ELynah Forum

We will all again be basking in the surreal aura that is CORNELL BIG RED HOCKEY.  Nothing unites Cornellians (except for maybe dunbars,which has DEFINITLY inspired this post right now) more than the hallowed grounds of Lynah rink... an adrenaline rush like no there.  This is our place on earth.

One day a naive "facetimer" comes to his first game.  Opponents for the today: crimson of harvard. Just his luck, he has stepped right into a bloodboath.  THe crowd shows up (on time), makes noise, and are in some way bonded to each through a frentic lunacy best known to the lynah faithful.  We are in the zone.  This, as his first game, has him instantly mesmerized by the passion, LOUDNESS, intensity, energy and SPIRIT in our holy battleground.  For this is where we do WAR, the Cornell faithful come prepared, with jerseys, signs, COWBELLS, shirts, hats, newspapers, video cameras, PEP BANDS, and the most, raucous, witty, and create the most electrified feeling in all of sports.  Ken Dryden used to skate down there... so did Joey-N, Dan Lodboa, Brock Tredway, and hundreds of legends passed.  

Paying no regard for his real "seat" the facetimer is making his presence felt ON the ice and in the stands.  The Lynah Faithful CAN change the outcome of a game.  In fact, in this game, they just willed a fresh-legged Mike Kennedy off the bench and into a rush...3rd period, Cornell down by 1 to its arch rival at home... clock running down... he dekes, the chrow is already on its feet, deaf with anticipation... Now only one man to beat... Richter steps out... Kennedy makes his move, shoots...

Cornell Hockey has been the one constant in my four years here.  Good week or bad week, in Ithaca or on the road, looking forward to Friday and Saturday night hockey is part of what made these the best four years of my life.  

I really thought the 04-05 team had a chance to win it all, and my sophomore year I saw us come one Dan Glover crossbar shot away from a frozen four- I guess I am now just another member of the Alumni faithful who were hopeful of a national championship.  

I wanted to thank the good people around Cornell Hockey, you guys (and others), for making this so much fun.  Your passion, energy, and commitment is contagious and I am grateful for all the memories- I hope to become as dedicated of an alumnus.

Let's Go Red.

Until major changes are made on the powerplay.  1-12 this weekend against some very pedestrian PK efforts is main reason we come home with 1 point.  To make things worse, the one goal came on a Clarkson miscue 5x3 which led to a Clarkson defender out of position and screening Potter.  

Krantz has the hardest slapshot on the team, I'd like to see him use it.  I'd  like to see Seminoff take advantage of his hockey sense out there and be given an opportunity to quarterback a unit.  I  can also think of about 5 players I'd like to see OFF the powerplay, I was glad to see Schafer give Fontas and Mugford a chance towards the end of the game yesterday... while I don't think that is the answer, at least it sends a message and means a change is in the works.  

I think this team needs to break the mold of simply setting up a cycling umbrella to the point man for the big one timer.  Doug Murray, Charlie Cook, and Ryan O'Byrne are all gone... 1-12 simply won't get it done.

game worns available for purchase

Pretty embarrassing performance tonight.  UQTR was definitely a better team than I expected, although there is absolutely no reason why we couldn't have won that game by 3 or more goals.  In fact, I only counted 3 quality scoring chances for us all game.  These guys were definitely a bush-league team, shooting after the whistle, looking for fights at every opportunity.  It is pretty clear that they play a different brand of hockey than the NCAA would allow.  On one hand I think that is a good thing for things to get physical, we played passionless hockey for nearly all 60 minutes of the game.  Although on the hand, all of the scuffs, especially those in the third period, really seemed to kill our momentum.  Many of us were wondering why Schafer didn't take a timeout late in the third and I'm guessing this is the reason why.

The lines posted in the other thread were what we opened the game with in the first period, and didn't seem to chance much over the game.  Devin and Nichols seemed to be splitting time with Scali/Mugford.

Both power play units failed to generate any chances.  I was pretty surprised to see Barlow running the point of the first unit.  The second unit I thought was a little bit better, although I really doubt we will see a unit of 3 freshmen and 2 sophomores in the regular season.  Our first PK unit (Mugford, Scali, Krantz, Berk/Davenport/Krueger) seemed fine, although the second unit (Barlow, Kennedy, Seminoff, Krantz) I thought left a lot more open lanes and against a more skilled team could have easily given up a few scoring chances.  It will be interesting to see how these lines change on Sunday.

