lines this weekend?

[Q] “There will be changes in our lineup, there will be changes within our lines in our hockey team,” Schafer said. “With that kind of performance [tonight], you can’t sit still and accept that.” [/Q]

So what changes in the lineup and lines do you think we'll see this weekend, or what would you like to see?

I personally would like to see Carefoot get a shot on Moulson's line. He has been playing at his best in every game this season, and generating a lot of offense.

Schafer confirmed that there will be lineup changes with some scratches in today's Cornell Daily Sun (http://www.cornellsun.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/11/14/4378341da4fcf):

“There will be changes in our lineup, there will be changes within our lines in our hockey team,” Schafer said. “With that kind of performance [tonight], you can’t sit still and accept that.”

I propose the following:

Bitz-Scott-Moulson
Carefoot-Pegararo-McCutcheon
Abbott-Abbott-Mugford
Sawada-Kennedy/Connors-Barlow/Kindret

O'Byrne-Davenport
Salmela-Gleed
Pokulok-Glover

[Put a short leash on McKee, if he gives up bad goals, replace him for the remainder of the game with Chabot and possibly for all of RPI game]

Powerplay Lines

Bitz-Scott-Mugford-Moulson-O'Byrne
Sawada-Pegararo-Abbott(Chris)-Salmela-Gleed

Good to see that Schafer will make some lineups changes for next weekend. Not that I would've expected anything else. Coach is not the type to blow off a situation like this. Saturday's loss wasn't the end of the world, but he needs to send a message to try to make sure this kind of game doesn't happen again.

I fully expect one or two of the regulars to be sitting in the stands on Friday night at least. Only having the Dartmouth audio to go by I can't speculate on who that might be. But I'll be surprised if a couple of the guys who haven't played don't get some ice time.

I think Krantz and Seminoff will come out in favor of Salmela and Davenport.

Carefoot would be a good fit with Moulson and Bitz. He cycles better down low and brings that part of what we are missing with Hynes' departure.

Abbott, Abbott, Sawada has always been awesome. You can see the "oh shit" in the other team's faces every time they hit the ice. The just outwork and outhit together.

Pegs, Barlow, and Topher should create some offense.

That leaves a 4th line of McCutcheon, Kindret, and Mugford - thin a ture Center but worth a try.

Although, the majority of college hockey games (especially Cornell games) are being played on the man-advantage / short-handed, the lack of even-strength goals being scored by Cornell seems to be a big problem, especially from our first line. Look at our goals:
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Cornell 4, USA Under-18 Team 1 (14 Total Power Plays)

Total - 2 PPG, 2 EVG (1 EVG by First Line)

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Cornell 4, Michigan State 2 (11 Total Power Plays)

Total - 2 PPG, 1 EVG, 1 EVG-ENG (0 EVG by First Line)

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Cornell 3, Michigan State 4(15 Total Power Plays)

Total - 2 PPG, 1 EVG (0 EVG by First Line)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Cornell 4, Yale 2 (20 Total Power Plays)

Total - 1 PPG, 1 SHG, 1 EVG, 1 EVG-ENG (0 EVG by First Line)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Cornell 3, Brown 2 [OT] (17 Total Power Plays)

Total - 1 PPG, 2 EVG (0 EVG by First Line)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Cornell 4, Harvard 3 [OT] (10 Total Power Plays)

Total - 2 PPG, 2 EVG (0 EVG by First Line)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Cornell 1, Dartmouth 6 (20 Total Power Plays)

Total - 1 PPG (0 EVG by First Line)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

TOTALS (23 GOALS): 11 PPG, 1 SHG, 9 EVG, 2 EVG-ENG (1 EVG BY FIRST LINE)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

What stands out the most is that we have more PPG then EVG and only 1 EVG by our first line.

We need someone who can cycle the puck downlow with Bitz and Moulson (because Sawada can't seem to) or a playmaker who can make things happen (like Scott).

Also, if you take away the exhibition game against the U-18 team, the totals are as follows:

----------------------------------------------------------------------

TOTALS (19 GOALS): 9 PPG, 1 SHG, 7 EVG, 2 EVG-ENG (0 EVG BY FIRST LINE)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

No EVG by first line in regular season play is simply unacceptable even if the first powerplay unit has scored the majority of the PPG. Also note that the differenec for the first line and first powerplay unit is the addition of Topher Scott and removal of Raymond Sawada.

