Elliot/Burt/Underhill vs. Today

[DL]

I didn't get drawn into Big Red Hockey until my last days on the Hill, when the guys swept the crap out of Colgate in 96.  Followed the team for a few years, until moving out of Boston and so have no way to compare how the goalies and the game of that era compare to the current one.  

Surely it's a combination of an evolution of the Schafer system and better players, or is it?

Any insight from those of you more knowledgeable about college hockey than I (i.e., pretty much all of you)?

[Greg Berge]

That era isn't so far removed from today.  Roughly the same league strength and opponents.  A comparison of goalies through last year is offered here: http://www.tbrw.info/players/rptGoalieCareer.html

Span GAA  SvPct  Sh/60
92-95 3.70 .893 34.5 Bandurski
93-96 3.98 .873 31.1 Skazyk
95-98 2.89 .910 32.0 Elliott
98-01 2.73 .901 27.5 Burt
99-02 2.32 .913 26.6 Underhill
02-03 1.29 .938 21.0 LeNeveu
04-05 1.84 .920 22.9 McKee

The most interesting stat there is Sh/60 -- shots per 60 mins.  The dropoff is directly the result of Schafer building the Defense from Hell.  It's really squeezed off the number of shots the Cornell goalie has to face.  Sv% shows to some extent an improvement in goaltending but also the further effect that the quality of opposing shots is dropping off -- higher percentage second shots off rebounds are eliminated as the Dmen clear out the front.

[DL]

So what exactly has been improved on the D?

[Greg Berge]

Size, conditioning, positional play, adherence to the scheme, quality of the recruits... in a word, everything.