Cornell 2 UND 1 Postgame

I thought Cornell looked really really good tonight. The offense generated a lot of chances 5x5, though I'd have loved to see us hammer in a goal. Greening continues to look like an absolute beast out there. R. Nash looked good as did both Kennedys. I thought Whitney looked like he belonged on the ice - had a really nice poke check through the legs of a UND forward.

Scrivens looks alright - hard to say he looked great when he got lucky SO many times (a goalpost, disallowed goal, shot that hit a CU d-man behind him in the last 1 minute...).

We took a lot of stupid penalties, but hey...can't argue with the result. We showed a lot of resiliency in bouncing back after last night's debacle.

The lesson I hope we take away from this weekend's trip is that we can't get into run and gun shootouts. We do best when we dictate the game and make our opponents play our style - a defensive struggle.

As a side note, the UND announcers were excellent. They were very knowledgeable and quite complimentary towards Cornell.

Wasn't watching the game, just listening. Sounded like we made them play our game for the most part, which is a welcome change after last night's embarrassment. The big negative is the number and stupidity of penalties we took tonight: you can't expect to win with that lack of discipline. So, good effort... but lucky that the bounces went Cornell's way and ND scored only one PP goal.

The word on the siouxsports message board is that we mugged and interfered our way to victory ... but they seemed to be saying it with respect.

Couldn't be a better and more exciting outcome. SHG to put Cornell up, PP GWG to negate the lone ND goal late in the game. Imagine how the team feels heading home with a 2-1 win not the 7-3 loss as the second game of the series.

We either need to commit fewer penalties or get caught less.

Now let's hope for a successful ND season the rest of the way to help our strength of schedule.

Somewhat happy with the overall result of the trip, but can't help but think we may have been still undefeated had Scrivens decided to show up last night. Our first line looks like it should dominate throughout the ECAC season.

I didn't watch the game tonight, but according to the Athletics write-up, Greening is credited with the GWG as Barlow's shot apparently was deflected in off his arm.

Definitely looked like the puck deflected in off something - very well could've been Greening's shoulder. It had that little wobble you oftensee when the puck hits something trafficwise in front.

CUontheslopes
The lesson I hope we take away from this weekend's trip is that we can't get into run and gun shootouts. We do best when we dictate the game and make our opponents play our style - a defensive struggle.

This is a good point. Remember when we tried to develop a faster, higher-scoring team a couple years back with a bunch of small forwards like Milo and Romano? There were lots of issues at play, but overall, it really didn't work out. As much as it's frustrating sometimes to see our D-men play their position instead of going after a puck, or to see the team fall back into a defensive mindset with a lead, the "defensive struggle" works the best for us. Last night looked like a WCHA game. Tonight was a Cornell game.

Scrivens looked really shaky for a while tonight, with the no-goal (I think it would have counted in a league without replay), a shot he didn't see that hit the crossbar, and some other moments in that second period. He settled down after that and made some big saves towards the end. Watching the video feed I was even more aware of how many times he falls down.

As for the NoDak announcers, it's true that they were gracious to Cornell, but overall I wasn't impressed. Considering this was their second crack at the Cornell roster, they had some trouble with names. "Colin Greenberg." They also kept saying things like "passes it to another Cornell player" or "a Cornell player skates it in." Each time Joe Devin went to the box (three times tonight) they would make a similar comment about his "good size." As amerks127 pointed out during the game, they only once acknowledged the presence of Cornell fans at the games -- talking about the "red" during the anthem -- and never showed any Cornell fans except for a brief shot after Cornell's first goal Friday night. Although, I did laugh when the announcer called Scali a "penalty killing maven."

The picture on the Athletics site makes it seem like the Cornell contingent was way up in the rafters. Hope all the fans have a good trip home. The team was apparently rushing out of Grand Forks so they wouldn't turn in pumpkins...or something.

We've had to make a quick exit from Grand Forks in an effort to get to the U.S.-Canada border before midnight. Not that we're anticipating any problems, but word reached us that if there were any, we'd be stuck at the border until morning, which could jeopardize making our flight back to Hamilton.

Better watch out...the US Border Patrol (Grand Forks unit) advertised heavily during the games.

ugarte
The word on the siouxsports message board is that we mugged and interfered our way to victory ... but they seemed to be saying it with respect.

