 Wrote:

the guy is obviously a WCHA homer.[/q]

In all fairness, I'm a bit of a Cornell homer myself...

[Q]Trotsky Wrote:

Shrug. I worried a lot more about western bias when the selection process was subjective. Now, it doesn't hurt, and if it helps Cornell sneak up on somebody, fine and dandy.[/q]Nobody sneaks up on anybody in the NCAAs. The coaches are too good, the scouting too thorough and the stakes too high.

A team like Cornell that keeps coming back to the tournament certainly isn't sneaking up on anyone.

Oh, we're Cornell homers at heart, of course. It's just so frustrating to get any respect at all from westerners. Is the WCHA stronger top to bottom than the ECACHL? Probably. But Cornell and a few other ECACHL teams are certainly capable of knocking off Minnesota, Wisconsin, and even Denver and CC. Because, in the end, for any single team, the NCAA tournament is just four games.

We had our chance to get respect in 2003 and then drew a stupid penalty with 3 minutes to play. We have to earn it again, minus Murray, minus LeNeveu but with maybe greater across-the-boards quality.

But if the Western schools want to think to themselves as overdogs to Cornell, be our guest. One of Mike Schafer's talents is saying as little quotable as possible (unless you can lip-read after a penalty call on Cornell) that gets the other team fired up to kick our butts.

I agree, we won't sneak up on the teams themselves. But we might sneak up on the fans, which still could be a lot of fun.

[Q]calgARI '07 Wrote:
... I think Cornell's defensive system would handle the likes of Wisconsin and Michigan much the way they handled Mankato in 2003. I'm more concerned about Denver, Wisconsin, and CC to a lesser extent who are all excellent offensively and also very good defensively meaning they can win the low scoring games as well as the high scoring.[/q]
huh??? i think you just contradicted yourself and then somehow did it again in the same run-on sentence. ari, sometimes you make my brain hurt.

You mean like the Ohio State fan at the first Everblades tourney who kept yelling at us before the Cornell-OSU semi started that we'd be playing the five o'clock game the next day?

Beeeej

Interesting that he picked UNH to make the FF over some of the teams he mentioned as being top dogs.

Great locker room bulletin board stuff. Thanks, Steve.

>>> Steve Schlanger has been part of CSTV's coverage of college hockey for the last two years, primarily serving as the play-by-play announcer for games out West. [www.collegesports.com]

This might explain the lad's fondness for western teams.

While we're ragging on the USCHO chat insiders, here are a few gems from yesterday...

"I think for a goalie to take the Hobey Baker, he'd have to be the best goaltender in college hockey "

Steve (Detroit): With only two ranked teams and two in the top of the Pairwise, is the CCHA as weak as in recent memory? Why is that?

Weston: What a great question! I wish I had a great answer. I think the CCHA has returned to a two-team, three-tier, kind-of-year -- although it may be an anomoly. Comley and Kyle are in their third years at their respective institutions, so give them some time to accomplish what they need to do. Miami? I don't know what's going on there. Notre Dame, who also made it to the NCAA tourney last year? I have no clue. (See how useful I am?)


Sorry Adam, but I couldn't resist! I love USCHO, as I'm sure everyone on the forum does.

[Q]Josh 03 Wrote:
"I think for a goalie to take the Hobey Baker, he'd have to be the best goaltender in college hockey "[/q]That's so profound it's almost Maddenesque.

[Q]jmh30 Wrote:

Josh 03 Wrote:
"I think for a goalie to take the Hobey Baker, he'd have to be the best goaltender in college hockey "[/Q]
That's so profound it's almost Maddenesque.

[/q]

Hahaha! I think he meant the best goaltender in college hockey history. But who knows because all that came out was the above brain fart.

 

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