Romano will not be back next year

[ugarte]

[quote KeithK]

Romano has every right to look after his own interest here.

Yes, he has the right to do so.  But just because he has the right to do it doesn't mean it was the right thing to do.[/quote]
OK then, I'll be more clear: to decide his own path for developing his talents was the right thing to do. Lying about his intentions isn't pretty but he doesn't owe Schafer an honest answer to a nosy question, especially if he thinks it might impact his own search or future with the team as a fallback plan.

[ftyuv]

[quote ugarte][quote KeithK]

Romano has every right to look after his own interest here.

Yes, he has the right to do so.  But just because he has the right to do it doesn't mean it was the right thing to do.[/quote]
OK then, I'll be more clear: to decide his own path for developing his talents was the right thing to do. Lying about his intentions isn't pretty but he doesn't owe Schafer an honest answer to a nosy question, especially if he thinks it might impact his own search or future with the team as a fallback plan.[/quote]
I disagree.  Schafer has a team to run, and that means in part picking a freshman class based on the class he thinks he'll have staying.  If he asks a player whether he can count on that player to return, I think it's fair to expect an honest answer.  Cornell put an investment in Romano by taking him, and if he spit in the face of that, I'd say that's not cool.

Similarly, a player invests in a college when he goes there.  If Milo asked Schafer if he's at any risk of not being invited back, or if he'd have to choose between sports, and if Schafer had said "point blank" that no, then turning around a few months later and kicking him off the team would also be dick.

Looking out for your best interests is well and good, but if you do it without any regard for the consequences it'll have on others -- especially those whose help you gladly take when you need it -- I think that's bad.

And as a disclaimer, I don't know the exact details of what happened, so I wouldn't condemn Romano's decision without more info.  But if he bit the hand that fed him, we should call a spade a spade, and a jerk a jerk.

[Cop at Lynah]

I think the program will be better off in the long run without Romano.  Schafers' program prides itself on being a team made up of individual contributers rather than selfish players trying to be the team, and Romano was very much a selfish player. Good luck to Romano.  Cornell hockey will be just fine.

[ugarte]

[quote ftyuv]Schafer has a team to run,[/quote]
How is that Romano's problem? If Schafer got offered a job in the NHL, he'd take it. If Schafer wanted to cut Romano, he'd cut him. You can choose to frame that in moral terms. I think it is easier to root for the players on the ice and remain indifferent to how they live their lives.

As I recall, LeNeveu, McKee and others were equally cagey about their plans before signing and leaving. You want to condemn them also? Fine. But you are beating your heads against a wall. The only reason they have to lie is because nobody will let them make decisions about their lives in private, announcing the result when they are ready to do so. If saying "no" leads to fewer follow-up questions than "maybe," no is the right answer.

[calgARI '07]

[quote Trotsky]I'd rather have Romano than Milo.  [/quote]

I don't agree.  Romano may be the flashier player but Milo contributes in all areas.  Romano was a top notch offensive player at the college level but he didn't think the game well at all.  Milo may not have put up the numbers this year, but his superior hockey sense was evident.  Players like Milo win you championships.  Players like Romano win scoring titles.

[KeithK]

[quote ugarte]As I recall, LeNeveu, McKee and others were equally cagey about their plans before signing and leaving. You want to condemn them lso?[/quote]
I don't remember the details with LeNeveu.  From what I recall I do believe that McKee gave the coaching staff plenty of notice that he was likely to leave after his junior season.

[Jacob '06]

[quote KeithK][quote ugarte]As I recall, LeNeveu, McKee and others were equally cagey about their plans before signing and leaving. You want to condemn them lso?[/quote]
I don't remember the details with LeNeveu.  From what I recall I do believe that McKee gave the coaching staff plenty of notice that he was likely to leave after his junior season.[/quote]

Or they certainly believed there was a good chance. We were actively recruiting goalies to replace him during that recruiting season.

[ftyuv]

[quote ugarte][quote ftyuv]Schafer has a team to run,[/quote]
How is that Romano's problem?[/quote]

It's Romano's problem because if everyone constantly did only what was best for them in that instant, regardless of how it would affect other people or (more importantly) what they told other people they'd do, then a lot of things would suck.  And what goes around comes around, so in such a world, Romano might find himself on the short end of a renege that hurts him someday.

Or, to quote my favorite show:
George:  [scoffing] Because of society, right?
Jerry:  Yes, George, because of society.

[Tom Lento]

[quote Jacob '06]
Or they certainly believed there was a good chance. We were actively recruiting goalies to replace him during that recruiting season.[/quote]

Isn't that pretty normal regardless of the odds of losing your junior goaltender to the pros? I think coaches generally like to bring in a freshman goaltender while the established starter is a senior, so the freshman gets a chance to adjust to the college game. It's less of a risk for the coach to put in a sophomore who's spent a season practicing with the team and backing up a senior than to play a freshman straight out of juniors.

Besides, that way if you don't get a legitimate starting goaltender you have another season to go find one.

[ursusminor]

A couple of threads on Hockey's Future about Romano

http://hfboards.com/showthread.php?t=387462

http://hfboards.com/showthread.php?t=378809

[DeltaOne81]

[quote Tom Lento][quote Jacob '06]
Or they certainly believed there was a good chance. We were actively recruiting goalies to replace him during that recruiting season.[/quote]

Isn't that pretty normal regardless of the odds of losing your junior goaltender to the pros?[/quote]

Not when you already had two other non-senior goaltenders (Chabot and DiLeo). Carrying 4 goalies on a team is highly unusual. It seems pretty leave that Dave told them it was a possibility, and I thought we learned after the fact that that was indeed the case.

