Everglades Impressions

I'm sure those of us who didn't make it to Estero for the Everglades tourney would appreciate hearing impressions on the games from those who did.

I don't think you ever get an accurate sense of how Cornell played from the opposing team's announcers, particularly in cases where those announcers don't see the Big Red often.

Was this weekend just a case of bad timing in hitting a scoring slump? Was the team snakebit on its offensive chances? Opposing goalies just too good? Was puck possession or passing a problem and if so, could it be chalked up to good defense or some Cornell problem?

The scores were close, but were the games as close as the scores? My impression is that the Red was not out of league in the two games, but would you say that loss to Maine was similar to the loss to UNH last year, one where despite Cornell's best efforts, it came up a little short and would never really be considered the better team, no matter how many games they played? (That's not to say we couldn't win a number of games vs. Maine, but rather Maine would always be favored and should win the majority of the games)

In any case, I guess we'll have to wait until March to reestablish our national profile as a top 5 team. Good luck Big Red in 2003!

Sorry, that typo should have been "Everblades".

Does the loss mean we lost the battle for that highly touted recruit who was choosing between Maine, Cornell, and someone else? (i can't remember if I read about him here or on uscho)

I don't post often, but I read all the time. I thought I'd shed some light on the tourney. I was in Estero on Saturday for the Maine game, but not the Ohio State game on Sunday. Cornell played very well, and the score was indicative of the closeness in the game. However, Cornell played loosely in the 3rd period. They were quite flat and Maine jumped on them. Maine skated faster and capitalized while the Red played like they were tired. In all, it was quite an evenly matched game, except for half of the 3rd, when Maine scored it's 2 goals (not counting the empty netter). CU missed a few opportunities, but they certainly deserved a better outcome than a no win weekend. Anyway, I hope that sheds a little light on the Maine game. Sorry I can't help with Ohio State.

His name is O'Byrne. He's a 6-4 defenseman. I assume his impressions of the coaching staff will carry more weight than the game, although Maine being a perennial contender will certainly help them.

Very true. I mean, Schafer was a defenseman, so I'm sure he's got a lot to teach and what better way to develop than playing for a really defensive oriented team. Plus, if you look at the way Murray has developed (through his own efforts plus great coaching), O'Byrne could hope to see similar things. I'm hoping...

(Disclaimer: These "impressions" come at 2:00 am after just getting back to Long Island, after driving all the way from Daytona today).

Maine game: Tough, tough loss. One of those that we just didn't deserve to lose in my opinion (and neither did Maine). Pretty much a dead even game. Interesting to see contrasting styles...our chances would seem to always come after battles won in the corner, and prolonged periods in the offesive zone where we developed a few chances in a row. Exactly the opposite for Maine -- when they could, they would break out of the zone quickly, streak down ice, streak towards the net, and get a shot on goal and crash for the rebounds. Usually one and done or them in terms of chances in our zone.

My overall impression after the game (and I believe that of Doug Murray also as he threw in one of his now-patented "slam the stick against the ice as hard as you can" fits after the final buzzer) was that if this team wants to take the next step, it's a game we should have won. Enough moral victories already...last year vs. UHN and now this past game against Maine. We've shown we can play with them. Now it's time to beat them.


OSU game: This wasn't Cornell that came to play. I was embarrassed to watch them. Problem after problem clearing the defensive zone, losing too many battles in the corners and against the walls, just not hustling like they usually do...just not winning enough battles to create quality opportunities. After seeing his reaction after Saturday's loss, I figured Murray would be pissed and come ready to play on Sunday -- he did, as evidenced by the biggest hit I've witnessed all year, which sent the OSU guy into next year, and rendered him motionless for about 3 minutes. Other than that, no fire in the belly...no urgency to win, at least that I witnessed. I think we really missed Hornby on Sunday. Maybe he would have helped fire things up. I dunno.

Both games, I though Marr played very well, considering it was his first action of the year. The go ahead goal (2-1) to Maine seemed like a very tough break. I was on the other end of the ice, but to me it appeared that the Maine player blindy centered it and maybe it went off our defender, backskating. I haven't looked at the other threads to see what the other announcers saw.

