Union & RPI Weekend News

CBR: Stretch Drive Continues For #2 Cornell With Union, RPI Visiting

And CBR: Off The Crossbar: Learning How To 'Finish It'

Sun: With Race Heating Up, No. 2 Men's Hockey Preps for Tilts Against Union and RPI.

Union: Cornell and Colgate up next for Dutchmen

Daily Gazette: Union hits the road for pivotal final stretch

Times-Union on Union:Union Hockey not focused on standings

RPI: Men's Hockey Travels to Colgate and Cornell

The Polytechnic: Behind the mask of Owen Savory

Troy Record: RPI hockey back to ECAC play after last week's Michigan trip

Times Union on RPI: RPI hockey team sets sights on home ice for first round of playoffs

CBR: Barron, Kaldis Each Score Twice As #2 Men's Hockey Fends Off Union, 5-2

Sun:Barron and Kaldis Each Score Twice As No. 2 Men’s Hockey Edges Out Union

Union: Cornell skates away with win over Union

Times Union: Union wastes opportunities in 5-2 men's hockey defeat at Cornell

CBR: Locke's Three-Point Effort Helps #2 Men's Hockey To 4-2 Win Over RPI

RPI: No. 2 Cornell Holds Off Men's Hockey, 4-2

Sun: No. 2 Men’s Hockey Survives Late Push by RPI, Earns 5th Straight Win

TU: Engineers can't pull off rally

I sure wish we had some tougher teams to play.

And I hope we can win in LP, as I'm losing enthusiasm about our chances in the NCAAs.

Yes, we could win it all, if we were to put together multipe games where we played for a full 60 min.

But they just don't give me confidence. Shouldn't have to have nail biters against teams down in the rankings.

It's not likely that we're going to be able to come out strong against the top teams and then fade and just hold on for a win.

I'm glad that Schafer thought Saturday was better,

Sun
“We obviously got off to a quick start, but I really didn’t think we let up that much tonight,” Schafer said. “We didn’t give up that many scoring chances throughout the course of the game — I thought our energy was good.

“They came back and made it a game,” Schafer continued, “but it was much different from last night’s game where I didn’t think we were alert on the bench.”

But we were still too close to a loss.

3 more weeks to further right the ship.

Which brings up, isn't it time for John to chime in and give his annual playoff calculator? Here's hoping he gets the message.

Jim Hyla

And I hope we can win in LP, as I'm losing enthusiasm about our chances in the NCAAs.

Yes, we could win it all, if we were to put together multipe games where we played for a full 60 min.

But they just don't give me confidence. Shouldn't have to have nail biters against teams down in the rankings.

On the drive home Saturday evening, it was the first time all season, I said to my wife: "We're not going to win the Nat'l Championship this year. Because we can't put away these lousy teams. What are we going to do with the North Dakota's, Minnesota State's of the world, when we get to the NCAA's?" Until that moment in time, I've been predicting a NC, ALL YEAR for us!!! I've been that confident, until now.

redice

Jim Hyla

And I hope we can win in LP, as I'm losing enthusiasm about our chances in the NCAAs.

Yes, we could win it all, if we were to put together multipe games where we played for a full 60 min.

But they just don't give me confidence. Shouldn't have to have nail biters against teams down in the rankings.

On the drive home Saturday evening, it was the first time all season, I said to my wife: "We're not going to win the Nat'l Championship this year. Because we can't put away these lousy teams. What are we going to do with the North Dakota's, Minnesota State's of the world, when we get to the NCAA's?" Until that moment in time, I've been predicting a NC, ALL YEAR for us!!! I've been that confident, until now.

I wonder If we're just one of those teams that tends to play up or down to the level of it's competition. If so, I don't feel as bad about the NCAA at this point as some here. Will be interesting in a small sample to see how we play. Against Clarkson.

That will be a real benchmark. abmarks.

I couldn’t agree more with the above statements. What’s even more concerning is our recent game with Quinnipiac, which is a bubble team at best.