I am glad as well to see Coach mix things up a little. I think that the easiest moves are benching Krantz, which I still cannot believe how he is playing because at the end of last year you could argue he was the best defensmen come the post-season, and one of the freshmen, probably Kennedy.

But I think the best alternative is to play Scott with Bitz and Moulson, put the Abbotts together with Sawada, throw out Carefoot, Pegoraro and Mugford and then put two of the freshmen with McCutcheon, my vote would be Barlow and Kindret. On defense I would like to see Salmela again and possibly Davenport although I am not sure besides Krantz who to sit.

I think the Dartmouth game was a perfect storm of sorts. They were as desperate a hockey team as you will find, 0-4 to start in the ECACHL for a team picked anywhere from 2nd to 4th. Us just having played the great Satan in their building and winning an always emotional game, a let down is expected. We did not match their desperation or desire in any facet of the game.

I am excited to see how the team responds because Friday night will show what the rest of the season will be. I have no doubt that Coach will lay down the law, the effort will be there from the puck drop to the final buzzer and we will see a renewed enthusiasm for doing things the Cornell way, hustle, determination, grit and above all pride for what is on the front of the jersey not what is on the back.

LGR

[Q]“Louis played great,” Schafer said. “We left him out to hang out to dry as much as we left David, and he came in, made a couple of big saves, and I was very proud of him."[/Q]

Sending messages through the press again?

Perhaps not, it's also a completely honest statement and isn't a direct comment on McKee like last time, but I think Schafer knows what he's doing too well for it to be a complete accident. Maybe not. Nonetheless, ouch.

[Q] “I think we are the only ones to blame [for the loss],” Chabot said. “Dartmouth played a great game, but the only reason why we didn’t win is because we didn’t put in a good effort tonight.” [/Q]

When was the last time Chabot was interviewed for an article?

[Q]As for Dartmouth, a team Schafer noted that he picked to finish first in a coaches preseason poll, Saturday’s dominating win after losses against Harvard, Quinnipiac, Princeton and Colgate, might have jump-started the year for them.[/Q]

Ah ha! That's the reason! Schafer threw the game to look like a genius!

I wanted Scott on the top line with Moulson and Bitz from the beginning, but I'm starting to think. Maybe Pegoraro instead? He's looked really good so far.

Bitz-Pegararo-Moulson
Carefoot-Scott-Barlow
Abbott-Abbott-Sawada
Mugford-Kennedy-McCutcheon

Pokulok-Glover
O'Byrne-Salmela
Davenport -Gleed

McKee


No idea how Connors and Kindret are doing in practice, so its tough for me to say they shouldn't be in the line-up, but take it with a grain of salt.

It's a lot of fun to consider what lines to play Cornell should play this weekend. If I need more time to think about it, I can go get a beer, lean back in the chair, check USCHO, see if anything useful showed up on INCH, re-read this thread, and then come to a defensible conclusion if Scott or Pegoraro should be on the first line, and how long McKee should stay in goal.

Probably a bit tougher for Schafer in real time to figure out his next move and his next line in 45 seconds with 2,000 hostile Dartmouth fans ("sold out" rink) creating background tension.

McCutheon-Bitz-Moulson would be an interesting combanation if McCuchron can play on the left side i know Bitz can play center (he has before). I think this line would have size, speed and a lot of talent. Also add the finishing ability of Moulson with the playmaking ability of McCutheon and Bitz should open up some ice this could be a very effective combination.

I'm not sure Seminof is one of the defensemen you want to sit. He seems to have made a lot of progress since the first weekend, when he spent far too much time in the penalty box. At least he showed a spark of life at Dartmouth. Pokulok, on the other hand, hasn't really seemed sharp since he took the DQ at Yale (IMHO).

Also, note that Sawada has consistently been on one of the powerplay units. In fact, against Harvard the first unit seemed to be Bitz, Moulson, Scott, Sawada, O'Byrne and the second unit was Barlow, Pegoraro, Carefoot, Krantz, and Pokulok.

It'll definitely be interesting to see what changes are actually made.

