2019-02-22: RPI 3 Cornell 2 (ot)

At the risk of sabotage, a sweep is nigh-on imperative.

25 Cor    RPI,  Uni, @SLU, @Clk
24 Qpc    SLU,  Clk, @Brn, @Yal
23 Yal    @Drt, @Hvd, Prn,  Qpc
22 Hvd    Brn,  Yal, @RPI, @Uni
22 Clk    @Prn, @Qpc, Cgt,  Cor

The next two Saturdays are going to be wild.

RPI pregame interviews (Coach Smith, Jake Marrello, and Mike Gornall)
[www.youtube.com]

Welp, one thing about the injuries. It makes the lineup easy to predict.

We are for all practical purposes down to zero game time decisions. With Haiskenan officially out for the year, and with Donaldson and Andreev apparently out until the playoffs if then, and with Song fairly obviously not ready for D-1 this year, we have 12 forwards and 7 defensemen, exactly the number of players we are allowed to skate.

In rough order of ability:

Vanderlaan
Barron
Starrett
Locke
Bauld
Mullin
Regush
Betts
Malott
Motley
Murphy
Bramwell

Kaldis
Smith
Nuttle
McCrea
Green
Leahy
Cairns (extra skater)

Trotsky
Welp, one thing about the injuries. It makes the lineup easy to predict.

We are for all practical purposes down to zero game time decisions. With Haiskenan officially out for the year, and with Donaldson and Andreev apparently out until the playoffs if then, and with Song fairly obviously not ready for D-1 this year, we have 12 forwards and 7 defensemen, exactly the number of players we are allowed to skate.

In rough order of ability:

Vanderlaan
Barron
Starrett
Locke
Bauld
Mullin
Regush
Betts
Malott
Motley
Murphy
Bramwell

Kaldis
Smith
Nuttle
McCrea
Green
Leahy
Cairns (extra skater)

Not a bad lineup. Let's hope there's no more attrition via injury..

redice

Trotsky
Welp, one thing about the injuries. It makes the lineup easy to predict.

We are for all practical purposes down to zero game time decisions. With Haiskenan officially out for the year, and with Donaldson and Andreev apparently out until the playoffs if then, and with Song fairly obviously not ready for D-1 this year, we have 12 forwards and 7 defensemen, exactly the number of players we are allowed to skate.

In rough order of ability:

Vanderlaan
Barron
Starrett
Locke
Bauld
Mullin
Regush
Betts
Malott
Motley
Murphy
Bramwell

Kaldis
Smith
Nuttle
McCrea
Green
Leahy
Cairns (extra skater)

Not a bad lineup. Let's hope there's no more attrition via injury..

I'd switch Green and Smith, but otherwise pretty good

Donaldson is in tonight. We'll see if he is 100 percent or not. Same goes for Barron, who was apparently a game-time decision last Saturday.

kevdog8
Donaldson is in tonight.

Wow. That is really unexpected. I hope he's ready.

Per Mike, "Andreev should be back for the playoffs."

Trotsky
With Haiskenan officially out for the year, and with Donaldson and Andreev apparently out until the playoffs if then, and with Song fairly obviously not ready for D-1 this year, we have 12 forwards and 7 defensemen, exactly the number of players we are allowed to skate.

At the alumni dinner, Mike mentioned that Song had broken a kneecap.

Certainly worst loss of the season. Just inexcusable.

scoop85
Certainly worst loss of the season. Just inexcusable.

What an embarrassing turnover and final goal. yuck. this team hates passing to each other in the offensive zone.

ugarte

scoop85
Certainly worst loss of the season. Just inexcusable.

What an embarrassing turnover and final goal. yuck. this team hates passing to each other in the offensive zone.

I don’t know what’s happened the last few games, but our entire offense has reverted to trying wraparounds and jam shots. We better turn things around and fast.

We certainly spent enough time in the offensive zone. But the puck movement wasn't good, and that was a bad, bad turnover at the end.

Dafatone
We certainly spent enough time in the offensive zone. But the puck movement wasn't good, and that was a bad, bad turnover at the end.

That was Nuttle with the whiff. Oddly, Kaldis had a number of those tonight that he got away with. The guys just seem to be holding their sticks a bit tight right now. That being said, two weeks ago Barron would’ve buried that OT shot.