Overall, I was obviously awfully disappointed with my first ever trip down to Estero (the results, at least). Nice rink they have there, and at least I got some sun, I guess.

Maybe next year...Also, better to lose these games in December, than in March, I guess.

On to the North Country.

LET'S GO RED!

Though it sounds like Marr played very well, I wonder if the goaltending had any subtle effect. Might the game plan have been any different with Lenny in net? I heard the Maine announcer say that Cornell looked like it was trying very hard to protect its goaltender.

In any case, my overall impression was that Saturday was a very hard fought effort which we could have, and probably should have, won. Sunday was a game we should have taken easily, but I'm willing to chalk it up to consolation game letdown. Hopefully they'll get it back together and come back strong for the rest of the ECAC season.

BTW, that Murray hit was also a brilliant defensive play; the OSU player had come into the zone short-handed, Marr was coming way out of the net to cut off the angle, the guy was about to try and make a move around him, and CRUNCH Murray comes in and levels him. It was a clean hit and exactly what needed to be done (and as others noted, a lesson not to skate with your head down). We couldn't really savor it because the guy was down a long time and we were concerned that he wasn't moving his legs. Unnfortunately, once he'd come to and skated off to everyone's relief, it seemed to kill our momentum on the power play.

Adam referred to the Murray hit as "the hit of the year" and perhaps the hardest hit he's ever seen. Also went out of his way to note that it was 100% clean.

[q]
Adam referred to the Murray hit as "the hit of the year"[/q]

Amen.
[q] and perhaps the hardest hit he's ever seen. [/q]

Possibly Amen.

[q]Also went out of his way to note that it was 100% clean.[/q]

Amen.

It was strange...Doug was the only man back, yet at first it seemed like he wasn't getting back on D fast enough. So I sorta said to myself "Uhh....that's you Doug" (and out loud too, I guess, as one of the UMass fans sitting with us jokingly said "I guess he heard you" after the hit) -- and then all of a sudden the OSU man tried to cut towards the net, and Murray was there, like a rock (and bulldozer, I guess) to cut off the angle. A thing of beauty. Too bad it was one of the lone Cornell highlights of the night.

Clarification: I actually said perhaps the hardest "college hockey" hit I've ever seen ... ranking with Dave Burke's throttling of Dartmouth's Tom Finks in 1989, at the red line, 10 feet in front of the scorer's table. And if I didn't say it, I should have added: "open-ice hit" to the list of qualifiers.

Actually, I didn't know it was Finks, until this hit recently came up in a conversation with Arthur Mintz. We then saw Dave Burke in Michigan on Dec. 7, who confirmed it was Finks. Burke played from 88-92. According to hockeydb.com, Finks played from 85-89. This means only 1988-89 coincided with each other - which would put this hit during Burke's freshman year (and mine).

I seem to recall it having been later than that ... but, unless I'm thinking of a different hit (hard to believe) ... then it must have been that year.

OK, had almost a week to sort thoughts out, where to begin...

Maine/Cornell
As Jordan (I think) pointed out, their offense is a totally different style from ours. We stopped it pretty well most of the time, but unfortunately, all it took was two.

The Abbotts work really well together, and I think Schafer is going to have to consider keeping Chris in the lineup when all the other skaters are healthy despite his relatively small size.

Marty Kariya is a diver.

Doyle didn't impress me much. He didn't control his rebounds all that well. His defense did very well at not allowing a whole lot of second chances.

I don't really believe Maine is any better than this year's Cornell team. I do think that if Cornell tries to sit back and protect a one-goal lead, Maine is good enough offensively that they WILL eventually break through.

OSU/Cornell
I don't think the team was flat for this game. They had better scoring chances than OSU did, OSU just managed to put the only one through. Apologies for sounding like a haughty WCHA fan, but they're still not as good a team as Cornell.

Frustrating, frustrating, frustrating, though. The team just couldn't buy a break. Nothing to do but put this one in the rearview mirror.

Other Random Thoughts
The hit by Murray in the OSU game was brutal, and absolutely clean.

I don't know whether having Marr instead of LeNeveu in net affected the team's strategy, but as far as stoping shots goes, Marr was just fine.

Big rebound game coming up Saturday night. No doubt Schafer will have the team ready.