Mr. Morris goes to Vancouver

[Jim Hyla]

RichS said:[Q]There's been a lot of negative stuff written about Morris on this forum over the years...instead of..."I know at least most of you cornell guys dislike the guy".[/Q]Yeah, like they never said anything bad about him on the Clarkson site.::rolleyes::

[ugarte]

Like they aren't still saying bad things about him on the Clarkson site now.  I'll bet there are still Clarkson fans who see the opposition score two goals in a period and expect Morris to appear out of nowhere to pull the goalie.

[jtwcornell91]

Broad generalizations are always dangerous, but I'd have to say given what I've read on assorted BBSes, it's the SLU fans who really laid into Morris.  As Age's examples showed, most of us had an appropriate level of respect for what he accomplished, although we might disagree with some of his methods (and perhaps poke a little fun at them, especially over postgame beers at the Chariot or the Chapter House).

[Greg Berge]

Age, are you sure an ignore list isn't worth the trouble?  How much work would one hard-coded member take?  :-D

Very few people outside of Potsdam care either way about Morris.  The consensus seems to be that the Clarkson administration was preparing to hang him when one day he loaded a gun and handed it to them.

Hopefully Clarkson will be big, bad and back as soon as possible.  

[Greg Berge]

> Jack Parker, of course, flirted with the NHL many times over the years. I may be misremembering, but I think he was even named Bruins coach at one point, until he changed his mind almost immediately.

Perhaps you are misremembering Milbury in reverse.  He was the Bruins' coach, jumped to BC, then ran from BC after just a few summer weeks later.

[CUlater \'89]

I think I may have combined two different events.  In 1997, Parker was offered the B's job and was considered to have all-but accepted it, but ultimately turned down the offer.  Earlier in the '90s, I think he was named AD at BU and then immediately changed his mind.

[ACM]

Avash '05 said:

[q]Makes you wonder actually...

What does everyone think about the possibility that Schafer will work for an NHL club some day? Has he ever mentioned it as a personal goal?[/q]

I interviewed Mike shortly after he accepted the Cornell head coaching position. This article appeared in the August 10-16, 1995 issue of Ithaca Times:

The Return Of Mike Schafer

by Arthur Mintz

When he wore the uniform, as a two-time captain of Cornell's men's ice hockey team in the mid-1980's, Mike Schafer was not known for his talent. He had nowhere near the skating or stick-handling or shooting ability of more-skilled teammates like Joe Nieuwendyk, Duanne Moeser, Pete Natyshak or Chris Norton. But what he did have made him a leader, a tri-captain of the 1986 Eastern College Athletic Conference champions, the last championship team produced by the Big Red. He brought to the table toughness, intensity, grit, fearlessness, and a burning desire to win. He didn't always use them wisely: his 251 career penalty minutes rank third on the all-time list, just 16 minutes short of John Olds' school-record 267, and the puck that he did or did not shoot at Harvard coach Bill Cleary in the dying moments of a lopsided loss at Lynah is still talked about today. But there is no denying the results. The teams he played on won three straight Ivy League titles in addition to the 1986 ECAC championship, and Schafer earned an ECAC Medallion for academic excellence and athletic prowess.

Lou Reycroft, the Cornell coach at the time, was convinced enough of Schafer's value to the program to offer him a position as assistant coach after he graduated. As a Cornell assistant for four years, one under Reycroft and then three under Brian McCutcheon, Schafer established a reputation as an outstanding recruiter. Fourteen of the players he recruited were National Hockey League draft choices, and two—Dan Ratushny and Parris Duffus—earned All-America honors.

Schafer left Cornell after the 1989-90 season to join Bill Wilkinson's staff at Western Michigan, in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association. Success continued to follow him. Four of his recruits were named to the CCHA All-Rookie team, and one, Chris Brooks, was the CCHA Rookie of the Year for the 1992-93 season, the only Western Michigan player ever so honored. The Mustangs earned an NCAA tournament bid in 1993-94, their first since 1986. Schafer was promoted to associate coach in 1994, where he remained until he was named to replace McCutcheon as head coach at Cornell on July 21. At the time of his departure from Western Michigan, he was the team's recruiting coordinator, handled team administrative responsibilities, and worked on-ice with the defensemen.

