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[Greg Berge]

Of Cornell's performance in ECAC play.

First: What is Cornell's record in their previous 40 RS/Tourny ECAC games?
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Well, let's do the math.

2001 PS 3-1-0
2002 RS 17-3-2
2002 PS 3-1-0
2003 RS 9-1-0
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TOTAL 32-6-2

Second, at 9-1-0 Cornell is poised for its earliest entry into the "red zone" (+10 in conference RS) since the undefeated season:

http://www.spiritone.com/~kepler/cornellHistory/cornellPtsAbove500.html

[Shorts]

[Q]its earliest entry into the "red zone" (+10 in conference RS) since the undefeated season[/Q]

A distinction currently held, if I'm reading the chart correctly, by last season's team.

[Greg Berge]

You are reading correctly.

It's amazing that this year's team is currently 3 points ahead of last year's team's pace.  Of course, last year's team had just embarked on an 8 game winning streak at this point in their season!

To put into historical perspective just how great this year's team has been, Cornell has started the ECAC RS at 9-1 or better just 7 times, and had gone 30 years without doing so!

1966 9-1-0
1967 9-0-1
1968 9-1-0
1969 9-1-0
1970 10-0-0
1972 9-1-0
2003 9-1-0

Whatever we're paying Mike, double it.

[Robb]

Why - where's he gonna go? ;-)   Seriously - the guy's only 40ish years old and coaching the #4 team in the nation for his alma mater, for whom he appears to have deep respect and, dare I say, love.  Maybe I'm naive, but I can't picture, say, Michigan calling him up when Red retires and poof, he's gone.   I suppose the AHL/NHL could come calling, but I'm guessing Mike doesn't have enough pro experience for them to be terribly interested.  Don't really know about that - just speculating.

[Greg Berge]

Considering what Mike has done with the program in 8 seasons, I really hope to see him stay another 8, and then another.  Continuity of coaching is itself an enormous asset -- it helps a program to have a legendary coach with deep, old ties within the hockey community.  Mike has two generations of Faithful venerating him.  The only thing Cornell could do that would be as fantastically fitting would be to name Dryden the AD. :-D

[Cop at Lynah]

If the athletic department continues to treat the hockey program as a second class citizen I can't see why Mike would stay here for very much longer.  

The new wrestling facility is just an example.  Not to say the wrestling team did not need new facilities, but come on - how many millions for a venue that seats 600 - and you can't even hold tournaments in the place.  $10,000.00 plasma televisions in the lobby (bet they come up missing within a year).

Other than cosmetic changes - what are they doing about Lynah?  Expansion of the seating has been talked about but nothing gets done.  I know it's not about money - there are some alum who would write a blank check to cover the expense.

[kingpin248]

I think expansion of Lynah would be difficult - if not impossible - without tearing the whole thing down and building anew.  If any substantial modification were made, the entire building would have to be brought up to current fire codes - codes that were not in place in 1957.  In which case, if the size of the actual building were not expanded, you might actually lose seating capacity, even if you added seats on Lynah's western end.

[CowbellGuy]

But Cop is right. Coach Schafer hasn't made it a secret that he wants better facilities. If someone like UM does come knocking, and Schafer is frustrated enough with Lynah, he could certainly play that hand and threaten to leave if it's not addressed. Then it comes down to how badly does Athletics want to keep Schafer.

[littleredfan]

With regard to the new friedman wrestling facility, i'm not sure how much choice athletics got in the matter.  Apparently Friedman, the former wrestler and now big donor, solely wanted to fund a new great wrestling center. Maybe its just a coincidence, but at the same time the place opened, we're also one of the top wrestling teams in the country. So yeah, its doing good and maybe even helping recruit students from the wrestling hotspots of the midwest.

Still, Cop, you're right. No reason why Lynah can't be renovated, and money can't be a reason. Just kick off a fundraising campaign in the middle of a hot hockey year like this one...the money should fly in.

[Greg Berge]

Well, as Matt points out, there is a reason Lynah can't be substantially renovated.

The success of venues like the Whit makes it apparent that Cornell can eventually build a new hockey arena and have it pay the bills.  I suggest they figure out what the seating requirement for the Regionals will be in 10 years and build it one seat larger.  It would be fantastic to have a state of the art facility for recruits to wet dream about.

However, and it's a big however, the Lynah <--> Crowd <--> Team dynamic is what makes Cornell hockey special, and the atmosphere is something that numerous players cite as a reason for coming.  Mike of all people definitely knows the importance of a raucous building.  Would it benefit Cornell IN THE LONG RUN to have some catatonic tomb like Cheel on campus?  Yeah, I'm old and a traditionalist and all that, but seriously... does anybody other than the cement contractor want to go there?

[Al DeFlorio]

The opposition might.

[CowbellGuy]

I'm not saying I want a new rink or that it wouldn't kill the dynamics, but Schafer has made no bones about wanting a new rink, which was the issued being discussed. If keeping Schafer meant tearing down Lynah (or opening a new rink elsewhere), would Athletics bend over?

[nyc94]

As a student I often wondered what it would take to expand seating at Lynah and the conclusion I always came to is, you can't.  The space behind the last row of seats is too narrow - you would have to push out the exterior walls or do something like Princeton's rink with a second set of walls (I assume that design is the result of a renovation otherwise it makes no sense).  And how high could a more rows of seats go considering the rather low rafters at Lynah?  To renovate Lynah would probably mean the team would have to play elsewhere for a year.

What specifically has Coach Schafer said about better facilities?  Locker rooms?  Offices?  Didn't they put in a new rink floor and refridgeration system?

Personally, I like old sports arenas.  As Matt Damon said on Saturday Night Live, "Suck on it FleetCenter.  You'll never be the Gahden."

[Al DeFlorio]

Bill R '94 wrote:

...do something like Princeton's rink with a second set of walls (I assume that design is the result of a renovation otherwise it makes no sense).  

Yep, a rather nice renovation retaining the character of the old rink, but not adding much to capacity.

[nyc94]

Makes you wonder how few seats Princeton had before the renovation.

From a fan's perspective, Lynah's facilities are pretty good with the addition of the field house - bathrooms, concession stands, etc.  Maybe they should have done something with Lynah then.  Was there anything on the site of the current field house (and what are they calling it these days)?