Into the stretch - glass half-full, half-empty?

Eighteen games in, entering the league-only final 11 games, we're 10-5-3 and in the top ten in the polls. The highlights were the methodical dissection of UNH two weeks ago, Friday's 1-0 nail-biter victory over North Dakota, probably the three-point weekend last week in the north country with a flu-ridden team. The disappointments were being tied by BU 3-3 in Madison Square Garden, the double losses at the Florida hockey classic, and the 4-2 loss at Yale. Colin Greening and Blake Gallagher have been exceptional while Riley Nash's contributions have not been as evident as might be hoped for. Scrivens is better than we've given him credit for although I would have felt better saying this if he handn't given up the first UND goal last night. Randomness can't fully explain the downward spiral of our power play (0 for 28) after being a national leader through December.

We can run the table the last 11 games but I think 8-2-1 would be more likely given the on-any-day nature of college hockey. I fear we won't be able to beat both Yale and Union at home, we'll lose one other fluky game, and somebody will tie us (please, God, not up in Cambridge). I want to see a late-season stupid loss by Cornell (Union because of three B Nash penalties?) that allows Schafer to do the inspirational ass-kicking he's so good at.

I think we'll see Albany again after beating Clarkson in the quarters (it's almost ordained, Clarkson at Cornell for the right to go to Albany), we have the ability to be the ECAC champion, and let's see how far we can go in the NCAAs. I wish we had this year's team playing last year's NCAA seedings where, I think we all believed, we had an easy skate into the final four approaching the Bemidji State game. But the NCAAs are a long way off and as the hockey and lax teams have proved, you can get tripped up in the playoffs earlier than expected.

I wish Ari Baum were still around to lend insight.

[edit: breaking into more paragraphs]

I think we need some paragraphs in there.

That said, I think we are positioned pretty well for a late-season run. The team's performance in the last five minutes of last night's game was encouraging.

[FMP above; thanks.] Win or lose, I get a lot more enjoyment out of seeing Cornell in person or webcast than spending fifteen bucks to don 3D goggles and watch Avatar in an iMax theater plus watch 40 minutes of trailers and ads. Keeping old alums entertained isn't the main purpose of Cornell sports, but I'll take it.

mnagowski
I think we need some paragraphs in there.

That said, I think we are positioned pretty well for a late-season run. The team's performance in the last five minutes of last night's game was encouraging.

So, does that put you in the glass is 8% full camp?

mnagowski
I think we need some paragraphs in there.

That said, I think we are positioned pretty well for a late-season run. The team's performance in the last five minutes of last night's game was encouraging.

Agree with that, but they've not shown that they can consistently do it. We had some of the same problems last year. We couldn't overcome them then, losing in ECAC finals and Grand Rapids, and I need to be convinced we can do it this year. As I've said before, we can only hope to occasionally get far in the NCAAs. I hope last year was not it. From my viewpoint the key is Riley showing some more of his talent. There are glimpses of it, but I think he too often looks for the perfect pass. Whether it's shooting or some passes, it seems he often waits too long and loses the chance. We need a very good second line, and yes I know it's not just up to him.

ithacat

mnagowski
I think we need some paragraphs in there.

That said, I think we are positioned pretty well for a late-season run. The team's performance in the last five minutes of last night's game was encouraging.

So, does that put you in the glass is 8% full camp?

Nope. The team played decently the entire weekend against an obviously higher-skilled opponent. That they were able to sustain pressure even after a demoralizing second goal is a good sign.

mnagowski

ithacat

mnagowski
I think we need some paragraphs in there.

That said, I think we are positioned pretty well for a late-season run. The team's performance in the last five minutes of last night's game was encouraging.

So, does that put you in the glass is 8% full camp?

Nope. The team played decently the entire weekend against an obviously higher-skilled opponent. That they were able to sustain pressure even after a demoralizing second goal is a good sign.

I have a feeling Cornell will do very well down the stretch in the ECAC, both in terms of game results and PP production. The power play wasn't good this weekend, but there were moments where the top unit (playing the second shift most of the game) set up and generated some pressure, even if it didn't result in great scoring chances. NoDak was aggressive, fast, and disciplined on the kill, and apart from Yale I don't think there's an ECAC team that can play a PK like that.

This is the Clarkson model from the mid/late 90s - play a brutal non-conference schedule (often with poor to mixed results) and enter the stretch run in the RS playing at a much higher level than everyone else in the league.

Cornell just finished the tough non-conference schedule, and I'm hoping the Big Red will come out of that experience flying through the rest of the ECAC RS and conference playoffs.

Tom Lento

mnagowski

ithacat

mnagowski
I think we need some paragraphs in there.

That said, I think we are positioned pretty well for a late-season run. The team's performance in the last five minutes of last night's game was encouraging.

So, does that put you in the glass is 8% full camp?

Nope. The team played decently the entire weekend against an obviously higher-skilled opponent. That they were able to sustain pressure even after a demoralizing second goal is a good sign.

I have a feeling Cornell will do very well down the stretch in the ECAC, both in terms of game results and PP production. The power play wasn't good this weekend, but there were moments where the top unit (playing the second shift most of the game) set up and generated some pressure, even if it didn't result in great scoring chances. NoDak was aggressive, fast, and disciplined on the kill, and apart from Yale I don't think there's an ECAC team that can play a PK like that.

This is the Clarkson model from the mid/late 90s - play a brutal non-conference schedule (often with poor to mixed results) and enter the stretch run in the RS playing at a much higher level than everyone else in the league.

Cornell just finished the tough non-conference schedule, and I'm hoping the Big Red will come out of that experience flying through the rest of the ECAC RS and conference playoffs.

You got that right. With the emphasis on hope.

