Cornell @ Princeton 11/18/23

A day before the game, Princeton declared a sellout at the Hobey. That means there'll only be ~300-400 empty seats of 2,000. They leave beaucoup space for student - faculty walk-ins with ID cards and they overestimate.

Seated tickets have been gone for some time. I know my local alumni association bought a block early on and that sold out quickly. I'll be at the game and I fully expect there to be a ton of Cornell people. Great to have it be the last game before MSG, too

Seats for the visiting team are typically in the Princeton balcony. In the past 3 decades, I've gotten tickets blocks with the Cornell club a couple times, always balcony, and once as visitor tickets, also balcony, we've gotten standing room tickets night-of-game until 5 years ago, now bought standing room a week in advance, and always found empty seats behind the Cornell bench and certainly between the blue lines.

billhoward
Seats for the visiting team are typically in the Princeton balcony. In the past 3 decades, I've gotten tickets blocks with the Cornell club a couple times, always balcony, and once as visitor tickets, also balcony, we've gotten standing room tickets night-of-game until 5 years ago, now bought standing room a week in advance, and always found empty seats behind the Cornell bench and certainly between the blue lines.

My tickets are not in the balcony this year, so they definitely have been offering visitor groups tickets in other areas of the rink. The Cornell band is also at Q tonight so I'd expect them to be at the balcony at Princeton tomorrow. Heck, there may even be two bands tomorrow. Princeton football is at Penn but I don't know how much Princeton's band travels and that game will be over well before the start of the hockey game so it's not like they couldn't do both.

Per WHCU pre-game: Schafer ill, Syer coaching; Bancroft out ("banged up", Catalano in; Mosko out, Mack in ("we wanted to get an extra forward in the lineup" per Syer), Keopple in goal.

I can imagine 8 goals against making Mike sick.

ACM
Bancroft out "banged up"

was curious about the smiley here because i didn't see the game yesterday. if the smiley disappears with the deleted punctuation, that would make sense. if not, what do you mean?

ugarte

ACM
Bancroft out "banged up"

was curious about the smiley here because i didn't see the game yesterday. if the smiley disappears with the deleted punctuation, that would make sense. if not, what do you mean?

I typed a right parenthesis.

Quote paren " is a really dumb smiley code. I hit it all the time.

ACM
Per WHCU pre-game: Schafer ill, Syer coaching; Bancroft out ("banged up", Catalano in; Mosko out, Mack in ("we wanted to get an extra forward in the lineup" per Syer), Keopple in goal.

Iceberg
I think regardless of this game's result we see Koepple tomorrow

11-17-33

The "sell out" looks about 70% full.

Trotsky
The "sell out" looks about 70% full.

It's definitely full. Many folks are standing against the walls. Where I'm sitting feels a bit like Lynah South minus the few Princeton folks who seem to personally know the PU goaltender

Trotsky
The "sell out" looks about 70% full.

Maybe it has to do with Princeton's legacy in quantum mechanics or applied math

1-1 after 2 with a minute left of power play for the good guys to start the third. This team does not seem much like the one that started the season in red.

This is probably the smallest CU contingent I've seen at Baker Arena in a very long time. At least several years, if not a decade or more.

HeafDog
This is probably the smallest CU contingent I've seen at Baker Arena in a very long time. At least several years, if not a decade or more.

They sold a lot of seats to local youth players seemingly. They're all on the balcony.


Meanwhile, major penalty on Princeton

26 takes a big hit to the head, which draws blood... and a 5 minute major. Seems like a weird call tbh. The contact was awkward but didn't seem remotely intentional or even particularly the fault of the Princeton player. Big deal in a tie game with 11 minutes left.

Agreed Cornell hockey is dead in the water

ugarte
26 takes a big hit to the head, which draws blood... and a 5 minute major. Seems like a weird call tbh. The contact was awkward but didn't seem remotely intentional or even particularly the fault of the Princeton player. Big deal in a tie game with 11 minutes left.

