ELynah Forum

Quote from: andyw2100 on January 10, 2026, 07:02:55 PM

Quote from: andyw2100 on January 10, 2026, 06:48:59 PMPep band already larger than last night, with 11.

Lost a trumpet. Added a picolo, a clarinet, a sax, and a friend. (Ten playing.)

As a former conductor, I love the band play-by-play.

Quote from: BlueSky on January 06, 2026, 07:01:43 AMHate to pile on the ice concerns, but rainy and milder weather incoming to Ithaca. 40s, not 50s like back in November, but worth noting with 4 games on the sheet.

If the rink can't handle four games with weather in the 40s, then we need a new facility, or at the very least, better scheduling.

I've spent a week playing in Cheel in July, and the ice was perfectly fine. Hopefully, ice conditions in November were mostly due to a failed experiment.

I watched the Dartmouth-Q game. They played Q's game, skating the length of the ice for most of the 60 minutes. Dartmouth mostly kept up with them, but it wasn't in their comfort zone. Their passing wasn't as good as in other games. Still, it was pretty even play until late when D had to pull Croteau in an effort to tie it up. When they had the man advantage and got it set in the O-zone, they settled into the puck control that I have seen other nights.

Q is a more talented team on paper (five draft picks vs D's one, for example) and more experienced in playing tougher games. This is where D's lack of SOS hurts them. They do well if they get the kind of game that suits them, but they haven't learned to adjust to an opponent's style if it's different. Cornell needs to get them out of their comfort zone in Lynah.

Dartmouth has come a long way under Cashman. The last time Dartmouth finished in the top four of the ECAC was 2014-15. Now he's got them in contention for an NCAA bid, which, if it happened, would end a 46 year drought for them.

Do they still have lots of room for improvement? Absolutely. But remember, Cornell had a similarly disappointing stretch in Dec-Jan last year, and they did okay in the end.

Quote from: adamw on January 03, 2026, 10:15:45 PM

Quote from: pjd8 on January 03, 2026, 08:36:52 PM

Quote from: adamw on January 03, 2026, 08:21:32 PM

Quote from: stereax on January 02, 2026, 02:57:55 PMBernie and I are hanging out at the basketball game... the topic of faceoff% came up. We ran the numbers manually because the Cornell site doesn't display them. Did y'all know Castagna is running a 63.9% on the dot this year? That's gotta be some sort of leader with a minimum fo%. Bernie's saying it could be a NCAA record if he keeps up the pace.

Walsh, btw, with a still-impressive 54.7%.

Faceoff stats are here - https://www.collegehockeynews.com/stats/overall.php ... also on team pages, and other places.

But if you sort that page by FO%, you either see nothing but players at 100% or 0%, depending on the sort order. And the stats page for the team doesn't have FO%. Maybe it's someplace I haven't found yet.

The problem with offering lots of option is that eventually something gets buried.

That's true - I do need to set some sort of minimum there on the national page.  Team Stats page is here:

https://www.collegehockeynews.com/stats/team/Cornell/18/advanced,20252026

The basic team stats page has a dropdown menu to all sorts of other stats - including "in conference only" and the "advanced" page I linked above, among other things.

Thanks! I didn't go down all the options on that menu.

Quote from: adamw on January 03, 2026, 08:21:32 PM

Quote from: stereax on January 02, 2026, 02:57:55 PMBernie and I are hanging out at the basketball game... the topic of faceoff% came up. We ran the numbers manually because the Cornell site doesn't display them. Did y'all know Castagna is running a 63.9% on the dot this year? That's gotta be some sort of leader with a minimum fo%. Bernie's saying it could be a NCAA record if he keeps up the pace.

Walsh, btw, with a still-impressive 54.7%.

Faceoff stats are here - https://www.collegehockeynews.com/stats/overall.php ... also on team pages, and other places.

But if you sort that page by FO%, you either see nothing but players at 100% or 0%, depending on the sort order. And the stats page for the team doesn't have FO%. Maybe it's someplace I haven't found yet.

The problem with offering lots of option is that eventually something gets buried.

Looks like Dartmouth pulled their goalie with about three minutes to go, Princeton got an empty netter, then Dartmouth came back to within one before time ran out.

