Cornell #7 in USA Today Poll

[ebilmes]

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/hockey/usatmen.htm

Princeton #9 and Yale #11. Harvard #24 and SLU #27

[Al DeFlorio]

Interesting that every national poll or pre-season ranking has Cornell ahead of Yale and Princeton but both ECAC polls put Yale above us.  I suppose the pollsters for the latter two saw last year's ECAC championship game.

[KeithK]

[quote Al DeFlorio]Interesting that every national poll or pre-season ranking has Cornell ahead of Yale and Princeton but both ECAC polls put Yale above us.  I suppose the pollsters for the latter two saw last year's ECAC championship game.[/quote]
One might expect the ECAC polls to be more accurate than the national polls.  The conference folks probably all saw Cornell play at least once in person last year, maybe several times.  They know more about the program and how it stacks up/matches up against the other conference teams.  National pollsters mostly are basing their numbers on the NCAA tournament and reputation.

Not that I'd expect very much accuracy from any of the polls.

[billhoward]

[quote Al DeFlorio]Interesting that every national poll or pre-season ranking has Cornell ahead of Yale and Princeton but both ECAC polls put Yale above us.  I suppose the pollsters for the latter two saw last year's ECAC championship game.[/quote]

Maybe this: The ECAC poll is about doing well in the ECACs, and Cornell seems to be unlucky in Albany. (Turn over a new leaf in Atlantic City?) The national pollsters have seen Harvard's one-and-done spirit spread, like PCBs in groundwater, to New Haven and Princeton. Cornell seems to have better luck in the NCAAs.

[Dpperk29]

[quote billhoward] like PCBs in groundwater, to New Haven and Princeton. Cornell seems to have better luck in the NCAAs.[/quote]

Man, I thought Clarksonians were the only ones who used analogies that nerdy.

[redice]

[quote Al DeFlorio]Interesting that every national poll or pre-season ranking has Cornell ahead of Yale and Princeton but both ECAC polls put Yale above us.  I suppose the pollsters for the latter two saw last year's ECAC championship game.[/quote]

I'm thinking that the ECAC polls reflect the fact that Yale had Cornell's number in 08-09.   Before the 08 ECAC tourney, I said that Yale was the only team that worried me....   They showed why in the title game.   Cornell did not match up well against them.   That ECAC Title game was no fluke.  Hopefully, that will change this season.

And, the national polls probably reflect which ECAC team went further in the NCAA's.

[Josh '99]

[quote billhoward]Cornell seems to be unlucky in Albany.[/quote]There have been seven ECAC tourneys played in Albany; Cornell has won two of them.  I have no complaints about winning the tourney ~30% of the time.

[billhoward]

[quote Josh '99][quote billhoward]Cornell seems to be unlucky in Albany.[/quote]There have been seven ECAC tourneys played in Albany; Cornell has won two of them.  I have no complaints about winning the tourney ~30% of the time.[/quote]
If it's 7 title rounds played in Albany, Cornell has won 2 of the first 3 and 0 of the past 4. No current Cornell student (who's made it through in four years) has seen a Cornell ECAC championship banner hoisted. That needs to change. I hear some thirdhand buzz that the players feel that if there's a year for Cornell to make a run at taking it all (NCAA not ECAC all), this is it. Last year was nice to have advanced two rounds in the NCAAs, next year too many key players will have moved on.

[imafrshmn]

[quote billhoward][quote Josh '99][quote billhoward]Cornell seems to be unlucky in Albany.[/quote]There have been seven ECAC tourneys played in Albany; Cornell has won two of them.  I have no complaints about winning the tourney ~30% of the time.[/quote]
If it's 7 title rounds played in Albany, Cornell has won 2 of the first 3 and 0 of the past 4. No current Cornell student (who's made it through in four years) has seen a Cornell ECAC championship banner hoisted. That needs to change. I hear some thirdhand buzz that the players feel that if there's a year for Cornell to make a run at taking it all (NCAA not ECAC all), this is it. Last year was nice to have advanced two rounds in the NCAAs, next year too many key players will have moved on.[/quote]

What does that really mean that they want to "take a run" at it?  Will the team work extra hard?  As opposed to not working so hard so that they might save their energy for next season?  There's something I don't quite understand.

[Josh '99]

[quote billhoward][quote Josh '99][quote billhoward]Cornell seems to be unlucky in Albany.[/quote]There have been seven ECAC tourneys played in Albany; Cornell has won two of them.  I have no complaints about winning the tourney ~30% of the time.[/quote]
If it's 7 title rounds played in Albany, Cornell has won 2 of the first 3 and 0 of the past 4. No current Cornell student (who's made it through in four years) has seen a Cornell ECAC championship banner hoisted. That needs to change.[/quote]I agree, but that's not what you said the first time.

[cbuckser]

[quote imafrshmn]What does that really mean that they want to "take a run" at it?  Will the team work extra hard?  As opposed to not working so hard so that they might save their energy for next season?  There's something I don't quite understand.[/quote]
I presume Bill meant that he heard through the grapevine that the players believe they have the talent to be bona fide national title contenders.  I doubt they tried any less hard last year than they will this year, but this year those efforts have a better chance of paying off.

For what it's worth, I agree.  In my opinion, this is the best Cornell team since the 2002-03 season.  That is not to say that there are no question marks.  If things go right, this team will be in the Frozen Four.  If not, we'll have flashbacks of the 1990-91 season.

[billhoward]

The players have confidence that they have enough skilled players to be a serious contender at the national level in 2009-2010, provided they work hard and injuries don't take out key players. There are years when the same hard work isn't going to get you very far in the NCAA tournament because hard work isn't as overpowering as hard work and skilled players. (Al Capone: You get more with a kind word and a gun than you do with a kind word alone.)

This site (do not go there if you're a basically warm-hearted person) explains sports quite well:  http://despair.com/fail24x30pri.html

[TimV]

[quote Josh '99][quote billhoward]Cornell seems to be unlucky in Albany.[/quote]There have been seven ECAC tourneys played in Albany; Cornell has won two of them.  I have no complaints about winning the tourney ~30% of the time.[/quote]

I'm with Josh. I thought our luck was pretty damn good against Princeton in the semis last March.

[upperdeck]

I think the big thing is that they recruited thinking the two big guns might leave and they both stayed.. the key to making runs is not only talent by staying healthy and they have many more bodies this year. at times they could barely practice last year. they go 5-6 players deaper this year. that always helps.

[ugarte]

[quote TimV][quote Josh '99][quote billhoward]Cornell seems to be unlucky in Albany.[/quote]There have been seven ECAC tourneys played in Albany; Cornell has won two of them.  I have no complaints about winning the tourney ~30% of the time.[/quote]

I'm with Josh. I thought our luck was pretty damn good against Princeton in the semis last March.[/quote]
I don't even think we've been particularly unlucky. Is there a game that we lost that we should have won? I don't mean games where we lost as the higher seeded team, but games where we were the better team that day but lost due to bad bounces or a cheap penalty. (Maybe 2002; I don't remember the game well enough.) In fact, I think the Harvard icing that set up the 2003 miracle was about the luckiest thing to happen since the tournament moved to Albany.