I see two problems.
1) Galajda is off. We are giving up so few shots that if we score 3, we should not be sweating.
2) We are getting surprisingly unlucky on our own shots. Maybe the team is collectively not good at shooting but tbh I feel like we've been clanging them off the post a lot. Early in the season we were getting VERY lucky and I think it spoiled us. We came back down to Earth but aren't doing anything all that different.

1 worries me more than 2 because 2 should work itself out when we regress back to a normal amount of "luck" that won't look like the early season sniping.

ugarte
Galajda is off. We are giving up so few shots

These may be related.

Its one of the hard things to quantify in hockey though. You could give up 5 shots a game and they could all be breakaway attempts.

All the team can do is try to maximize the amount of quality chances and limit the amount it gives up. Friday nights game we led 3-0 but probably had 5 other moments the puck was poised to go in but didnt in the first period alone.

The games at the start of the yr we out shot/chanced teams and struggled to win a few times . Now the last few weeks we have gotten off to good starts and then hung on. The one thing is that we really have only played one kind bad period in all of these, and its just that playing even periods we have been outscored. If we are dominant and score its a much better situation to be in.

Only Cornell fans can go 19-2-4 (and be a puck width from 24-1) in February, mostly healthy and feel the doom and gloom set in. Y'all need some sunshine and vitamin D! (says guy who escaped Ithaca to Florida/California) Sorry to tempt the Hockey Gods!!

we do act like every other good team has not had any stinkers too.

I'm enjoying every minute (well not really every minute) of the season, but I stick by my concern.

We've been fortunate to not have a number of other losses.

Not having an ECAC title for so long makes one more anxious with every little failure.

Some interesting news.

Beyond The Box Scores: The Union/Rensselaer Games

• With Saturday's win, the Big Red's seniors have now swept the regular-season series against nine of ECAC Hockey's 11 teams at least once over their collegiate careers. There's still a chance to check off the other two if Cornell can win Friday at Yale and Feb. 29 vs. visiting Clarkson.

• The Big Red leads the nation with nine power-play goals and 23 total goals so far in February.

• For the first time in Schafer's coaching era, the Big Red has scored four or more goals in five consecutive games twice in the same season (discontinuously). The last time Cornell has accomplished the feat was during the 1983-84 season, when Schafer was a sophomore defenseman.

My impression (and concern) is that we are letting teams back in the game because we start losing the one-on-one battles and end up with odd man rushes and general majority of play in our defensive zone. That sounds to me like hallmarks of losing focus, fatigue/lack of conditioning, or some related issue.

Please correct me if I am wrong.

redice

Jim Hyla

And I hope we can win in LP, as I'm losing enthusiasm about our chances in the NCAAs.

Yes, we could win it all, if we were to put together multipe games where we played for a full 60 min.

But they just don't give me confidence. Shouldn't have to have nail biters against teams down in the rankings.

On the drive home Saturday evening, it was the first time all season, I said to my wife: "We're not going to win the Nat'l Championship this year. Because we can't put away these lousy teams. What are we going to do with the North Dakota's, Minnesota State's of the world, when we get to the NCAA's?" Until that moment in time, I've been predicting a NC, ALL YEAR for us!!! I've been that confident, until now.

The state of my confidence as a fan about this men's team always relates back to the feeling I had about the 2003 team. As soon as they hit the ice after warmups every game, I felt like saying "they're going to absolutely murder the other team." I don't have that feeling this year. This is the deepest Cornell team I've ever watched, and there are times where they can overwhelm opponents with strong possessions lasting the better part of some periods. But then they allow a goal on the opponent's 5th shot in the 2nd period, and my knuckles whiten and my jaw tightens. They can't seem to put home that demoralizing extra goal to put it away early.

I actually feel that "they're going to murder them" way at this point about the women's team.

The good news is that the bad play , really is just even play, after we have taken the lead.. The issue is that the shots/chances being even we are under performing to goals scored. Maybe this team just needs the high volume chances to score which will be tough against the better teams.

the flip side is very few here have seen much of any of the other top teams play. we are 7th in GPG and 3rd in GAPG that should mean something. Minn St/ N. Dak are right there too.

