Cornell at Colgate postgame

[billhoward]

Not for lack of shots on goal (36) did we lose 4-2 at Colgate including the ENG.

First time ever for Schafer to go without winning over 7 games (0-5-2).

If critics such as Ari going to keep on Bitz for leadership issues, his penalty with 2 minutes left was not very captain-like.

Goaltending seems more unsettled than ever. If Davenport has as much upside as McKee, he's showing a bit more downside. I don't think McKee got the hook after seeing just six shots.

This is going to be one hell of a comeback in the next six weeks.

[redheadfanatic]

Definately not lack of shots.  41-13.
I think Topher definately played better than he has been playing lately.
If only the numbers that really matter had been in our favour as well.

[ebilmes]

Seemed like Davenport put us in a tough position by letting in 2 on only 6 shots. Scrivens made some big saves, especially one on a breakaway, to keep us in the game. Unfortunately, this might start up the starting goalie discussion again.

Lots of shots, but not enough goals. Huge faceoff edge, too, for Cornell. Dekanich had a great night: 34 saves on 36 shots.

Whatever end-of-game chance we had was killed by Bitz's penalty. Absolutely stupid.

Hopefully Taylor Davenport will be able to play tomorrow. He was able to skate to the bench.

Penalty kill was back to embarrassing. Perhaps last weekend was a fluke.

[Dafatone]

We didn't look all that bad.  The first goal was somewhat of a defensive breakdown, the second was simply an amazing (or lucky) shot, and the third, well, Scrivens kinda fell on his ass and couldn't move over.

I can't begin to describe how badly I felt Bitz played.  The terrible penalty at the end aside, I thought he was our worst player out there.  He was slow, didn't use his size all that effectively, and handled the puck badly.  On the PP, he always takes about a half second to second before deciding what to do with the puck.  He also never takes more than this amount of time to pass or shoot.  Makes our PP fall into a very predictable rhythm.

Seminoff, as usual, was fantastic.  Well, until the penalty that led to the go ahead goal, but he still played very well.  Barlow needs to stop skating with the puck toward other players and then pass to them.  He should be making this pass from the start.  He sort of puckhandles with his head down, doing a great job of eluding defenders but getting nowhere in particular.  And our second PP line looked pretty useless.

Defense, all in all, played extremely well.

[Trotsky]

Had this game happened to the 02, 03, 05 or 06 team, we would have dismissed it as a game stolen by a hot goalie.  41-15 shots -- you're going to win 90% of those games.

But... although it was impossible to tell just from the radio call (especially Jason's, which aint cutting it after you are brought up listening to Grady), this felt like a loss pretty much all the way through.  Maybe I'm just getting worn out, but I have no confidence now that the team can take, retain or retake a lead... and those are the only three ways you win.

More and more this feels like one of those rare but depressing seasons when a team simply loses heart.  Although Mike is a notably great motivator, that did happen to the Schafer teams in 98 and 99.  (The good news is that the young players from those classes led this decade's resurgence.)

The other thing that strikingly reminds me of those teams is underwhelming goaltending.  Ian Burt was mediocre, and Matt Underhill was actually sub-mediocre his first two seasons.  Then, Matt blossomed and became a very solid goaltender behind the dominating defenses of 01 and 02.  Perhaps Davenport can, or perhaps Garman (though he so unfortunately sounds like "Gartman") will.  But as of today, I might trade goaltender corps with any team in the ECAC, and that's bad.

[evilnaturedrobot]

can't say I agree with the decision to pull davenport.  No, you never want to give up a bad angled shot, but if you watch the replay you'll see that davenport gave Mcintyre very little to shoot at and he hit the 2 or three inches above his left shoulder on the short side.  It wasn't unsaveable, but it wasn't soft either.

And while Scrivens did make two nice saves on the shorthanded breakaway, that third goal was just awful.  There's no excuse for loosing your balence before the shot even goes off.

It's going to be interesting to watch how Schafer rotates the netminders from here on out, because I think it's becoming clear that he has little faith in his #1.

[Dafatone]

I didn't like the move to bring in Scrivens.  I can't really blame him for that second goal, he basically forced McIntyre to make an incredible shot, and he did.

I also didn't like starting Scrivens against Brown, as I felt Davenport played well against Yale.  I don't really hold that second goal against him, just terrible luck.

[evilnaturedrobot]

the thing is that Davenport's looked shakey more times than not when he's come out of the net all year.  Sooner or later somthing bad was going to happen, maybe this convinces him to stay within the pipes.

Unless your a Brodeur, Turco, or Dipietroesque puck handler, you really can't be coming out of the net with two forecheckers in the near vicinity and your team down a man.