RPI is another incredibly bad team that plays a cheap defensive system to try to steal low-scoring games from better teams. I don't blame Cornell for only scoring twice so much as I blame them for giving up three goals to a team incapable of creating offense. Just horrific turnovers in the defensive end and bad goaltending. The turnovers are nothing new, but the goaltending is a recent phenomenon. The Colgate game revisited.

Cornell is now an underdog to make the NCAAs, despite what the garbage "pairwise predictor" says/said.

BearLover
RPI is another incredibly bad team that plays a cheap defensive system to try to steal low-scoring games from better teams. I don't blame Cornell for only scoring twice so much as I blame them for giving up three goals to a team incapable of creating offense. Just horrific turnovers in the defensive end and bad goaltending. The turnovers are nothing new, but the goaltending is a recent phenomenon. The Colgate game revisited.

Cornell is now an underdog to make the NCAAs, despite what the garbage "pairwise predictor" says/said.

RPI has not been incredibly bad since the 2nd semester, and that is without the top two offensive players. You must have been watching the women's game.

BearLover
RPI is another incredibly bad team that plays a cheap defensive system to try to steal low-scoring games from better teams. I don't blame Cornell for only scoring twice so much as I blame them for giving up three goals to a team incapable of creating offense. Just horrific turnovers in the defensive end and bad goaltending. The turnovers are nothing new, but the goaltending is a recent phenomenon. The Colgate game revisited.

Cornell is now an underdog to make the NCAAs, despite what the garbage "pairwise predictor" says/said.

We're 13th in the pairwise (but have a bit of a leg up going forward at the moment because we're currently winning the pairwise against ASU). This means that if we pass one of the two teams ahead of us in RPI, we pass both of them in the pairwise rankings.

Mathematically speaking, we're probably more likely to make it than not. Plenty of hockey left and plenty of room for things to get worse or better.

The math doesn't change just because we're sad about a bad game.

ursusminor

BearLover
RPI is another incredibly bad team that plays a cheap defensive system to try to steal low-scoring games from better teams. I don't blame Cornell for only scoring twice so much as I blame them for giving up three goals to a team incapable of creating offense. Just horrific turnovers in the defensive end and bad goaltending. The turnovers are nothing new, but the goaltending is a recent phenomenon. The Colgate game revisited.

Cornell is now an underdog to make the NCAAs, despite what the garbage "pairwise predictor" says/said.

RPI has not been incredibly bad since the 2nd semester, and that is without the top two offensive players. You must have been watching the women's game.

RPI certainly played well tonight. We've been getting out-muscled down low throughout the season. We kept the puck on the doorstop all night but RPI pushed us out of scoring chances.

ursusminor

BearLover
RPI is another incredibly bad team that plays a cheap defensive system to try to steal low-scoring games from better teams. I don't blame Cornell for only scoring twice so much as I blame them for giving up three goals to a team incapable of creating offense. Just horrific turnovers in the defensive end and bad goaltending. The turnovers are nothing new, but the goaltending is a recent phenomenon. The Colgate game revisited.

Cornell is now an underdog to make the NCAAs, despite what the garbage "pairwise predictor" says/said.

RPI has not been incredibly bad since the 2nd semester, and that is without the top two offensive players. You must have been watching the women's game.

I watched Cornell's two games against them this season. Maybe they've looked better in their other games. Cornell has outshot them 78-31. Outplayed us in goal, that's for sure.

scoop85
That was Nuttle with the whiff. Oddly, Kaldis had a number of those tonight that he got away with. The guys just seem to be holding their sticks a bit tight right now. That being said, two weeks ago Barron would’ve buried that OT shot.

On defense, we don't clear the puck with authority and intention, whether as a considered first pass out of the zone or a desperation chop. It's why we seem to have no "shutdown" defense at the end of games. On offense, our forwards have stretches of purposeful motion through the neutral zone that leads to good cycling and then have stretches of utter carelessness with the puck, whacking the puck into the middle of the goalie's chest protector or an opposing player with no real thought, and overskating so there's no one left to pass it to in the slot.

When the forwards are careless with the puck, they are absolutely killing our D.