What its mean that a team like Minn Duluth is p 4 PWR but is less than a goal difference. are they over playing the stats with results? the other top 3 are almost sitting on 2+ goal differential.

RichH

redice

Jim Hyla

And I hope we can win in LP, as I'm losing enthusiasm about our chances in the NCAAs.

Yes, we could win it all, if we were to put together multipe games where we played for a full 60 min.

But they just don't give me confidence. Shouldn't have to have nail biters against teams down in the rankings.

On the drive home Saturday evening, it was the first time all season, I said to my wife: "We're not going to win the Nat'l Championship this year. Because we can't put away these lousy teams. What are we going to do with the North Dakota's, Minnesota State's of the world, when we get to the NCAA's?" Until that moment in time, I've been predicting a NC, ALL YEAR for us!!! I've been that confident, until now.

The state of my confidence as a fan about this men's team always relates back to the feeling I had about the 2003 team. As soon as they hit the ice after warmups every game, I felt like saying "they're going to absolutely murder the other team." I don't have that feeling this year. This is the deepest Cornell team I've ever watched, and there are times where they can overwhelm opponents with strong possessions lasting the better part of some periods. But then they allow a goal on the opponent's 5th shot in the 2nd period, and my knuckles whiten and my jaw tightens. They can't seem to put home that demoralizing extra goal to put it away early.

I actually feel that "they're going to murder them" way at this point about the women's team.

Very much my feeling too. In 2003 if we had a 3-0 lead, the opponent wouldn’t have a sniff of a comeback, as we would grind them to a pulp. This team, as good as it is, seems to stray a bit from its structure when getting a lead, and Galajda has been giving up a few softies of late. The good news is that we have enough skill and depth to beat the teams we should beat. The bad news is when we see Clarkson and then move into the playoffs, a continuation of what we’ve seen lately will bite us in the rear end.

i think the fact we are so young catches up with us in some of these games.. great when we are on the attack, a bit flawed when on the defense.

scoop85
In 2003 if we had a 1-0 lead, the opponent wouldn’t have a sniff of a comeback, as we would grind them to a pulp.

Fixed your post.

upprdeck
The good news is that the bad play , really is just even play, after we have taken the lead.. The issue is that the shots/chances being even we are under performing to goals scored. Maybe this team just needs the high volume chances to score which will be tough against the better teams.

the flip side is very few here have seen much of any of the other top teams play. we are 7th in GPG and 3rd in GAPG that should mean something. Minn St/ N. Dak are right there too.

What its mean that a team like Minn Duluth is p 4 PWR but is less than a goal difference. are they over playing the stats with results? the other top 3 are almost sitting on 2+ goal differential.

I'm not trying to be overly critical and I think I understand what you mean, but I think if you proofread your posts, you could make it a lot easier on the rest of us. There seem to be many typos, etc. and I end up partially guessing on what you mean.

upprdeck
What its mean that a team like Minn Duluth is p 4 PWR but is less than a goal difference. are they over playing the stats with results? the other top 3 are almost sitting on 2+ goal differential.

Duluth has been that way its entire run. Always winning close games. They had a streak at one point where they won 11 straight postseason games by 1 goal - or something.

There's no doubt the 2003 team was a machine in terms of shutting down the opposition. The third periods were usually their most dominant defensively - often barely allowing a shot. Whereas right now, things are great in the first period, but the third periods are scary. Some of that may have to do with there being more parity these days - both in the league, and nationally.

adamw

upprdeck
What its mean that a team like Minn Duluth is p 4 PWR but is less than a goal difference. are they over playing the stats with results? the other top 3 are almost sitting on 2+ goal differential.

Duluth has been that way its entire run. Always winning close games. They had a streak at one point where they won 11 straight postseason games by 1 goal - or something.

There's no doubt the 2003 team was a machine in terms of shutting down the opposition. The third periods were usually their most dominant defensively - often barely allowing a shot. Whereas right now, things are great in the first period, but the third periods are scary. Some of that may have to do with there being more parity these days - both in the league, and nationally.

