Cu - 0 Yale - 6 final

[upprdeck]

Not a bad period , some sloppy play early led to some yale chances that Andy stopped and then 2 PP goals allowed and ours is still struggling.  did have Mowery pt blank early and he missed. Played better as the period went on but not sure we can score. the PP is often just a way to kill time, even when we control it and make good plays we dont put it home.

[upprdeck]

not sure what to say.. a major leads to a goal... Andy gets pulled after 5 goals.  every chance CU got that could lead to a goal I dont even think we got on net..  Yale played well and buried the chances which were too many..

this team needs a couple guys that make D's worry since I dont think we can come up with much speed in one off season

[ithacat]

not sure what to say.. a major leads to a goal... Andy gets pulled after 5 goals.  every chance CU got that could lead to a goal I dont even think we got on net..  Yale played well and buried the chances which were too many..

this team needs a couple guys that make D's worry since I dont think we can come up with much speed in one off season

Need to have the top ECAC teams come back to the pack. Cornell's a couple of years away, at least -- just not enough speed and skill to compete at that level. 0 for 5 vs Yale and Union while out-scored 23-4 this season.

[Chris '03]

not sure what to say.. a major leads to a goal... Andy gets pulled after 5 goals.  every chance CU got that could lead to a goal I dont even think we got on net..  Yale played well and buried the chances which were too many..

this team needs a couple guys that make D's worry since I dont think we can come up with much speed in one off season

Need to have the top ECAC teams come back to the pack. Cornell's a couple of years away, at least -- just not enough speed and skill to compete at that level. 0 for 5 vs Yale and Union while out-scored 23-4 this season.

Not if it means the conference being even less competitive nationally. I'd rather not have the ECAC be a parity-filled league playing at an AHA level. Let's all hope Yale doesn't go one and done in their home regional again...

[Rosey]

The coaching staff really needs to figure out how to play teams like Yale and Union, because it's clear they haven't yet got a clue.

E.g., a Yale player gets the puck and *immediately* passes it off to someone else: bam! bam! bam! the puck is up ice.

A Cornell player gets the puck and stands there dribbling it for a few seconds trying to figure out who to send it to.

A Yale D beats a Cornell forward to the puck in the defensive zone and pops it over to the center who is supporting the puck near the faceoff dot: bam! bam! bam! the puck is up ice.

A Cornell D beats a Yale forward to the puck in the defensive zone and throws it up the boards without looking, not knowing that the only one there to receive the "pass" is a Yale D, who passes it to the open man on the far side.

These sorts of things happened dozens of times each period. Yale only needs to capitalize on a tiny percentage of these to win a game 6-0.

The difference is astonishing. Yale plays fantastic hockey: there is simply no getting around that. Can the Cornell coaching staff figure out how to counter this? Four years on and I'm still waiting.

[ScrewBU]

The coaching staff really needs to figure out how to play teams like Yale and Union, because it's clear they haven't yet got a clue.

E.g., a Yale player gets the puck and *immediately* passes it off to someone else: bam! bam! bam! the puck is up ice.

A Cornell player gets the puck and stands there dribbling it for a few seconds trying to figure out who to send it to.

A Yale D beats a Cornell forward to the puck in the defensive zone and pops it over to the center who is supporting the puck near the faceoff dot: bam! bam! bam! the puck is up ice.

A Cornell D beats a Yale forward to the puck in the defensive zone and throws it up the boards without looking, not knowing that the only one there to receive the "pass" is a Yale D, who passes it to the open man on the far side.

These sorts of things happened dozens of times each period. Yale only needs to capitalize on a tiny percentage of these to win a game 6-0.

The difference is astonishing. Yale plays fantastic hockey: there is simply no getting around that. Can the Cornell coaching staff figure out how to counter this? Four years on and I'm still waiting.

Cornell just flat out doesn't have the talent anymore.  No amount of coaching is going to make up for that much of a difference in skill.  It was embarrassing to have how mediocre this team really is exposed so thoroughly and clearly.

The part that needs figuring out is why can't Cornell get these players?  The talent is in the league.  Yale can recruit these players.  Union can recruit these players.

Maybe what the coaches will figure out is that no one wants to play for a "system" that stopped working 10 years ago---a defensive minded team that gives up dozens of odd man rushes a game but lacks the offensive capability once they're down a goal or two to come back.  

And maybe they'll realize taking 5-minute majors every game, diving, and taking classless cheap shot penalties when down 6-0 are not things that are going to encourage players to want to play here.

[BigRedHockeyFan]

The coaching staff really needs to figure out how to play teams like Yale and Union, because it's clear they haven't yet got a clue.

E.g., a Yale player gets the puck and *immediately* passes it off to someone else: bam! bam! bam! the puck is up ice.

A Cornell player gets the puck and stands there dribbling it for a few seconds trying to figure out who to send it to.

A Yale D beats a Cornell forward to the puck in the defensive zone and pops it over to the center who is supporting the puck near the faceoff dot: bam! bam! bam! the puck is up ice.

A Cornell D beats a Yale forward to the puck in the defensive zone and throws it up the boards without looking, not knowing that the only one there to receive the "pass" is a Yale D, who passes it to the open man on the far side.

These sorts of things happened dozens of times each period. Yale only needs to capitalize on a tiny percentage of these to win a game 6-0.

The difference is astonishing. Yale plays fantastic hockey: there is simply no getting around that. Can the Cornell coaching staff figure out how to counter this? Four years on and I'm still waiting.

No doubt, the fast transition is probably Yale's biggest strength.  Cornell has not yet figured out an effective strategy to counter that.  Also for Yale, they have a lot of raw talent.  Much of that talent will graduate this year (9 seniors).  We'll see who steps up next year.  