I have a much bigger problem with the decision to pull Troy tonight than the one to start Scrivens against Brown.

[Rita]

The goaltending situation does seem like a major "toss-up" as to who will start and how long the leash will be. I have been relying on the game write-ups (last game I heard/saw live was Maine), but it seems like the goalie/PK is a big problem.

I was really hoping that the PK would come together after the break and be an "anchor" for the team with respect to being a facet of the game that you can count on. It has often been said that your goalie needs to be your strongest penalty killer and he just can't give up bad goals, particularly in tight games.

Yes our PP is horrible, but if you can take care of things in your own end and 5v5, you should be able to survive with a horrid PP. However, we just haven't put enough pucks in the back of the net, 5v5 or PP and the offensive chemistry that we saw glimpses of early on this season apparently has a very short half-life.  

Scrivens was the 1st intermission radio guest and he mentioned how he hoped that the team had confidence in the goalie no matter who was in net. When it appears that Coach doesn't have confidence, I think that might put even more pressure on the D.

I certainly do not know what the answer is, but at this point I would like to see Coach go to a goalie rotation (one for Friday, and the other one gets Saturday, no matter what the outcome of the previous night's game) and the goalie of the night stays in for the whole game (pending injury or brutal shelling). I don't think either goalie can have a lot of "good vibes" at this point and maybe letting them know up front which game is "theirs" will help them focus and prepare and not have them being choked by a short leash.

It is becoming evident that this is indeed a "re-building year" and as such I would like to see Coach Schafer give the returning players some quality game experience, even if it means rotating the forwards (as well as the goalies).

This summer we  were pretty much resigned that this would be a tough year, but when you end 2006 with a 10-4-1 record, optimism for a very good 2nd half abounds. Not to say I think we should "cut bait" on this season, but maybe giving the young players a set opportunity to just "play" on given nights might help boost the confidence level.

Just my musings while waiting for sunset **].

[Jim Hyla]

[quote ebilmes]Hopefully Taylor Davenport will be able to play tomorrow. He was able to skate to the bench.[/quote]

He played later in the game, so I'd be surprised if he doesn't.

[Dafatone]

I thought our PK looked good tonight, believe it or not.  We had the first Colgate power play almost completely shut down... until they scored.  Seems like the story of every game that hasn't gone our way for the past few years.  We take all the shots, get all the chances, and lose.

[evilnaturedrobot]

The PK was awful on the 3rd goal, Colgate had complete control and you could just feel the momentum building 30-40 seconds before they actually scored.

[redhair34]

[quote evilnaturedrobot]The PK was awful on the 3rd goal, Colgate had complete control and you could just feel the momentum building 30-40 seconds before they actually scored.[/quote]

Yes.  I don't fault Scrivens for that third goal.

[Jim Hyla]

[quote evilnaturedrobot]can't say I agree with the decision to pull davenport. It's going to be interesting to watch how Schafer rotates the netminders from here on out, because I think it's becoming clear that he has little faith in his #1.[/quote]

You never know why a coach pulls a goal-tender. If you look at it, we certainly played as well if not better after the change. I certainly don't think Davenport could be blamed for the goals. Both PP and both good plays by them. Burton was left all alone at the side of the net, the only chance Davenport had was to stop the pass. McIntyre took an incredibly sharp angle shot. Davenport had the post covered and the shot was in a small triangle over his shoulder. That type of shot will go in against most goalies. It was Burton's 11^th goal and McIntyre's 6^th. So both are goal scorers. Our PK was the problem, not the goalies.

The team has to look at how well they played 5-5 or 4-4 and just keep trying.

But... although it was impossible to tell just from the radio call (especially Jason's, which aint cutting it after you are brought up listening to Grady), this felt like a loss pretty much all the way through.

I can't agree after watching in person. We dominated them except for our usual specials. The team never quit, right to the end. If we didn't have the Seminoff penalty, who knows?

The real test will be Sat., if they come to play we can beat 'gate and get Bertrand's monkey off our back. Then comes NC foes,so it could be interesting and a way to right our ship.

Look as I've said before, a top 4 ECAC finish and a chance to win in Albany is what we can expect. And yes, I'm pissed, after-all I've got Frozen Four tickets.

And I just watched a replay of Krantz's goal, give us an open shot and we can score, even against Dekanich.

[ebilmes]

[quote Jim Hyla][quote ebilmes]Hopefully Taylor Davenport will be able to play tomorrow. He was able to skate to the bench.[/quote]

He played later in the game, so I'd be surprised if he doesn't.[/quote]

Missed that. Thanks, Jim.