I do think the gap in 2003 between Cormell and the avg to below avg ECAC teams was a little bigger than today.

scoop85

adamw

upprdeck
What its mean that a team like Minn Duluth is p 4 PWR but is less than a goal difference. are they over playing the stats with results? the other top 3 are almost sitting on 2+ goal differential.

Duluth has been that way its entire run. Always winning close games. They had a streak at one point where they won 11 straight postseason games by 1 goal - or something.

There's no doubt the 2003 team was a machine in terms of shutting down the opposition. The third periods were usually their most dominant defensively - often barely allowing a shot. Whereas right now, things are great in the first period, but the third periods are scary. Some of that may have to do with there being more parity these days - both in the league, and nationally.

I do think the gap in 2003 between Cormell and the avg to below avg ECAC teams was a little bigger than today.

Sure feels like it, although SLU has so far been a historically terrible team.

Trotsky

scoop85
In 2003 if we had a 1-0 lead, the opponent wouldn’t have a sniff of a comeback, as we would grind them to a pulp.

Fixed your post.

The way the game is refereed today vs 2003 I think makes it much harder to do this. And the team is (wisely) no longer built for that.

JasonN95

Trotsky

scoop85
In 2003 if we had a 1-0 lead, the opponent wouldn’t have a sniff of a comeback, as we would grind them to a pulp.

Fixed your post.

The way the game is refereed today vs 2003 I think makes it much harder to do this. And the team is (wisely) no longer built for that.

Agreed completely. As with the NFL now, you can't sit on a lead.

It could also be argued that if the PK was working as we hoped it would most of the late game issues would be gone as the games would never get closer than 2-3. Young team taking late game offensive zone penalties is something to be expected.

RichH

redice

Jim Hyla

And I hope we can win in LP, as I'm losing enthusiasm about our chances in the NCAAs.

Yes, we could win it all, if we were to put together multipe games where we played for a full 60 min.

But they just don't give me confidence. Shouldn't have to have nail biters against teams down in the rankings.

On the drive home Saturday evening, it was the first time all season, I said to my wife: "We're not going to win the Nat'l Championship this year. Because we can't put away these lousy teams. What are we going to do with the North Dakota's, Minnesota State's of the world, when we get to the NCAA's?" Until that moment in time, I've been predicting a NC, ALL YEAR for us!!! I've been that confident, until now.

The state of my confidence as a fan about this men's team always relates back to the feeling I had about the 2003 team. As soon as they hit the ice after warmups every game, I felt like saying "they're going to absolutely murder the other team." I don't have that feeling this year. This is the deepest Cornell team I've ever watched, and there are times where they can overwhelm opponents with strong possessions lasting the better part of some periods. But then they allow a goal on the opponent's 5th shot in the 2nd period, and my knuckles whiten and my jaw tightens. They can't seem to put home that demoralizing extra goal to put it away early.

I actually feel that "they're going to murder them" way at this point about the women's team.

I agree on all points. While I'd rather have the confidence and fan-joy Knowing we were going to crush the opposition every night, we added uncertainty this team gives us will make each big win in a way, that much more exciting.

That said, given the demographics of this forum, we might want a cardiologist on retainer!

Jim Hyla

upprdeck
The good news is that the bad play , really is just even play, after we have taken the lead.. The issue is that the shots/chances being even we are under performing to goals scored. Maybe this team just needs the high volume chances to score which will be tough against the better teams.

the flip side is very few here have seen much of any of the other top teams play. we are 7th in GPG and 3rd in GAPG that should mean something. Minn St/ N. Dak are right there too.

What its mean that a team like Minn Duluth is p 4 PWR but is less than a goal difference. are they over playing the stats with results? the other top 3 are almost sitting on 2+ goal differential.

I'm not trying to be overly critical and I think I understand what you mean, but I think if you proofread your posts, you could make it a lot easier on the rest of us. There seem to be many typos, etc. and I end up partially guessing on what you mean.

As always, Jim is eloquent and to the point. This is what I was trying to relate in the past, albeit snarkily.