Dartmouth @ Cornell -Post Game Comments 11/11/06

A-ron · November 13, 2006, 02:32:05 AM

I felt that the loss was almost made up for when the Dartmouth fans held up their "D" flag upside down after the second goal. Following the "upside down" chant I heard someone yell out "your Ivy standing has been revoked!" Oh wait, that was me. The improperly held flag was akin to the improperly ordered "U" "N" and "H" letters at the frozen four (at least I think that was the frozen four...losses to UNH in the NCAAs seem to happen more and more frequently).

By the way, who was on the power play in the second period who got the puck with the entire right half of the net open and sat there with it for a good two seconds before realizing he had no shot and had to pass it back to the blue line? That happened way too frequently on the power play and we need to just let those rip. (I think it was about midway through the second period and it would have been one of our guys who plays the right side)

ebilmes · November 13, 2006, 09:23:56 AM

[quote A-ron]The improperly held flag was akin to the improperly ordered "U" "N" and "H" letters at the frozen four (at least I think that was the frozen four...losses to UNH in the NCAAs seem to happen more and more frequently).[/quote]

I believe this was the round of 8 in Worcester in 2002.

French Rage · November 13, 2006, 01:27:38 PM

Isn't an upside-down D still a D?

Will · November 13, 2006, 02:05:40 PM

[quote French Rage]Isn't an upside-down D still a D?[/quote]

"Upside-down! Upside-down! Upside-down!" makes for a better cheer than "Rotated 180 degrees! Rotated 180 degrees! Rotated 180 degrees!"

calgARI '07 · November 13, 2006, 02:14:50 PM

[quote plrd78]Another thing Ari has never laced up a pair of skates...His comments are a joke...There is back up to wahta he says about some of the Freshman..[/quote]

Neither has Ken Hitchcock or Jay Feaster. Also, I played hockey for five or six years. Thanks for comin'out buddy.

Trotsky · November 13, 2006, 04:21:16 PM

[quote scoop85]Considering how we were generally concerned about defense/goaltending heading into the season, the fact that we are angst is focused upon the offense is probably a good thing.

The power play is the big issue right now, but I'm confident Coach will get it straightened out.

I don't think we could be any happier with Davenport right how. He looks rock-solid.[/quote]

Yep, he really looked good against Harvard -- he certainly kept Cornell in that game. Against Dartmouth, he was fine when tested. And it isn't as if you can hold an ENG against him. :-P

The pp needs to be much more aggressive. But we've seen this whenever a staff is rotating guys through trying to find the right combination. One thing someone close to the program pointed out over the weekend is that Greening has a heavy shot which is wasted when he's planted out in front. Also, I'm not sure he has the quick hands you need to scoop in the garbage. This is a place where Cornell is clearly hurt by not having the usual quota of immovable behemoths. Short of fidning Shane Hynes and putting him back out there, I'm not really sure what Mike can do about it.

Trotsky · November 13, 2006, 04:25:24 PM

[quote ebilmes][quote Rita]At this point in the season to be 5-1 with 2 solid road wins and a come from behind win with ~5 minutes left is very good.[/quote]

Against Sucks, no less! I agree with everyone who says we are doing a lot better than expected. It's still early in the season, and our teams have really started to play well after Winter Break the past couple years, so I am very pleased with where we are so far.[/quote]

The Saturday performance was, IMHO, a great sign. They put everything out on the ice Friday and could have mailed it in. Instead, they fought a tough game, got zero breaks through the first 59 minutes, and still came within a goal, a missed penalty shot, and a eyelash of tying a very good Dartmouth team.

Underclass-dominated teams tend to struggle early. 5-1 sho' aint struggling. This coming weekend looks like the ridiculous (Princeton) and the sublime (Q). A 2-point weekend or better positions the Red very well in conference.