Not sure if that says more about Dartmouth or Princeton.

I do think the Hamden score indicates that Harvard is overrated.

Quote from: Weder on January 02, 2026, 03:18:11 PM

Quote from: chimpfood on January 02, 2026, 03:10:20 PM

Quote from: stereax on January 02, 2026, 02:57:55 PMBernie and I are hanging out at the basketball game... the topic of faceoff% came up. We ran the numbers manually because the Cornell site doesn't display them. Did y'all know Castagna is running a 63.9% on the dot this year? That's gotta be some sort of leader with a minimum fo%. Bernie's saying it could be a NCAA record if he keeps up the pace.

Walsh, btw, with a still-impressive 54.7%.

If I remember correctly, Walsh was our go to faceoff guy last year, even in empty net situations when they were both on the ice. Wonder if the FO% differences are just due to Walsh being a better defensive playing and so he's put in for more D zone and PK draws.

Also helps Castagna to be going against the other team's 2C

I didn't feel like doing the math, but at a glance looks like a few other players in the low 60s for FO%.
https://www.ncaa.com/stats/icehockey-men/d1/current/individual/1258

I took that link and sorted by FO Win %. Only 35 players have a better percentage than Walsh. Castagna bests them all.

The list includes players who have had at least 133 FO Wins.

Rank    Name    Team    Class    Ind Games    FO Won    FO Lost    % FO Won
44    Noah Morneau    Bowling Green    Fr.    16    153    89    63.2%
33    Victor Czernec. Quinnipiac    Sr.    18    167    99    62.8%
1    Tyson Gross    St. Cloud St.    Jr.    18    261    160    62.0%
72    Jaden Lipinski    Maine            Fr.    17    135    84    61.6%
70    Ellis Rickwood    North Dakota    Sr.    13    137    86    61.4%
36    Kyle Gaffney    Minn. Duluth    Sr.    20    165    104    61.3%
9    Owen Michaels    Western Mich.    Jr.    18    216    139    60.8%
15    Charlie Cerrato    Penn St.    So.    16    194    125    60.8%
17    Jack Stockfish    Holy Cross    Jr.    17    188    122    60.6%
4    Klavs Veinbergs    Colorado Col.    Jr.    18    221    146    60.2%
18    Nick Sajevic    Air Force    So.    18    187    125    59.9%
11    T.J. Hughes    Michigan    Sr.    20    210    148    58.7%
10    William Ahlrik    Lake Sup. St.    So.    20    215    153    58.4%
5    Gavin Morrissey    Wisconsin    So.    18    220    160    57.9%
61    Sean McGurn    Arizona St.    Jr.    18    141    103    57.8%
41    Hank Cleaves    Dartmouth    So.    14    157    117    57.3%
39    Tiernan Shoudy    Michigan St.    Sr.    18    164    123    57.1%
74    Jacob Mathieu    Northeastern    Fr.    16    133    101    56.8%
34    Markus Vidicek    Quinnipiac    Fr.    18    166    127    56.7%
30    Roger McQueen    Providence    Fr.    16    170    131    56.5%
61    Brayden Schuurm Colorado Col.    Fr.    18    141    109    56.4%
52    Max Montes    Ohio St.    Jr.    16    146    113    56.4%
57    Jaden Dyke    LIU            Fr.    19    144    112    56.3%
20    Cy LeClerc    New Hampshire    Sr.    17    185    144    56.2%
51    Nolan Roed    St. Cloud St.    Fr.    18    147    115    56.1%
66    Cole McKinney    Michigan    Fr.    20    139    111    55.6%
25    Josh Zary    Ferris St.    Sr.    20    179    143    55.6%
23    Logan Morrell    Arizona St.    Jr.    20    180    144    55.6%
25    Lucas Buzziol    Union (NY)    So.    19    179    144    55.4%
54    Cole Reschny    North Dakota    Fr.    16    145    117    55.3%
60    Jaden Grant    Bowling Green    Sr.    15    142    115    55.3%
12    Max Scott    Maine.          Jr.    18    209    171    55.0%
36    Jacob Maillet    Niagara            So.    16    165    135    55.0%
36    Danny Nelson    Notre Dame    Jr.    16    165    136    54.8%
28    Grant Slukynsky    Western Mich.    Jr.    18    171    141    54.8%

This game is curious. Brown and Princeton are scheduled to play three times this year, twice at Princeton. None of the three games are listed as nc on CHN. On BrownBears.com, neither of the two games at Princeton have the ECAC logo underneath them like the other conference games do (including the one played at Brown). I don't know if that's relevant.

