Cornell-BU @ MSG postgame

Jim Hyla · November 29, 2009, 08:01:49 PM

BMac · November 29, 2009, 08:58:23 PM

I'm pretty sure the reason we lost is the band not playing the alma mater during the second intermission. Didn't even play the new cornell fight song, or "good old days on the hill." Come on!

scoop85 · November 29, 2009, 10:03:00 PM

Quote from: BMacI'm pretty sure the reason we lost is the band not playing the alma mater during the second intermission. Didn't even play the new cornell fight song, or "good old days on the hill." Come on!

Uh, it might have felt like a loss, but it was a tie.

HockeyMan · November 29, 2009, 10:08:05 PM

Quote from: rediceI'm a great admirer of Mike & the job that his coaching staff does at CU. But, I feel strongly that he cost his team a victory by going into a defensive shell for the whole third period. I spotted it in the first two minutes. And, the shell lasted until the end of the period. Granted, there were penalties to kill. But,at even strength, there seemed no urgency to forecheck. If they had spent more time in the BU end, which they seemed quite capable of doing, BU doesn't get so many shot or goals. And, maybe we're not scrambling and taking penalties in the defensive zone. When the OT started, CU applied the offensive pressure that was missing for most of the third.

Agreed. I told someone in the second intermission that I feared Schafer would have them go into a shell in the third. It's not a new approach for this team, after all.

BU is a very good team. Judging by last night, if we played them in a best-of-seven, they win 4 games to 1. As Elie notes, they moved the puck around beautifully on the PP, and could easily have had two or three more goals.

Faceoffs were pretty even overall, but for long stretches in the second half of the game we seemed to lose all the key ones.

Only one tiny addendum to redice's comment. The penalty that really stands out in my mind came in the offensive zone, late in the third...

redice · November 29, 2009, 10:22:41 PM

Quote from: HockeyManOnly one tiny addendum to redice's comment. The penalty that really stands out in my mind came in the offensive zone, late in the third...

Oops!!! I stand corrected.....::blush::

ithacat · November 29, 2009, 10:57:33 PM

Quote from: ebilmesI'm not sure if it's a mental letdown at the end of the period, fatigue, or just the consequence of extra effort and intensity, but we are taking way too many dumb penalties at the end of periods. Finally caught up to us at the end of the game last night.

Additionally, in Cornell's 3 regular season non-wins the opponent managed to score a goal in the final minute of play of a period (only one of those on a PP).

Jordan 04 · November 29, 2009, 11:15:48 PM

Quote from: scoop85
Quote from: BMacI'm pretty sure the reason we lost is the band not playing the alma mater during the second intermission. Didn't even play the new cornell fight song, or "good old days on the hill." Come on!

Uh, it might have felt like a loss, but it was a tie.

I didn't think it felt like a loss. While certainly blowing a 2-goal lead and a last-minute game-tying goal is no fun, one could easily argue that BU should have had a couple more goals long before that. They often skated circles around us in even-strength situations, and were it not for an endless string of slightly-shanked one timers, missed open nets, and fortuitous bounces on scrambles in front of the crease, we easily could have been the ones pulling our goalie in the end.

All in all, it was a thoroughly enjoyable game. The atmosphere was great once again, and this time the excitement carried onto the ice.

I certainly don't fault the band either for not wanting to play Alma and have it screamed over by the play-by-play of an on-ice tricycle race, nor have it cut short by the players returning to the ice for the period. NCFS or MYOC could probably have been squeezed in the little playing time they did have, instead of Star or whatever the selection was (my memory fails me). But who cares; they sounded fantastic as always. And it was great to hear them take as many opportunities as they could to play after whistles, while the BU band seemed content to just watch the game.

cth95 · November 29, 2009, 11:24:13 PM

I was sitting in 215 at the end of the rink, so I had a good view of the game. For the first 10-15 minutes the team came out flying, working the puck behind the net and looking for the open man in front. Then it definitely seemed like we went into a shell after getting the 2-goal lead. For the entire 2nd and 3rd periods, I felt like we were hanging on for dear life. I don't know if BU adjusted, or if we backed off, but our offensive pressure seemed to completely stop. The forecheck went from excellent to minimal, and BU started to win most of the battles along the boards.

In the 2nd and 3rd it also seemed like our defensemen opted to back off numerous times when it seemed they could have easily beaten the BU forwards to the puck in the neutral zone or around our blue line. I realize they didn't want to get beat with noone behind them, but it lead to many BU attacks when I think we could have been heading the other way instead.