BearLover

ursusminor

BearLover
RPI is another incredibly bad team that plays a cheap defensive system to try to steal low-scoring games from better teams. I don't blame Cornell for only scoring twice so much as I blame them for giving up three goals to a team incapable of creating offense. Just horrific turnovers in the defensive end and bad goaltending. The turnovers are nothing new, but the goaltending is a recent phenomenon. The Colgate game revisited.

Cornell is now an underdog to make the NCAAs, despite what the garbage "pairwise predictor" says/said.

RPI has not been incredibly bad since the 2nd semester, and that is without the top two offensive players. You must have been watching the women's game.

I watched Cornell's two games against them this season. Maybe they've looked better in their other games. Cornell has outshot them 78-31. Outplayed us in goal, that's for sure.

They're 6-5-3 in 2019. We certainly controlled play tonight, but they did a good job minimizing our best chances.

Dafatone

BearLover
RPI is another incredibly bad team that plays a cheap defensive system to try to steal low-scoring games from better teams. I don't blame Cornell for only scoring twice so much as I blame them for giving up three goals to a team incapable of creating offense. Just horrific turnovers in the defensive end and bad goaltending. The turnovers are nothing new, but the goaltending is a recent phenomenon. The Colgate game revisited.

Cornell is now an underdog to make the NCAAs, despite what the garbage "pairwise predictor" says/said.

We're 13th in the pairwise (but have a bit of a leg up going forward at the moment because we're currently winning the pairwise against ASU). This means that if we pass one of the two teams ahead of us in RPI, we pass both of them in the pairwise rankings.

Mathematically speaking, we're probably more likely to make it than not. Plenty of hockey left and plenty of room for things to get worse or better.

The math doesn't change just because we're sad about a bad game.

I'm basing this in part on the fact that I believe Cornell to be trending in the wrong direction rather than strictly on the math. The defensemen are making horrible mistakes every game, probably because Schafer doesn't have enough faith in Leahy (and even less in Cairns) to alleviate the pressure on them. The late-season grind has laid bare this reality. Losing Haiskanen was brutal. Need Andreev back because Schafer has little faith in the fourth line too.

Dafatone

BearLover

ursusminor

BearLover
RPI is another incredibly bad team that plays a cheap defensive system to try to steal low-scoring games from better teams. I don't blame Cornell for only scoring twice so much as I blame them for giving up three goals to a team incapable of creating offense. Just horrific turnovers in the defensive end and bad goaltending. The turnovers are nothing new, but the goaltending is a recent phenomenon. The Colgate game revisited.

Cornell is now an underdog to make the NCAAs, despite what the garbage "pairwise predictor" says/said.

RPI has not been incredibly bad since the 2nd semester, and that is without the top two offensive players. You must have been watching the women's game.

I watched Cornell's two games against them this season. Maybe they've looked better in their other games. Cornell has outshot them 78-31. Outplayed us in goal, that's for sure.

They're 6-5-3 in 2019. We certainly controlled play tonight, but they did a good job minimizing our best chances.

I personally believe teams that can't generate offense and give up 40 shots are bad teams. The RPI goalie looked very good, but our goalie is supposed to be very good too. All I can say for sure is that Cornell has absolutely no business losing to (or tying) a team like that.

BearLover

Dafatone

BearLover
RPI is another incredibly bad team that plays a cheap defensive system to try to steal low-scoring games from better teams. I don't blame Cornell for only scoring twice so much as I blame them for giving up three goals to a team incapable of creating offense. Just horrific turnovers in the defensive end and bad goaltending. The turnovers are nothing new, but the goaltending is a recent phenomenon. The Colgate game revisited.

Cornell is now an underdog to make the NCAAs, despite what the garbage "pairwise predictor" says/said.

We're 13th in the pairwise (but have a bit of a leg up going forward at the moment because we're currently winning the pairwise against ASU). This means that if we pass one of the two teams ahead of us in RPI, we pass both of them in the pairwise rankings.

Mathematically speaking, we're probably more likely to make it than not. Plenty of hockey left and plenty of room for things to get worse or better.

The math doesn't change just because we're sad about a bad game.

I'm basing this in part on the fact that I believe Cornell to be trending in the wrong direction rather than strictly on the math. The defensemen are making horrible mistakes every game, probably because Schafer doesn't have enough faith in Leahy (and even less in Cairns) to alleviate the pressure on them. The late-season grind has laid bare this reality. Losing Haiskanen was brutal. Need Andreev back because Schafer has little faith in the fourth line too.

