Cornell vs. Niagara Postgame

[andyw2100]

Just a couple of random thoughts on tonight's game...

When Greening returned to the bench after the ref informed him of the results of the video review of the first Niagara goal, he clearly told Schafer, "The video F----d up." He was visibly annoyed. I think there's a 50/50 chance the goal would have been disallowed had there been good video. Definitely ironic that the first ever video review in the history of Lynah Rink goes against us because the technology failed.

We were also quite amused at Schafer's subtle gestures as he attempted to get our fifth skater off during that penalty kill. He had to get the guy off the ice, without any of the officials seeing he was trying to get the guy off the ice. It's not only amazing that he succeeded, and not only amazing that none of the four officials noticed we were skating five guys for at least 10-15 seconds, but what was truly amazing, as pointed out by the fan who sits in front of me, was that none of the guys on the Niagara bench noticed either. I mean had they noticed in time, the coaches would have been yelling at the refs and the players would probably have been banging their sticks on the boards, etc. I really don't understand how --that-- many people missed it. Glad they did, of course, but wow. Just wow.

[Lauren '06]

The Redcast video was behind the play on the (alleged?) interference on Scrivens, and only caught up as he was already falling backwards, so I have no idea how it actually looked or what transpired.  Anybody care to detail it?

The video did, however, have a hilarious long shot where you could count all five players on that PK.  I bet the Niagara coaches will just love seeing that tape tomorrow. ::uhoh::

[ebilmes]

From the stands I had no idea about the 5 skaters on the PK. Funny stuff. Based on how the Niagara 5x3 went (one shot, one goal), it's good that no one caught that.

You can see why Niagara is 0-4-1. The local paper tried to spin their poor start with some stats:

As for the slow start, that's nothing new for the Purple Eagles, who have been under .500 at various portions all but once this decade. But Niagara's ambitious non-conference schedule typically has something to do with that. And after starting a combined a 15-39-4 over the past 10 years, the team has finished with a record of 158-140-33.

Of course, going from facing tough OOC teams to the weak CHA has a lot to do with that. And maybe they'll work their way into the NCAA tournament picture again and this win will look pretty good.

We were faster and stronger than Niagara, but, as it has seemed every other year, we have trouble burying the puck in the net. What was encouraging to see tonight was that we had a steady stream of scoring chances in all three periods. In previous years we might have played pretty even with Niagara in the 2nd and most of the 3rd, and then had a flurry of scoring chances at the end of regulation and in OT. Tonight, it seemed like every couple of minutes we had a good look at the net. We still need people to finish, but hopefully that will come as the season progresses.

Greening is a beast and he seems poised for a huge season. Patrick Kennedy has also looked a lot better, and Axell had some nice shifts tonight. Whitney again had some serious problems defensively and Schafer took him off the first PP early in the game.

Next weekend should be challenging. Dartmouth was up 1-0 after one tonight before Harvard scored 5 unanswered goals en route to winning 5-3. 3 goals on 8 shots in the 2nd. Richter made 41 saves.

[andyw2100]

The Redcast video was behind the play on the (alleged?) interference on Scrivens, and only caught up as he was already falling backwards, so I have no idea how it actually looked or what transpired.  Anybody care to detail it?

As I saw it Scrivens appeared to briefly make a glove save a ways out in front of the net and then, falling backwards, flung the puck behind him and into the net. I discussed this with a few people, including Jim Hyla between periods, and while I thought Scrivens --may-- have been out far enough that contact with another player would not have invalidated the goal because he was out of the crease, Jim agreed, and he had a better view, I'd guess. So then, as I understand the rules, it would boil down to:

--was the puck knocked out of his glove with a high-stick, which should be a no-goal?
--was the puck knocked out of his glove by incidental contact with a Cornell or Niagara player, which would cause the goal to be a good goal?
--did the puck come out of his glove without any contact at all, just from the momentum of his falling back, and/or due to the puck not having been in the glove solidly in the first place, which would also be a good goal of course.

We may never know.

If anyone saw this differently, or can provide a better analysis, I'd love to hear it.

[Al DeFlorio]

Related to this item, interesting sentence in today's Ithaca Journal:

Scrivens stopped 28 shots, but Schafer said he wasn't pleased with the first goal -- even though he felt Scrivens was interfered with -- and other things that Scrivens did.