And, perhaps least important but still... this group is fun to watch! ::popcorn::

Jacob '06 · November 13, 2006, 04:28:12 PM

Its kind of tricky b/c Topher seems to be the best person on the team at picking up the garbage goals in front of the net, but hes too small to be the screen man on the pp. He also seems to have well established his role as the set-up man in the corner. We need to distrubute the puck among the guys down low a lot more, and try and string more than one pass in a row without pausing.

redhair34 · November 13, 2006, 04:31:18 PM

[quote Trotsky]This is a place where Cornell is clearly hurt by not having the usual quota of immovable behemoths. Short of fidning Shane Hynes and putting him back out there, I'm not really sure what Mike can do about it.[/quote]

I think Sawada has performed very well in this role on the "second" unit. Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing Mugford in front for the first unit. He's probably the toughest most fearless guy on the team, which means he'd be willing to take all kinds of punishment in front of the net to set up screens, and IMO he has pretty decent (read: underrated) hands. But, perhaps he's not all that skilled at deflecting/redirecting or coach doesn't want to wear him out (already on the pk and the line that sees the most 5x5 time).

A-ron · November 13, 2006, 07:54:57 PM

I knew something seemed wrong about "upside-down" and it didn't hit me until you just mentioned it...

Now if only I could go down to Florida this year to cheer for UHN...

Chris '03 · November 13, 2006, 10:50:09 PM

It seems the general consensus is that the team played well on Saturday but couldn't get any breaks. Am I the only one who disagrees?

Sure they outshot DC, but it's not like the Green were playing particularly well. The second half of the game was sloppy on all sides. Devine made a couple of good saves to hold the lead, but it's not as if he stood on his head.

I came away thinking Cornell was spent after Friday, Dartmouth was beatable and both teams played sloppy hockey.

The three Red players who impresed me most were Nash, Krueger, and Scott. They play Nash made on the two on one was amazing.

calgARI '07 · November 13, 2006, 11:11:50 PM

[quote Chris '03]It seems the general consensus is that the team played well on Saturday but couldn't get any breaks. Am I the only one who disagrees?

Sure they outshot DC, but it's not like the Green were playing particularly well. The second half of the game was sloppy on all sides. Devine made a couple of good saves to hold the lead, but it's not as if he stood on his head.

I came away thinking Cornell was spent after Friday, Dartmouth was beatable and both teams played sloppy hockey.

The three Red players who impresed me most were Nash, Krueger, and Scott. They play Nash made on the two on one was amazing.[/quote]

Agree in that they didn't play as well as many seem to think. They got shots but the good chances were about even. Biggest issue for me is that they didn't play with enough urgency in the offensive zone and there wasn't enough crashing the net and paying the price. When they finally did play that way, they scored two goals in 23 seconds.

Additionally, they didn't set the tone physically which is a necessity on home ice particularly against a bigger team in Dartmouth.

Nash has struggled badly on the defensive side of things and has been decent offensively. His skating and quickness need a lot of work as he was getting caught way too much. Krueger has improved but has not seen the ice a whole lot. Scott was possibly their best player this weekend.

RazzBaronZ · November 13, 2006, 11:50:14 PM

I agree with you, Chris '03. Look up towards the top.

We didn't deserve to win on Saturday.

jtwcornell91 · November 14, 2006, 09:13:16 AM

[quote las224]LOVED Devine trying to fake out the remote control goalie. Too bad he didn't do that earlier, or we might have gotten 3 instead of 2. On another cheering note, my sign was taken away apparently because the Dartmouth coaches complained.[/quote]

That's brilliant. Maybe if Gaudet is so concerned about sportsmanship, he should try teaching his players to salute their OWN fans after a big win on the road, instead of taunting the other team's. ::cuss::

Trotsky · November 14, 2006, 09:39:03 AM

[quote redhair34]Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing Mugford in front for the first unit. He's probably the toughest most fearless guy on the team, which means he'd be willing to take all kinds of punishment in front of the net to set up screens[/quote]
Worth a shot. He certainly does not suffer abuse gladly -- people might be kinda afraid to muscle him out. ::starwars::