Hopefully we can continue to get healthier. Easy for me to say, but I think we need to risk playing Leahy/Cairns a little more and keep the rest of the defensemen fresher.

BearLover

Dafatone

BearLover
RPI is another incredibly bad team that plays a cheap defensive system to try to steal low-scoring games from better teams. I don't blame Cornell for only scoring twice so much as I blame them for giving up three goals to a team incapable of creating offense. Just horrific turnovers in the defensive end and bad goaltending. The turnovers are nothing new, but the goaltending is a recent phenomenon. The Colgate game revisited.

Cornell is now an underdog to make the NCAAs, despite what the garbage "pairwise predictor" says/said.

We're 13th in the pairwise (but have a bit of a leg up going forward at the moment because we're currently winning the pairwise against ASU). This means that if we pass one of the two teams ahead of us in RPI, we pass both of them in the pairwise rankings.

Mathematically speaking, we're probably more likely to make it than not. Plenty of hockey left and plenty of room for things to get worse or better.

The math doesn't change just because we're sad about a bad game.

I'm basing this in part on the fact that I believe Cornell to be trending in the wrong direction rather than strictly on the math. The defensemen are making horrible mistakes every game, probably because Schafer doesn't have enough faith in Leahy (and even less in Cairns) to alleviate the pressure on them. The late-season grind has laid bare this reality. Losing Haiskanen was brutal. Need Andreev back because Schafer has little faith in the fourth line too.

Agreed - one of the hidden killers is that he's wearing out our top lines. The best guys will still have great moments but the little mistakes pile up.

Thank you Scersk - I'm glad someone else has noticed that this team doesn't clear the puck with intention. I'm constantly frustrated by half-assed attempts to send it around the boards that go right to the guy at the point or gentle flips up the center of the ice that are easily picked off. It leaves the defense scrambling because nobody is in position for a D man to have clear control of the puck.

But seriously guys, pass to each other! I'm down on our NCAA chances too, because we can't bear more losses, and certainly not to teams outside of the top 20.

BearLover
All I can say for sure is that Cornell has absolutely no business losing to (or tying) a team like that.

We also have no business letting a team like that dominate possession for the first 10 minutes of the game, putting us in that 2-0 hole that we had to dig out of after we decided to wake up and play hockey.

ugarte

BearLover
The defensemen are making horrible mistakes every game, probably because Schafer doesn't have enough faith in Leahy (and even less in Cairns) to alleviate the pressure on them.

Agreed - one of the hidden killers is that he's wearing out our top lines.

I don't think Leahy's even half bad, either! We'll have a pretty crap D next year if he keeps having his playing time cut.

ugarte
But seriously guys, pass to each other! I'm down on our NCAA chances too, because we can't bear more losses, and certainly not to teams outside of the top 20.

At this point, I don't give a rat's ass about the NCAAs. I'll be happy if we somehow back our way into a bye, the way they've been playing.

Dafatone
RPI certainly played well tonight. We've been getting out-muscled down low throughout the season. We kept the puck on the doorstop all night but RPI pushed us out of scoring chances.

Topher opined that despite our control of territory all night we had very few quality scoring chances. The question is how much of that was RPI and how much of it was us?

Except for the one minute against Brown and the entire Yale game, I think we've been playing very well in these maddening games. I thought that Cam being back settled the lines and in particular the Starrett line was stellar (Malott had 2 or 3 chances for the hats). And I thought our D was great against RPI -- we held them to 5 total SOG in periods 2-3.

It's bad to drop so many points to bottom-third teams, absolutely. It's a bummer to blow first place. But I think this is a really good team.

Not passing (not looking) in the offensive or defensive end is symptomatic of unfamiliar offensive and defensive pairing or poor coaching, or both.

osorojo
Not passing (not looking) in the offensive or defensive end is symptomatic of unfamiliar offensive and defensive pairing or poor coaching, or both.

I didn't think we weren't passing. We just kept trying to pass to guys in front of the net and make cross-crease passes. RPI controlled the crease well.

Trotsky

Dafatone
RPI certainly played well tonight. We've been getting out-muscled down low throughout the season. We kept the puck on the doorstop all night but RPI pushed us out of scoring chances.