NoDak = weaksauce. I hope we play them again on neutral ice (such as Pepsi Arena) in the NCAA.

Oat

NoDak = weaksauce. I hope we play them again on neutral ice (such as Pepsi Arena) in the NCAA.

In 2010?

[www.insidecollegehockey.com]

After all the nay-saying last night, I'm glad to see that folks are coming back to reason. This analysis...

CM cWo 44
Somewhat happy with the overall result of the trip, but can't help but think we may have been still undefeated had Scrivens decided to show up last night. Our first line looks like it should dominate throughout the ECAC season.

... seems the right one to me. In fact, I'm going to go out on a pretty strong limb and say that this team will be the first one to dominate in the ECAC since 2005; it will be the first team in the red since then. In about six ECAC games, everyone's going to start comparing this team to the 2003 team, or at least the 2005 team.

Take a look at the next six. While it's certainly possible that Clarkson will get healthy versus us, and St. Lawrence always presents a problem (chiefly because Joe Marsh is a great coach), the only game I have circled is January 16th at Union. After that, it's February 7th vs. Princeton, the 14th at Hahvahd (cue "Love Story), and February 28th at Yale, vs. a Yale team that, at that time, will be jockeying for home ice when we have it sewn up.

Honestly, going into Grand Forks, no matter what troubles their team has had, and splitting is a very good result. Yeah, it looks like we took some dumb penalties, but look at the ratio and prior results from NoDak. Perhaps a bit of hometown reffing? Going into any WCHA rink and winning just one game is a great result.

Our competition this year is Princeton and, to a lesser extent, Dartmouth. Take a look at our results so far and get ready for a fun ride.

Just making it back to Minneapolis after leaving Grand Forks this morning.

Rather than post in both postgame threads, I'll just but some weekend thoughts here.

I think I saw it mentioned, and know I discussed with those who traveled, that Friday night Cornell got suckered into playing NoDak's game, whereas Saturday night Cornell dictated the style of play. In the offensive end for both teams, Friday saw many of the Cornell players chasing Sioux, and Saturday Cornell was being chased.

Some players I liked from both games: Greening, R. Nash, M. Kennedy, Scali (absolutely dominated the cycle on Saturday), J. Devin (took a couple penalties Sat., but was flying around the ice finishing checks).

I noticed a little more from Jillson on Friday than Saturday. Whitney also looked good in his first action.

I think most people here were satisfied with the prospect of a split, and that turned out to be the outcome. I for one left Grand Forks feeling much better about the team after a 2-1 win than I would have had the results been reversed.

Inspired by a roundtable summary of a game in the winter of 2007, we present observations from Jon, Kate, Rich and me about the UND trip:

Jon: On the road from MSP to Grand Forks, Josh questioned, "what, Dick's doesn't have good rods?"

Rich: What about the airport sushi?

Kate: (everone interjects, "Go Marv!" So for those of you who have heard the rumor that the best sushi in the world can be found at the MSP airport, we hunted, we conquered, and it was decent.

Me: Decent for airport sushi.

Jon: Still in the car on the way to MSP, we were dicussing what product you shouldn't skimp on when purchasing. Rich declared, "condoms."

Rich: Anyone who doesn't believe the world is flat has never been to North Dakota.

Kate: New York license plate. Prius. Obama sticker. Red. Lot of waving and honking! (Mile 78 in North Dakota.)

Me: Where are all the things? Buildings? People? Trees? Cars? Cows? Windmills? Hills? You know, things. There are no things in North Dakota.

Jon: Can we get to the Ralph now?

Rich: Don't forget the guy who was going to beat us up in the gas station parking lot for wearing red.

Jon: We were in the lobby of the Ralph waiting for the door to open and the rink staff came over to us and were the first people to ask some recurring questions: "Where is Cornell? Did you drive all the way here? Are you crazy?"

Me: Cornell is in Ithaca, New York, about an hour south of Syracuse. No, we did not drive all the way here. No, we are not crazy. Well, not completely crazy.

Kate: Whose concourse has live bands and carving stations?

Jon: At least we could buy beer.

Kate: And liquor!

Jon: The bottom line is, look, the Ralph is nice, but it's an NHL arena.

Kate: It has no soul.

Rich: Fireworks. Money to burn.

Me: And a laser light show? Seriously?