All rivalry aside, I hope Yale wins the NCAA tournament, for the sake of the conference.

[Chris '03]

All rivalry aside, I hope Yale wins the NCAA tournament, for the sake of the conference.

If the road to the Frozen Four runs through Air Force and Union/UMD as seems likely, they better at least get to the Frozen Four. The ECAC nightmare would be North Dakota 7 RPI 1; Air Force beating Yale (again) and UMD beating Union.

With the Bridgeport regional featuring the AHA team, the 4th place WCHA team and the top two ECAC teams (one of which is playing a short drive from campus), the ECAC is never going to have an easier path to getting a team through.

[billhoward]

Our luck ran out Saturday. We got lucky the week before when Union collapsed against Colgate, shuffling the brackets so we got beatable Dartmouth Friday rather than unbeatable  (for Cornell this year) Union. With Colgate's reversion to norm Friday in its 4-0 loss to Yale, our fate was cast.

It didn't matter who was in goal. If Garman's hot hand continued, maybe it would have been 4-0 not 6-0. If Miller had a trace more luck when he was camped on Rondeau's doorstep with the puck, it would've been a 4-1.

There were reasons to stick with Iles as the Saturday goalie. Other than the Florida tournament with Iles away, it was a rotation all season long. Garman's shutout and 37 saves Friday might have been the signal of an improved goalie but they could also be outlier performances that would revert to the norm. ("The Hot Hand Myth in Professional Basketball" ) http://www.mccombs.utexas.edu/faculty/jonathan.koehler/articles/2003_JSEP.pdf

I think it was worth protecting Iles psyche, too. We want him around for the next three years. Schafer probably didn't think this. I did: Sacrifice the battle to win a war. No matter who was in goal, this was going to be Cornell's last game of the season.

Good luck to Yale. There hasn't been an ECAC national champion since 1989 (Harvard) and no ECAC team in the title game since 1990 and Colgate (remember this for a trivia question). Some preliminary bracketology has Union joining Yale in the Bridgeport regional. The NCAA has not really placed a high priority on avoiding intra-conference second round (regional title game that advances the winner to the Frozen Four).

Bad as Saturday was against Yale, the Cornell-at-Union game (4-0 loss with Garman playing) was worse. In AC we had some chances and got off 22 shots. At Union, our shot total was something like 2-2-5--9 in that game. Plus, with 2226 in attendance at Messa Rink, there were more people watching the humiliation.  

We got as far as our abilities allowed. The ECAC has four good, NCAA-tournament worthy teams this year: Yale and Union in a class by themselves (but possibly in a regional together, in Bridgeport), RPI (apparently going as a low seed), and maybe Dartmouth (apparently not going). We showed we could handle RPI and Dartmouth. So except for not winning against two of the ECAC's best teams since perhaps our 2003 club, this overachieving team did a lot with what it had.

I saw something like 6 losses and a win this year. It was still great. LGR next year.

[Rosey]

Our luck ran out Saturday. We got lucky the week before when Union collapsed against Colgate, shuffling the brackets so we got beatable Dartmouth Friday rather than unbeatable  (for Cornell this year) Union. With Colgate's reversion to norm Friday in its 4-0 loss to Yale, our fate was cast.

Indeed. I called it last year, for which everyone gave me shit, but I stand by that statement with last night's performance being something as close to a proof as you're going to get in sports: the only reason Cornell won the ECAC championship last year was that a lesser Union team did Cornell's dirty work for it and took Yale out of the tournament.

[Towerroad]

Kyle

I more or less agree with your assessment. I was embarrassed by the punk major penalty in the 3rd. The game was for all intents and purposes over and that was simply gratuitous and did not reflect well on the Team, Coaches or School.

So, where do we go from here? The players we have, and the style of play are made in the coaches image.

[ChipJ]

Was this our worst loss in ECAC tournament history?  Sure seemed like it - even worse than the 5-0 loss to Yale in 2009.

[ithacat]

not sure what to say.. a major leads to a goal... Andy gets pulled after 5 goals.  every chance CU got that could lead to a goal I dont even think we got on net..  Yale played well and buried the chances which were too many..

this team needs a couple guys that make D's worry since I dont think we can come up with much speed in one off season

Need to have the top ECAC teams come back to the pack. Cornell's a couple of years away, at least -- just not enough speed and skill to compete at that level. 0 for 5 vs Yale and Union while out-scored 23-4 this season.

Not if it means the conference being even less competitive nationally. I'd rather not have the ECAC be a parity-filled league playing at an AHA level. Let's all hope Yale doesn't go one and done in their home regional again...

Agree. I was only making reference to Cornell's ability to catch Yale.

[ajh258]

Kyle

I more or less agree with your assessment. I was embarrassed by the punk major penalty in the 3rd. The game was for all intents and purposes over and that was simply gratuitous and did not reflect well on the Team, Coaches or school.

Not to put salt on old wounds, but shall the squabbling begin?

I think this is a conversation worth having with the coaching staff. Based on the adjustments they have made since the winter break, I know Schafer and Co. cares about improving the team and knows what our weaknesses are. However, what they've done in terms of improving the passing game and shuffling up the lines is like putting a band aid on a bullet wound. I was talking to some Yale fans before the Colgate game and they said a lot of their success has to do with the work ethic that their coaches and players have committed to in the past few years - nothing more special than that. So where do we go from here?

[Wastherein70]

Maybe the coaches need to polish up our trophies just to remind themselves what Cornell hockey is all about.  I seem to recall that tactic being used on the players a few years back.