Harvard-Dartmouth aftermath

[RichH]

Since nobody wants to start any threads, here.  First, the obvious:

4-point weekend for Cornell
4-goal weekend for D'Agostino
First road sweep of Harvard-Dartmouth since they became travel partners.
Third win at Thompson since 1998.

I had hoped that D'Ago and Espo would lead the way. I doubt this scoring pace is sustainable, but CU has actually been able to keep filling the net consistently. They have fast starts to games, and the Mercyhurst and Brown games have shown that they're vulnerable late.  It's weird to not see Cornell amongst the GAA leaders, but it's weirder to see them high on the list of GFA. Yeah, it's early, and the bounces can turn, but I'm happy so far. The defense will always gain polish as the season wears on, especially considering that's the side of the puck on which we have the most experience. I always remind myself that no Schafer team has been successful without a great penalty kill. That hasn't been good at all, and neither has the late-game lockdown, tempering my enthusiasm.

Judging only what I saw last weekend at Yale/Brown, this could be one special freshmen class. They're contributing in a bigger way and sooner than most rookies I remember seeing.  Ryan is everywhere, Ferlin looks to be a Baby/Greening power forward, and McCarron is your classic rough-and-tumble CU forward in the same mold as Cooney, Hornby, and Cam Abbott. Love his style on both sides of the puck.

I have a lot of good feelings for this team, and suspect they're deeper than we thought. There's a long way to go, and just as last season turned up, this season can turn down just as easily if they don't get the defense figured out.

[css228]

Since nobody wants to start any threads, here.  First, the obvious:

4-point weekend for Cornell
4-goal weekend for D'Agostino
First road sweep of Harvard-Dartmouth since they became travel partners.
Third win at Thompson since 1998.

I had hoped that D'Ago and Espo would lead the way. I doubt this scoring pace is sustainable, but CU has actually been able to keep filling the net consistently. They have fast starts to games, and the Mercyhurst and Brown games have shown that they're vulnerable late.  It's weird to not see Cornell amongst the GAA leaders, but it's weirder to see them high on the list of GFA. Yeah, it's early, and the bounces can turn, but I'm happy so far. The defense will always gain polish as the season wears on, especially considering that's the side of the puck on which we have the most experience. I always remind myself that no Schafer team has been successful without a great penalty kill. That hasn't been good at all, and neither has the late-game lockdown, tempering my enthusiasm.

Judging only what I saw last weekend at Yale/Brown, this could be one special freshmen class. They're contributing in a bigger way and sooner than most rookies I remember seeing.  Ryan is everywhere, Ferlin looks to be a Baby/Greening power forward, and McCarron is your classic rough-and-tumble CU forward in the same mold as Cooney, Hornby, and Cam Abbott. Love his style on both sides of the puck.

I have a lot of good feelings for this team, and suspect they're deeper than we thought. There's a long way to go, and just as last season turned up, this season can turn down just as easily if they don't get the defense figured out.

They should get the D figured out, since most of the talent is still there (if not better given the guys we brought in). The D'Ags - Ryan pairing is scary good offensively and has the skills to be lock down on D. It's true we could easily be 5-0 right now, and it hurts our at large chances to have lost to Mercyhurst, but on the bright side we've beaten the two best teams we've played on their ice. Looking at the bright side we're tied at the top of the league and we've probably gotten the most difficult pair of road trips out of the way. Who knows maybe the North Country is better than I think, but I don't think there is a team in the league this year that will outclass us the way Union and Yale did last year. I'm really psyched for the remainder of our non-conference schedule. Starting at MSG we've got some good opportunities to see how we stack up nationally @ CC and @ Estero.

* Quick Addition: We are now  16th in the PairWise rankings, ranking second highest among the ECAC teams, trailing only Yale. Yes, it's rather irrelevant right now since we haven't made many connections out of conference, but good to see. We are also 24th in KRACH.

[scoop85]

Since nobody wants to start any threads, here.  First, the obvious:

4-point weekend for Cornell
4-goal weekend for D'Agostino
First road sweep of Harvard-Dartmouth since they became travel partners.
Third win at Thompson since 1998.

