Humbling Weekend

[ninian '72]

Well said, Ari.  The poster sounds like someone from that other Big Red.  Reminds me of my Nebraska in-laws back in the Osbourne era when the Huskers played mostly junior college teams and then thought the sky was falling when they couldn't score 70 points against ranked teams.

To add a little perspective, a few excerpts from the MSU student rag on the weekend series:

"'It was very hard fought," MSU head coach Rick Comley said. "Our kids showed a lot of character and played their hearts out the whole weekend.'

"On Sunday, it was much the same, as both Vicari and Cornell goaltender David McKee were nearly impenetrable. Both goalies stood on their heads throughout much of the contest.

"Both goalies once again put on a show, as McKee stoned MSU junior forward David Booth several times and Vicari stopped everybody in red. The play of McKee, who came into the game with a 1.02 goals-against average, forced Vicari and the team to take its game to another level.

"'He's a great goalie," Vicari said. "We knew we had to come out and get good, quality scoring chances early.'

"'(He) was really good at the end," Comley said of Vicari. "They got some shots on him and he was there when we needed him the most."

"MSU will now look toward No. 2 Michigan for a two-game set starting Thursday at Munn."

I'll be very curious to see how MSU does against Michigan this weekend.  It will be a real test for MSU, and -- coming so soon after the Cornell series -- should be a good indicator of how well Cornell runs with the big dogs.  The Vicari/Montoya competition should be fun.  Stay tuned...

[Pete Godenschwager]

Well, Cornell held on to #8 in the INCH power rankings.  Although, when they seem to care more about Sideshow Mel than anything Cornell did on the ice, I'm not sure how seriously they can be taken.

[JohnnieAg\'99]

[Q]billhoward Wrote:Point was: It's all about peaking at the end of the season. [/q]
So, you can "underachieve" [maybe even for for three years], but do well in the playoffs, win two titles, and claim a good degree of success?  Who does that sound like?  ::twitch::

[kaelistus]

I don't know about you, but I'll take Sucks's last 3 years every three years. Cornell did have slightly more success, but not by much.

[Will]

[Q]Pete Godenschwager Wrote:

 Well, Cornell held on to #8 in the INCH power rankings.  Although, when they seem to care more about Sideshow Mel than anything Cornell did on the ice, I'm not sure how seriously they can be taken.[/q]

I don't think anyone takes the INCH Power Rankings very seriously.  In 02-03, didn't they have Ferris State at #2 or so right until the NCAA Tournament?  Sure, they were having a good season, but not that good a season.

The only polls that we should care about are the USCHO and USA Today polls.  And, as we all know, the polls don't matter.

[billhoward]

[Q]JohnnieAg'99 Wrote:

 [Q2]billhoward Wrote:Point was: It's all about peaking at the end of the season. [/Q]
So, you can "underachieve" , but do well in the playoffs, win two titles, and claim a good degree of success?  Who does that sound like?   [/q]

It sounds like my undergraduate days. If you do poorly at the outset, the professor is always impressed by the progress you made later on. This worked well at least in the liberal arts where there is never only one correct answer.

[billhoward]

Through iterations and learning from mistakes, the power rankings get better over time. And it's fun to play what if. Problem is, game to game variability is still worth a couple goals a game, more than all the fine tuning you can do.

In baseball, we're seeing savvier statistics the past couple years. Turns out batting average isn't maybe the best way to rank ballplayers.

[Josh '99]

[Q]JohnnieAg'99 Wrote:
So, you can "underachieve" , but do well in the playoffs, win two titles, and claim a good degree of success?  Who does that sound like?   [/q]The Florida Marlins?   ::screwy::

[KeithK]

Not sure I totally agree about how good MSU was (the comparison with BC, UNH).  But they are definitely a good team and certainly outplayed us this weekend.  it's (by far) not the end of the world.  There's a lot of hockey left to be played this season.

[Jim Hyla]

[Q]Scersk '97 Wrote:  Back in the old days (cue Victrola playing 78s) Cornell wasn't expected to win the ECAC every year.    Need I mention 1992-93?[/q]Well, you could mention that, but some of us wouldn't consider it the "old days". ::nut::

In fact, back in the old, old days, CU was expected to win the ECAC every year, and then some. :-)

My take on the last 10 years is that they are the closest to the old, old days as we could expect them to be. My only real disappointment was last year's quarter-finals.:`(