Jim Hyla

mnagowski
I think we need some paragraphs in there.

That said, I think we are positioned pretty well for a late-season run. The team's performance in the last five minutes of last night's game was encouraging.

Agree with that, but they've not shown that they can consistently do it. We had some of the same problems last year. We couldn't overcome them then, losing in ECAC finals and Grand Rapids, and I need to be convinced we can do it this year. As I've said before, we can only hope to occasionally get far in the NCAAs. I hope last year was not it. From my viewpoint the key is Riley showing some more of his talent. There are glimpses of it, but I think he too often looks for the perfect pass. Whether it's shooting or some passes, it seems he often waits too long and loses the chance. We need a very good second line, and yes I know it's not just up to him.

Riley took a ton of shots at UNH, then scored on the tip-in after the epic cycling episode. We need to see him playing more like he did that day.

There's a good amount of Cornell stuff on Puck Daddy this week: [sports.yahoo.com]

Personally, I'm not too bullish on the team at this point. I disagree with some of the posters on here who thought we played even with (or even better than) NoDak this weekend. They were a significantly faster team, but that didn't mean they were a bunch of wimps whom we could throw around the boards. They won most battles for loose pucks, and their speed wreaked havoc on our breakout plays and rushes. How many times did you see a NoDak forward, who had initially been 20 feet behind the play, catch up to a Cornell skater in the neutral zone and poke the puck away. It seemed at times like Cornell was going in slow motion.

Another troubling issue is the powerplay. We all enjoyed the PP's early season success, but we knew exactly what they were trying to do every time. In addition to our usual "keep 'em honest" shot from the point, we tried to get the puck to Blake Gallagher along the left side. Someone on eLf said something like "we may only have two options, but that's better than our usual one option." S/he may have been half-kidding, but that's basically the truth. Our lack of creativity on the PP was fine when we were still scoring at a 30% clip, but becomes a serious problem when we play decent teams who take the time to watch some video.

I recognize that Cornell has traditionally been defense-first, and has succeeded as such, but this season has been a little different. You wouldn't see the teams from earlier in the decade getting 2 shots in a whole period of hockey. Cornell didn't shoot much, which was fine because neither did our opponents, but we'd have a few offensive chances. Cornell is a team with a bunch of guys who have trouble finishing, so it's totally unrealistic to think we can win a lot of games when our only offensive chances are a handful of 2-on-1's and looks on the powerplay. This is what happened on Friday, and we were happy that that was a rare 2-on-1 we were actually able to finish. You simply can't count on winning games that way against good teams.

Now, the good news is that Cornell is in first place in the ECAC and won't play teams nearly as good as NoDak until the NCAA tournament. I think the Sioux are a clear step above Yale, Quinnipiac (when we played them) and Union. If Cornell plays at this weekend and works on the PP, they should win enough games to get a high ECAC seed and make it to Albany. From there, we might see a similar situation to last year in which Cornell needs to win one game that weekend to secure the at-large bid.

Another piece of good news is that Ben Scrivens has had two consecutive amazing weekends. If he continues to play this way, that will take some pressure off the offense and make the road ahead much easier. Unfortunately, unlike last season, Cornell hasn't built up any cushion and can't afford a late-season slide. We're currently looking up at an NCAA bid, not down. I don't think we can deal with our customary, zero point weekend in Hanover and Allston. No lapses, more consistency, and solutions on the powerplay.

I should also point out that guys like Locke Jillson, John Esposito, and Joe Scali have improved tremendously this season. Hell, Esposito has improved a lot in the last month. The question on this team has never been talent, but putting it all together.

Finally, I'll end with an interesting post about the younger Nash: [lowetide.blogspot.com]

Interesting and thoughtful analsysis point that as far as the pros go, look at his even-strength scoring, because Riley Nash is unlikely to be on the PP when he makes it to the NHL. (If you play every PP I suppose you miss a couple even-strength shifts but is that more than a JND?)

ebilmes
I don't think we can deal with our customary, zero point weekend in Hanover and Allston.

I'm 10-1-0 at Thompson if y'all want to buy my plane ticket.

Tom Lento
This is the Clarkson model from the mid/late 90s - play a brutal non-conference schedule (often with poor to mixed results) and enter the stretch run in the RS playing at a much higher level than everyone else in the league.

True - but Clarkson also then bombed spectacularly at the NCAAs. Every year, same thing - amazing stretch run - followed by NCAA defeat.

Scrivens is playing much better than I thought he could. That's a big positive.

adamw

Tom Lento
This is the Clarkson model from the mid/late 90s - play a brutal non-conference schedule (often with poor to mixed results) and enter the stretch run in the RS playing at a much higher level than everyone else in the league.

True - but Clarkson also then bombed spectacularly at the NCAAs. Every year, same thing - amazing stretch run - followed by NCAA defeat.

Scrivens is playing much better than I thought he could. That's a big positive.

Clarkson bombed in the ECACs most years, too. I deliberately neglected to mention the post-season for that reason.

Still, I think the difficult non-conference schedule really does contribute to a team's league success, particularly in the offensive end.

I'm just trying to enjoy the season as best I can. I love going to Lynah and taking in the experience, and that's what I need to remember. I would love to see Cornell as a national power, but I can't. This is a pretty good Cornell team and they're marginally a top-20 team, despite the ranking. They're 1-2 against the current top-10, and 1-1-1 against 11-20. Cornell's also the only team in the top-20 to have lost to the U18 National team. The rest of the top-20 is 6-0 and has a 33-9 scoring advantage against them.

What Cornell does they do as well as anyone. Unfortunately, the game is about speed, skating, and scoring...at least in this day and age.

Still, get to the tournament and get a bounce or two...and anything can happen.