Cornell 1 @ Princeton 0 (Post-game Thread)

[scoop85]

Just watched the game on the DVR.  I thought we played well, especially for an opener against the defending champs.  Hard to imagine we were outshot 2-to-1; I thought quality chances were about even.

Certainly, a lot to be optimistic about.  We have a nice blend of skill and grit, and better overall balance than in the last couple of seasons.

[Jeff Hopkins '82]

Here's something else that I've never seen before: At the end of the game, Schafer stood at the door and fist-pumped each of the players as they left the ice.

This team knew how big a game this was.

[amerks127]

What else is there to say about this game other than Ben Scrivens' shoulders must be tired from carrying a heavy load?  As the team exited the ice, Schafer saved his biggest smile and pat for Scrivens, and from my behind the goal vantage point, many of his 43 saves looked pretty impressive.  Not as impressive as the freshman who fit right in.

However, Cornell seemed to get the bounces in this game in the defensive zone in terms of shots.  When it came to clearing the puck, the team looked pretty freakin terrible.  Princeton is a pretty good team and they anticipate well, (though clearly they are not top-10 worthy) but Cornell just happened to capitalize on one of its few opportunities of the night while Princeton could not.  I was still very much troubled by the breakout neutral zone play, especially in the first period.  The team seemed to come on more in the second, where shots were more even, but Princeton again dominated play in the third.  The area that really hurt us last season and has carried over is the rush.  Few of the defensemen seem comfortable stick handling through the neutral zone, while tape-to-tape passes continue to come at a premium.  I'd be interested in seeing the turnover stats for the game. Nonetheless, the team frequently sacrificed their bodies and never really gave Princeton any superb scoring opportunities. One two-on-one rush that was knocked away was all.  Good 5x3 kill to open the 3rd period, and they threw their weight around on the boards effectively too.

This team will not score a lot of goals.  As I've seen at my time at Cornell, Schafer makes every player understand their role within the system.  Each player has a specific responsibility.  If they continue to buy into it, the team will be very effective.

Otherwise just a few quick things to note.  Krueger played very well and his physicality has definitely picked up.  I continue to be impressed by Locke Jillson's play, though it may simply be a factor of playing top line.  Ari pointed out last year that Schafer would take Nash and Greening off the ice after a very short and effective shift for the checking line, and I noticed more of that tonight.  It'd be nice to see more ice time for them, but given that Cornell won tonight, it's not really my place to second-guess the coach.

The preseason ECAC rankings, so far, don't seem to be a good indicator of where teams are playing.  RPI beat Sucks tonight, Cornell beat Princeton, Dartmouth beat Onion, and Gate beat Quin, It's the first weekend and I'm already anxious to see how things play out.

Last thought is that this was the first time I saw the two-man referee system work well.  Harry Dumas is a veteran ref with a lot of time spent in the AHL, so perhaps that contributed, but the refs called the game consistently between them.  They judged the play with the same standard, and the ref 150 feet from the play did not call penalties 7 feet in front of the other referee.

See you in Hamden tomorrow.  Hopefully we can close out our toughest road trip positively.

[ansky629]

Sorry, I was in my first year at law school last year and didn't get to see too many games so I guess Scrivens' style is not as familiar to me.  I got Redcast this year (how is that service, by the way) so at least my break from Cornell hockey was only one year.

Let's Go Red!

[jtwcornell91]

Next:

[Josh '99]

[quote Jeff Hopkins '82]OTOH, we did a miserable job in our own zone.  If Princeton dumped it in, the only way we were able to clear was when they let us, either on a change or by only sending in one forechecker.  Most of Princeton's shots came when they forechecked, got the puck back to the point, and had plently of time for a good shot.[/quote]On the flip side, I thought a LOT of Princeton's shots were of this variety and Scrivens had time and room to see most of them.  Keeping shots to the outside makes Scrivens's work easier.

[billhoward]

Your Fighting Deerticks poster is gorgeous. Note that if this were Ohio State, it would be The Fighting Deerticks.

Want to see more excessive use of color? Check out the official Quinnipiac website. Their website designer must have been told until pain of loss of scholarship to use every color from the box of 64.


http://www.quinnipiacbobcats.com/HomePage.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=17500&KEY=

... but, heck, the athletic complex is pretty nice. And it's only about a mile or two off campus, on a hilltop. I think Quinnipiac is moving the senior dorms up there. Nothing like splitting a small college campus in half for the sake of giving upperclassmen a view (almost) of Long Island Sound.

[billhoward]

The old style is back perhaps, with the slog-it-out defense. It was so boring, seeing those teams of the early 2000s winning 2-1 or 1-0. Boring, boring, boring. Made for boring ECAC title games and boring NCAA appearances.