Big deal until we decided to basically just pass it around up by the blue line for 5 straight minutes.

CU2007

ugarte
26 takes a big hit to the head, which draws blood... and a 5 minute major. Seems like a weird call tbh. The contact was awkward but didn't seem remotely intentional or even particularly the fault of the Princeton player. Big deal in a tie game with 11 minutes left.

Big deal until we decided to basically just pass it around up by the blue line for 5 straight minutes.

4 terrible minutes, one good one but no goals.

I am so fucking mad right now.

I lauded the offense yesterday but this game. Lol

Just brutal

Suboptimal.

CU2007

Big deal until we decided to basically just pass it around up by the blue line for 5 straight minutes.

I wonder how many times this phrase is uttered every single season.

Both the men and the women are top 10, and both are swept this weekend.

I need turkey.

DL

CU2007

Big deal until we decided to basically just pass it around up by the blue line for 5 straight minutes.

I wonder how many times this phrase is uttered every single season.

the relentless passing without any creative skating to shake up the umbrella is one big issue i swear i would donate to the program if they would promise me that they'd skate the puck out from behind the net instead of acting like the slightest forecheck needs to be treated with absolute reverence.

Four horrible results in a row. One was against a far better team than ours which gets to take advantage of graduate transfers. This team is beating Quinnipiac maybe two times out of ten. In the other three, we dominated possession in each and the PP cost us the game. 5x3 against both Dartmouth and Harvard, 5-minute major against Princeton, zero goals. You’d think that when no passing seams have opened up after over a minute of passing it around on the perimeter, somebody would attempt to shoot the puck instead. Unlike last year, this team likely does not have the firepower to dig out of this hole.

I mean we were in a worse spot around now last year but Jesus that was frustrating. We have a lot of high caliber non conference games coming up but if we keep playing like we are against the bottom of the ECAC wins out of conference won’t even matter.

My hot take is if Bancroft was available tonight we would have won. He's our one true "natural goal scorer." Boy did we need one. We had so many phenomenal chances but simply did not have the right man on the puck.

chimpfood
I mean we were in a worse spot around now last year but Jesus that was frustrating. We have a lot of high caliber non conference games coming up but if we keep playing like we are against the bottom of the ECAC wins out of conference won’t even matter.

We had a much better team last year. There were eight freshmen and one senior in the lineup tonight.

Trotsky
My hot take is if Bancroft was available tonight we would have won. He's our one true "natural goal scorer." Boy did we need one. We had so many phenomenal chances but simply did not have the right man on the puck.

But it doesn't bode well if we have to have that one guy to beat a team like Princeton, especially after we were given the gift of a 5 minute major.

BearLover
You’d think that when no passing seams have opened up after over a minute of passing it around on the perimeter, somebody would attempt to shoot the puck instead.

Forget shooting - change the skating pattern! Step forward, make them move differently, have someone skate through the umbrella so they have to react to him. ANYTHING but Sweet Georgia Brown for four minutes. Dean Smith is the only person who'd appreciate our power play.

ugarte

BearLover
You’d think that when no passing seams have opened up after over a minute of passing it around on the perimeter, somebody would attempt to shoot the puck instead.

Forget shooting - change the skating pattern! Step forward, make them move differently, have someone skate through the umbrella so they have to react to him. ANYTHING but Sweet Georgia Brown for four minutes. Dean Smith is the only person who'd appreciate our power play.

Moving the puck low would be a good change. We really miss Malinski’s skills.
Was the pp designed by Archer?

As some of you reference, this game was a disaster. To dominate possession like that and not be able to score is astonishing but similar to what we saw for long stretches the last two seasons. Only worse now because we lack any serious snipers other than maybe Bancroft. The last few years we had Berard, Steinberg, Malone who could occasionally get us an easy one. No easy goals for this team.

Lastly , let’s not forget that we now have a problem in goal.

arugula

ugarte

BearLover
You’d think that when no passing seams have opened up after over a minute of passing it around on the perimeter, somebody would attempt to shoot the puck instead.

