Thoughts of BU-CU & Beyond

[Jim Hyla]

Some thoughts on the weekend sweep.

First: WOW. Never in my wildest could I have expected this.

Second: I did not see the third period at Dartmouth, but Sunday's first period was the best I've seen in a long time. I was impressed that they came out that well after yesterdays win. It speaks well for the coaching.

Third:Sometimes even the best players try too hard. On the shorthanded goal, Murray was the culprit. He was trying too hard on the blueline to get into a scoring position. When they scored he was very visibly angry with himself. However, although it eliminated a shut-out, there was no better a time to learn from a mistake.

Fourth: I and some others around me, including a hockey parent, could not believe how often BU would take cheap shots. I never thought I'd see them act like Brown.

Finally: Will we get to hear, except those of you who might be there, about the exploits of our other goalies next weekend? After all, if LeNevue won't be around for Florida, and I assume the North Country trip, shouldn't they get some game experience?

And doubley finally:I already told him, but for those who can't hear him, and I hope those who can agree, Adam is doing a great job on the broadcasts and pregame show. I particularly like his coaches' interviews in the pregame. He asks some good questions about the game from each of them.

[Nate Oaks-Lee]

Jim Hyla '67 wrote:

Finally: Will we get to hear, except those of you who might be there, about the exploits of our other goalies next weekend? After all, if LeNevue won't be around for Florida, and I assume the North Country trip, shouldn't they get some game experience?

Is it definite that Lenny will be playing for the Canadian team or is he still contemplating it?

[melissa]

From what I understand, Lenny will be going to Nova Scotia shortly to participate in some pre- championship practices and red/ white scrimmages. After this, the roster is decided and those involved participate in the tourney a week or so later - am not 100%  certain about this tho.

[Ben Doyle 03]

Well played, well, coached, a great weekend up and down the roster!


Favorite fan moment of the weekend had to be at the end of Sunday's game when the Faithful began chanting "BC Rejects. . ." (note: This did NOT sit well with coach Parker and his boys, as many of them glared into the student sections). As much as Coach Parker would never admit, Lynah held true to its roots as one of (if not the) most difficult place for a visiting team to play college hockey. The atmosphere definitely played a role in the outcome of both games helping our guys and getting in the heads of the BU boys.


 Now it's off to Kalamazoo to kick some Bronco A#$!

[Mark]

Ben:

BC rejects (shudder)? Wow, that's harsh.

Maybe Kevin Bacon in "Diner" was right about you guys after all. B-]

I'm sure Coach Parker would be the first to admit that Lynah is a very tough place to play. As far as hostile arenas, when Maine is on a roll up at Alfond, that is another very tough place to play.

[bigred apple]

Jim Hyla wrote:
[Q]Finally: Will we get to hear, except those of you who might be there, about the exploits of our other goalies next weekend? After all, if LeNevue won't be around for Florida, and I assume the North Country trip, shouldn't they get some game experience? [/Q]  

I posted this (more or less) on another thread, but it is more fitting here (in a live thread):

If Schafer wants to rest Lenny before the Maine game, I'll understand.  However,  I don't agree that we need to give anyone any ice time before the Maine game. The Estero tournament is nice, but it is also a good opportunity to give one of the backups some ice time in case Lenny can't play an ECAC game (heaven forbid). We certainly don't need to field anything but our best team at any time until we have to.  Let Estero be where they get experience for the North Country trip.

[jason]

Boy, am I ever glad that I made the trip up this weekend! BU came out in the first game with a lot of pep and I thought that Cornell was back on their heels (BU having two quick power plays didn't help) but when Cornell scored their first goal they seemed to come alive. BU never again controlled the play, Saturday or Sunday. Going into Sunday I was nervous, figuring that Parker might have seen something, made an adjustment, and have his team exploit some weakness --but Cornell played Sunday even better than Saturday. Cornell's smart play and position displine was tremendous --Schafer was not out-coached by the Parker at all. To keep some perspective though, this was not the BU of the mid nineties --beating them doesn't make Cornell king of the hill. Nonetheless, it was a great performance against the Eastern team that for the last decade (at least in my mind) all other Eastern teams have been measured by.