Topher opined that despite our control of territory all night we had very few quality scoring chances. The question is how much of that was RPI and how much of it was us?

Except for the one minute against Brown and the entire Yale game, I think we've been playing very well in these maddening games. I thought that Cam being back settled the lines and in particular the Starrett line was stellar (Malott had 2 or 3 chances for the hats). And I thought our D was great against RPI -- we held them to 5 total SOG in periods 2-3.

It's bad to drop so many points to bottom-third teams, absolutely. It's a bummer to blow first place. But I think this is a really good team.

Here's the reality: last year's team was overall very lucky, and this year's team is overall unlucky. That's normal in hockey--there's a lot of random variance. Just look at our shooting% and save% last year: 10.8% and .937, respectively. This year, those numbers are 9.4% and .911. Did Galajda regress in the offseason? Are we taking worse shots this year? I don't think either of those things are true. I actually think we've dominated at least as many games this season as we did the last. Last year, we were winning many of the one-goal games that we've been losing lately. Last season a ton of seeing-eye wristers from the point found the back of the net. Those haven't gone in this season. Given that we lost Angello, Yates, and Rauter, our top-three scorers last year, it's hard to really complain about the offense. If there's a visible difference versus last year, it's awful turnovers in the D-zone. Maybe due to injury, maybe due to losing some defensively sound forwards. But altogether I think more than anything we've just been unfortunate this year.

Dafatone

osorojo
Not passing (not looking) in the offensive or defensive end is symptomatic of unfamiliar offensive and defensive pairing or poor coaching, or both.

I didn't think we weren't passing. We just kept trying to pass to guys in front of the net and make cross-crease passes. RPI controlled the crease well.

What I saw was basically a team that offensively never even tried to get the puck back to the point, except occasionally on the power play and even then, not enough. That lets teams like RPI pack everyone around the goalie. It makes those centering passes from the circles impossible to connect on. They knew our offensive style and countered it.

I have no idea what happened in the first 10 minutes of the game. We've always been able to handle a single forechecker, but last night for some reason, we kept making bad passes. We also kept trying to clear the puck past the half-boards instead of trying to be patient and carry it out. RPI had a guy stationed there and that led to the first two goals.

Jeff Hopkins '82

What I saw was basically a team that offensively never even tried to get the puck back to the point, except occasionally on the power play and even then, not enough. That lets teams like RPI pack everyone around the goalie.

*ding*

ugarte

Jeff Hopkins '82

What I saw was basically a team that offensively never even tried to get the puck back to the point, except occasionally on the power play and even then, not enough. That lets teams like RPI pack everyone around the goalie.

*ding*

I don’t doubt what you saw (I didn’t see the game) but from looking at the stats it’s kind of hard to argue with the team’s offensive approach in this one.

When you have more shots on goal than the other team has shot attempts you’re in line for a win. That isn’t dominating shot counts by flinging random crap in the general direction of the end boards, that’s just dominating.

Cornell has lost *two* of those games in the new year - Colgate and RPI. Sure, there were terrible defensive breakdowns and maybe they can do something to mix up the offense but at the end of the day those are pretty unlucky results.

Tom Lento

ugarte

Jeff Hopkins '82

What I saw was basically a team that offensively never even tried to get the puck back to the point, except occasionally on the power play and even then, not enough. That lets teams like RPI pack everyone around the goalie.

*ding*

I don’t doubt what you saw (I didn’t see the game) but from looking at the stats it’s kind of hard to argue with the team’s offensive approach in this one.

When you have more shots on goal than the other team has shot attempts you’re in line for a win. That isn’t dominating shot counts by flinging random crap in the general direction of the end boards, that’s just dominating.

Cornell has lost *two* of those games in the new year - Colgate and RPI. Sure, there were terrible defensive breakdowns and maybe they can do something to mix up the offense but at the end of the day those are pretty unlucky results.

I was actually at the game.

FWIW, they did get the puck to the point more against Union. They had a lot fewer SOG in the Union game although they had plenty of possession. But Union is clearly a better team than RPI.

All year long Cornell has been told it is a good team. Good teams score pretty goals. Winning teams score goals.

Trotsky

Dafatone
RPI certainly played well tonight. We've been getting out-muscled down low throughout the season. We kept the puck on the doorstop all night but RPI pushed us out of scoring chances.

