BU Postgame

[srg1]

It was nice to see all the Cornellians come out for the game, but the Cornell team unfortunately is not that good.  They gave us a strong effort, but I don't think the overall team talent is there.  

I do like the first line of Nash, Greening and Barlow.  But the defense does not have good speed or skills and we have trouble clearing the puck out of our zone.  I think the strong Cornell teams of recent years have had at least one or two guys who can carry the puck out of our zone.  Hopefully they will do this again at MSG soon.  I would love to see Cornell-Michigan.

[sah67]

At least Scrivens finally got a shiny new helmet.  Or maybe that jinxed us

[ugarte]

Negative:

They were faster, more aggressive and got better goaltending. There was no phase of the game that we were not outplayed if not simply outclassed.

The large arena spreads out all Cornell fans, particularly the 18-23 year olds most likely to lead the cheers, so coordination among all fans for cheers is virtually impossible. Though a quick 2-0 deficit probably did as much to quiet the crowd as the distribution of fans.

On the positive side:

Riley Nash sure is fun to watch.

I got chills in anticipation of getting to shout RED at MSG. I'd love for this to be annual event - the sellout probably got MSG's attention.

Cornell fans were probably 2/3 of the crowd. When we finally scored, it was LOUD.

[sah67]

For those who were at the game that didn't check box-scores later...Topher was given the 3rd goal which was originally given to Riley.

[jy3]

great time pregame and during the game. nothing like seeing red and white cover msg. better than red and blue

overall bu outplayed cornell. It may have been a different game without 2 give-aways/softgoals but had it been closer for longer, I am sure BU would not have kept so many back and likely would have scored more goals.

D was weak and had trouble getting out of the defensive zone even with only one man forechecking at times.

all and all the cornell contingent was strong. the bu fans were fun and we had no run ins with bad apples. we were in the bu section.

good times.
hope they do this every year.
I could care less about michigan coming to town. a bu-cornell yearly msg game would be awesome.

[scoop85]

All the previous comments are dead-on.  Defense lacks puck handling skills, and the first couple of BU goals were the result of lost pucks that BU converted.  Simply put, this D is currently not capable of handling a skilled forecheck.  Scrivens really did not have much of a chance on most of the goals.

BU simply has more talent right now.  Our first line can match-up with them, but there's a drop-off after that.

That being said, I think we will compete reasonably well in the ECAC; nationally, however, it's not realistic.

[HeafDog]

Nationally, it definitely is not realistic, by any stretch of the imagination. But when will it be?  That's what frustrates me.

This was an embarrassment. For us to get blown out of the water by a team that's having a sub-par year in their conference makes me think that a national championship may very well not happen during my lifetime. And that blows. Yes, I know it's not happening this year, and I also know that this was only one game, but all the same...

[cmoberg]

Cornell came out flat in the first. BU outworked us in our end, and got scores for it.  There were times when I think we marginally carried play in the later periods. But those times were with BU sitting on a 3 goal lead so it may not be a fair assessment.  And as much as we were outplayed, a lucky bounce here or there could have made if a 5-5 game late. So I dont think it was an emabarrasment. We did not bring our A game and we were without 2 of or stronger players.

Lets not forget that sucks beat them last week. Similar shot count (many tonight were not quality shots) for BU but sucks got stellar goal tending. Perhaps we can blame a fired up BU on the loss to sucks.

Chris

[Beeeej]

[quote HeafDog]For us to get blown out of the water by a team that's having a sub-par year in their conference makes me think that a national championship may very well not happen during my lifetime. And that blows. Yes, I know it's not happening this year, and I also know that this was only one game, but all the same...[/quote]

Gabe, do you remember how bad the team was your senior year, the "big letdown" after two straight (overachieving, by the way) ECAC tournament titles?  Finishing 8th, and just barely beating RPI on the road to make it to the "play-in" game in Lake Placid only to be humiliated by Princeton?

It was only five years later we were in the Frozen Four and really belonged there.

We may very well not have a national championship during our lifetimes, because in addition to a great team, you need the bounces to go your way, too.  But I believe that under this leadership, we will legitimately contend for it for two years out of every ten, and for an Ivy to do that is a spectacular achievement.  This ain't gonna be the year, but I like what I see coming down the road.

[imafrshmn]

There's something to be said of talent, and how much of the supposed gap was responsible for the loss.  I think that the reason we struggle to score is that we struggle to finish.  We set up opportunities just fine but always seem just one move away from capitalizing, we just don't make enough of those quick critical finishing moves (with the exception of Greening/Nash).

[ebilmes]

Agree completely with HeafDog that this was an embarrassment.

What more could one have asked for in a hockey game? The rekindling of a decades-old rivalry, a sold-out MSG with 12,000 Cornell fans, the union of young and old fans in the stands, many of whom hadn't seen a game in years, Cornell legends shown on the scoreboard, Andy Noel receiving a special on-ice introduction.

This game had it all, but the team didn't show up.

Spin this however you want. This team obviously doesn't have the talent of the '02-03, '05 teams. BU was fired up after losing to Harvard last week. Scrivens should have stopped a couple of the later goals. We missed Scali and Krueger. Being at MSG overwhelmed us. Our breakout play sucks. Defense needs work.

Blah, blah, blah. Honestly, this team was not ready to play tonight. Make all the excuses you want. Schafer had to know BU would be fired up. Breakout play has sucked for a while. Old news. Schafer has to motivate his team before a game like this.