I had hoped that D'Ago and Espo would lead the way. I doubt this scoring pace is sustainable, but CU has actually been able to keep filling the net consistently. They have fast starts to games, and the Mercyhurst and Brown games have shown that they're vulnerable late.  It's weird to not see Cornell amongst the GAA leaders, but it's weirder to see them high on the list of GFA. Yeah, it's early, and the bounces can turn, but I'm happy so far. The defense will always gain polish as the season wears on, especially considering that's the side of the puck on which we have the most experience. I always remind myself that no Schafer team has been successful without a great penalty kill. That hasn't been good at all, and neither has the late-game lockdown, tempering my enthusiasm.

Judging only what I saw last weekend at Yale/Brown, this could be one special freshmen class. They're contributing in a bigger way and sooner than most rookies I remember seeing.  Ryan is everywhere, Ferlin looks to be a Baby/Greening power forward, and McCarron is your classic rough-and-tumble CU forward in the same mold as Cooney, Hornby, and Cam Abbott. Love his style on both sides of the puck.

I have a lot of good feelings for this team, and suspect they're deeper than we thought. There's a long way to go, and just as last season turned up, this season can turn down just as easily if they don't get the defense figured out.

They should get the D figured out, since most of the talent is still there (if not better given the guys we brought in). The D'Ags - Ryan pairing is scary good offensively and has the skills to be lock down on D. It's true we could easily be 5-0 right now, and it hurts our at large chances to have lost to Mercyhurst, but on the bright side we've beaten the two best teams we've played on their ice. Looking at the bright side we're tied at the top of the league and we've probably gotten the most difficult pair of road trips out of the way. Who knows maybe the North Country is better than I think, but I don't think there is a team in the league this year that will outclass us the way Union and Yale did last year. I'm really psyched for the remainder of our non-conference schedule. Starting at MSG we've got some good opportunities to see how we stack up nationally @ CC and @ Estero.

* Quick Addition: We are now  16th in the PairWise rankings, ranking second highest among the ECAC teams, trailing only Yale. Yes, it's rather irrelevant right now since we haven't made many connections out of conference, but good to see. We are also 24th in KRACH.

Good Analyses.  Best corps of Freshmen that I can remember, and scoring depth throughout the lineup.  When you have returning guys like Brisson and touted Freshman Dias and Cole who can't crack the lineup, you know you have some talent.  And all this without Hudon, who you would think would have gotten on the ice (hopefully his situation works out for him, whatever that entails).

Agreed that we should have no problem matching-up with anyone on our schedule, although like any team we may have a stinker or two along the way.  Great to get those two tough trips out of the way with such stellar results.

[snert1288]

Additionally, we are 3-1 against all Ivy teams played so far.  I know it doesn't count for anything real at the end of the season, but we only have 1 more away Ivy game.  I'm tired of Yale being the top Ivy for these past few years.

[Trotsky]

Additionally, we are 3-1 against all Ivy teams played so far.  I know it doesn't count for anything real at the end of the season, but we only have 1 more away Ivy game.  I'm tired of Yale being the top Ivy for these past few years.

Same here.  Remarkably, after Friday's game we will not play another Ivy opponent for almost two months.

[snert1288]

Not only that, but our second half Ivy schedule is an exact reflection of our first half in terms of order.  Interesting.

[Omie]

I had the good fortune to be able to attend the Brown, Harvard, and Dartmouth games and I have to say that I am incredibly pleased by the freshman class. Lowry looked outstanding at Brown and Ryan is incredibly solid on the D. Ferlin is a real offensive threat, skates fast, and is able to position himself to contribute offensively. D'Agostino is a real contributor and looks a like a solid upperclassmen. It seems that this team's offensive prowess is no fluke and hopefully they will keep it up.

With regards to Iles, I think he shows flashes of brilliance and has made great stops when needed. His numbers are by no means great, but he definitely gives the team a chance to win every game. There are certainly some goals he allowed that seemed soft and that I'm sure he would like back, the Brown 5th in particular.