Kate: There are no cheerleaders in hockey.

Rich: At least, there shouldn't be. But there is CHEERING in hockey.

Me: But not at the Ralph.

Jon: Only when the scoreboard says so. I think we made a lot of friends screaming "red" during the national anthem of game 1.

Rich: The introductions took like five minutes. Phil Collins?

Kate: There is no Phil Collins in Lynah.

Me: I think this was the first time I've genuinely been bored while chanting "boring." That's how long it took.

Jon: I think we taught the North Dakota fans the "sieve" cheer.

Rich: I think they were already doing it.

Jon: They were disgusted by us doing it.

Kate: "Learn the words" (in reference to "home of the SIOUX" was funny.

Jon: The game speaks for itself.

Rich: Game 1, we got lured into playing their game. We can skate and fly and shoot and score.

Me: The long change hurt us a lot when we were trying to play that style and not really being very good at it, lots of long shift for defensemen.

Kate: Pass.

Jon: The game was close until they made it 5-3.

Rich: That was a backbreaking goal.

Kate: The score does not reflect the whole game.

Jon: You passed.

Kate: Pass.

Jon: We finally made it to the Blue Moose to get some North Dakota culture.

Rich: Only it's in Minnesota. We also learned what motel the hookers go to.

Me: That was our motel. Like the Hillside of East Grand Forks.

Kate: We got carted around all of Grand Forks by the shuttle service at our hotel.

Rich: When we walked into every bar, people just sort of watched us like we were some sort of animal because we weren't wearing Sioux stuff.

Jon: And EVERYONE wears Sioux shit. It's nothing like Lynah.

Me: They sell Sioux everything at the store at the rink.

Rich: Compare it with our two folding tables.

Kate: And then the one brave soul comes up to us in the bar to ask, "Where is Cornell? Did you drive all the way here? Are you guys from North Dakota?"

Rich: "Where is Cornell?"

Me: "It's in Ithaca New York. It's upstate, about an hour south of Syracuse. No, we flew to Minneapolis and drove from there. It's very flat here."

Kate: "Where are all the things?"

Me: But they were all very nice, basically.

Kate: And bought us lots of alcohol.

Me: And drove us to a dive bar.

Jon: Back in Grand Forks.

Rich: It was smoky.

Jon: Like every bar in Grand Forks, unfortunately. Then, Wayne (the East Grand Forks police officer) drove us back to our hotel.

Rich: Free beer with ticket stubs. We got a lot of free beer.

Jon: And the pee-wee hockey team from Denver... more about them later.

Rich: When you're screaming "Cornell sucks," make sure you're not going to the same hotel.

Me: The folks from Winnipeg were really nice though, even if one of them was a Dallas Cowboys fan. Kate, comments?

Kate: What? No.

Jon: Can we move on from Friday?

Me: Sure.

Jon: EAST GRAND FORKS MODEL TRAIN MUSEUM!

Rich: Was it in East Grand Forks?

Jon: 216 20th Street. Don't be afraid of the fact that there no door handles on any of the doors.

Kate: Or that you have to go in the door marked "exit only."

Rich: And it was a trailer?

Kate: Double wide.

Me: And thank god for the model trains, otherwise where would they have gotten the idea for the big trains?

Rich: My favorite quote was when I asked the bartender at the sandwich place, "what is there to do during the day?" and he just laughed.

Me: Four things to do in Grand Forks. Get drunk, have sex, watch hockey, leave.

Jon: We went to the North Dakota art museum. There was a wedding. The backdrop was a picture of carcasses.

Rich: What kind of carcasses?

Kate: Sheep's stomachs and rabbit furs.

Rich: Well that's romantic.

Jon: It was a 36 person wedding. That's about all the art museum could hold? I think going to game 2 at the Ralph, we were going to meet our new North Dakota friends, who worked at the organ bar.

Kate: The security guy was the guy from the model train museum. We personally knew about half the people working at that bar. And don't forget the guy checking our IDs who didn't need to see them a second time.

Rich: I was the second Connecticut license he'd seen that night.

Me: I like the fact that the rink has an organ, that's old-school hockey, but they only rarely play it, mostly piped-in crap. (Going back to the "organ bar" comment, that's the bar near the organ, to be clear that we're not talking about something else.)

Kate: You call "Whatta Man" crap?

