Clarkson 1 @ Cornell 5: Post game

Thank you CU Athletics for allowing me (and others) to watch the game on the internet!!!!

And Age, good luck getting this forum back in order...

[Q]There is no debate over who won the fight. It was totally initiated by Varteressian and he beat the crap out of Nickerson. Nickerson has been arrested three times for assault, so rest assured, if he wanted to beat the crap out of Varteressian, he easily could have. He was smart and didn't do anything and thus did not get the DQ. If he was stupid and got the DQ, you can pretty much kiss Clarkson's chances at winning tomorrow good bye. Now, the Clarkson team is totally fired up and are gonna fight hard tomorrow night. If Cornell is winning by two or three goals in the third period, Nickerson will try to kill someone. He is an outstanding hockey player, but he is a huge psycho with a really bad temper. I am very concerned for the safety of the players tomorrow, especially if Cornell wins. Things could get very ugly. Not surprisingly Murphy was a huge factor in the game getting out of hand. He should have tossed the guy for charging Moulson as the guy took about 20 steps and Moulson was being pinned against the boards - clearly attempt to injury. Instead, Murphy sends them both to the box and thus encourages the behavior to continue. The play where McKee's mask was torn off also should have been a DQ. That is where things really got fired up. [/Q]

I completely agree with all of this.

[Q]It was bush league of Varteressian to fight Nickerson. I was happy he did it, but it was still embarrassing. [/Q]

This is where we differ. Bush league? Nickerson was going after our guys all night and so were other Clarkson players as you mentioned. If Murphy is not going to keep the game under control someone has to. Fighting in hockey, when used correctly, can have a real impact on the game--but that's a debate for another time. Adam W didn't seem to have a problem with it and even mentioned that if some NHL scouts were in the stands, as they probably were, they probably made a note of Varteressian. Embarrassed? I'd be more embarrassed if I were a Clarkson fan and I was seeing what my team was doing to an opponent that was outworking and outperforming them.

[Q]There was no question that Varteressian deserved the DQ and Nickerson did not.[/Q]

Completely agree. Vart was the instigator and Murphy got the call correct.

[Q] The team dominated tonight and could have won by a lot more if they didn't back off in the third period. The best part is that the team scored five goals, none of which coming from the top line. The Bitz-Iggulden-Knoefpli line sure looks like a keeper. Tomorrow could be a very different game. Clarkson is really pissed considering one of Cornell's worst players went after their best player. I was pretty impressed and surprised to see Nickerson keep his composure and not fight back. Must have taken a lot of will power. Just a few minutes before, right after Nickerson's doubleminor ended, I saw Roll lean over Nickerson's shoulder on the bench to tell him not to do anything stupid or that will hurt the team. He listened. [/Q]

I too was impressed that Nickerson kept his composure during the fight but he was out of it when he was being escorted off the ice. Again, I wasn't there but it seemed like he was conversing with the crowd...anyone who plays sports knows that you have to block all of that stuff out. He's a head case, just like our boy Jessiman.

[Q]Traylen didn't play well tonight and I expect him to play much better tomorrow. This series is not over by any means. I predicted since the end of the regular season a Harvard-Cornell final and stand by it. Experience is HUGE in the playoffs.[/Q]

Cornells scout report on Traylen is to attack his glove side, it seems. When we played them two weeks ago, Traylen made a bunch of spectacular glove saves and I remember saying to a friend that we seemed to be attacking his glove. We did the same thing tonight except we scored a bunch on him (the first three were all glove side)--even though he made some great glove saves. I'm interested in seeing if we still attack his glove side because he started over playing that side in the second period. Will we fake glove and completely mess with his mind?

I really enjoy reading your thoughts...thanks for sharing them! And I'd like to hear some more from others that were in the stands so I can live vicariously through you!

Something else I forgot to mention...I was really nervous when we got that penalty early in the first--I think I posted something like "this isn't the team we've seen the past few weeks, this is the team from early winter"...I think it was 1:20 in to the game on Vesce...that penalty kill really got our engines going.

I expected Clarkson to come out flying and Cornell to be a bit flat. After all, Clarkson was really fired up coming in after feeling slighted here two weeks ago and Cornell was off last week. I think it actually works in Cornell's favor to kill penalties. It generally sways the momentum back to their side since they are so good a man down. From there on, Cornell dominated. The score of this game could have been 10-0 if Cornell didn't let up in the third.

I just noticed that shots were 20-16 in Cornells favor. Wow. It didn't seem so low shooting...A great effort to connect on 25% of your shots!! Now if the idiots that scream "shoot" would just be quiet...