[Jordan 04]

Related to this item, interesting sentence in today's Ithaca Journal:

Scrivens stopped 28 shots, but Schafer said he wasn't pleased with the first goal -- even though he felt Scrivens was interfered with -- and other things that Scrivens did.

Sounds like the typical early-season "We won, but we have a lot of work to do" line; standard for all coaches in all sports, IMO.

[redice]

Related to this item, interesting sentence in today's Ithaca Journal:

Scrivens stopped 28 shots, but Schafer said he wasn't pleased with the first goal -- even though he felt Scrivens was interfered with -- and other things that Scrivens did.

And, how about that second period play where he flipped the puck in the air from his glove and attempted to swat it out of the air with his stick.   "Swing & a miss!!"

I'll bet Coach had some unkind words for him about that little maneuver....

[CUontheslopes]

Related to this item, interesting sentence in today's Ithaca Journal:

Scrivens stopped 28 shots, but Schafer said he wasn't pleased with the first goal -- even though he felt Scrivens was interfered with -- and other things that Scrivens did.

And, how about that second period play where he flipped the puck in the air from his glove and attempted to swat it out of the air with his stick.   "Swing & a miss!!"

I'll bet Coach had some unkind words for him about that little maneuver....

That was one of the single dumbest plays I have ever seen. It wasn't like no one was around or he was desperate to get the puck out or something. There were at least 3 Niagara players within 15 feet. Scrivens makes more dumb plays than any goaltender I have seen in the last 7 years I've watched CU hockey in person (undergrad + law).  I actually felt a lot better with Garman in net during the Windsor game. He's not as good a goalie, but my blood pressure definitely drops a lot because he's not going to do anything stupid. I'll look forward to Iles next year, He'll be coming in with a lot of valuable experience, almost as if he's a soph since he will have played almost a full year's worth of games against college teams...

Back to the game - I couldn't really see what happened on the questionable goal since I was across the way. It looked to me as if the Niagara player's body or stick bumped into Scrivens while Scrivens was already starting to fall backwards.  It was difficult to see what happened exactly - hence would have been a GREAT spot for replay. We're really going to have to do a better job with that if we want to have it. I'm not sure why they didn't use the fixed goal cameras not the Redcast. From my spot in Section B, you could see the flatscreen goal camera. Seemed to be working fine.

On the whole, I thought CU looked a lot better for this point in the year than other years. Riley Nash made more great passes in one night than I've seen in a long time. He constantly finds the open man and his passes are not just the standard around the perimeter passes. He's putting the puck through the interior of the defense and finding open guys. They really need to finish better (a constant theme). By far the most impressive player on the ice was Greening. He plays with so much heart and passion. He genuinely looks like a man amongst boys. He's so strong on the puck and he wants it everytime he's on the ice. He could have a MONSTER year. He's turned into what I think we all hoped Byron Bitz would during his time here - a physical, aggressive, scorer who uses his size to maximum advantage. His first goal (did they change the scoring on the second?) was a goal-scorers goal. He took the pass in full stride and in one motion put it into the top nearside corner. It was beautiful because he had a 6in by 6in spot to put the puck and he did it.

Worst player of the night was Brendan Nash who continually makes more stupid plays than any other player on the ice. He continues to look disinterested and looks like a forward who's irked that he's stuck in a defenseman's body. In the last minutes of the game, he shot the puck into the netting, directly into a defenseman's leg (2x) and in a span of 15 seconds managed to almost give up 2 breakaways. Absolutely awful. He's great at handling the puck and skating it out of our zone, but he is liability. He'll really need to get his head straightened out and not make the mental mistakes we're so used to seeing out of him the last few years. Lastly, Mike Devin scored a beautiful GW on a 1-0: beat the goalie nearside high over the blocker - really a pretty goal. He looked solid all night and just missed on a rocket of a one timer from the slot that was gloved on a great save. You could see afterwards he was frustrated he didn't bury it with a better shot more to the corner.

I thought the freshmen looked like, well, freshman - much more so than in the exhibition games. D'Agastino looked nervous everytime he touched the puck and had some "hole-in-the-stick" plays. I'd like to see Birch out there more. I thought he looked better in the exhibitions. Apparently he didn't dress. Axell is BIG - skinny and tall. He's got the frame to be an absolute beast.

