lles is not the answer

[Cop at Lynah]

After watching tonight's exhibition game, it is obvious that lles is not the answer in goal.  It is frustrating as hell to watch him belly flop all over the crease leaving the entire top side wide open on rebounds.  I was hoping to see improvement from his freshman year.  I know it's only one exhibition game but from what I saw tonight the same erratic play that Andy displayed all of last year is still the norm for him.

[ajh258]

Agreed.

[BearLover]

I did not see tonight's game, but this weakness was very apparent last year.  Is it because he's short for a goalie?  You never see it in the NHL.

[ithacat]

Of course, neither of the goals tonight had anything to do with your observed weakness. Which may make his performance tonight even more worrisome. It does, however, appear he's regressed somewhat. I still think his skill set is off the charts and throughout this season we'll see him turn into one of the best goalies in the ECAC. (Enter, Kris Mayotte)

[ajh258]

Iles keeps pulling what me and my friends call "the Scrivens" - basically crazy moves that unnecessarily increase the risk of letting the puck get by. He often shows a lack of fundamentals in his stance/maneuvers and his size does not play to his advantage, so it doesn't matter how "skilled" you think he is. If he can't defend some basic warp arounds because he's feeling adventurous and goes out of the crease, who cares if he makes few crazy saves per game?

Iles was never better than Garman and Schafer shouldn't have started him alongside Garman, which partially drove Garman to sign pro early. Just because he's from Ithaca and his daddy is a big shot in town doesn't entitle him to be the starting goalie. He had one good weekend last year (away series for Dartmouth/Harvard) and the rest of the time he was merely "getting by". Although their stats were comparable, it was clear that Garman was more dependable and the losses Garman's losses were more caused by our offensive insufficiencies. Additionally, Vincenzo Mariozzi looked much better than Iles during the Red-White game although he only played for a short bit. Schafer should take off his rose-tinted lenses and seriously consider pulling him as our starter.

[ithacat]

It doesn't matter what I think. It matters what the staff thinks, and what Iles thinks.

He didn't get beat on any wrap arounds tonight.

[cbuckser]

Since Parris Duffus twenty years ago, when has a Cornell goalie established himself as The Answer by October of his sophomore year?  I come up with one:  David LeNeveu.  Besides LeNeveu, David McKee comes the closest; he became an elite goaltender in the first semester of his sophomore season.  Jason Elliott did so in the second semester of his sophomore year.  Matt Underhill and Ben Scrivens had their breakout seasons when they were juniors.

Remember, Andy Iles is only 19 years old.  It is far too soon to give up on him.

[CAS]

I'm sure Schafer plays the guys who he believes give us the best chance to win. To suggest he makes decisions based on other criteria is ridiculous.
And its not just Schafer who has great confidence in Andy.  The coaches of the US World Juniors team speak very highly of him.
In Schafer [and Iles] I trust!

[Aaron M. Griffin]

Iles led the team last season to 60% of its wins during the second semester when it was turning its season around from its abysmal performance during the first half of the season.  He sits after only his freshman year at seventh in SV% and ninth in GAA all-time in Cornell hockey history.  That in itself is impressive for a freshman.

I doubt sincerely that Iles's father having influence in Ithaca affects Schafer's choice.  Schafer cares about his legacy as a coach and that will be measured in wins, not appeasement of locals.  Schafer has a gift for identifying talent and developing the skills of prospects for goaltender (think McKee, LeNeveu, Scrivens, etc.).  The statistics do not contradict his choice and faith in Iles.  I trust his judgment.

Iles has been phenomenal in international play.  He backstopped the only team that has beaten Cornell in an exhibition during the last eleven years.  He made 39 saves in that game.  His style might be unconventional or erratic, but if he delivers results, why should that matter?  

Alarmingly, he did make some amateur choices last night.  I think that it was during the third period last night that he came dangerously far out of the net.  It was a rookie mistake.  His performance needs to be better.  He delivered a SV% of 0.909 last night which is not atrocious, but we can expect and will get more from him.  What we saw last night was a young sophomore who was somewhat unsure of himself because the last time he was on competitive collegiate ice he surrendered five goals to the then-No. 1 team in the nation.  He will regain his confidence and deliver as Schafer knows that he can.

Let's hope that he gets better by November 4.

[Trotsky]

It happens every fall.

[ajh258]

I'm sure Schafer plays the guys who he believes give us the best chance to win. To suggest he makes decisions based on other criteria is ridiculous.
And its not just Schafer who has great confidence in Andy.  The coaches of the US World Juniors team speak very highly of him.
In Schafer [and Iles] I trust!

They must be blind. I am not the only one who holds the opinion that Iles looked worse than Garman last year. We can compare stats and talk all day about what they mean and say we trust Schafer and that stuff, but it doesn't mean anything if we lose a few key games.

Since Parris Duffus twenty years ago, when has a Cornell goalie established himself as The Answer by October of his sophomore year? I come up with one: David LeNeveu. Besides LeNeveu, David McKee comes the closest; he became an elite goaltender in the first semester of his sophomore season. Jason Elliott did so in the second semester of his sophomore year. Matt Underhill and Ben Scrivens had their breakout seasons when they were juniors.

Remember, Andy Iles is only 19 years old. It is far too soon to give up on him.

That's fair. However, I still blame coaching for driving Garman away, who was a tremendous goalie and could've had a better career than Scirvens if he had more ice time.

[Cop at Lynah]

I'm not saying Andy can't/won't be damn good....I was just disapponited in seeing him display the same awkwardness last night that drove me crazy last year.    What I'm referring to is Andys' ability to control rebounds and prevent the second/third shots from beating him when he is on his belly and out of the play.  Andy's reputation tells me that if he remains technically sound he will be one of the best...just don't see that enough in my view.

[ithacat]

I'm sure Schafer plays the guys who he believes give us the best chance to win. To suggest he makes decisions based on other criteria is ridiculous.
And its not just Schafer who has great confidence in Andy.  The coaches of the US World Juniors team speak very highly of him.
In Schafer [and Iles] I trust!

They must be blind. I am not the only one who holds the opinion that Iles looked worse than Garman last year. We can compare stats and talk all day about what they mean and say we trust Schafer and that stuff, but it doesn't mean anything if we lose a few key games.

They're all blind... Those that watched him as a high school freshman carry an average team to the state title...blind. Those that watched him two years later backstop his prep team to the championship...blind. Those that named him the best prep goalie that year...blind. Those that invited him to the NTDP in Ann Arbor...blind. Those that selected him to the Junior National Team...blind. Those that saw him put up the best stats at this summer's Junior National camp...blind. Those that saw him stop 39 shots against Cornell while out-playing Ben Scrivens two years ago...blind.

Iles has always been playing up for his age. Let the kid develop. I have nothing against Garman but when he was Iles' age he was still playing juniors. The two started the same number of games last season and Garman's starts resulted in one more loss than those started by Iles. Iles has excelled at every level he's been at and he will (most likely) at Cornell. I'm frustrated because I think he's so much better than we've seen thus far...but I know I'm as blind as they come in matters such as these.

[TimV]

Trotsky:::rock::::rock::::cheer::

[BearLover]

It happens every fall.

Because God forbid this site actually sees some relevant discussion about actual games rather than treatises on whether there should be a white stripe on the bottom of the away jerseys this year.  

Just because he's from Ithaca and his daddy is a big shot in town

Chris Moulson's brother didn't seem to mean anything to Schafer.