[pfibiger]

[quote DeltaOne81][quote Tom Lento]
Isn't that pretty normal regardless of the odds of losing your junior goaltender to the pros?[/quote]

Not when you already had two other non-senior goaltenders (Chabot and DiLeo). Carrying 4 goalies on a team is highly unusual. It seems pretty leave that Dave told them it was a possibility, and I thought we learned after the fact that that was indeed the case.[/quote]

We learned it during the recruiting process. We were recruiting a kid, Brad Theissen, who ended up at Northeastern (we thought it was just between CU and North Dakota) and he said in an interview that the coaching staff had told him that McKee was leaving.

[cufan4ever]

[quote calgARI '07][quote Trotsky]I'd rather have Romano than Milo.  [/quote]

I don't agree.  Romano may be the flashier player but Milo contributes in all areas.  Romano was a top notch offensive player at the college level but he didn't think the game well at all.  Milo may not have put up the numbers this year, but his superior hockey sense was evident.  Players like Milo win you championships.  Players like Romano win scoring titles.[/quote]

How could you make a statement like that. Milo is a good player but D-1 is the highest level he can play. Romano on the other hand has won at every level he has competed at.  He is invited to the U20 USA team tryouts which he will probaby make, drafted by NJ played on 3 US National teams. What else does he have to prove,especailly to a fan who wishes he or she could do what he does. I know him and I have Coached against him since he was 10 years old. I also know his Coach Alexi Nikiforv very well. The kid always is knocked by people who do not know him or understand his game or are simply jealous for some stupid reason. I did not see him play this year at Lynah, but via our poor internet feed he shows his game. One thing that Romano needs is someone who can compliment his style. When you play that European offensive stlye you need players who thrive and understand that flow game. Cornell is not that type of team, I still can not figure out why he ended up there but...for him its more of give and take and hope that things work out on the ice. The other problem is, that too many players stand and watch, they all have to flow to the open lanes etc. Romano will make it if he gets stronger, that is his only issue, but it seems that he has from what I have heard. Plus, The Devils are very happy with his development at both ends of the ice. Lets be real, we lost a great Hockey player but we will move on and someone else will pickup the slack. At least Trotsky seems to have a better understanding of the game. Be Real, if Milo was so good or better then Romano why was he released from the team? Please Get Real...

[Dafatone]

I wasn't particularly impressed with Milo's offensive or defensive prowess this year.  He did improve on defense, and started to get some significant time on the PK, if I remember correctly.

Romano has the offensive skill, but he tended to skate around 4 defenders in order to get the puck in the corner with no shot at the goal.  Not sure who I think is better, but I was more upset by the loss of Romano, if only because I feel he has more potential with the team.

[KeithK]

[quote cufan4ever][quote calgARI '07][quote Trotsky]I'd rather have Romano than Milo.  [/quote]

I don't agree.  Romano may be the flashier player but Milo contributes in all areas.  Romano was a top notch offensive player at the college level but he didn't think the game well at all.  Milo may not have put up the numbers this year, but his superior hockey sense was evident.  Players like Milo win you championships.  Players like Romano win scoring titles.[/quote]

How could you make a statement like that. Milo is a good player but D-1 is the highest level he can play. Romano on the other hand has won at every level he has competed at.  He is invited to the U20 USA team tryouts which he will probaby make, drafted by NJ played on 3 US National teams. What else does he have to prove,especailly to a fan who wishes he or she could do what he does. I know him and I have Coached against him since he was 10 years old. I also know his Coach Alexi Nikiforv very well. The kid always is knocked by people who do not know him or understand his game or are simply jealous for some stupid reason. I did not see him play this year at Lynah, but via our poor internet feed he shows his game. One thing that Romano needs is someone who can compliment his style. When you play that European offensive stlye you need players who thrive and understand that flow game. Cornell is not that type of team, I still can not figure out why he ended up there but...for him its more of give and take and hope that things work out on the ice. The other problem is, that too many players stand and watch, they all have to flow to the open lanes etc. Romano will make it if he gets stronger, that is his only issue, but it seems that he has from what I have heard. Plus, The Devils are very happy with his development at both ends of the ice. Lets be real, we lost a great Hockey player but we will move on and someone else will pickup the slack. At least Trotsky seems to have a better understanding of the game.[/quote]
No one here is arguing that Romano doesn't have lots of talent or that Milo is more talented. That's not the point. The question is whether Milo or Romano would contribute more to a winning Cornell team. You argue that it would be Romano for various reasons but then you argue the other way in the next breath. If "Cornell is not [the] type of team" that Romano is suited for then maybe Milo would be a better fit for the program and contribute more.

From what I've seen on the ice (not much admittedly) and from all reports here and elsewhere. Romano is not a great college hockey player. He may have the talent to be one if he had stayed but he has deficiencies in his game that most acknowledge. (Not to say that Milo is either.) I'm not happy to see either player leave but life goes on.

[quote cufan4ever]Be Real, if Milo was so good or better then Romano why was he released from the team?  Please Get Real...[/quote]
There is no reason to think that Milo being cut had anything to do with his playing ability.  So this isn't a fair argument.