ELynah Forum

Possibly Rousseau is coming here mainly because he is thinking (or told) he won't have to split  playing time. He had to split time with Albin Boija in Maine. When Boija was on his game, he was better than Rousseau (4 shutouts, 2 decent games at Denver, etc). But when Boija was off it was gross.
     An athlete entering the portal because he wants a better education? That would be refreshing. He has an amazing opportunity presented to him now: start for Cornell hockey and possibly graduate with Ivy League degree. Win-win.
      Amazing how placated I feel getting Rousseau even after comparing game by game stats to Cournoyer. It was our best (and probably only) option and Casey got it done. Hats off to him. He came to Cornell with impossible shoes to fill. Did great job in season 1 but now has lost top goaltender, forward and one of top defensemen before their senior year.

I think some of it has to do with the fact that Cornell actually wants him to attend class.

So we are "stuck" with Erick Roest as our goalie unless we "tamper"
With another team's goalie and lure them to Ithaca. So let's make sure Roest sees
The least amount of shots and shore up the defense. Hoyt bailing doesn't help. But possibly we can find something amazing in the portal. If not then we have to score a lot.
We have been very fortunate in goal for awhile. Galadja, Shane, Cournoyer/Koepple. Too bad Jack O'Brien is graduating. He's bailed us out playing different positions. I'd put him in goalie pads and give him a crack

I also have looked at stats of our 2 current goalies trying to find a shimmer of hope. I know stats really don't mean anything at all when it involves kids. Neither Roest or Katz have much to get excited about. However I looked at Ian Shane's stats pre-Cornell and I would have said he would have been lucky to dress for Cornell. Good thing I'm not in charge.

So hypothetically: CEO of widget factory ponies up $50k for Cournoyer for the 2026-27 season. It has to be completely "buyer beware". He might play awful...Casey has to bench him. Or maybe he gets in trouble with the law, and widget boss has to pony up to DA to slap him in the wrist (happens a lot in major college football schools). Or maybe he plays very well, and towards end of season he doesn't want to risk injury so he can get even more $$ next offseason. So he has phantom injury in ECAC tournament . He will need an agent to field all the offers...right now everyone is a free agent every year.

Quote from: BearLover on April 15, 2026, 03:22:05 PM

Quote from: adamw on April 15, 2026, 02:48:00 PMI don't think the problem will be getting the money. I think the issue will be how to distribute the money in such a way that flies by Cornell/Ivy/NCAA rules.  NIL is not a pay-for-play bucket. (and yes I know many teams get around this - but ... Ivy)

Quote from: stereax on April 15, 2026, 02:26:03 PM

Quote from: BearLover on April 15, 2026, 02:22:38 PM

Quote from: stereax on April 15, 2026, 02:15:57 PM

Quote from: BearLover on April 15, 2026, 02:15:19 PMIt's better to launch an NIL collective than to not have one at all, but most teams have one, including Brown, and the mere existence of one doesn't really mean anything. What matters is whether rich donors are pumping money into it.

Sure... but I suspect there will be money pumped once word gets out.

Judging by the number of schools who have an NIL collective but no NIL money, I'm doubtful. It's good that this exists, but it doesn't change the reality of needing to find rich folks to start heavily contributing. Sounds hard to accomplish in practice. But if anyone here is rich and/or knows rich people who care about Cornell sports, now is your chance!

The thing is, Cornell has a lot of pretty rich alumni, many of whom like Cornell hockey. Hell, didn't Gary Fucking Bettman donate to renovate Lynah? I'm sure people will be found.

It's one thing to get a one-time donation from Gary Bettman to contribute towards renovating Lynah, but it's quite another thing to convince Gary Bettman to donate tens of thousands of dollars every season to paying Cornell players. I imagine Gary Bettman spends little to no time thinking about Cornell Hockey.

That's problem #1: finding rich people willing to contribute continuously without donor fatigue.

Problem #2 is satisfying Ivy and NCAA rules regarding legitimate NIL. All payments over $600 are subject to NIL clearinghouse approval that the payment is for a "valid business purpose" commensurate with the payout. The Ivy rules against pay-for-play are probably even more onerous. The Ivies must approve any that any NIL deal above $2,000, and I'm sure they'll be looking at these harder than the clearinghouse.

Problem #3 is coordination. Here again the Ivy League has gotten in the way: "The eight Ivy athletic departments will begin signing attestations of independence for payments to athletes over $2,000 for an athlete's name, image, and likeness. An attestation of independence, in this context, is a signed document that claims that a NIL deal with an outside donor was not brokered by the signing institution's athletic department in any way." So it seems the Cornell athletic department and coaches can't "broker" NIL deals. It's not entire clear what "broker" means - can Casey hook a Cornell player up with a finance CEO, who herself brokers a deal? Or would any involvement by Casey whatsoever run afoul of this rule?

