Why Cornell Will No Longer Dominate the ECAC

[jtwcornell91]

[quote Townie]
Thanks fot the stats, John.
[/quote]

Thanks to http://www.tbrw.info/ and http://www.augenblick.org/chha/ for the easy-to-collate data.

[Ben Rocky '04]

I wasn't quite convinced it was true until I read Ice Meets Metal's post.  Now I know its true.  I'm gonna stop following Cornell hockey and switch my allegiance to Mercyhurst, or maybe Minnesota. There has to be a hockey program out there that isn't sinking with the Titanic.  Any suggestions?  Anyone wanna buy my game-worn Vesce jersey since I no longer will be needing it?

[The Rancor]

Every year someone goes on a rant like this about SCHAFER and the "Schafer System" and how it's no good at the end of the season. We are all dissapointed that this wasn't "the year" yet again. But it will be "our year" sometime soon and it will be great.
This team suffered through a lot of losses this year, replacing almost half the team. It was a rebuilder. Schafer is a defensive genius. The players will learn. All will be good and a shinny new championship banner or two will hang from Lynah's glorious rafters.

[The Rancor]

[quote bandrews37]The Schafer glory years are over. The game has evolved, and he's still coaching his style of play from when he wore the Red and White.It's a shame, the players he hoodwinked into coming here deserve better.[/quote]

did you see Schafer play? because if i remember correctly it was a totaly diffrent cornell team back then (when Lou Raycroft was coach).
DUMP AND RUN!

[ugarte]

I'm a little surprised that there is so much rending of garments when the season went more or less as predicted before the season. If anything, the team appeared to gel sooner (over a year sooner!) than expected. When it became clear that the early success was a mirage a significant minority decided that (a) we were wrong to begin with and (b) the flash of greatness was the real level of this team, ergo (c) ending up where we thought we would is evidence that the bottom has fall out of the program.

Truth: an NCAA QF quality team lost its four best players and replaced them with freshmen. That team was less skilled and less experienced than its predecessors. It is not a sign of anything yet, except maybe that Schafer is a coach, not a miracle worker.

[BMac]

I think the real shame of this season is that our seniors were nowhere near as excellent as the last two years. We've come to expect a tremendous step-up in skill, consistency and maturity from our seniors, and if we had had that, this season would have a different story.

The freshmen were outstanding; the sophomores (especially Kennedy, Mugford, Seminoff and Barlow) and the juniors (which is an unfortunately small class) were as good as we could ask them to be. The story of the season should have been "the freshmen couldn't fill the gaps of so many departed skilled players." That would have been the expected outcome.

Instead, it was "the freshmen stepped up and played excellent, but the senior class just couldn't make it happen." McCutcheon showed streaks of brilliance, especially towards the end, but it just wasn't enough. I guess you can't really blame them, as Fontas, McLeod, Salmela, and Hedge never really got to play much. But I'm sure that if we had a class like '05 (Knoepfli, Cook, Vart., Iggy) or last year (Downs, the Abbots, I won't mention Moulson) this team would have gone real, real far.

So let's be positive about this season. Gallagher, Nash, Greening, Romano, Milo and Scrivens/Davenport made great strides. When Topher's wearing the C next year, and we get another excellent recruiting class, the team will be able to make a huge push again....and this time as underdogs.

[Lauren '06]

Downs was '05, and if I recall correctly we were grousing about leadership issues last year, too.

Also, you had to know this topic was full of significant insight BECAUSE THE TITLE WAS WRITTEN IN ALL CAPS.

[Rosey]

Get a grip, people.  A transition year in which we all expected them to be mediocre ends in a 4th place RS finish and a one-and-done in the ECAC's, and everyone is grousing.  Bitch, bitch, bitch.  I drove 800 miles 5 times this season (uphill both ways, at $5/gallon, in a 1975 Ford Crown Vic station wagon with broken springs and no shocks, etc.) to watch home games, and who knows how many miles to away games... and while I'm a bit bummed with the way the season ended, it was a fun year of hockey spectating.

