Three goals for 2002-03

Both pre-season polls put Cornell at #8. To put that in some perspective, the highest Cornell went in the polls during the monster 2001-02 season was 7th, for just one week: [www.spiritone.com]

Cornell will probably slip down to #12 or #13 before they get a chance to play a game, and then we'll see where they go from there.

With the polls out we've reached the more-or-less official beginning of the preseason, and with that I'd like to hear what people expect and want from this team. When Coach Schafer took over in the summer of '95, he quantified a successful season with three goals:

#1 Beat Harvard
#2 Fill the rink
#3 Get home ice

These were considered a reach, to say the least. The team was coming off three horrible seasons, they hadn't beaten Harvard in a regular season game in 10 years, and the crowd was showing the wear and tear. The team went out and promptly exceeded all three goals en route to winning the first of back-to-back ECAC titles.

For the coming season, what do you think comparable goals should be?

My suggestions to get it started.

#1 Beat Harvard. (They're baaaack as arch conference rival, and they stole our title in '02. Vengeance.)
#2 Win the ECAC Championship. (Nearly everyone returns, and many are seniors. It has been five full seasons since the last title run. We want 10.)
#3 NCAA Championship Game. (Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a Heaven for?--Robert Browning)

[q]Three goals for 2002-03[/q]

But that's barely .10 goals per game!

Then how about 3 goals against?

#8, huh? To put this in a bit of a different perspective, Cornell was ranked 6th in the nation in at least one 1997-98 pre-season poll, after they had lost eight or nine players to graduation from the season before.

In other words, ignore it. But we already knew that.

On goals for the season:

[Q]#1 Beat Harvard.[/Q]
That's a given, though I think you mean to say "Sweep Harvard." After all, we did beat the Crimson last year. Once

I think we might want to turn our evil eyes on Dartmouth this year. Cornell is currently working on an 0-6-1 streak against them, dating back to Novermber of '98, so no current Big Red player has notched a win over the Big Green (except possibly Todd Marr, from his Northeastern days). Not to be an alarmist, but we used to record streaks like this against (gag) Harvard in the bad old days.

[Q]#2 Win the ECAC Championship.[/Q]
Yup.

[Q]#3 NCAA Championship Game.[/Q]

I might set my sights a little lower on this one... I'd be quite happy with a Frozen Four appearance.

I'm in agreement with Bill (sweep Harvard, win ECAC champ, Frozen Four appearance) and would suggest another -albeit daunting- goal (especially with BU coming to town for a pair): undefeated in Lynah. Cornell almost did it one year under Schafer (I think an OT loss to St. L ruined it) and it would certainly add credibility to our belief that Lynah is the most intimidating place for a visiting college hockey team to play.

Greg, one nit, I think you mean 7th, not 9th.

Can we call it a fan consensus, to do three things we fell just short of last year: Sweep Hahvahd, win the ECACs, and go to the Frozen Four[TM]?

And I'd say a good early test would be winning the BU series at Lynah in November.

OOOH, and don't forget!!! STAY HEALTHY!!!!

#1 no goldfish crackers on the ice
#2 no swedish fish on the ice
#3 no eel in my hair

[q]Greg, one nit, I think you mean 7th, not 9th.[/q]

Fixed above, thanks.

Of course I would be grateful for a first Frozen Four appearance since 1980 (as that was just 2 frikkin' years before my time... of course I'd be grateful!). I'd like to make at least one of the goals something that isn't "making up" for some perceived shortfall (as silly as that would be) from last year.

Man, it is nice to be debating the difference between the second-to-last and the last game of the NCAA season!

Some more subsidiary goals:

+ Lowest GAA among Big Four teams. We were very close last year, and Miller is gone from MSU.

+ 25% of point scoring from the freshman class. Unless John Gleed is the next Doug Murray and Mark McRae, the defense is going to go south after this year, which means Cornell will need a much stronger offense.

+ Coach Schafer's 150th career victory. A.k.a., win #24.