Forget shooting - change the skating pattern! Step forward, make them move differently, have someone skate through the umbrella so they have to react to him. ANYTHING but Sweet Georgia Brown for four minutes. Dean Smith is the only person who'd appreciate our power play.

Moving the puck low would be a good change. We really miss Malinski’s skills.
Was the pp designed by Archer?

As some of you reference, this game was a disaster. To dominate possession like that and not be able to score is astonishing but similar to what we saw for long stretches the last two seasons. Only worse now because we lack any serious snipers other than maybe Bancroft. The last few years we had Berard, Steinberg, Malone who could occasionally get us an easy one. No easy goals for this team.

Lastly , let’s not forget that we now have a problem in goal.

We have to pray we have snipers in training. Needing to improve offense, defense and special teams has to be a coaching nightmare - there are only a finite number of hours to practice in a week.

ugarte

BearLover
You’d think that when no passing seams have opened up after over a minute of passing it around on the perimeter, somebody would attempt to shoot the puck instead.

Forget shooting - change the skating pattern! Step forward, make them move differently, have someone skate through the umbrella so they have to react to him. ANYTHING but Sweet Georgia Brown for four minutes. Dean Smith is the only person who'd appreciate our power play.

it seems like this crew is scared to get down and dirty in front of the net and get greasy goals that we have seen past Cornell teams live off of. I have no doubt that Schafer can coach these kids up in the long term but I really want to see some success this year and not just promise for the future.

chimpfood

ugarte

BearLover
You’d think that when no passing seams have opened up after over a minute of passing it around on the perimeter, somebody would attempt to shoot the puck instead.

Forget shooting - change the skating pattern! Step forward, make them move differently, have someone skate through the umbrella so they have to react to him. ANYTHING but Sweet Georgia Brown for four minutes. Dean Smith is the only person who'd appreciate our power play.

it seems like this crew is scared to get down and dirty in front of the net and get greasy goals that we have seen past Cornell teams live off of. I have no doubt that Schafer can coach these kids up in the long term but I really want to see some success this year and not just promise for the future.

I don't think it's a lack of willingness so much as a lack of knowledge. As we recruit more skilled players, we are getting players who didn't have to grind out battles down low or in the corners to be successful. So, they need to learn to play that way.

It'll come. We had a lot of chances tonight and came close repeatedly. We're not lacking in firepower.

Psenicka and DeSantis are poster boys for the struggles we’re going through as a team. Both guys have been solid contributors in the past, but neither guy can sniff a goal right now. Tonight Psenicka had several golden opportunities that he just couldn’t bury. Mind boggling.

I didn't think the team created a lot of good opportunities in the game. Smith faced a lot of shots but most weren't anything particularly threatening. He had a few very good saves (e.g. near the end of the major) but the biggest failure of the game was the inability to do anything on the multiple extra-man opportunities. Princeton was content to trap the whole game and while they did actually play some good defense and block shots, this was Cornell's game to lose

scoop85
Tonight Psenicka had several golden opportunities that he just couldn’t bury. Mind boggling.

I feel like the majority of Psenicka's goals in previous seasons were tips and deflections from the slot or right in front of the net, and yet he never seems to be positioned in those spots on the PP this year.

I'm also not sold on Rego getting as much PP time as he does, let alone quarterbacking it. Robertson and Fegaras seem like the only D-men posing any sort of offensive "threat" at the moment, but Fegaras seems a bit more "raw" and prone to turnovers, whereas Robertson is more of a playmaker in the mold of Yanni Kaldis or Joakim Ryan. Without any talented goal scorers besides Bancroft, his efforts are going to waste.

sah67

scoop85
Tonight Psenicka had several golden opportunities that he just couldn’t bury. Mind boggling.

I feel like the majority of Psenicka's goals in previous seasons were tips and deflections from the slot or right in front of the net, and yet he never seems to be positioned in those spots on the PP this year.