Schafer recognizes the contributions of the coaches for whom he has worked to the development of his career. "I have a lot of gratitude to Lou Reycroft for giving me my first college coaching job," he said. "That's something that I'll always be grateful to him for. And I'm grateful to Brian [McCutcheon] for keeping me here as an assistant. If it wasn't for those two guys I wouldn't be in college coaching today.

"I'm also grateful to Bill Wilkinson for giving me the position [at Western Michigan], and allowing me to grow as a coach, giving me different responsibilities that prepared me for being a head coach," he said. "He's really taught me that communication with the players is the most important factor in your program. He's taught me never to lose sight of that."

Schafer hasn't lost that competitive edge that made him the kind of player you loved if he was on your side and hated if he was playing against you. "Anybody who knows me knows how competitive I am, in everything that I do," he said. "It's just in my blood. I don't like to lose in just about anything that I play. I don't think that's a negative, to me I think it's a positive. It's just part of my personality. I have fun with it. That's who I am. I can't change that competitive nature that I have."

But those that have gotten to know him know that there is more to Mike Schafer than the fans' "Kill, Schafer, kill!" chant might suggest. "I'm a caring person. I'm a people person," he said. "One of the major reasons I got into coaching was that I wanted to be in a business that dealt with people. I didn't want to be in an office all day dealing with just numbers. I wanted to be out and around, meeting people and talking to people. I just enjoy that contact with people, and the relationships that develop because of that."

He is also a devoted family man. He and his wife of eight years, Diane, have a young son, Luke, and another child on the way. "If it wasn't for her support, I would have gotten out of the business," Schafer said. "Our relationship is so strong that there is no way I would have jeopardized our relationship for any job."

Expect to see Schafer's competitive spirit reflected in the team he coaches. "I want to put the student-athletes at Cornell in a very competitive environment in practice, and through that competition, to raise their level of expectations on the ice," he said. "I want to try to play defense in the other team's zone. I want to have a team that's very aggressive, very attacking, to spend as little time in your own zone as possible."

About three years ago, Schafer felt he had served his apprenticeship as an assistant coach, and began to look for a head coaching position. He interviewed for the Princeton job that eventually went to Don Cahoon, and the Ferris State position that Bob Daniels got, and applied for a couple of others. "I wasn't really picky in where I wanted to go. I really wanted a head coaching position," he said. Achieving his goal by coming back to work at his alma mater was a bonus. "Not in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine that I would be back here. That's been a really pleasant surprise."

At the age of 32, Mike Schafer's coaching career has reached a milestone. But he's already thinking about where he wants to be further down the road. "In my mind, I've always dreamed of coaching in the NHL," he said. "That's a dream that will probably be the next goal that I want to obtain. I set a goal for myself to become a head coach in ten years, and it's happened. I have no time line for when I want to become an NHL head coach. I know it's not going to be in the next five, six, seven, eight years. I'm looking to be here for a long time, but eventually down the road I would love to get the opportunity to try and coach in the NHL."

[Rich S]

Well, the "bad things" being said are mostly about the incident and far less about his coaching style.  Those who didn't like his style apparently dont realize that there are many different successful styles, and likely know little about coaching.  And it may be those are the ones still expecting to see a goalie change now....I think Parker changed goalies tonight.

As one who was a goalie, coached very young goalies as a grad student, and who coaches a very talented sophomore goalie on a weak high school team now, I have a good appreciation and understanding of what a goalie's mentality needs to be.

Morris's pulling of goalies might be somewhat unorthodox but every goalie I've ever known understands that being yanked is a part of the game, and its a tactic that many coaches, (Emile Francis and Mike Keenan come to mind among NHL coaches), utilize to shake up the team, not to punish the goalie.  Had I played for Mark, or a coach like him who changed goalies mid game fairly often, I'd have had to get used to it but that's not something any goalie should have trouble adjusting to, since presumably they have the makeup to handle the pressure that comes with playing the position.

Having talked to some of the recent Tech goalies who played for Morris, I'm quite sure they understand what it was all about and were mentally prepared to deal with it.   Many fans don't understand, and a coach can't concern himself too much with fans' opinions.