I don't know the secret behind the success of the '03, '05, etc., teams. Did we have big-game players who were ready to make an impact on the big stage? Was Schafer better able to motivate his team a few years back? Maybe he needs to break another stick over his head.

I don't think this team can deliver anymore when it counts. The big losses to Harvard at the end of '06 that handed them Ivy and ECACHL titles might have been an omen. The biggest games last year were the playoff disasters against Quinnipiac. Abysmal performance tonight. What will March bring?

This team had the energy of a large, loud, pro-Cornell crowd, and it took the crowd out of the game astoundingly quickly. Back to back penalties against BU early in the first--4 mins of PP produces only 3 SOG for us and two dangerous shorthanded rushes for BU. Then, three quick goals caused by a lack of effort on our part. Our team looked slow...out of shape...flatfooted...out of position...ambivalent. BU was flying, and instead of exerting effort to defend, we let them skate around us and get great looks at Scrivens. We were out of the game when it was 3-0.

Did Schafer tell the team to play conservatively? Three penalties all game in what I thought was a well-officiated contest.

This "Red Hot Hockey" thing is really cool. I'd love to see it happen again. But Coach Schafer has to figure out how to energize his team for a game like this. BU was the better team, but a motivated Cornell team keeps this one close.

[Rosey]

I was about to write something long and rambling about the craptacular experience tonight... but this team simply isn't worth the effort.  Hopefully 08-09 will bring better effort and better skillz.  It's going to be a loooooooong season.

Kyle

[calgARI '07]

Game reminded me of the 06 ECAC Final against Harvard.  No attention to detail and mentally poor all over the ice.

It wasn't that the team didn't work hard, it was just that they were not well-prepared.  It's gotta be a weird experience playing in that environment tonight and it wasn't shocking that at least one of the two teams came out like a deer in headlights.  Cornell is a hard-working team, far more so than the last couple years and I was particularly impressed with how hard they pushed the second half of the game despite the deficit.  They weren't doing the little things anywhere on the ice for much of the game and were making small mistakes everywhere.  They did not look prepared whereas BU looked like they have played in this type of situation before.  

Not sure why on earth Roezler played over Fontas - maybe I missed if Fontas was suspended or something.  Roezeler if freakin' terrible though and his lack of attention in the neutral zone (leaving the ice for a change) led directly to BU's third goal.  He didn't play again until late in the second period and even then he was soft, slow, weak, and had hands of stone.  Very poor coaching move by Schafer when Fontas is a solid guy who never makes mental mistakes.  His age and experience should have taken priority over the timid alternative.  

Riley Nash is far and away the best player on the team and among the best players in the NCAA.  Every time he is on the ice, it needs to be the priority to get the puck to him, find open ice, and crash the net.  He is incredible and I can't believe he missed on that late chance that would have given him his third goal.

Krantz has been bad this year and has taken noticable steps backwards.  Speaking of which, I haven't noticed Sawada at all and Scott has been average.  The seniors have been pretty much non-factors.

Scrivens couldn't stop a beach ball and that fourth goal was both soft and an absolute back-breaker for the team who had gotten themselves back in the game.  No coincidence that turned out to be the game winner.

They didn't play well tonight and the score was generous.  They battled hard though for all 60 minutes even though they were never sharp in any zone.  I like this team though.  They work hard and have a fair amount of room to grow.  If by some miracle both these teams made it to the NCAA Tournament, Cornell could take them I think.

[ben03]

playing the talent angle of this is way overrated. did we get out worked, without a doubt. did we get out coached, that remains to be seen. did we get "out talented", no way!

the larger offensive zone definitely played to BU's advantage without a doubt but we definitely did not get "out talented." personally, watching from 3,000 miles away on tv, we lost this game on goaltending and simple defense. the Cornell teams i grew to love would have made the saves and plays to minimize the scoring chances BU got tonight. as has been said here in the past, Scrivens et al. was(were) lackluster. in a notmal year, Cornell goalies/defenses make 4/5 saves and we're winning 2-1, instead we're losing 5-2! am i possibly picking the easy scapegoat, yes. have i seen a game in person or on tv  since wisconsin '06, no. bottom line is that we need to get a solid goalie in net who isn't splaying/sprawling himself all over the ice, diving at saves and getting out of position every time a shot gets him the least bit uncomfortable. or just simply having the poor defensive positioning to let your man just skate circles around you and walk in 1-1 w/ our goalie to score.

there are certainly things we can do to make the team-defense better w/out doubt but saying they had more talent is just a copout! we have the talent, they just haven't figured out how to make it work. this team had moments of brilliance, all be them short, they were there ... tonight. the magic happens when they can replicate that every friday and saturday night. so here's to hoping this team finds the formula to make that happen more often than not ... LGR!

btw ... to those who had the chance to attend the game, great showing and i am seriously jealous i wasn't there!

[Greenberg '97]

Knowing Jack Parker's respect for the Faithful, and hearing his comments about BU not being the "home team" in that building, I have no doubt his instructions to his players were clear: take the crowd out of the game early.

Regarding the attendance, they reported it as the full 18,200, but I would guess there were about 2000 scattered empty seats.  Maybe fewer.  I have a friend who's going to try to get me the actual gate attendance.  There were NOT droves of scalpers trying to unload outside the arena, a la Buffalo.

I think 12,000 Cornell fans seems about right... hard to tell with everyone wearing red, but there was a noticeable difference when the goals were scored.