Likewise none of the games are listed nc on Princeton's schedule on CHN, and they use a similar web service for their schedule, but they have the ECAC logo under the first and third games, not the December one.

I had to resort to checking USCHO. It lists the Dec game as nc, which makes sense. The Feb 6-7 weekend looks like a regular travel partner weekend for P/Q/Y/B.

Why, yes, I am avoiding doing laundry. How did you know?

With regards to Dartmouth being lackluster: Don't discount UNH's defensive play. This is a team that has a uphill battle recruiting scoring talent in a conference that is all about offense. And when they do get a sniper like Ryan Conmy, he defects to BC. This team is successful when the play as a team for 60 minutes and shut down their opponent's game. But that's not sexy, and it's particularly tough when your schedule is filled with BCs and BUs and Maines.

With regards to Cashman: give the guy credit for what he's done. He inherited a team that hadn't had a winning record since 2015-16, didn't have a legacy reputation to recruit on, couldn't play a game the first year he coached, and five years later, he's got them standing on the top of the NPI a third of the way through the season. No one outside the ECAC gave a thought to Dartmouth unless they wanted to schedule an easy game. Now they are on people's radar.

On top of that, he's done what Greg Brown and Jay Pandolfo haven't done this year. He's gotten a consistent performance out of his team for a third of the season.

With regards to being legit: I suppose it's your definition of legit. If it's making it to the Frozen Four, I think the jury's still out. This is the equivalent of the conversation we had about why exams at Cornell are so hard: you have to challenge the most talented students in the group to see how far they can go. Dartmouth had their biggest challenge on Sunday, and they were almost successful. We don't really know how talented they are yet. Maybe this is their cap, and maybe not.

But if your definition of being legit is accomplishing all that is put out before you, they have been ever so close to perfect. I don't know if having the weakest schedule in Div I was a plan on Cashman's part or simply the cards he was dealt with (how many good teams want to schedule Dartmouth?), but he and his team have done almost every single task that has been put before them. They have the best winning record in Div I going into Christmas. And winning games is the ultimate goal, right?

I want them to keep on winning. I want them to stay in the top 5 of NPI and make every team in every other conference uncomfortable every time they look at the rankings. I want to see them put Harvard and Quinnipiac in their place. I want them to have the kind of success that makes the ECAC a stronger conference.

And then it will be oh so sweet when we beat them in Lynah. In the intermission filler on ESPN, the Dartmouth players talked about how last year's game was a highlight for them. They will be ready. We had better be.

The game winning goal was on a play where Wildcat Fitzgerald lost an edge and the puck, then fell behind the play. But his teammate fought off two Dartmouth players to get it back to the Fitzgerald, who slipped it under Croteau's right pad.

UNH works hard all game long, every game. They deserved this. But the key takeaway for an ECAC fan is that Dartmouth never led, and that was not a comfortable position for them. This was the first game all season where they went into the locker room between periods behind. For a while to generate more offense, they tried a lot of long passes that became icings. They also really like to crash the net, because it works for them.

When they come to Lynah, Cornell needs to come out hard and get the early lead, then keep the low slot cleared of bodies. Dartmouth is a team that can be put away. They just haven't faced a team that could do it until now. I do believe a more seasoned Cornell team will be up to the task.

BU not only won, they beat Northeastern, which helped BU's NPI and therefore ours.

Today's game was the last in Matthews Arena. They had a nice ceremony after the game the end that was part of the ESPN+ broadcast. A lot of history happened in that building.

Quote from: David Harding on December 10, 2025, 11:16:38 PM

Quote from: ugarte on December 10, 2025, 06:37:03 PM

Quote from: Weder on December 10, 2025, 05:25:49 PM

Quote from: ugarte on December 10, 2025, 01:14:43 PM

Quote from: RichH on December 10, 2025, 01:09:10 PMThat said, I still think more consideration should have been made for seating to avoid one program taking up an in-demand venue when they just got their own.