Everyone ready to throw Coach Schafer to the hyenas should consider that Schafer has made Cornell hockey worth watching---beyond what is expected of us Faithful---every year since he became head coach.  While I don't unconditionally support him or his coaching decisions, I think some of you need just a wee bit of perspective.

It was a good year given my expectations going in, and it was a lot of fun.

That, and at least Harvard has hit the links, too. :-)

Kyle

[marty]

[quote Ben Rocky 04]I wasn't quite convinced it was true until I read Ice Meets Metal's post.  Now I know its true.  I'm gonna stop following Cornell hockey and switch my allegiance to Mercyhurst, or maybe Minnesota. There has to be a hockey program out there that isn't sinking with the Titanic.  Any suggestions?  Anyone wanna buy my game-worn Vesce jersey since I no longer will be needing it?[/quote]

Note that there could be a "Paul is Dead" theme here.  Ice Meets Metal has the initials IMM.  Reminds me::innocent:: of the Beatles song I, Me, Mine.

So the Big Red is Dead!  We heard it here first.

[sah67]

[quote BMac]
but the senior class just couldn't make it happen." McCutcheon showed streaks of brilliance, especially towards the end, but it just wasn't enough. I guess you can't really blame them, as Fontas, McLeod, Salmela, and Hedge never really got to play much.

[/quote]

Fontas is a junior, and we'll hopefully see him getting a bit more playing-time next year, considering he was a pretty strong addition the lineup mid-season and make some good contributions on faceoffs and the PK.

[bandrews37]

Then apparently you missed the last four games of the season, when all we were doing was dumping and chasing.
In truth, I believe that Schafer has taken this team and this school as far as he possibly can. This team was in a position to win an ivy title this season, needing just two points in the final two league games to get at least a share, and they couldn't pull it out. Is it because we weren't talanted enough? No - we were outplayed and thus outcoached in both contests. The assistant coaches are ok, but anyone who's ever talked to Schafer knows he's more phony than a $3 bill.
People on here are quick to point out our facilities as a strong point in luring top-notch recruits. Really, though, the new facilities aren't as grand as everyone makes them out to be. Sure, they're a step up over what we had, but Clarkson, Dartmouth and Quinnipiac all have a better setup, and that's just within the league. What our new facilities move us to is the middle of the national pack.
Our hope should not to be simply be better than the teams in the ECAC. It should be to be better than EVERY team in college hockey. Too many are content just to finish higher than Harvard every year-and that's a dangerous mindset to be in.
And frankly, it's funny to hear how much of an impact the fans think they have on potential recruits and on the success of the team. Does having a packed house help? Sure it does. But you can't tell me that the words the seniors speak every season about how much they will miss playing in front of the fans aren't echoed at North Dakota, Denver, Minnesota, Michigan, Michigan State, Maine, BU, BC, New Hampshire - even at other schools in the ECAC, like Clarkson and SLU.
There's nothing unique about playing at Cornell. The fans cheer the same exact cheers that every other school around the country does. The facilities are average at best. The support from the administration is also average, could be better, could be worse. The league is middle tier and plays in some of the worst venues in division one hockey. And when you lump that all in with a style of play that - if you're a top-notch offensive player - will hamper your growth and development, than the writing on the wall is clear.

[The Rancor]

