Next Year

I know there's still a long way to go in the current season, and its nice to see that this team is finally coming together. But...looking ahead to next season, there might not be as big a dropoff as it seemed a few months ago. The scoring looks like it will be spread amongst more people (especially is the incoming freshmen are as offensively gifted as it seems) and the defense always seem to come around. If Pokulok comes back (a big if) we may see a better product in 12 months than we are seeing right now (which is pretty good as it is). Anyway...just wanted to mention it and now back to this season...LET'S GO RED!!!!!!

I think that if O'Byrne, Pokuluk, and McKee return, Cornell could have the best team they've had in the Schafer era.

calgARI '07
I think that if O'Byrne, Pokuluk, and McKee return, Cornell could have the best team they've had in the Schafer era.

As an undergrad, I wouldn't have voluntarily given up any of those four golden, best-time ever, years on the hill. (Isn't there a guy at Wisconsin-Something, not Badgers-Wisconsin, who's in his second decade as an undergrad?) You try to ignore the lesser parts such as scrambling for tuition money, term papers, and finding a date. Of course, maybe the players are eager to get on to their graduate schools.

Or maybe Mike Schafer (or Shaffer as the USCHO game story has it) can talk about the opportunity to capture the glory of a national championship. He could do worse than to pass around Jon Feinstein's Season Inside book on the teams that made a run to the national basketball championship. Or bring back Ken Dryden or John Hughes for a pep talk on what it felt like to be on a Cornell team that did it all. This is the best chance the Cornell players have for a title, probably better than the odds of winning a Stanely Cup. (Of Cornell's 19 NHL players, who beyond Dryden and Niewendyk have lifted a Stanley Cup?)

calgARI '07
I think that if O'Byrne, Pokuluk, and McKee return, Cornell could have the best team they've had in the Schafer era.

You know the coaching staff has just been waiting until I get there to put the national championship team on the ice.

ebilmes

calgARI '07
I think that if O'Byrne, Pokuluk, and McKee return, Cornell could have the best team they've had in the Schafer era.

You know the coaching staff has just been waiting until I get there to put the national championship team on the ice.

No no, they've been waiting for me to leave.

billhoward
Of Cornell's 19 NHL players, who beyond Dryden and Niewendyk have lifted a Stanley Cup?

I think that Brian Hayward is the only other Cornell player to get close - in Montreal's '88-'89 Stanley Cup finals loss (4 games to 2) to Joe's Calgary Flames.

IIRC, Jason Elliott lifted the cup, although he never saw the ice for the Wings.