I didn't look at the stats yet, but it seemed like we lost a lot of key face-offs, leading to even more BU possession time.

Some dumb penalties (particularly the cross-check by Brendon) and the soft short-handed goal cost us the game as far as the score was concerned, but BU really owned most of this game. Scrivens probably should have had the shortie, but he had many huge saves including an amazing glove save through about 5 players during the 6-3 that more than made up for it.

I can't imagine BU played anything in their losses like they played against us. They were very fast, moved the puck well, and fought well along the boards. Our team played great with intense offensive pressure during the first period and overtime, but they were flat and really didn't get much going during the 2nd and 3rd periods. I guess this season will be determined by whichever one of these teams shows up for the remaining games.

Jim Hyla · November 29, 2009, 11:42:23 PM

Quote from: cth95Some dumb penalties (particularly the cross-check by Brendon)...

I think Kennedy's slash was much worse and the deciding penalty.

cth95 · November 30, 2009, 12:00:30 AM

Kennedy's could be. I was at the other end, so I couldn't see how blatant it was. Brendon was right in front of me so it was very obvious and seemed completely unnecessary.

Swampy · November 30, 2009, 12:52:17 AM

Lots of astute observations here, so I'll just add a few.

BU seemed to beat us at what has been the trademark of Schafer-coached teams. They were more physical, hit harder, and wore us down so that they totally outplayed us in the third period. Our guys came out like gang-busters at the start of the first period and OT, but they seemed to lack the confidence and elan of a championship team. Shafer-coached teams have improved tremendously over the course of a season, and this team has lots of talent. But they didn't show it for a full 60 minutes last night. ND and CC are going to be real challenges. If we're a legitimate NC contender, the guys have to play these games as if they expect to win, not as if they just hope to win.

scoop85 · November 30, 2009, 07:48:37 AM

Quote from: SwampyLots of astute observations here, so I'll just add a few.

BU seemed to beat us at what has been the trademark of Schafer-coached teams. They were more physical, hit harder, and wore us down so that they totally outplayed us in the third period. Our guys came out like gang-busters at the start of the first period and OT, but they seemed to lack the confidence and elan of a championship team. Shafer-coached teams have improved tremendously over the course of a season, and this team has lots of talent. But they didn't show it for a full 60 minutes last night. ND and CC are going to be real challenges. If we're a legitimate NC contender, the guys have to play these games as if they expect to win, not as if they just hope to win.

Yeah, I think there was a lot of "trying not to lose" thinking going on after we got the 3rd goal, rather than a playing to win attitude. Certainly might have been player driven rather than a directive from the coaches -- wouldn't be the first time that has happened. We will certainly have a number of opportunities against quality teams, so we'll have a better sense of how good we might be by New Year's Eve.

Of course we can't overlook the Capital District games this coming weekend. Both teams are improved, and we'll need to be focused.

Willy '06 · November 30, 2009, 08:22:05 AM

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the fluky 2nd goal. During the game I couldn't figure out what happened, and the replay on the MSG screen didn't really help me. The goal was unassisted, but I was sure the BU player passed it during the 2 on 1. After watching it a few times on Redcast, I saw how unlucky that goal really was. Yes, it was bad to allow a 2 on 1, but I thought it looked like Brendan Nash defended it well. He didn't allow the guy to shoot and forced him to pass. Unfortunately his attempt to sweep away the pass with his stick created a crazy deflection that left Scrivens with no chance.

My feeling is that we could have easily won this game 3-0, as every one of BU's goals had some sort of flukiness to it. I also feel that we could have easily lost 6-3 considering how many great saves Scrivens was forced to make.

jtwcornell91 · November 30, 2009, 08:39:31 AM

Quote from: BMacI'm pretty sure the reason we lost is the band not playing the alma mater during the second intermission. Didn't even play the new cornell fight song, or "good old days on the hill." Come on!

It was also disappointing to get only one "Screw BU". But it was great to have a couple of pep bands invade MSG.

Not to mention the awesomeness of not only the "regular" cowbell but the old-time washboard-cowbell band. (Did anyone get a video of them? I was too far away.)

redice · November 30, 2009, 10:05:54 AM

This totally unrelated to hockey.

But, I wanted to mention that, after the game, I found a camera under a seat in the row behind us. I really didn't look at the camera (for details). It was in a small black case. My wife commented that the people sitting in those seat were Cornell fans. So, it's possible that they read this forum.

We were sitting in Sec. 65, Row F. Presumably, the row behind us is Row G. Anyway, I turned the camera over to a security person standing near Gate 63.

Hopefully, the camera's owner will get it back.