As a side note, not to complain, but the reffing was absolutely ATROCIOUS, and at a minimum, very random. All the more obvious penalties seemed not to be called and more questionable calls ALL seemed to be made. Early in the year for the refs too, but not a great start.

[HockeyMan]

On the whole, I thought CU looked a lot better for this point in the year than other years. Riley Nash made more great passes in one night than I've seen in a long time. He constantly finds the open man and his passes are not just the standard around the perimeter passes. He's putting the puck through the interior of the defense and finding open guys. They really need to finish better (a constant theme). By far the most impressive player on the ice was Greening. He plays with so much heart and passion. He genuinely looks like a man amongst boys. He's so strong on the puck and he wants it everytime he's on the ice. He could have a MONSTER year. He's turned into what I think we all hoped Byron Bitz would during his time here - a physical, aggressive, scorer who uses his size to maximum advantage. His first goal (did they change the scoring on the second?) was a goal-scorers goal. He took the pass in full stride and in one motion put it into the top nearside corner. It was beautiful because he had a 6in by 6in spot to put the puck and he did it.

Worst player of the night was Brendan Nash who continually makes more stupid plays than any other player on the ice. He continues to look disinterested and looks like a forward who's irked that he's stuck in a defenseman's body. In the last minutes of the game, he shot the puck into the netting, directly into a defenseman's leg (2x) and in a span of 15 seconds managed to almost give up 2 breakaways. Absolutely awful. He's great at handling the puck and skating it out of our zone, but he is liability. He'll really need to get his head straightened out and not make the mental mistakes we're so used to seeing out of him the last few years. Lastly, Mike Devin scored a beautiful GW on a 1-0: beat the goalie nearside high over the blocker - really a pretty goal. He looked solid all night and just missed on a rocket of a one timer from the slot that was gloved on a great save. You could see afterwards he was frustrated he didn't bury it with a better shot more to the corner.

I thought the freshmen looked like, well, freshman - much more so than in the exhibition games. D'Agastino looked nervous everytime he touched the puck and had some "hole-in-the-stick" plays. I'd like to see Birch out there more. I thought he looked better in the exhibitions. Apparently he didn't dress. Axell is BIG - skinny and tall. He's got the frame to be an absolute beast.

Good analysis, but I disagree re the d-men. I'm loving D'Agostino thus far.  Nervous?  On the contrary, he seems extraordinarily poised, and his decision-making is almost always excellent.  I was hard on B.Nash on occasion last year, but I think he's been solid so far in this campaign (nothwithstanding his tripping infraction that created the 5-3). I still wish he'd play with more urgency sometimes--"disinterested" is a good word, I agree.  But the player who is really struggling is Whitney,both last night and against the U18s.  He's a step slow, and just seems tentative.  A temporary sophomore slump, one can hope.

[CUontheslopes]

On the whole, I thought CU looked a lot better for this point in the year than other years. Riley Nash made more great passes in one night than I've seen in a long time. He constantly finds the open man and his passes are not just the standard around the perimeter passes. He's putting the puck through the interior of the defense and finding open guys. They really need to finish better (a constant theme). By far the most impressive player on the ice was Greening. He plays with so much heart and passion. He genuinely looks like a man amongst boys. He's so strong on the puck and he wants it everytime he's on the ice. He could have a MONSTER year. He's turned into what I think we all hoped Byron Bitz would during his time here - a physical, aggressive, scorer who uses his size to maximum advantage. His first goal (did they change the scoring on the second?) was a goal-scorers goal. He took the pass in full stride and in one motion put it into the top nearside corner. It was beautiful because he had a 6in by 6in spot to put the puck and he did it.

Worst player of the night was Brendan Nash who continually makes more stupid plays than any other player on the ice. He continues to look disinterested and looks like a forward who's irked that he's stuck in a defenseman's body. In the last minutes of the game, he shot the puck into the netting, directly into a defenseman's leg (2x) and in a span of 15 seconds managed to almost give up 2 breakaways. Absolutely awful. He's great at handling the puck and skating it out of our zone, but he is liability. He'll really need to get his head straightened out and not make the mental mistakes we're so used to seeing out of him the last few years. Lastly, Mike Devin scored a beautiful GW on a 1-0: beat the goalie nearside high over the blocker - really a pretty goal. He looked solid all night and just missed on a rocket of a one timer from the slot that was gloved on a great save. You could see afterwards he was frustrated he didn't bury it with a better shot more to the corner.