Hypothetical: we need to pay Cournoyer $50,000 to stay. To pass all the above tests, we'd need an extremely rich donor  devoted to Cornell hockey. That donor would need to arrange some type of deal with Cournoyer that pays him $50,000 in exchange for $50,000 worth of services (legitimate NIL). And all this must be arranged without Casey's involvement. Each of these three steps seems like a very big hurdle to me.

Is this $50,000/season or once?

   We are trying to do things the right way. Hopefully all the blue blood schools are on the "up and up" also. We are always in a fist fight but we wear handcuffs.
   Pretty soon the usher at Lynah will be passing a plate  down the rows like church.

    Maybe Cournoyer had no intention of entering...but possibly he was contacted (is "tampering" still a naughty word?)in the last few days with an offer he couldn't refuse?
    Probably won't be popular on here, but we entered this season nervous about goalie situation after Ian Shane left. Cournoyer was good for a freshman no doubt. But Keopple (who is considered mediocre?) played just as well. Personally I didn't care who started by the end of the season, I felt confident. I don't study stats so maybe Cournoyer was statistically better. Is Cournoyer replaceable? Shore up the defense and don't let teams shoot! It's worked for how many years?
    I enjoy rooting for the players and the team winning while in Cornell. Makes it hard if roster turns over year after year. The "core" players actually are the glue and main component. Casey is known as great recruiter and I have faith in him.
    I couldn't make an account on here for years or I would have been all over the Ben Robertson situation. I was a huge fan and really thought his ceiling was high.

I've been enjoying looking at the transfer portal and seeing only Winter Wallace for Cornell while all these other schools get pillaged. Cournoyer going changes all that. Definitely didn't see him leaving, especially as a freshman. If we start to become a "farm team" for the likes of Denver, North Dakota, Michigan, etc....I won't be able to stomach it.
     Ben Robertson leaving last year hit me hard. His sophomore season wasn't as amazing as he expected (like Castagna...he couldn't buy a break last year). Not sure if Robertson had a decent "net gain" by leaving Cornell. He gets more rides in airplanes, probably more $$ in his pocket, and ??. He's a first line D man here.

     I never played hockey so I'm not an expert. When Bancroft left Cornell as a junior to go pro, I was kind of surprised. The kid was a sniper and had a hard shot, but was he well rounded enough to turn pro and have legit chance? He seems to be getting more playing time with his new team so maybe this is breakthrough he needed?
     To me, Walsh and Castagna bring much more. Both are better defensively, better on face offs, quicker, etc. I think with Walsh wearing the "C" it made him a little too unselfish at times this season. He's very talented and I think there were a few times he could have "taken over" more than he did.
     Anyway, in my head: "if Bancroft went pro, then surely Walsh and Castagna will go". Would be interested in hearing thoughts from people with more
Knowledge about this.

Natyshak: O'Brien
Macfarlane: Major
Gage: Keoppel
Shippel: Castagna...given 110% effort every shift I've seen in 3 years. As scrappy as they come
Schafer: Walsh
Oates: Syer
Dadswell: Ryan
Nieuwendyk: Castagna

     Every time I get disappointed, I have to remind myself that we are kind of playing with house money. We dressed 7+ freshman every game including a goalie. We have a new coaching staff (Casey's first solo year in Cornell). I think everyone would have taken 22 wins back in October. They had us all thinking great things late January...which turns out to be unfair. I think this team ca beat anyone when we bring out A+ game. But anything less that A+ won't get it done as young as we are.
    I wanted to beat Denver because nobody really gave us a chance. Not much talk of an upset or "we are a dangerous team".  Ugh to that now.
     I know he's not elite like Walsh or Castagna, but Jack O'Brien was solid this season. Very few mistakes, didn't seem like he took any bad penalties, and just a solid gritty defenseman. Really came to appreciate him
     

    I think we did peak too early. Too many nights we didn't play well from February 7 until last night. Loss to Clarkson, tie RPI, ugly loss to Union, bad loss at Princeton, got suckered into a bar fight vs Clarkson, game 1 vs Harvard wasn't a good look, Princeton, culminating in Denver. I was starting to think that maybe we don't like playing on Fridays.
     Every year when the last game is over, I think "how are we ever going to win again without x senior?". Obviously that is changing with the addition of transfer portal and players going pro earlier so I have to worry about underclassmen. But every year we seem to figure it out. We need suffocating defensemen that play consistent and limit the mistakes.