Topher opined that despite our control of territory all night we had very few quality scoring chances. The question is how much of that was RPI and how much of it was us?

Except for the one minute against Brown and the entire Yale game, I think we've been playing very well in these maddening games. I thought that Cam being back settled the lines and in particular the Starrett line was stellar (Malott had 2 or 3 chances for the hats). And I thought our D was great against RPI -- we held them to 5 total SOG in periods 2-3.

It's bad to drop so many points to bottom-third teams, absolutely. It's a bummer to blow first place. But I think this is a really good team.

I would be happy if it were RPI, but I suspect that it's Cornell. BTW, your "Kepler's 3 Laws" seem to be valid again this year.

Since before the season began Cornell hockey has has been told it is a good team. Good teams score pretty goals. Winning teams score goals.

ursusminor
I would be happy if it were RPI, but I suspect that it's Cornell. BTW, your "Kepler's 3 Laws" seem to be valid again this year.

I have no doubt that the 3 Laws will reassert themselves as a regression to the mean of the universe, but we haven't been living up to them lately.

4 first place finishes since 2002 and a shot at another this year.

1-4 in ECAC finals since 2005, and 1-3 in ECAC SF since 2012. Those numbers are Clarksonian.

F: 011.101.101.00110.100

SF: 1111.101100000.11010.00111.0111101.110010

osorojo
Since before the season began Cornell hockey has has been told it is a good team. Good teams score pretty goals. Winning teams score goals.

Was Regush's goal two weeks ago not pretty enough for you?

Trotsky
I have no doubt that the 3 Laws will reassert themselves as a regression to the mean of the universe, but we haven't been living up to them lately.

4 first place finishes since 2002 and a shot at another this year.

1-4 in ECAC finals since 2005, and 1-3 in ECAC SF since 2012. Those numbers are Clarksonian.

F: 011.101.101.00110.100

SF: 1111.101100000.11010.00111.0111101.110010

Not to increase the pressure or anything, but if Cornell doesn't pick up an ECAC championship this season, it will guarantee at least a ten-year stretch between tournament titles, matching the one from 1986-1996. During that other stretch, two head coaches got canned.

Mitigating circumstance would be that during the current drought, the Big Red will have gone to at least three NCAA tournaments, and during the other stretch they went to one.

Give My Regards

Trotsky
I have no doubt that the 3 Laws will reassert themselves as a regression to the mean of the universe, but we haven't been living up to them lately.

4 first place finishes since 2002 and a shot at another this year.

1-4 in ECAC finals since 2005, and 1-3 in ECAC SF since 2012. Those numbers are Clarksonian.

F: 011.101.101.00110.100

SF: 1111.101100000.11010.00111.0111101.110010

Not to increase the pressure or anything, but if Cornell doesn't pick up an ECAC championship this season, it will guarantee at least a ten-year stretch between tournament titles, matching the one from 1986-1996. During that other stretch, two head coaches got canned.

Mitigating circumstance would be that during the current drought, the Big Red will have gone to at least three NCAA tournaments, and during the other stretch they went to one.

Seems very unlikely. Our sophomore class is the best in recent memory. Next year's frosh class is deliberately large, so we can't be decimated by injuries as we have been this year. Pro defections at high-level scholly schools, have made teams like ours are extremely competitive. At least the next 2 years look very promising for the Red. This year too, if we get healthy and composed again.

Swampy

Give My Regards

Trotsky
I have no doubt that the 3 Laws will reassert themselves as a regression to the mean of the universe, but we haven't been living up to them lately.

4 first place finishes since 2002 and a shot at another this year.

1-4 in ECAC finals since 2005, and 1-3 in ECAC SF since 2012. Those numbers are Clarksonian.

F: 011.101.101.00110.100

SF: 1111.101100000.11010.00111.0111101.110010

Not to increase the pressure or anything, but if Cornell doesn't pick up an ECAC championship this season, it will guarantee at least a ten-year stretch between tournament titles, matching the one from 1986-1996. During that other stretch, two head coaches got canned.

Mitigating circumstance would be that during the current drought, the Big Red will have gone to at least three NCAA tournaments, and during the other stretch they went to one.

