Bye-bye Ben

Ben Syer is taking over the Princeton program. Good luck to him except when they play Cornell!

dbilmes
Ben Syer is taking over the Princeton program. Good luck to him except when they play Cornell!

Congrats to Syer. Nice for him to get a D1 head coaching opportunity. Princeton has been a tough place to win consistently, but they have the best overall sports program in the Ivies, and if they give him the resources he may be able to elevate their program.

Yep, happy for him. He learned under and from a great coach, and not just about hockey Xs and Os.

Congratulations Ben. Best of luck at Princeton.

Good for Ben, sucks for us. He was a big part of the program and I’m gonna have a hard time cheering against him at Princeton.

Princeton, SLU, and Clarkson now all led by former Schafer assistants. Seems pretty remarkable.

Chris '03
Princeton, SLU, and Clarkson now all led by former Schafer assistants. Seems pretty remarkable.

Yes, it’s nuts. Clarkson and SLU play similar styles to Cornell, and now you have to imagine Princeton will as well. So we end up with three Cornell-lites in the same league as Cornell.

I guess Flanagan gets promoted to associate head coach, and Schafer brings in somebody new in Flanagan’s current spot. I am hopeful that Flanagan has developed many of the same relationships Syer had in recruiting. But a lot is certainly going to change now, at least from a recruiting standpoint.

Bearlover: since he got the job, I think your question about why Princeton but not Cornell HC is a good, and relevant one.

Be interesting to see if any info slips out on this over time. Or maybe when Adam said syer would not be a Cornell HC, he already knew just how likely syer was to land the Princeton job. That seems the most likely explanation of Adam's emphatic statement.

abmarks
Bearlover: since he got the job, I think your question about why Princeton but not Cornell HC is a good, and relevant one.

Be interesting to see if any info slips out on this over time. Or maybe when Adam said syer would not be a Cornell HC, he already knew just how likely syer was to land the Princeton job. That seems the most likely explanation of Adam's emphatic statement.

Again, what if Adam himself is the heir apparent, so he can speak with confidence about who won't have the job.

abmarks
Bearlover: since he got the job, I think your question about why Princeton but not Cornell HC is a good, and relevant one.

Be interesting to see if any info slips out on this over time. Or maybe when Adam said syer would not be a Cornell HC, he already knew just how likely syer was to land the Princeton job. That seems the most likely explanation of Adam's emphatic statement.

Adam’s statement came over two months ago when Princeton had not yet fired their prior head coach.

That makes more than a quarter of the other teams in the league with former Cornell assistants as head coaches. I can't imagine that high of a percentage coming from one team happens very often in any league.

BearLover

abmarks
Bearlover: since he got the job, I think your question about why Princeton but not Cornell HC is a good, and relevant one.

Be interesting to see if any info slips out on this over time. Or maybe when Adam said syer would not be a Cornell HC, he already knew just how likely syer was to land the Princeton job. That seems the most likely explanation of Adam's emphatic statement.

Adam’s statement came over two months ago when Princeton had not yet fired their prior head coach.

Maybe Adam thinks Schafer will stick around longer than Syer wanted to wait for a head coaching job.

jesus christ shut up about this already

Ben Syer was a great assistant for Cornell, and a great guy in my dealings with him, and I wish him the absolute best at Princeton. I also spent five years doing radio for Princeton hockey in the '90s, and wish them well also. Syer goes to Princeton as the most accomplished coach they've ever had going into the job, from the standpoint of the success he's had at the programs he's been in. However, with no head coaching background, it's a difficult job. The last two Princeton HC's with no prior HC experience lasted just a couple years, while the ones that had HC experience each won an ECAC championship (over the last 30 years). So we'll see which of these competing thoughts win out. But like I said, I will be rooting for Princeton, and Ben, to do well.

Adam-any insight into how this will affect Cornell’s recruiting?

Nice comments from former players:

“Ben is a phenomenal coach and an even better person. His attention to detail and enthusiastic personality are infectious, and helped establish a winning culture during my time with him at Cornell. He genuinely cares for his players, staff and community, and I know he’ll continue to positively impact their lives at Princeton, just as he has mine.” —
Morgan Barron, Winnipeg Jets

“Benny is easily the most detailed coach I've had. There are so many little details that he taught me throughout my four years under his wing that made my transition to professional hockey much easier. The importance of stick detail, gaps, and communication are what he focused on the most. He allowed me to use my skill to make plays while also teaching me when to make the simple play. A lot of Cornell's success is a credit to Benny. He did a great job teaching us the systems and getting us to play smart and structured hockey. It was easy to see how much he cared about us and wanted to win. We are lucky to have played for him as he's made us all better players and people.” —
Sam Malinski, Colorado Avalanche

"I had the privilege of being coached by Ben Syer for the entirety of my college career, and the passion he brings to the rink every day along with his acute attention to detail creates a culture that breeds success and character. He invests in his student-athletes and cares about their development as players and as people. We are all extremely excited for Benny to embark on this new chapter of his career and can’t wait to see the incredible impact he will have on Princeton’s historic program." —
Jeff Malott, Manitoba Moose

ugarte
jesus christ shut up about this already

-- DJT

Just because Ben went to Princeton doesn't mean he can't still wind up replacing Mike.

(That should be good for another few months, ugarte...)

arugula
Adam-any insight into how this will affect Cornell’s recruiting?

No great insights. I'm sure they will be fine. Mike Schafer knows what he's doing.

Where do new assistant coaches come from? Assistants or graduate assistants elsewhere? Prep school coaches? Would coaching in the USHL be a step up or a step down? Minor league pros? Europe?

Trotsky
Just because Ben went to Princeton doesn't mean he can't still wind up replacing Mike.

I keep thinking of this, with Bob Gaudet as a precedent (although the situation is slightly different since Dartmouth was also Gaudet's alma mater).

Think about it though. If he does well, why does he want to come back to a job at Cornell when Princeton has so many things going for it to help a coach? How old will he be in 2-3-4 yrs anyway to want to take over another program??

upprdeck
Think about it though. If he does well, why does he want to come back to a job at Cornell when Princeton has so many things going for it to help a coach? How old will he be in 2-3-4 yrs anyway to want to take over another program??

Because Cornell can compete at the national level? Also, why assume Schafer is retiring in 2-4 years?

Syer is 49.

If he doesn't compete you think Cornell would have him as first choice to come back?