Defensive pairings seemed to change a bit throughout the game.  For the majority of the game it was Devin/Krantz, Berk/Krueger and Davenport/Seminoff, although Johnston got a couple early shifts in with Seminoff and Berk.  It will be interesting to see how these lines change on Sunday.

Scrivens was solid in net, although I think UQTR only had one scoring opportunity, in the third period their center missed a wide open net during a 5 on 3.  Of all our forwards, I thought Greening was far and away the most involved, he played some great hockey.  As usual, Seminoff was impressive on defense and was not afraid to give up his body for blocked shot or pass.  Mike Devin continues to impress me; this guy plays a smart, physical brand of hockey and seems to have great hockey sense.  He has a hard, low shot and isn't afraid to take the one-timer.  On the other hand, his classmate Nash looked lost for the first 2 periods of the game... although he did show some flashes of his great stick handling in the third.  

One of the many things this team is going to have to work on this week is winning faceoffs- who would have thought that Mugford would be our best faceoff man on the evening.

The crowd seemed surprisingly quiet... even for an exhibition game.  Section B was content to sit on their hands for the game, and even when a select few of us did start cheers; people were hesitant to join in and seemed impartial as to the outcome of the game.

So on the eve of the first day of classes, I thought I'd post a few thoughts on the upcoming season:

Keys:
1)   Special teams.  I think this will be the single most important aspect of the season.  If the PP and PK can return to the form we have come to expect in recent years, it is hard to believe this team won't be successful.
2)   Maintaining intensity.  Hockey is a game where passion is often more important than skill, and has been an area where Cornell has typical thrived, we all know about the teams extraordinary record when leading going into the 3rd under Schafer, however last years team didn't have the same killer instinct.  Hopefully the team can develop a strong identity under the new captains.
3)   Winning out of conference games.  Sure, ECAC games may mean more in the standings, but OOC games often have much stronger affects in the PWR come tournament time.  As usual, many on this board are disappointed at the relatively low strength of schedule, however none of this matters if we can't beat teams like Sacred Heart, Wayne State, Niagara, etc...

3 Things not to worry about:
1) Goaltending.  We all love to talk about goaltending because it is the most individual position on such a team sport.  I think we can expect solid but unspectacular goaltending from Davenport this year, which will be more than enough.  All you can ever expect from a goaltender is to put you in position to win the game.  Regardless, I don't think the individual performance of Davenport or Scrivens will substantially affect the team.
2) 5 on 5 defense.  After graduating only Glover and Salmela, I expect the blue liners to be consistent in their own end and contribute on offense as well.
3) Depth.  This team will thrive late in games where we can legitimately skate all 4 lines without a major production let down.  Even without significant contributions from the freshmen class, this team will be as deep as they are talented


3 games I have circled on my calendar:
11/17 at Dartmouth
11/24 BU
1/20 Clarkso

I heard from a fairly reliable source that the ticket procedure will be somewhat similar to last year.  In other words, some type of pre-registering, a preference given to seniors, and of course, a campout in Bartels.  I think the Lynah stampede of two years ago has them hesitant to go back to any type of mass distribution.

Not like anyone REALLY cares, but...


http://www.uscho.com/news/id,14097/ECACHLUnveilsNewLogoNewBrandName.html

Wow... great game, I am FIRED UP about Cornell hockey right now.  Team played all 60 minutes huge win against a top opponent.

Pros: Greening played fabulous, is quietly starting to become one of the team's best players.  First power play was great, PK was very good also.  Best performance from a goaltender we've had this season, phenomenal game by Davenport.  Great hustle and drive from everyone all around, they knew they needed this win.

Cons: That being said, too many turnovers in our own end.  Bitz slow with the puck, glad to see him off the point on the PP.  After our first PP, the rest seemed to go downhill.

I can't wait until tomorrow nights game; this is going to be our first 4 point weekend in a long time.

What is the best way to get tickets for the games in estero over new years?  Thanks.

I saw Alec Richards was involved...

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=2614269

Has anyboyd gotten the SLU net radio to work so far?

For all students, grades have just been posted on bear access... good luck!