The saves were actually 20-16. Shots were 25-17. Holding opposition to 20 or less shots is very impressive.

[Q]calgARI '07 Wrote:

The saves were actually 20-16. Shots were 25-17. Holding opposition to 20 or less shots is very impressive. [/Q]

And 21 isn't?

thanks for the correction...very impressive and makes more sense with what I was seeing

Hmmmm... Some good thoughts on the game. ... Hopefully this is where most of the post-game discussion is going on- I don't have patience to dig through the game thread for comments, though.

Some of my impressions:

Cornell in the first & second periods was on & clicking. Knoepfli was very impressive. I believe that someone was saying he's been underperforming. I disagree. Maybe he's not producing a ton of points, but that's not all there is to hockey.

GLOVER. GLOVER. GLOVER. Some of the sect. B faithful were chanting "leathal weapon" after his big play on the clarkson break away. What a great play. He really put everything out there to stop the break away, skating from behind at an angle, and then diving sprawled out to knock the puck away. And McKee was thankful for it, judging by the way he congratulated the G-man afterwards. Great crowd reaction to that play, letting him know we saw & appreciate it. Great defensive plays deserve recognition too. I think that our defense is in good hands, with this kid. He's only going to get better. And better. Remember, he's only a freshman.

Nickerson: Man. This guy could be dangerous. He really did restrain himself in the fight, though. Even though Varteressian is pretty rugged, Nickerson is huge and I think could've taken Vart. As Nickerson was taken off, he was getting into it with the student sections. I even thought I saw him spit. His eyes were rabid, though. He could really go insane a la Bertuzzi style if he had a mind to. I hope nothing serious happens to our guys in the series.

And, the unfortuate side, as I beleive Adam W. pointed out in a USCHO column, is that he could be a great player for the ECAC. No doubt the kid has talent, but he's a head case. Too many headcases. Nickerson, Jessiman.

COOK also played very well tonight. I think the Red's blueline will not be a big area they'll have to fill voids in next year. (Though we are losing Wallace, and he will be missed. Cook had a great goal & he was on the fly all night. This guy is fast, can flat out skate and handle the puck. My guess, he was a forward for quite a while in his hockey career. His shot has a snap-shot reaction. He got it off fast, in traffic, to score what was in my opinion, the prettiest goal of the night. (Abbott's was second.)
Even some of the hated crimson are good players & class acts. Kolarik. Moore. (was- now he's in NYR system. Who knows what they'll do to him) Welch (even though he can't skate!! Ha!)

Excellent players on & off the ice. This is what we need. Think Paolini. Vesce. Cook. Wallace.

KEYS. Put THE KEYS AWAY. 1) This is Game 1 of a playoff series. Regular season keys are ok, if the lead is sufficient, and it's under two minutes. Keys are NOT NOT NOT okay at 4 minutes of game 1 in a playoff series. 2) It seems that it's always the keys that are spoiler. Those who don't know to put them away, that is. Shortly after the keys came out, Clarkson scored. Earlier in the season, it was Mercyhurst who scored the tying goal with less than a minute and CU up 1-0. Were keys out then, too? YES. Can people see the point? PUT THE KEYS AWAY.


LET'S GO RED!!!!!!!

Just imagine how popular Nickerson would be if he played for Cornell.
I'm terrified of what he might do tomorrow night. Junior teams in better leagues in Canada are all over him to leave Clarkson so the guy really has nothing to lose by going crazy tomorrow night if the game is out of reach. With Murphy reffing, things could get really out of control. Worst case scenario has a Cornell player getting hurt and others getting DQed in the third period as retribution and missing the Semis. Murphy is the worst ref I have ever seen at any level. He made up a couple more new calls tonight.
As for Cornell's blueline. They sure have improved this year. Next year, with two potential top four defensemen coming in, they could be the top defensive core top to bottom in the nation.

The recap is up:
[www.uscho.com]

Good quote from Roll:
"I was disappointed in one incident with the goaltender," said Roll. "I told the guys 'Don't get frustrated.' We don't do those things. That's not what Clarkson hockey is about."

Makes him gain a little more respect in my book.

Further to Roll's credit, I saw him lean over to Nickerson after he got out of the box after his double minor in the third period and was clearly telling him not to do anything stupid. I actually spoke with Roll for a few minutes about 2 hours before the game at CTB and the topic of our conversation was Matt Nickerson. He said that he is one of hell of a hockey player and believe it or not a really good kid. Take it for what's it's worth. Roll was a pretty nice guy though. He introduced me to his whole coaching staff and we chatted for a little bit. He thought it was really cold in Ithaca.