Me: Yes.

Jon: Salt N Pepa rulz.

Kate: Mmmm, Red Pepper.

Jon: Taco meat on sandwiches.

Me: Why didn't I think of that sooner? What was up with the creepy dude who sat there and stared at us though? But at least he waved when he left. Twice.

Rich: But North Dakota nice is better than Minnesota nice.

Me: As judged by the trip to the regionals in 2005, Minnesota nice is crap.

Rich: Everyone was really concerned of what we thought of their arena.

Jon: We don't have instant replay, right?

Me: So at our rink that goal in the second game doesn't get waved off.

Jon: I'd just like to say I called it on Sioux Sports that Michael Kennedy is our shorthanded threat. Because really, he is, because Evan Barlow hasn't been killing a lot of penalties lately.

Me: But I thought Barlow looked effective on the power play.

Jon: But the Sioux fans, start your own cheers.

Rich: They started reacting to us a little more the second night. There was the guy sitting behind us who screamed at us to be nice, be nice, and then called us assholes.

Jon: You handled that really well, saying "way to set a good example."

Kate: He was quiet after that.

Me: There was a Vermont fan there for some reason who was starting a fair number of Cornell cheers. That guy was cool.

Jon: There's no gold in the urinals at the Ralph.

Me: But there are Sioux logos EVERYWHERE.

Rich: Not on each individual seat, contrary to rumors.

Kate: Just on the ends of rows.

Me: And on the railings, and on the back of the buildings, and inlaid on the floor, and everywhere else.

Kate: Who was #23? It's retired there.

Jon: Singing "Scha[e]fer" in the Ralph was a good feeling.

Rich: Winning Team, Losing Team in a WCHA rink was fun.

Kate: And it was nice to see the team acknowledge us on the way off the ice. By the way, the rink was half empty before the players shook hands.

Jon: Yeah, North Dakota doesn't salute their fans.

Rich: Why would they, the fans don't salute them.

Me: Except when the scoreboard tells them to get loud. Gotta obey that volume meter and make it full.

Kate: I think we may have talked a couple people into considering making the trip to Ithaca next year.

Me: So be sure to ask them all whether they drove all the way.

Rich: And where is North Dakota, anyway?

Me: Is that in Minnesota? But seriously, if you want to make a North Dakota person like you, just tell them they're nicer than the people in Minnesota.

Jon: Smarter too.

Rich: Jucy Lucys are juicy.

Kate: I was in the concourse when they were doing the parents thing. How many parents were there?

Jon: Hextall's dad was there.

Rich: The parents were all there. I started taunting "Hex-tall, Hex-tall."

Jon: His son's a goon.

Me: I can't believe I missed that. I fucking hated that guy. Slash more ankles you dick. Can I say "dick"? I did just say "fucking." But it was nice that they had all the parent there and brought them onto the ice. And it was also nice to buy a 32 ounce Leinie's for $5.75.

Rich: In Lynah there is no beer, that's why we drink it here.

Me: And when we're gone from here, the Sioux will be drinking all our beer.

Rich: The end.

Thank you for joining us tonight, live from room 420 (Rich: hell yeah. Kate: not joking.) at the Fairfield Inn by the Mall of America and the MSP International Airport.

Josh '99
Inspired by a roundtable summary of a game in the winter of 2007, we present observations from Jon, Kate, Rich and me about the UND trip:

Thanks, it was fun to read.

Josh '99
Rich: Winning Team, Losing Team in a WCHA rink was fun.

Ironically, we stole that cheer from UND when we played in the 1980 NCAA tourney.

Scersk '97
After that, it's February 7th vs. Princeton, the 14th at Hahvahd (cue "Love Story), and February 28th at Yale

Nice analysis, but one minor quibble: The Love Story game took place in some rink masquerading as Lynah.

Jeff Hopkins '82

Josh '99
Rich: Winning Team, Losing Team in a WCHA rink was fun.

Ironically, we stole that cheer from UND when we played in the 1980 NCAA tourney.

Did you simultaneously steal all their enthusiasm and spirit?

ninian '72

Scersk '97
After that, it's February 7th vs. Princeton, the 14th at Hahvahd (cue "Love Story), and February 28th at Yale

Nice analysis, but one minor quibble: The Love Story game took place in some rink masquerading as Lynah.