I'm also not sold on Rego getting as much PP time as he does, let alone quarterbacking it. Robertson and Fegaras seem like the only D-men posing any sort of offensive "threat" at the moment, but Fegaras seems a bit more "raw" and prone to turnovers, whereas Robertson is more of a playmaker in the mold of Yanni Kaldis or Joakim Ryan. Without any talented goal scorers besides Bancroft, his efforts are going to waste.

Yes. I am not seeing consistent playmaking from any D besides Robertson. I think that’s why the offense is stalling. Bancroft/Castagna are offensively talented but many of their chances come from hero ball solo-efforts rather than cohesive passing plays. The lineup is 40% freshmen. Several of them would have spent another year in junior hockey or would not be in the lineup, if Cornell were allowed to retain/bring in grad transfers. Castagna is straight out of high school. The team is just too young and raw. This isn’t really a knock on anybody, the freshmen could turn out to be great. That’s not going to happen overnight, though.

sah67

scoop85
Tonight Psenicka had several golden opportunities that he just couldn’t bury. Mind boggling.

I feel like the majority of Psenicka's goals in previous seasons were tips and deflections from the slot or right in front of the net, and yet he never seems to be positioned in those spots on the PP this year.

I'm also not sold on Rego getting as much PP time as he does, let alone quarterbacking it. Robertson and Fegaras seem like the only D-men posing any sort of offensive "threat" at the moment, but Fegaras seems a bit more "raw" and prone to turnovers, whereas Robertson is more of a playmaker in the mold of Yanni Kaldis or Joakim Ryan. Without any talented goal scorers besides Bancroft, his efforts are going to waste.

I agree. Rego’s miscast. Suda also trying to do too much.

arugula

sah67

scoop85
Tonight Psenicka had several golden opportunities that he just couldn’t bury. Mind boggling.

I feel like the majority of Psenicka's goals in previous seasons were tips and deflections from the slot or right in front of the net, and yet he never seems to be positioned in those spots on the PP this year.

I'm also not sold on Rego getting as much PP time as he does, let alone quarterbacking it. Robertson and Fegaras seem like the only D-men posing any sort of offensive "threat" at the moment, but Fegaras seems a bit more "raw" and prone to turnovers, whereas Robertson is more of a playmaker in the mold of Yanni Kaldis or Joakim Ryan. Without any talented goal scorers besides Bancroft, his efforts are going to waste.

I agree. Rego’s miscast. Suda also trying to do too much.

The only options besides Rego and Suda are Robertson (who already quarterbacks the top PP unit), Hank Kempf (12 career points in 70 games). Jack O’Brien (2 career games), and a bunch of freshmen.

Schaf may not be comfortable with it, but maybe a forward at the pp point. Castagna seems like could do it.

The lack of PP/PK output has cost them really from going 3 pts and a decent chance of 6-7 pts the last 2 weekends.

The first step on the PP is control the puck and thats been decent enough.

scoop85
Psenicka and DeSantis are poster boys for the struggles we’re going through as a team. Both guys have been solid contributors in the past, but neither guy can sniff a goal right now. Tonight Psenicka had several golden opportunities that he just couldn’t bury. Mind boggling.

But it's also fair to say that Psenicka created those opportunities. I think this was his best game since the first half of his Freshman season -- certainly the one in which he was the most significant presence.

Penney played well too. Our faster skill guys made some plays where they circled the net Youngblood style ("you can't hit what you can't catch" ) but nothing came of those -- they had no way to face the net and move the puck to somebody with an angle. The one time we had a beautiful high-low-high tic tac toe play we executed perfectly but Smith stopped it with a great save.

BearLover

sah67

scoop85
Tonight Psenicka had several golden opportunities that he just couldn’t bury. Mind boggling.

I feel like the majority of Psenicka's goals in previous seasons were tips and deflections from the slot or right in front of the net, and yet he never seems to be positioned in those spots on the PP this year.

