ELynah Forum

Iles was the difference. Absolutely robbed H. on three occasions. First time seeing him live.  Deceptively small, but laser quick feet.  Loved that the Harvard student section rose to cheer, and then realized that he actually got the foot out.  Think Tim Thomas, but doesn't have to flop because he has the angles.  

At least 3/4 Red for fan turnout.  I noticed in the Harvard program that Jan 29th was a promotional "White Out" night for the Harvard fans. We got a chuckle out of that.  There were probably 20 students wearing white in the building.

PS: I did my grad work at Harvard.  Go Big Red.  Props to the Cornell band.

The game is being televised on CBS college sports in my area.  Boston Comcast HD.

During NHL network's coverage of US vs. Finland, broadcasters just discussed how USA talent is spreading out.  Minnesota is still dominant, but talent is found in other regions.  Broadcaster just shared a story of the time he spoke to Cornell coach Mike Schafer a couple of years ago and Schafer shared that people would have probably thought him crazy if he would have predicted having a captain from Long Island and a goalie from Texas.  Referred to Vesce and McKee.  Also mentioned that this was a Cornell team that went deep in the tourney.

Since I'm on a world hockey theme, thought I should include a note that Doug(las) Murray landed a spot on the Swedish Olympic team. Probably already posted.

Here's hoping Donato keeps landing those recruits from prep schools.  Great academic schools and littered with talented players.

The thing I love about hockey, and in particular college hockey, is that it exposes what talent really is:  just talent.

Redcast live score bar at bottom of feed just read Cornell 3 Harvard 2.  Switched back to BU at the end of the PP.  Not sure how long it was on there.  Strange.  Am I going crazy?

Princeton has free audio up and running.

http://www.goprincetontigers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=10600&KEY=&ATCLID=1579635

I was going to reply that for that league, those stats aren't that impressive, and I can't qualify that enough.  Good hockey, but D1 players in NYS section V hockey will blow it off the map.  That being said, didn't realize he was a freshman.  

I expect he will follow other talented section V players to either NE prep or juniors (e.g., Marty Reasoner (McQuaid/Deerfield/BC).

When I played in that league, several talented players left after their sophomore year for juniors or prep. schools.  I recall Reasoner, Sean Richland (Michigan), and Jason Bonsignore (juniors) bolted.  Bonsignore's claim to fame was being drafted #4 overall in '94, ahead of Ryan Smyth by the Oilers.

Can't remember many local Big Red connections, but I believe Sam Paolini ripped it up his freshman year in Rochester, before moving onto Choate (NE prep.)

Which of course, begs the immortal quote from Herb Brooks in Miracle, "some throwaway game in Rochester!"

Either way, nice shout out to upstate NY hockey, and nice to see the Big Red locking up "local" talent instead of losing it to BC (Gionta, Reasoner).

I'm sure there are other local Rochester kids that have gone on and done great things, and I apologize if I missed the more recent; I am just commenting on the players I remember, and don't want to get ripped up on the forum for any incidental errors.  I'd actually be curious to hear how Cornell had done recently in recruiting in upstate NY.

I heard Harvard lost a few key players this year.  I wonder how they're going to stack up?  Any good new recruits?  How do CU's recruits compare?

You're welcome.

Good point, should have referenced Briere instead of Richards...especially since we're talking about the Sabres.

Unless you're a crease demon like Detroit's Franzen (apologies to Philly's late-80's Tim Kerr), or a blue-line monster like Pronger -  size isn't as much of an issue for today's NHL forwards.  I don't want to set unrealistic expectations, but these conversations remind me of two other college hockey standouts that were dismissed as too small -- B. Gionta and M. St. Louis.  Just great, pure hockey players.  

Gerbe has that knack - he's a game changer. Might be an adjustment period, but he's proven himself at the college level ala Gionta & St. Louis, and the new NHL is definitely more accommodating for the "more diminutive" (see Philly's M. Richards).  Great upside for the Sabres, especially considering the contracts thrown around for unproven talent...S. Hynes?

For anybody who's played some hockey, you learn pretty quickly: there are definitely those 160 pounders who play like they're 185.  It's about the legs and the skating.  When was the last time you saw St. Louis knocked on his bum?

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/boxscore?gid=2008022115

I'm seeing the same thing.  Blank screen...assume they just haven't started the feed.

The WJC semi-final game USA vs. Czech. has been added to tonight's lineup on the NHL center ice package if you are a subscriber.  11pm EST live.

I knew it was money well spent!

Just some observations from the game for those folks who were only able to catch it on audio

1.) PK wasn't terrible and McCutcheoun seems to have solidified a nice niche roll in PK. He was buzzing.  
2.) Yale was winning the loose pucks for most of the first half and looked hungrier.  Granted the penalites didn't help with the flow.
3.) Mugford, for all I've read about his akward skating, was the hardest working player out there - with apologies to Sawada.   Both players created opportunities by outworking the Yale defensemen on the forecheck.
4.) Cornell passing from the breakout into the neutral zone was a problem.  I couldn't tell if it was the forwards getting ahead of the play, or the D not hitting the pass, but once that first pass breaks down - your stuffed.
5.) Yale's goalie (Garnter) is going to cost them a game sometime this year with his overzealous desire to handle the puck.  
6.)  The refs need to continue to call obstruction/hooking/interference, just not when it's a hard hit.  There were calls on both teams for solid finishing checks (with a little bite).  The agenda was evident.
7.)  If the linesmen had jumped in earlier when a Yale player was on top of McKee, the whole mess at the end could have been prevented.  The most ammusing aspect of the whole scrum was during the cooling off period: O'Byrne had Boucher with one hand on his collar, real nonchalantly.  Every time Boucher made a move to skate in any direction, O'Byrne would reign him back in like a dog trainer and a new puppy. O'Byrne slipped a couple of quality facewashes in there for good measure.  
8.) Fun & loud rink.  Did anybody else find the the Yale band's dancing girl to be rather obnoxious?   I wanted to toss her an instrument and point out that her bandmates were currently getting upstaged.

I think I'm going to leave from Worcester around 4:30pm on Friday depending on a friend from Boston's ability to get through Friday afternoon traffic.  We should have room.

Priorities:
#1) Getting to see Cornell hockey
#2) Getting out of Worcester.

You can email me at jamison.smith@worcesteracademy.org