Mark, thanks for your kind words on the other thread. I'll echo Felix's comment with this: my trip to Walter Brown Arena last year was one of the most pleasant experiences I've had as far as interacting with the opposition's fans; I had a few conversations with BU fans that were enjoyable and pleasant.

BTW, Age, I saw your "COWBLGUY" license plate first hand. I parked behind your car to make a quick run into the Turk Bro.'s store. I can only assume that you get asked by strangers all the time about it.

BTW#2, USCHO.com has on the front page a nice blurb (and elynah.com photo) about Cornell's performance this weekend.

[Josh '99]

Ben '03 wrote:

Favorite fan moment of the weekend had to be at the end of Sunday's game when the Faithful began chanting "BC Rejects. . ." (note: This did NOT sit well with coach Parker and his boys, as many of them glared into the student sections).

I noticed that too.  I have to imagine our guys would have the same reaction to that chant if you were to substitute a different Boston-area school.

[Ben Doyle 03]

Mark, Thank you for speaking so highly of our program. I would love to see this series become what it once was, it can only make for great memories.

The purpose of that cheer never intended to mean what it was saying, it was more-or-less to get in the heads of your guys. Yes, it's harsh. . .that's
the point. You have to understand that's why we're there and that's why Lynah is what it is. As far as I'm concerned it's all in good fun and what
goes on in the rink stays there (until we meet again. . . ;-) )

Coach Parker has been doing this way too long to count his boys out this early in the season. They will get it together and they will be fighting atop
HEA come the end of the season. With a little luck on both sides of the table maybe we'll meet up again in March(:-Pwith the same outcome:-P)
Good luck on the rest of your season.

p.s. Beat Maine!:-)

[Nick6742]

My brother is in the pep band at Maine and I have watched them play since the 80s.  Alfond is bigger than Lynah but that's it.  Their cheers are unoriginal and the student section is only a quarter of the attendees.

[jtwcornell91]

The Faithful were very impressive this weekend; much better numbers than expected Saturday, and a number of original cheers.  (Most of them directed at one player, but still...)

[jtwcornell91]

Josh Herman '99 wrote:

I have to imagine our guys would have the same reaction to that chant if you were to substitute a different Boston-area school.

Although RIP seem to be the only ones that do that, and we can always come back with "Clarkson Rejects" :-))

[jason]

Here's a thought of a different sort: Why aren't more hockey games held on Sat and Sun afternoon like this past weekend's games with BU? Personally, this would be a real boon; I live about 4hrs from Ithaca and to catch a weekend of games at the usual game times means taking a half day off of work on Fridays. With Sat-Sun afternoon games, no such problem, plus it only requires one hotel night versus two needed for the Fri-Sat evening games. Unfortunately for me, it appears my convenience doesn't carry much sway with the college hockey powers that be. :-P But seriously, there seems to be some broader benefits: game times (I think) would be more attractive to both students (not an issue at Cornell, but other schools) and parents with kids and it minimizes the amount of classroom time the student-athletes have to miss for road games. Just a thought that popped in my head during the 4 hour drive back from Ithaca this past Sunday...

[gwm3]

I don't think students would prefer afternoon games at all.  First of all, most people in the 18-21 demographic are barely conscious at 3PM on a weekend.  Plus you would lose the feeling (important, I would argue, to even some non-facetimer Faithful) that an evening at Lynah is an important weekend social event.

On a more practical note, Saturday afternoons early in the season would conflict with football games.  I also doubt that teams would really want to travel on Sundays with any regularity.  A Saturday-Sunday schedule would probably make it a lot harder for the student-athletes to attend, and prepare for, classes on both Friday and Monday.

[Greg Berge]

Plus a lot of people who can be in the stands in the evening are working in the afternoons.  Many people do work on weekends.  ;-)