[quote bandrews37]Then apparently you missed the last four games of the season, when all we were doing was dumping and chasing.
In truth, I believe that Schafer has taken this team and this school as far as he possibly can. This team was in a position to win an ivy title this season, needing just two points in the final two league games to get at least a share, and they couldn't pull it out. Is it because we weren't talanted enough? No - we were outplayed and thus outcoached in both contests. The assistant coaches are ok, but anyone who's ever talked to Schafer knows he's more phony than a $3 bill.
People on here are quick to point out our facilities as a strong point in luring top-notch recruits. Really, though, the new facilities aren't as grand as everyone makes them out to be. Sure, they're a step up over what we had, but Clarkson, Dartmouth and Quinnipiac all have a better setup, and that's just within the league. What our new facilities move us to is the middle of the national pack.
Our hope should not to be simply be better than the teams in the ECAC. It should be to be better than EVERY team in college hockey. Too many are content just to finish higher than Harvard every year-and that's a dangerous mindset to be in.
And frankly, it's funny to hear how much of an impact the fans think they have on potential recruits and on the success of the team. Does having a packed house help? Sure it does. But you can't tell me that the words the seniors speak every season about how much they will miss playing in front of the fans aren't echoed at North Dakota, Denver, Minnesota, Michigan, Michigan State, Maine, BU, BC, New Hampshire - even at other schools in the ECAC, like Clarkson and SLU.
There's nothing unique about playing at Cornell. The fans cheer the same exact cheers that every other school around the country does. The facilities are average at best. The support from the administration is also average, could be better, could be worse. The league is middle tier and plays in some of the worst venues in division one hockey. And when you lump that all in with a style of play that - if you're a top-notch offensive player - will hamper your growth and development, than the writing on the wall is clear.[/quote]

I did not see the last 4 games. 2x away games with no vidieo + no All Access for 2 home playoff games::bang:: / i live in florida = No I didnt see the last four games. Also, no indicators of that syle of play from any posters or game recaps. sooo...

Nothing unique about playing at Cornell?? We TOUGHT other schools those cheers! Lynah is an "old Barn" which lots of old school hockey players (and those new school guys with that mindset) like. And how is Schafer a phoney? He's the winningest coach in Cornell history and has taken  this team to the FF not more than a few years ago and has a couple dozen former players in the Pros. That and he is a 2 time ECAC COTY. What planet are you from?

[Jim Hyla]

[quote bandrews37]No - we were outplayed and thus outcoached in both contests. The assistant coaches are ok, but anyone who's ever talked to Schafer knows he's more phony than a $3 bill.


People on here are quick to point out our facilities as a strong point in luring top-notch recruits. Really, though, the new facilities aren't as grand as everyone makes them out to be. Sure, they're a step up over what we had, but Clarkson, Dartmouth and Quinnipiac all have a better setup, and that's just within the league. What our new facilities move us to is the middle of the national pack.

And frankly, it's funny to hear how much of an impact the fans think they have on potential recruits and on the success of the team. Does having a packed house help? Sure it does. But you can't tell me that the words the seniors speak every season about how much they will miss playing in front of the fans aren't echoed at North Dakota, Denver, Minnesota, Michigan, Michigan State, Maine, BU, BC, New Hampshire - even at other schools in the ECAC, like Clarkson and SLU.

There's nothing unique about playing at Cornell. The fans cheer the same exact cheers that every other school around the country does. The facilities are average at best. [/quote]

Where this guy gets his/her info is beyond me? Maybe we shouldn't even respond, hoping he'll/she'll go away. I'd rather read this:
A few musings

[DeltaOne81]

So who are you going to sell your tickets to, bandrews? Since you're ready to throw the program under the bus after a few bad games, I'm sure you won't be needing them.

[ninian '72]

This was a transitional year in more ways than one, and we can get some perspective on it by taking a look at what happened to last year's national champion Wisconsin team that this year went 17-17-4.  A gradual change over the last few years is that the Cornell program HAS been gaining stature and attracting better players.  This makes the team more vulnerable to early departures.  Adding the NHL's new policies regarding retaining rights to draftees which encourage early signings, the team suffered a double whammy. This is the price of success, and the coaching staff's ability to adapt their recruiting to take into account the likelihood of losing their most talented players early will be an important factor in the future success of the team. Another factor will be the Schafer "system" - how it adapts to fitting in players that are likely to be here only a few years and how attractive it will be to players hoping to get to the NHL and how helpful it will be in developing their skills for that level of play.  The coaching staff is surely aware of all of this, and one interesting part of watching Cornell hockey over the next few years will be to see how they adapt to the new realities. This year was pretty noticeable change of course and a start in the right direction.  Let's just see how it plays out.