It was a great game for cornell. It looks like the week off helped out players our a lot. In the first 2 periods, we game was on and we looked like we did last year. Third period we did let up, and an unfortunate power play goal to break the shutout by McKee. Overall I didn't feel that McKee was challenged at all this game, and the shot totals were misleading. In the first and second period Cornell had so many great opportunities which they JUST missed. Cornell definitely controlled the pace with their strength in defense and even a couple times with their speed on offense. The Clarkson team seemed a bit off today, often they would mishandle the puck or be inaccurate in their passing. Most of the goals on the Clarkson goalkeep were when they were at a man disadvantage.

I can't wait until tomorrow night's game. Tonight's game was great and it really seemed like the Clarkson players were frustrated (kicking the puck, other furious motions, etc). Their game wasn't on and it showed. I expect an equally intense game tomorrow night, with some guidance from the Clarkson head coach.

I also agree with the keys. It was definitely unnecessary and "cost us the shutout" (not really, just superstition). The TUBA's were great during the whole goalie fight scene and got the Lynah crowd going.

I hope anyone who wasn't there tonight gets to go tomorrow night. Last night's game was one of the best Cornell hockey (at least the first 2 periods) I've seen since last year, and I for one like to see a healthy HOCKEY fight...

Jacob

By all accounts, Roll is a good guy. You have to look at things from the other guy's perspective -- I guarantee if the shoe had been on the other foot we would have heard complaints that the other team's coach had deliberately sent out a headhunter.

I love it that Cornell will never be taken advantage of in physical play -- this is especially important when playing western opponents. However. PV dropping the gloves on Nickerson was a little much for me for a college game. I understand where he's coming from -- Nickerson is a hack ("And the winner of the 2004 Melrose Award is...". But getting thrown out simply removes a physical presence to counter Nickerson for tonight's game, and -- I say this with all due respect to PV's desire not to see us pushed around -- hurts the team and was a poor decision. I want to see Varterressian on the ice, not in the stands. He's impressed me as more than muscle, and against CornellClones (tm) like RPI and Brown, I want him out there.

One final thought. This team has come a long, long way. On USCHO a handful of posters were saying Schafer should be considered for COTY, at least as runner-up to the Colgate turnaround. I'm hoping they make me book a flight to Albany.

I can't believe that I missed this game.

Too bad the story didn't explain the "one incident with the goaltender" in enough detail for most readers to understand McKee got his mask knocked off by Clarkson. The story read,

>>> The game started to get chippy in the second period as well, as frustration crept in for the Golden Knights and Cornell tried to stand up to it. But it never got completely out of hand.
>>> "I was disappointed in one incident with the goaltender," said Roll. "I told the guys 'Don't get frustrated.' We don't do those things. That's not what Clarkson hockey is about."

While there was more discussion on the fighting on the game thread, V dropped his gloves and Nickerson whether he had them pulled off or dropped them to try to defend himself is not the issue. V started it and I think the right call was made but the hit on Moulson should have resulted in a misconduct instead of Moulson getting a penalty (two minutes for not hitting ) And you mess with a goalie (ripping his helmet off), you got to call something. Got to protect goalies just like QB's in football.

It was mentioned in the column this week that after Schafer's rant, the number of those penalty calls went way up. While it was not a classy rant, it served a purpose. I never want to think that Cornell stoops to anybody's level or Schafer sent V out to take Nickerson out but sometimes subtle messages don't work and you got to curse and punch your way into change. I hope and expect Murphy will stop anything with Nickerson before it gets out of hand. If Cornell avoids retaliating on any cheap shots, perhaps we can get Nickerson out without losing any other guys.

I would really hate to think after what happened to Moore this week, that any hockey player is thinking about going out and trying to injure another player because your actions can have very unintended consequences. And I can't believe any team would want Nickerson for his ability to be a goon.

Did anyone else happen to notice that Nickerson played for the Texas Tornado ... same team as McKee?

Anyone know anything about that?

They did indeed play on the same team last year (Texas). They were especially buddy-buddy during the handshakes two weekends ago.

[Q]Get a Room Rick Wrote:

Did anyone else happen to notice that Nickerson played for the Texas Tornado ... same team as McKee?

Anyone know anything about that? [/Q]Some of us did:

[Q]I don't know if he was sent in to do it, I kind of doubt it, but the first player to bang his stick was Mckee, which says something, since they were both Texas Toranados. [/Q]As posted on another thread.