I'm also not sold on Rego getting as much PP time as he does, let alone quarterbacking it. Robertson and Fegaras seem like the only D-men posing any sort of offensive "threat" at the moment, but Fegaras seems a bit more "raw" and prone to turnovers, whereas Robertson is more of a playmaker in the mold of Yanni Kaldis or Joakim Ryan. Without any talented goal scorers besides Bancroft, his efforts are going to waste.

Yes. I am not seeing consistent playmaking from any D besides Robertson. I think that’s why the offense is stalling. Bancroft/Castagna are offensively talented but many of their chances come from hero ball solo-efforts rather than cohesive passing plays. The lineup is 40% freshmen. Several of them would have spent another year in junior hockey or would not be in the lineup, if Cornell were allowed to retain/bring in grad transfers. Castagna is straight out of high school. The team is just too young and raw. This isn’t really a knock on anybody, the freshmen could turn out to be great. That’s not going to happen overnight, though.

This is 100% accurate.

arugula
Schaf may not be comfortable with it, but maybe a forward at the pp point. Castagna seems like could do it.

That would completely be selling out defense, though. And fans of a certain age remember Ryan Hughes and then sneak away whimpering. Fegaras also terrifies me on pp -- I love him but he is a shorty counter rush-generating error vending machine.

Robertson towers above the other D as point. Assuming the two units' anchors are Kempf and Suda, there just isn't another good option except Rego. And Earlier Rego would be fine. He's just having a bad year so far for whatever reason. He has faded, like DeSantis.

LOL. Let's put O'Leary on point and give everybody a heart attack.

arugula
Schaf may not be comfortable with it, but maybe a forward at the pp point. Castagna seems like could do it.

It seems like Schafer has always been hesitant to run a power-play with four forwards, although I recall them trying it occasionally in recent seasons (maybe with Barron, but I could be wrong?)

I also noticed that in 3-on3 overtime Schafer is consistently putting out 1 forward and 2 D whereas most other teams are going with 2 F and 1 D.

Trotsky

BearLover

sah67

scoop85
Tonight Psenicka had several golden opportunities that he just couldn’t bury. Mind boggling.

I feel like the majority of Psenicka's goals in previous seasons were tips and deflections from the slot or right in front of the net, and yet he never seems to be positioned in those spots on the PP this year.

I'm also not sold on Rego getting as much PP time as he does, let alone quarterbacking it. Robertson and Fegaras seem like the only D-men posing any sort of offensive "threat" at the moment, but Fegaras seems a bit more "raw" and prone to turnovers, whereas Robertson is more of a playmaker in the mold of Yanni Kaldis or Joakim Ryan. Without any talented goal scorers besides Bancroft, his efforts are going to waste.

Yes. I am not seeing consistent playmaking from any D besides Robertson. I think that’s why the offense is stalling. Bancroft/Castagna are offensively talented but many of their chances come from hero ball solo-efforts rather than cohesive passing plays. The lineup is 40% freshmen. Several of them would have spent another year in junior hockey or would not be in the lineup, if Cornell were allowed to retain/bring in grad transfers. Castagna is straight out of high school. The team is just too young and raw. This isn’t really a knock on anybody, the freshmen could turn out to be great. That’s not going to happen overnight, though.

This is 100% accurate.

Just to pile on, all you have to do is look at the stats on CHN. The top of our scoring is Seger, Bancroft, Penney, and freshmen. Psenicka needs to get over his sophomore slump right about now, now, now; it would be great if DeSantis avoided one. We're not playing horribly at all 5-on-5. If the KRACH is to be believed at this time of the year, we've just played three of six league games against the other top teams in the league.

But our special teams are atrocious. Fix those, and it's going to be a great season. Our most important penalty killer is our goalie. I was more than pleased by how Keopple played vs. Princeton; I think he got hung out to dry a lot vs. Quinnipiac. He seems to have better rebound control than Shane right now. I'd like to see more. On the power play, all the typical old problems have crept in. Somebody needs to plant in front of the goalie until they take it away; somebody needs to shoot the puck until they take it away; somebody needs to work the low game until they take it away. We've got to be flexible. We're not… hopefully, yet.