If Schafer can take the team to overachieving heights with hockey that won't make the ESPN highlights reel, well, okay.

If we tie a couple 1-1 games or lose it 2-1, we're going to wish Cornell hockey and Justin Milo had worked out something that kept him in Ithaca. OTOH, imagine where we'd be if Riley Nash had opted for a one-and-out Cornell career.

[Jim Hyla]

[quote billhoward]Good thing Cornell brought fans or Hobey Baker Rink would've been really empty. And this was your defending ECAC champion Princeton Tigers. Charitably, let's call it 1,500 that were there. The official Princeton box scores says 2,117 attended vs. a capacity of 2,092. By the way, if you bought a hockey ticket, you got in free to the Friday night Penn-Princeton football game.[/quote]

Bill, nice pics. Any more?

[Chris '03]

[quote billhoward]The old style is back perhaps, with the slog-it-out defense. It was so boring, seeing those teams of the early 2000s winning 2-1 or 1-0. Boring, boring, boring. Made for boring ECAC title games and boring NCAA appearances.

If Schafer can take the team to overachieving heights with hockey that won't make the ESPN highlights reel, well, okay.

If we tie a couple 1-1 games or lose it 2-1, we're going to wish Cornell hockey and Justin Milo had worked out something that kept him in Ithaca. OTOH, imagine where we'd be if Riley Nash had opted for a one-and-out Cornell career.[/quote]

I've never found an ECAC Title game or NCAA appearance particularly boring. I also don't think 1-0 or 2-1 games are by definition boring.

I also think it's quite early to write this team off as being as offensively impotent as the teams of '01 and '02.

[CowbellGuy]

Since no one mentioned it, I'd just point out that Collins looked quite good as well. Didn't notice him quite as much in the preseason games, but I think he'll make a nice impact.

[BCrespi]

[quote Chris '03][quote billhoward]The old style is back perhaps, with the slog-it-out defense. It was so boring, seeing those teams of the early 2000s winning 2-1 or 1-0. Boring, boring, boring. Made for boring ECAC title games and boring NCAA appearances.

If Schafer can take the team to overachieving heights with hockey that won't make the ESPN highlights reel, well, okay.

If we tie a couple 1-1 games or lose it 2-1, we're going to wish Cornell hockey and Justin Milo had worked out something that kept him in Ithaca. OTOH, imagine where we'd be if Riley Nash had opted for a one-and-out Cornell career.[/quote]

I've never found an ECAC Title game or NCAA appearance particularly boring. I also don't think 1-0 or 2-1 games are by definition boring.

I also think it's quite early to write this team off as being as offensively impotent as the teams of '01 and '02.[/quote]

Chris, I think you're making Bill's point for him, as I'm pretty sure he was being sarcastic.

[Jeff Hopkins '82]

[quote Josh '99][quote Jeff Hopkins '82]OTOH, we did a miserable job in our own zone.  If Princeton dumped it in, the only way we were able to clear was when they let us, either on a change or by only sending in one forechecker.  Most of Princeton's shots came when they forechecked, got the puck back to the point, and had plently of time for a good shot.[/quote]On the flip side, I thought a LOT of Princeton's shots were of this variety and Scrivens had time and room to see most of them.  Keeping shots to the outside makes Scrivens's work easier.[/quote]

Fair point.  But in the 3rd period they started working their screens better (or our guys forgot not to screen) and that's when Scrivens earned his pay.

And regaqrding attendance, the rink really did seem half empty when the game started.  One of my friends noted that the 4 PM start really did a number on attendance.  He said it was a Princeton plot to keep the Cornell fans out of the rink.  But by the third period it was three-quarters full, and I'd say better than half of those were the Faithful.  However, in terms of volume, it was no contest.  Unless their miserable (amplified) pep band was playing some God-awful pre-1980 crap, the arena was Lynah south.

And one more complaint: It took me almost an hour to get from the parking garage to Nassau Ave.  A football game starting at the same time the hockey game was ending is a very bad thing.

[Al DeFlorio]

[quote billhoward]
I was about to write that I thought the defense did a good job blocking shots and Scrivens probably wound up with 20 saves, 25 tops. Eeek! 43 got through to him in addition to the blocked shots? Ouch.[/quote]
In today's Ithaca Journal piece, Brandon Thomas writes that Cornell blocked 34 shots.  Seems like both the D and the G did a helluva job blocking shots.

[upperdeck]

thats why i question the save totals.. hard to see 34 blocks and 43 saves and then all the shots that didnt go on net as well.. between the times we had the puck and the few shots they got on PP  they would have avg 2 shots minute for the rest of the game..