IIRC, all of the games shown in that movie were filmed in Northeastern U.'s rink, and all of Hahvahd's opponents were played by the Dartmouth hockey team wearing different teams' uniforms, including Cornell's.

And the exterior shot of people leaving "Cornell's rink" was actually of Barton.

Jon: Only when the scoreboard says so. I think we made a lot of friends screaming "red" during the national anthem of game 1.

Kate: "Learn the words" (in reference to "home of the SIOUX") was funny.

Consistency FAIL

Beeeej
all of the games shown in that movie were filmed in Northeastern U.'s rink

You sure? You're probably right, but I always assumed they were played at Watson (Harvard's rink before Bright). I can't find anything on the net either way. IMDB does not show a Boston shooting location, but that could easily be an oversight.

ugarte

Jon: Only when the scoreboard says so. I think we made a lot of friends screaming "red" during the national anthem of game 1.

Kate: "Learn the words" (in reference to "home of the SIOUX") was funny.

Consistency FAIL

Ummm....wha?

Trotsky

Beeeej
all of the games shown in that movie were filmed in Northeastern U.'s rink

You sure? You're probably right, but I always assumed they were played at Watson (Harvard's rink before Bright). I can't find anything on the net either way. IMDB does not show a Boston shooting location, but that could easily be an oversight.

No, I'm not sure, and I don't even remember who told me. But that's the story I was told.

Jordan 04

ugarte

Jon: Only when the scoreboard says so. I think we made a lot of friends screaming "red" during the national anthem of game 1.

Kate: "Learn the words" (in reference to "home of the SIOUX") was funny.

Consistency FAIL

Ummm....wha?

You don't get to be pissy at "Red" if your arena has a standard change to the lyrics also.

Haven't been able to find any confirmation about the Northeastern rink either, but did find some mention of Dartmouth playing both themselves and Cornell. Ned Harkness refused to allow the film makers to use Cornell jerseys unless Cornell won the game in the film. Interesting additional trivia - Bill Cleary was Ryan O'Neal's stand-in (skate-in?), and Joe Bertagna was in goal for Harvard.

ugarte

Jordan 04

ugarte

Jon: Only when the scoreboard says so. I think we made a lot of friends screaming "red" during the national anthem of game 1.

Kate: "Learn the words" (in reference to "home of the SIOUX") was funny.

Consistency FAIL

Ummm....wha?

You don't get to be pissy at "Red" if your arena has a standard change to the lyrics also.

I interpreted your post wrong. I thought you were commenting on an inconsistency of our fan calling out the UND fans for changing the lyrics, (instead of the more logical vice-versa).

Carry on...

ninian '72
Ned Harkness refused to allow the film makers to use Cornell jerseys unless Cornell won the game in the film.

I've always found that story suspicious. Why would the filmmakers let the coach of a college hockey team dictate something like that to them? Playing a game against Cornell, specifically, wasn't integral to the plot, was it? Harvard had a dozen other conference foes they could've gone to instead, giving the finger to Ned quite easily. Why would they say yes to Harvard losing a game just to get Cornell's unis?

Beeeej
Why would they say yes to Harvard losing a game just to get Cornell's unis?

If you believe the trivia section of IMDB, Erich Segal wrote the screenplay first, then adapted it into a novel. The novel came out before the movie. Maybe they felt like keeping the opponent the same as in the book.

nyc94

Beeeej
Why would they say yes to Harvard losing a game just to get Cornell's unis?

If you believe the trivia section of IMDB, Erich Segal wrote the screenplay first, then adapted it into a novel. The novel came out before the movie. Maybe they felt like keeping the opponent the same as in the book.

Well, that's my problem with it. You really think the opponent staying the same was more important than the outcome staying the same?

Beeeej

nyc94

Beeeej
Why would they say yes to Harvard losing a game just to get Cornell's unis?

If you believe the trivia section of IMDB, Erich Segal wrote the screenplay first, then adapted it into a novel. The novel came out before the movie. Maybe they felt like keeping the opponent the same as in the book.

Well, that's my problem with it. You really think the opponent staying the same was more important than the outcome staying the same?

Also, what authority do the coaches have over trademarks? The inquiry would go through the legal department, not the athletic department. (Even for huggy bear, the decision would go through the AD's attorneys, not the coach of an individual team.)