I thought the freshmen looked like, well, freshman - much more so than in the exhibition games. D'Agastino looked nervous everytime he touched the puck and had some "hole-in-the-stick" plays. I'd like to see Birch out there more. I thought he looked better in the exhibitions. Apparently he didn't dress. Axell is BIG - skinny and tall. He's got the frame to be an absolute beast.

Good analysis, but I disagree re the d-men. I'm loving D'Agostino thus far.  Nervous?  On the contrary, he seems extraordinarily poised, and his decision-making is almost always excellent.  I was hard on B.Nash on occasion last year, but I think he's been solid so far in this campaign (nothwithstanding his tripping infraction that created the 5-3). I still wish he'd play with more urgency sometimes--"disinterested" is a good word, I agree.  But the player who is really struggling is Whitney,both last night and against the U18s.  He's a step slow, and just seems tentative.  A temporary sophomore slump, one can hope.

Really? I thought Whitney looked good last night. He's got size and a great shot. He's not afraid to skate down with the puck towards the net and draw some people away from the forwards. I thought he played a very good game. It's amazing how two people can watch the same game and come away with completely different takes! Guess that's why sportscasters and commentators can make a living. I'm glad we agree on B. Nash though. The penalty was bad, but it was his play on the point in the offensive end that I thought was pitiful. You just can't do what he did repeatedly. He was quite fortunate that his teammates bailed him out or it could've easily been 3-2 Niagara.

[ebilmes]

You can see replays of two of the goals on the Athletics website.

The article also says very clearly that the replay equipment was not working:

Niagara got on the board first six minutes into the game on a quirky play. The Purple Eagles' Beattie fired a shot from the point that was heading high of the Cornell goal, but caught in the glove of Scrivens. In the process of pulling the puck down, he appeared to get clipped by a Niagara player, causing the puck to come out of his glove and into the goal. Officials went to check the video replay, only to find the system not working, and the goal stood without evidence to overturn the play.

[Jim Hyla]

It's amazing how two people can watch the same game and come away with completely different takes! Guess that's why sportscasters and commentators can make a living.

Wow, two people can see the same thing and learn from each other, who'd have thunk that. I guess listening to the broadcast during the game can teach one something.:-D Sorry, I couldn't help myself.::twak:: For those who don't understand, it's a follow-up from another thread.

I did think that Scrivens was outside the crease on the first goal, but I didn't see how he got hit, dislodging the puck. Overall I still think this is the best developed I have seen a team at this time of the season. The veterans seem together and the frosh fit right in. It's the frosh that really surprise me. I thought the vets would come ready to play, otherwise they'd have gone pro. I don't know how the frosh have fit in so easily. You have to think it's their ability, the coach telling them what they expect when they get here, but I have to think you give a lot of credit to the captains for doing a great job in the preseason captain's practices.

I still disagree with those who criticize B. Nash. Yes he makes mistakes, but I'd put him out in any situation. I wonder how much time he'll log this year?

You have to very optimistic so far. The offense is moving well, both bringing the puck up (do you remember how we used to shudder when we were behind our net and trying to pass the puck up?) and with movement in the O zone. The defense moves in well, including the frosh, and the forwards cover up. The PP is far ahead of past years. They are trying many different things and obviously with Greening have been successful. D has been OK, but I think we are going to give up more goals this year as it seems we are putting more emphasis on our O. I hope we don't forget too much about D that coach makes them clamp back down.

Well it could be a great year and the next month, with it's solid schedule, should give us a good indication of where we are.

[Avash]

Related to this item, interesting sentence in today's Ithaca Journal:

Scrivens stopped 28 shots, but Schafer said he wasn't pleased with the first goal -- even though he felt Scrivens was interfered with -- and other things that Scrivens did.

And, how about that second period play where he flipped the puck in the air from his glove and attempted to swat it out of the air with his stick.   "Swing & a miss!!"

I'll bet Coach had some unkind words for him about that little maneuver....

From the Ithaca Journal -- "He has to be stronger," Schafer said of the first goal. "He's got to get away from doing stupid stuff. You know, trying to clear it. I spoke with him between periods and it's ridiculous that he'd even attempt it. Those are some things we need to talk about. He needs to stay in goal and play goal."