Seems very unlikely. Our sophomore class is the best in recent memory. Next year's frosh class is deliberately large, so we can't be decimated by injuries as we have been this year. Pro defections at high-level scholly schools, have made teams like ours are extremely competitive. At least the next 2 years look very promising for the Red. This year too, if we get healthy and composed again.

My thoughts too. If we get health enough (and Galajda can get close to where he was last year) we can make a deep run this year. The next couple of years, on paper at least, should keep us in the hunt. If you check out the Union thread on the USCHO forum, they're lamenting their program's decline and lack of impact recruits coming in.

Give My Regards

Trotsky
I have no doubt that the 3 Laws will reassert themselves as a regression to the mean of the universe, but we haven't been living up to them lately.

4 first place finishes since 2002 and a shot at another this year.

1-4 in ECAC finals since 2005, and 1-3 in ECAC SF since 2012. Those numbers are Clarksonian.

F: 011.101.101.00110.100

SF: 1111.101100000.11010.00111.0111101.110010

Not to increase the pressure or anything, but if Cornell doesn't pick up an ECAC championship this season, it will guarantee at least a ten-year stretch between tournament titles

Cornell has won 2 ECAC titles in every decade: 60s (3), 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s, and got off to a great start in 2010... and that's been it. They have only one more chance to nail down #2 for this decade, so they gotta make it count.

This team really needs Donaldson. He does things no one else who has played for Cornell in the past ten years is even capable of. Not even Riley was this fast and tenacious. If Donaldson is healthy enough for the playoffs and we get Andreev back, we can beat anybody. Though our sixth defenseman is a glaring weak link.

Swampy

Give My Regards

Trotsky
I have no doubt that the 3 Laws will reassert themselves as a regression to the mean of the universe, but we haven't been living up to them lately.

4 first place finishes since 2002 and a shot at another this year.

1-4 in ECAC finals since 2005, and 1-3 in ECAC SF since 2012. Those numbers are Clarksonian.

F: 011.101.101.00110.100

SF: 1111.101100000.11010.00111.0111101.110010

Not to increase the pressure or anything, but if Cornell doesn't pick up an ECAC championship this season, it will guarantee at least a ten-year stretch between tournament titles, matching the one from 1986-1996. During that other stretch, two head coaches got canned.

Mitigating circumstance would be that during the current drought, the Big Red will have gone to at least three NCAA tournaments, and during the other stretch they went to one.

Seems very unlikely. Our sophomore class is the best in recent memory. Next year's frosh class is deliberately large, so we can't be decimated by injuries as we have been this year. Pro defections at high-level scholly schools, have made teams like ours are extremely competitive. At least the next 2 years look very promising for the Red. This year too, if we get healthy and composed again.

I'm very excited for the future, but I do worry what our blue line will look like with Smith, Nuttle, and McCrea graduating.

Trotsky

ursusminor
I would be happy if it were RPI, but I suspect that it's Cornell. BTW, your "Kepler's 3 Laws" seem to be valid again this year.

I have no doubt that the 3 Laws will reassert themselves as a regression to the mean of the universe, but we haven't been living up to them lately.

4 first place finishes since 2002 and a shot at another this year.

1-4 in ECAC finals since 2005, and 1-3 in ECAC SF since 2012. Those numbers are Clarksonian.

F: 011.101.101.00110.100

SF: 1111.101100000.11010.00111.0111101.110010

I should have put "this year" in bold. Certainly the third law has not been valid in many years. Betting RPI to lose had been a good bet until this year.

BearLover
This team really needs Donaldson. He does things no one else who has played for Cornell in the past ten years is even capable of. Not even Riley was this fast and tenacious. If Donaldson is healthy enough for the playoffs and we get Andreev back, we can beat anybody. Though our sixth defenseman is a glaring weak link.

Donaldson All Cleared Despite Scare

[cornellsun.com]

Beeeej

BearLover
This team really needs Donaldson. He does things no one else who has played for Cornell in the past ten years is even capable of. Not even Riley was this fast and tenacious. If Donaldson is healthy enough for the playoffs and we get Andreev back, we can beat anybody. Though our sixth defenseman is a glaring weak link.

Donaldson All Cleared Despite Scare

[cornellsun.com]

Very glad I was wrong.

There are 4-5 key players who really need those days off from a bye.

upprdeck
There are 4-5 key players who really need those days off from a bye.

Which means pretty much everyone does, since those things ripple.