Cornell vs Princeton, ECAC SF, 3/20/26

[Jeff Hopkins '82]

With Dartmouth winning, Wisconsin is now locked in at #12.

weren't they locked - oh you mean locked into a NCAA berth right?

Yes.  They could have been eliminated from the tourney if both Princeton and OSU won.

[stereax]

A travelogue in snapshots:

Pickled Pig after the Cornell loss. Met a very nice, very drunk Clarkson fan. Bless his heart. Barbecue chicken sandwich was delicious. Yes, that is an entire pitcher of 50/50 iced tea/lemonade. You will soon see this is a constant.



Good morning, Saturday! Hotel brunch (avoiding eggs and milk, hooray). I missed having a real brunch buffet like this - wish there were a place in Ithaca that did one. In either case, I went back for seconds. Pancakes and French toast were amazing, the bacon was crispy and wonderful, and the home fries were delicious, even in the maple syrup.



Next stop - the Penalty Box Arcade! Apparently, Trots and Anne were there last year when it opened and made friends with the owner, who was one of the first Union women's hockey players and a tri-captain of the team! She remembered them fondly and we had a great chat about college hockey. Fun as hell - we played a few rounds of air hockey and I dominated, then we lost at some of the other arcade games. If I'm ever back at LP, it's a must-visit. (Also, the pin board, where Anne traded one of her Cornell pins for a Penalty Box Arcade pin and they placed it right in the center!)





City snaps, round 1.



We stopped by the leather store for Trots's wellbeing. This fluffy pup was $395...



Raccoon t-shirt alert!!! Super cute, until I checked the price tag...



Several hockey stores in LP, but I think the NHL one is my favorite. Got some more pins here



Things you love to see:



City snaps, part 2:



DOG SLED!!! DOG SLED ALERT!!! We spent a solid 10 minutes just looking at the dogs :')






A winter clothing shop had this BEAUTIFUL print of Lake Placid. The owner had no idea where to get a copy, sadly!



City snaps, part 3:



The candy store where Trots picked up some root beer float Mike and Ikes. Learned that I do not like root beer float flavor. We visited a chocolate store later where I dropped $60 on chocolate. In my defense, who knows if and when I'll be back?



City snaps, part 4:




The bookstore! Both Trots and I got some awesome old-stamp bookmarks here. In Trots's words, after I showed him mine (one with Polish bee stamps and the other with USSR space program stamps), "Show me where the cool shit is!" They have a great selection of hockey books too!




The Critters store. Was hoping I'd find some regional stuffed animal to take home, but they only really had mass-produced Aurora stuff. Still a nice store!




Definitely could get used to seeing this.



By this point, we're wandering and looking for a meal. We end up in the pizzeria and order mozzarella sticks and... poutine? Weird but true. Definitely not a "standard" poutine, as it has I think mozzarella cheese instead of cheese curds, plus the waffle fries. Fucking delicious though. Absolutely would order again. (Ignore the screams of Veilleux, Cournoyer, and every other French Canadian - and probably Canadian in general - we've ever had on the team.)



After poutine, we're all feeling the nappies, but the game's an hour or so away! So off we go - I split off to catch warmups while Anne and Trots take some of our stuff back (notably the food). Pregame snaps:









This little butterfly is Estephania - or just Estie. For context, I'm deathly camera-shy (in part because I am also, in common parlance, a 2 and aware of it) and would rather take a Luke Ashton slapshot to the ribs than take a selfie on most occasions. So when I travel, I often take pictures of Estie to send to my friends as a "hey, I was here" kind of thing. It helps that she's teeny and thus some of the pictures are hysterical.



Warmies!





The little kid in the Cornell jersey... wah...



Kids for the starting lineups!




Pregame huddles!




Let's play!



OVERTIME?!?



Dartmouth wins in OT!





After the game, we headed down to one of the fancier restaurants. You know the type, the ones where you see maybe 3 things on the entire menu you're okay with eating. I grabbed the tortellini. Good, but I once again am reminded why I don't go to fancy places. I'm too out of my depth there.



City snaps, part... 5?




So Trots wanted to get a sixpack of the local black cherry soda. The waiter at the restaurant told us point-blank to just go to Stewart's because they'd charge us $5 a bottle at the restaurant. And so we trekked down to Stewart's. One of my friends recommended I get the ice cream, but considering all the crap I'd eaten that day, I passed. But I did take a picture of it. (For his part, Trots grabbed cream soda at Stewart's. And downed two of them that night.)



More Estie in the morning at the hotel room. (And a bunny!)





Hotel snaps!




On the way home, Andy and his wife and I stopped by a pizza place in Watertown to stretch our legs and grab a bite. $3.50 for a GIANT slice. Jeez.



So... yeah! Placid adventures!

I miss it already, honestly. Man. Next year... well, we'll see if we make it next year and if I can make it up for it :') but just... good food and great views and even better company. What more can you ask for?

[stereax]

Nick Karski, on the Faithful's trip to Placid.

[ugarte]

... Yes, that is an entire pitcher of 50/50 iced tea/lemonade. You will soon see this is a constant...

https://x.com/DeputyWarlock/status/1616218065397583872