Anne '85

[Q]bigred06 Wrote:

McCutheon-Bitz-Moulson would be an interesting combanation if McCuchron can play on the left side i know Bitz can play center (he has before). I think this line would have size, speed and a lot of talent. Also add the finishing ability of Moulson with the playmaking ability of McCutheon and Bitz should open up some ice this could be a very effective combination.[/q]

Well Moulson is a left winger, so McCutcheon could play his natural right wing on that line. Regardless, I am very against putting McCutcheon there. I do like the idea of putting Carefoot there though. I do think Schafer should spread out the freshmen better, more along the lines of what he did with the lines in 02-03 in regards to the freshmen that year but that seems to be pretty tough. Also would like to see the Abbott's back together.

Moulson-Bitz-Carefoot
Barlow-Pegoraro-Scott
Abbott-Abbott-Sawada
Mugford-Kennedy-McCutcheon

O'Byrne-Glover
Davenport-Pokuluk
Salmela-Gleed

(Preface: I haven't seen any games since the MSU series.)

For a while now, I've been an advocate of putting Pegoraro (who I continue to believe passes the puck better than anybody else on the team) on the same line as Moulson (who I think we can all agree is the sniper we used to say we always wished Cornell had). I continue to believe that's a good idea, although given how well Pegs has developed as a defensive forward, I'm not sure how likely it is.

I'm also against any combinations that would have Pegs, Chris Abbott, or Topher on a line with one another. They seem to pretty clearly be the top three faceoff guys and you waste that by playing them together and leaving another line with somebody who isn't as adept in that area of the game. I know Schafer has played Bitz at center in the past, but that doesn't seem to be one of his strengths. (That's my own observations on faceoffs, and anyone who has statistics is welcome to refute me. Actually, I'd be quite curious to see the results if anyone kept tabs on faceoff stats over a game or two. I'm sure the team must, but I've never seen them anywhere public.)

Maybe consider moving Bitz off the top line? The past few games, his puckhandling skills have been rather shaky. As far as I can tell, he's constantly losing the puck. Still a good scorer, though.

Not quite sure who else to put up there, maybe Moulson - Pegoraro - Chris Abbott? Or Topher for one of those two.

Going a little bit off topic, does anyone know when the team practices and whether they mind the public sitting in?

Especially this week, I think it would be really interesting to watch how they play around with the lines and what Schafer drills them on.

[Q]Molgestron Wrote:

Going a little bit off topic, does anyone know when the team practices and whether they mind the public sitting in?

Especially this week, I think it would be really interesting to watch how they play around with the lines and what Schafer drills them on.[/q]

They practice in Lynah, usually afternoons. The building is open when they do it, so anyone could watch. I don't know how happy they are about it if people do.

[q]Actually, I'd be quite curious to see the results if anyone kept tabs on faceoff stats over a game or two. I'm sure the team must, but I've never seen them anywhere public.[/q]Gametracker has faceoff stats during the game.

They practice around 4 and they don't care if a few people watch ... As long as you don't have a Harvard Hockey jacket on.

I agree... I think Pegoraro is in fact the best passer/setup guy on the team (just seems to lack the ability to finish)... Him and Moulson together on a line could be a dangerous combination...

I'd also like to see both Abbots on a line, maybe with Sawada.

Another good alternative could be Scott on the first line with Moulson as a setup man... keep Pegoraro with Carefoot - they seem to click well

[Q]Cactus12 Wrote:

I agree... I think Pegoraro is in fact the best passer/setup guy on the team (just seems to lack the ability to finish)... Him and Moulson together on a line could be a dangerous combination...

I'd also like to see both Abbots on a line, maybe with Sawada.[/q]

I dunno, I think that honor goes to our new recuit, Perragaro.

And as for the Abbots, I think they'd be better suited to join on a line with our other new recruit, Sawaba.

[Q]DeltaOne81 Wrote:

Cactus12 Wrote:

I agree... I think Pegoraro is in fact the best passer/setup guy on the team (just seems to lack the ability to finish)... Him and Moulson together on a line could be a dangerous combination...

I'd also like to see both Abbots on a line, maybe with Sawada.[/Q]
I dunno, I think that honor goes to our new recuit, Perragaro.

And as for the Abbots, I think they'd be better suited to join on a line with our other new recruit, Sawaba. [/q]

I'm waiting for Scmidt to get the start.