As to areas for improvement, I would say special teams is a huge question mark right now. The penalty kill looks solid most of the time, but will suddenly have a huge mistake that will lead to goal. The power play needs to cycle a bit more. Hopefully, these are areas that time will improve, as we have typically been solid on special teams even on off-years.

The Brown game looked a solid effort and certainly looked like a win until Gotovets coughed up the puck on the breakout to a Brown player on our zone and leading to the tying goal. After that the team looked completely deflated. The guys were completely fired up for Harvard, though, and the Harvard goals came during the second period, which we spent most of the time on the penalty. That has to have been one of the most lop-sided refereed periods I had ever seen, with a lot of dubious calls for "interference." The Dartmouth game was definitely a battle and it was great to see the team hold up a one-goal lead after having lost such leads in the third period against Brown and Mercyhurst. Iles definitely came up big during the waning minutes of the Dartmouth game and made some great saves. Esposito took a huge shot on his thigh while on the penalty kill at Dartmouth and had to be helped off the ice. Hopefully, its a small injury, if any, and he can return soon.

Finally, I certainly am looking forward to see how click with some non-conference play. The BU game should be great. I have been able to see BU a bit and they seem to be very hot-cold. As I type this, they are beating BC at BC. Moreover, a win by Cornell at MSG would end the three-game series at 1-1-1.

[Trotsky]

As I type this, they are beating BC at BC.

BU won 5-0.

[Al DeFlorio]

Esposito took a huge shot on his thigh while on the penalty kill at Dartmouth and had to be helped off the ice. Hopefully, its a small injury, if any, and he can return soon.

From the College Hockey News game summary:

"Cornell lost John Esposito, when he was hit with a shot and it shattered his protective cup. He was taken to the hospital for precautionary reasons."

Ouch!

[Jordan 04]

Esposito took a huge shot on his thigh while on the penalty kill at Dartmouth and had to be helped off the ice. Hopefully, its a small injury, if any, and he can return soon.

From the College Hockey News game summary:

"Cornell lost John Esposito, when he was hit with a shot and it shattered his protective cup. He was taken to the hospital for precautionary reasons."

Ouch!

I was going to say, I thought "thigh" was being a bit euphemistic given the amount of pain Espo appeared to be in.  Ouch indeed!

[Give My Regards]

Esposito took a huge shot on his thigh while on the penalty kill at Dartmouth and had to be helped off the ice. Hopefully, its a small injury, if any, and he can return soon.

From the College Hockey News game summary:

"Cornell lost John Esposito, when he was hit with a shot and it shattered his protective cup. He was taken to the hospital for precautionary reasons."

Ouch!

I was going to say, I thought "thigh" was being a bit euphemistic given the amount of pain Espo appeared to be in.  Ouch indeed!

( decides not to say anything about "small injury" )

[TheMatrix]

From today's Cornell Sun article:

Although Schafer said that Esposito was in a lot of pain when he left on Saturday, the forward seems to be doing better, according to D'Agostino.

"It was a great play. something that we really stress [is] blocking shots," D'Agostino said. "He was just a little banged up, but he will be fine for the weekend."

Glad to hear that he'll be back playing this weekend!

[Trotsky]

From today's Cornell Sun article:

Although Schafer said that Esposito was in a lot of pain when he left on Saturday, the forward seems to be doing better, according to D'Agostino.

"It was a great play. something that we really stress [is] blocking shots," D'Agostino said. "He was just a little banged up, but he will be fine for the weekend."

Glad to hear that he'll be back playing this weekend!

God bless technology.

[Killer]

I'm reminded of a visit to a sporting goods store in Ithaca, maybe down on Seneca Street (?), back in the '70s, with one of my roommates and his non-sports-savvy girlfriend from Ithaca College.  As we wandered around the store, she picked a cup, something she'd never seen before, put it over her mouth and nose, and asked if it was some sort of gas mask.

[Jim Hyla]

Number 18 in USCHO poll.