It's maybe five hours a year on weekend afternoons and weeknights!

It was probably explained at the time, but I'm lazy, so: What was the deal with wrestling at Barton that one time last season (or was it the one before)?

Hmm I thought that was going to be Rumble and Tumble - a joint event with the gymnastics team - but that was apparently at Newman.

And I found it. Last year we hosted Buffalo for a dual meet at Barton on a Saturday, but used Barton because we also hosted a big multi-team, multi-mat event (the Big Red Invite) that required a lot more floor space the next day.

I assume it was easier to set up for the bigger event on Saturday before we faced Buffalo and have both events in Barton than the alternative.

The writer of Buffalo plus Big Red Invite story doesn't seem to distinguish between a "dual" and a "duel". 

Dual is correct in regards to wrestling. A dual meet is where two teams wrestle against each other, one person from each team per weight class, each match earns teams points, and a winning team is declared. That's opposed to a meet where individuals are entered in a bracketing system to decide a champion amongst many individuals but teams are not competing for a win.

You can also have double duals, which is four teams total, and each team wrestles two others in pre-determined matchups on the same day.

You do non want duels in wrestling. They do not need weapons. As my wrestling coach son said when I joked about doing ax throwing as a social event for the team, "That's an awful idea. They do enough damage to each other with their bare hands."

Quote from: stereax on November 23, 2025, 06:22:02 PM

Quote from: pjd8 on November 23, 2025, 04:33:40 PM

Quote from: stereax on November 23, 2025, 11:24:51 AM

Quote from: VIEWfromK on November 23, 2025, 08:38:37 AMThere's a lot to like so far.  I'm looking forward to the upcoming test vs BU.  Should be a very different style of play than they have faced so far.

BU is famously STRUGGLING out there. Their defense tends to not show up half the time. Yegorov is still good, but he's been leaky recently - hasn't put up a s% above .900 more than twice in the past 10 games, which is also the amount of times he's been pulled. Once after only 12 minutes.
BU's coach is reaming them to the media. Like... dude... yikes... to the press...

(Another nice thing about Cornell I think, that we don't have quotes from Coach Jones floating around like that.)

I watched the last five minutes of the first NU-BU game. NU won and it ended in a brawl, possibly the most viscous brawl I've seen. BU is *frustrated*. They eked out an OT win in their barn then next night against NU, but that's not good enough for that program. Cornell can definitely take advantage.

Absolutely, but I also worry that an angry BU team that can absolutely score + a Cornell defense with 3+ freshmen and a freshman goalie might = a ton of goals.

They will definitely need to stay disciplined on defense. Might as well learn how to do that now!

Quote from: stereax on November 23, 2025, 11:24:51 AM

Quote from: VIEWfromK on November 23, 2025, 08:38:37 AMThere's a lot to like so far.  I'm looking forward to the upcoming test vs BU.  Should be a very different style of play than they have faced so far.

BU is famously STRUGGLING out there. Their defense tends to not show up half the time. Yegorov is still good, but he's been leaky recently - hasn't put up a s% above .900 more than twice in the past 10 games, which is also the amount of times he's been pulled. Once after only 12 minutes.
BU's coach is reaming them to the media. Like... dude... yikes... to the press...

(Another nice thing about Cornell I think, that we don't have quotes from Coach Jones floating around like that.)

I watched the last five minutes of the first NU-BU game. NU won and it ended in a brawl, possibly the most viscous brawl I've seen. BU is *frustrated*. They eked out an OT win in their barn then next night against NU, but that's not good enough for that program. Cornell can definitely take advantage.

Quote from: Trotsky on November 22, 2025, 10:09:34 PM

Quote from: scoop85 on November 22, 2025, 09:56:48 PMInteresting that the ECAC has a winning cumulative record vs. HE but a losing record vs. Atlantic Hockey

Is there a quick way to view the inter-conference records?

collegehockeystatistics used to be my way.  But they dead.

https://www.collegehockeynews.com/reports/standings-interconf.php