Awesome post. Thank you. This is the blog CornellBigRed.com can't do.

Also it was nice to see some segment of the UND community was friendly when you went out of your way to meet them.

Cornell fans driving a Prius to North Dakota? Wonder if the state has seen a hybrid before? Wide open spaces are not where hybrids shine.

Josh '99
Kate: Who was #23? It's retired there.

Engelstad.

Beeeej

nyc94

Beeeej
Why would they say yes to Harvard losing a game just to get Cornell's unis?

If you believe the trivia section of IMDB, Erich Segal wrote the screenplay first, then adapted it into a novel. The novel came out before the movie. Maybe they felt like keeping the opponent the same as in the book.

Well, that's my problem with it. You really think the opponent staying the same was more important than the outcome staying the same?

I thought the whole point of the movie was how a whiny Harvard hockey player dealt with losing the Ivy Championship to Cornell. Was the movie longer than ten minutes? *shrug*

KeithK

Beeeej

nyc94

Beeeej
Why would they say yes to Harvard losing a game just to get Cornell's unis?

If you believe the trivia section of IMDB, Erich Segal wrote the screenplay first, then adapted it into a novel. The novel came out before the movie. Maybe they felt like keeping the opponent the same as in the book.

Well, that's my problem with it. You really think the opponent staying the same was more important than the outcome staying the same?

I thought the whole point of the movie was how a whiny Harvard hockey player dealt with losing the Ivy Championship to Cornell. Was the movie longer than ten minutes? *shrug*

Isn't context key here? Cornell was a very good team in the late 60s, so the popular recognition would be that even though Oliver lost to a very good team, his father was disappointed in him.

Beeeej

Trotsky

Beeeej
all of the games shown in that movie were filmed in Northeastern U.'s rink

You sure? You're probably right, but I always assumed they were played at Watson (Harvard's rink before Bright). I can't find anything on the net either way. IMDB does not show a Boston shooting location, but that could easily be an oversight.

No, I'm not sure, and I don't even remember who told me. But that's the story I was told.

[www.thecrimson.com]

Gillespie admitted the crowd scenes filmed a year ago at Watson Rink didn't require much evidence of talent from the 125 student extras.

"Our acting was confined to base emotions: happy, sad, angry. Our lines were rudimentary, 'Yea' and 'Booooo!' We cheered for the same damn play over and over ... it was like watching Sisyphus do his labors," Gillespie said.

Anyone care to do the honors of a punchline?

KeithK

Beeeej

nyc94

Beeeej
Why would they say yes to Harvard losing a game just to get Cornell's unis?

If you believe the trivia section of IMDB, Erich Segal wrote the screenplay first, then adapted it into a novel. The novel came out before the movie. Maybe they felt like keeping the opponent the same as in the book.

Well, that's my problem with it. You really think the opponent staying the same was more important than the outcome staying the same?

I thought the whole point of the movie was how a whiny Harvard hockey player dealt with losing the Ivy Championship to Cornell. Was the movie longer than ten minutes? *shrug*

[mrsquishy]I think his chick gets some disease or something too.[/mrsquishy]

Josh '99
Kate: New York license plate. Prius. Obama sticker. Red. Lot of waving and honking! (Mile 78 in North Dakota.)

We would've waved back if we weren't in complete shock and awe of the "lack of things" along 29.

Jon: Taco meat on sandwiches.

I had a buffalo burger at lunch and taco meat on my sandwich at dinner Saturday. I embraced North Dakota's style, with better results than the team on Friday.

Rich: Everyone was really concerned of what we thought of their arena.

I mean really concerned. I had this conversation everytime I used a restroom (I guess this was when my jersey stood out the most?), and with 32 oz. beers I used the restrooms a lot.

Josh '99

Jeff Hopkins '82

Josh '99
Rich: Winning Team, Losing Team in a WCHA rink was fun.

Ironically, we stole that cheer from UND when we played in the 1980 NCAA tourney.

Did you simultaneously steal all their enthusiasm and spirit?

Apparently. In 1980, they brought several thousand fans to the tourney, including lots of old-timers who wore green sport coats and cowboy hats. Not only did they do "Which team is the winning team?" but they kept doing "Winning team! Losing team!" until it died out. And after doing the winning team part, they started again with "Which one is the winning goalie?" and did the same thing