[CUontheslopes]

It's amazing how two people can watch the same game and come away with completely different takes! Guess that's why sportscasters and commentators can make a living.

Wow, two people can see the same thing and learn from each other, who'd have thunk that. I guess listening to the broadcast during the game can teach one something.:-D Sorry, I couldn't help myself.::twak:: For those who don't understand, it's a follow-up from another thread.

I did think that Scrivens was outside the crease on the first goal, but I didn't see how he got hit, dislodging the puck. Overall I still think this is the best developed I have seen a team at this time of the season. The veterans seem together and the frosh fit right in. It's the frosh that really surprise me. I thought the vets would come ready to play, otherwise they'd have gone pro. I don't know how the frosh have fit in so easily. You have to think it's their ability, the coach telling them what they expect when they get here, but I have to think you give a lot of credit to the captains for doing a great job in the preseason captain's practices.

I still disagree with those who criticize B. Nash. Yes he makes mistakes, but I'd put him out in any situation. I wonder how much time he'll log this year?

You have to very optimistic so far. The offense is moving well, both bringing the puck up (do you remember how we used to shudder when we were behind our net and trying to pass the puck up?) and with movement in the O zone. The defense moves in well, including the frosh, and the forwards cover up. The PP is far ahead of past years. They are trying many different things and obviously with Greening have been successful. D has been OK, but I think we are going to give up more goals this year as it seems we are putting more emphasis on our O. I hope we don't forget too much about D that coach makes them clamp back down.

Well it could be a great year and the next month, with it's solid schedule, should give us a good indication of where we are.

I actually was thinking that when I wrote the comment on the 2 people watching, but it's very true.  I still have to disagree on B. Nash - he folds like a cheap suit in big spots. He's serviceable regularly and I'll admit he's good on the breakout, but he has no heart and he makes HUGE mistakes at key times. I've got no problem with his physical skills, but he's got to be the dumbest hockey player we've had in a long time. Example, Niagara's goalie loses his stick and is playing with a skater's stick. So what does B. Nash do? First, he shoots it into the d-man's legs right in front of him. Then he gets it back and airmails the goal. Puck comes out to him a third time and he shoots a sick duck that ends up going into the netting. Instead of shooting the puck along the ice b/c the goalie doesn't have his goalie stick, Nash takes 3 horrible shots.  And honestly, the two turnovers at the end of the game within 15 seconds that almost lead to two breakaways were unforgiveably bad. Everyone around me thought the game was over twice in span of 15 seconds. I have no idea how we didn't give up either of those breakaways, the second of which would have been a 2-0. I don't like to be critical of our own guys, but this is the fourth year of this. He's better than that.

[HockeyMan]

I still disagree with those who criticize B. Nash. Yes he makes mistakes, but I'd put him out in any situation. I wonder how much time he'll log this year?

I actually was thinking that when I wrote the comment on the 2 people watching, but it's very true.  I still have to disagree on B. Nash - he folds like a cheap suit in big spots. He's serviceable regularly and I'll admit he's good on the breakout, but he has no heart and he makes HUGE mistakes at key times. I've got no problem with his physical skills, but he's got to be the dumbest hockey player we've had in a long time. Example, Niagara's goalie loses his stick and is playing with a skater's stick. So what does B. Nash do? First, he shoots it into the d-man's legs right in front of him. Then he gets it back and airmails the goal. Puck comes out to him a third time and he shoots a sick duck that ends up going into the netting. Instead of shooting the puck along the ice b/c the goalie doesn't have his goalie stick, Nash takes 3 horrible shots.  And honestly, the two turnovers at the end of the game within 15 seconds that almost lead to two breakaways were unforgiveably bad. Everyone around me thought the game was over twice in span of 15 seconds. I have no idea how we didn't give up either of those breakaways, the second of which would have been a 2-0. I don't like to be critical of our own guys, but this is the fourth year of this. He's better than that.

I think I come down in between you two.  I quite agree that B.Nash is hugely valuable to the team.  There are times when the "man among boys" tag applies to him just as much as to Greening.  He'll log huge minutes this year, and he should. As I've said before on this list, he's got the tools to play at the next level.  But it's precisely for that reason that his lapses and his periodic disinterest are so frustrating.