All that being said, our lines aren't set whatsoever and a few guys are banged up. Perhaps this is the season for a good ol' fashioned second semester run? We'll see.

Scersk '97

Trotsky

BearLover

sah67

scoop85
Tonight Psenicka had several golden opportunities that he just couldn’t bury. Mind boggling.

Just to pile on, all you have to do is look at the stats on CHN. The top of our scoring is Seger, Bancroft, Penney, and freshmen. Psenicka needs to get over his sophomore slump right about now, now, now; it would be great if DeSantis avoided one. We're not playing horribly at all 5-on-5. If the KRACH is to be believed at this time of the year, we've just played three of six league games against the other top teams in the league.

Psenicka is having a junior slump, which is even more perplexing.

I wonder who starts in net on Saturday at MSG given last night's result. I will not guess this time but BearLover is free to do so

Need a greater sense of urgency on our power play. Wasted way too much of the 5-minute major.

scoop85

Scersk '97
Psenicka needs to get over his sophomore slump right about now, now, now; it would be great if DeSantis avoided one.

Psenicka is having a junior slump, which is even more perplexing.

For the record, I considered Psenicka's sophomore year as a slump and this year so far as a continuation thereof.

Iceberg
I wonder who starts in net on Saturday at MSG given last night's result. I will not guess this time but BearLover is free to do so

My guess based on Mike's history is a return to Shane. He likes a clear #1 and changes only when a backup clearly tears the torch from the incumbent's grasp (as Shane did from Howe in 2022). Keoppel has not done that, but he has proven himself a solid #2 if Shane is ill or injured, and that is good insurance.

Just as we weren't as good as we looked when we were #1 in PWR, we are not as bad as we look now at #21. "It's a long season and you gotta trust."

Scersk '97

scoop85

Scersk '97
Psenicka needs to get over his sophomore slump right about now, now, now; it would be great if DeSantis avoided one.

Psenicka is having a junior slump, which is even more perplexing.

For the record, I considered Psenicka's sophomore year as a slump and this year so far as a continuation thereof.

Fair enough

Iceberg
I wonder who starts in net on Saturday at MSG given last night's result. I will not guess this time but BearLover is free to do so

Shane

Still a big concern for me at the moment is how easily smaller teams are muscling our D around on the forecheck and forcing turnovers. This happened constantly during the Harvard game, and the game-winner at Princeton was a direct result of one of our D-men (Robertson I think) getting roughed up by a Princeton forechecker and coughing up the puck deep in our zone.

sah67
Still a big concern for me at the moment is how easily smaller teams are muscling our D around on the forecheck and forcing turnovers. This happened constantly during the Harvard game, and the game-winner at Princeton was a direct result of one of our D-men (Robertson I think) getting roughed up by a Princeton forechecker and coughing up the puck deep in our zone.

I need help determining which goal was the winning goal

To start the 3rd period 5 on 3 last week against Harvard they had Bancroft-Seger-Psenicka up front and Walsh at the right point alongside Robertson. Walsh got a shot away that was gloved by Mullahy. On the ensuing face off Walsh took the draw with Roberson at the right point alongside Bancroft. That’s the one time for sure I’ve seen four forwards on a power play this season.

RichH

sah67
Still a big concern for me at the moment is how easily smaller teams are muscling our D around on the forecheck and forcing turnovers. This happened constantly during the Harvard game, and the game-winner at Princeton was a direct result of one of our D-men (Robertson I think) getting roughed up by a Princeton forechecker and coughing up the puck deep in our zone.

I need help determining which goal was the winning goal

Trick question. There is none. It was the losing goal.

Any news on Schaf’s health?

So a week after we help Princeton fill Baker Rink with our fans buying up the $15 standing room tickets, Princeton drops prices to six bucks. #orangeandblackfriday is kinda cute.