Generic Off Season Thread

[Aaron M. Griffin]

The reason why I would argue that this year felt psychologically closer was because Cornell entered as the lowest seed in the bracket, knocked off a team that many had said would be the only legitimate challenger to BC in the title game, and advanced to play a lower seed than the opponent that Cornell had beaten already.

Another reason it may have felt "closer" is the overall decline in the "big three" conferences.  I would say the odds of having an ECAC team go all the way over the next few seasons are far higher than at any time since the "super teams" out of Harvard and the North Country in the late 80's/early 90's.

I agree. I think the next few years will be interesting. Cornell, Harvard, and Union look like teams that will be able to challenge nationally next season and/or soon thereafter. Sucks's post-season propaganda has shown a certain level of, dare I say, pride, passion, and ambition.

It was a year that, to me, really reestablished some of the greatness of Harvard hockey. I think that we certainly want to build upon it and take it to the next step...A lot of building blocks were put in place for the future and I think our guys that are coming back really have that taste of having some success, having a chance to make it  the league championship game, and I think that we want to take it to the next level next year.

If you want to see the whole video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNEqJxU1V2Q&feature=player_embedded

I know that most on here wish Sucks ill in most things, but I just think back to Dryden's quote from The Game and think that Cornell's primary rival doing well helps Cornell in the grand scheme:

They were the necessary other side in many of my most fundamental moments, the inspiration and competitive prod for them, irrevocably and fondly associated with them...When a career ends, when the passion of the game subsides, towards a good opponent you only feel gratitude.

[Josh '99]

Adam, I for one prefer Lake Placid.  Maybe it's just you and me and a few others.  I get gouged there for kids hockey tournaments and I still love it.  It has a lot of charm and I like the rink, the restaurants, etc.  I'm fairly close to Bridgeport in Northern NJ but I'll take LP any day.

I'm shocked at Q's rink capacity, I've been there and I would have guessed that it's much larger.  It's certainly very yellow, maybe that's throwing me off.

Nothing wrong with other people overspending. But how big should Q have built the arena? It's 3286 now and the mirror image basketball arena across the concours is 3586. (Only RPI and Cornell are above 4,000; Dartmouth is listed as 4500 but that's 3500 + 1000 standing.) Doubtful Q would let the hockey rink be 5000 without making hoops similarly large and the facility cost as built topped $50 million. Note photo of the rink as posted by the architects:

[clear]

This could either be attendance-as-usual or the third period of a sellout game and the students left at the second intermission to get ready for the parties.

The student sections are still there, all wearing yellow in the back right of the photo.  They don't sit in other parts of the arena.  The visitor section is the one with the giant hole in it near the center of the image.

Which isn't that surprising when you consider that they look to be playing Harvard.  

(At first I thought it was vs. Cornell, but as far as I can tell, Cornell has never had a vertical stripe on the pants.)

[Aaron M. Griffin]

Usually when the off-season thread loses steam, someone raises the spectre of Mike Schafer being recruited to the pros, or some cash-rich (before legal fees) places such as Penn State or The Ohio State offering him $500K and rights to hire the woman riding the back of Bobby Petrino's motorcycle.

Ohio State would just buy the woman and the motorcycle and give it to him, so that's why no one has said it. It's an unrealistic scenario.

[Josh '99]

Usually when the off-season thread loses steam, someone raises the spectre of Mike Schafer being recruited to the pros, or some cash-rich (before legal fees) places such as Penn State or The Ohio State offering him $500K and rights to hire the woman riding the back of Bobby Petrino's motorcycle.

And you had to go and say that...  why?  ::wtf::

[Aaron M. Griffin]

(At first I thought it was vs. Cornell, but as far as I can tell, Cornell has never had a vertical stripe on the pants.)

Cornell did at one time.

Also, in the video I made before the ECAC Tournament, one can see the stripe still on the pants during the 1996 ECAC Championship Final footage.

However, you're right, it is Harvard.

[billhoward]

Fifty years ago Quinnipiac was a small commuter school offering little but a business curriculum with not much of a reputation (started life in the 1920s as Connecticut College of Commerce and subsequently changed its name to Junior College of Commerce).  It actually shut down during World War II.  In the 1950s when I was growing up in New Haven its teams were part of the NAIA, if anyone here has heard of that.

The University has grown dramatically and ambitiously in the past fifty years, now offering 52 undergraduate majors, 20 graduate programs, and a JD program.  State-of-the-art facilities have been built for the law center and the communication and business programs.  Its new medical school is scheduled to open next year.  Its athletic programs are now NCAA Division I and it wasn't that many years ago that it moved up to ECACH from what was then viewed as the minor leagues.

Sounds great! How do I apply? You do work for the Quinnipiac admissions office, right?

Al graciously leaves unsaid that the J-school is the Ed McMahon School of Communications. Imagine a School with the motto, suitably done up in Latin, as "Right You Are, Johnny." Never sure if Ed's claim to fame was as Johnny Carson's sidekick, spokesmodel for Publisher's Clearing House, or for giving so much money to Q that he died broke. Another personal data point about Q: A friend's daughter partied her way through high school and then when at Q found there was too much partying. She departed. There's a running joke that the No. 1 Like for students attending Q is that it looks like a country club, and the No. 1 dislike is that it looks like a country club.

[billhoward]

Usually when the off-season thread loses steam, someone raises the spectre of Mike Schafer being recruited to the pros, or some cash-rich (before legal fees) places such as Penn State or The Ohio State offering him $500K and rights to hire the woman riding the back of Bobby Petrino's motorcycle.

And you had to go and say that...  why?  ::wtf::

The woofing gods are busy elsewhere. They saw a column on Amare Stoudemire's new maturity and work ethic and then strategically placed a few more fire extinguishers in MSG.

[Cop at Lynah]

Ben Syer promoted to associate head coach

[Trotsky]

Ben Syer promoted to associate head coach

Have we ever figured out exactly what that means?  Is it like being tenure track?

[Beeeej]

Ben Syer promoted to associate head coach

Have we ever figured out exactly what that means?  Is it like being tenure track?

It's an administrative difference; typically, "associate" positions are one pay band above "assistant" positions, which means that the minimum salary for the position is higher (though it's possible for someone in a lower band to be making more than someone in a higher band).  They also typically have a little more repsonsibility, and sometimes a little more supervisory repsonsibility .

So, with the caveat that this is completely on a guessing/theoretical level, while the assistant and associate head coaches may both participate more or less the same way in practices and at games, the associate head coach may have greater recruiting responsibilities and may have the equipment manager and the trainer as his direct reports.

[adamw]

So Adam's article gets reprinted in the Lake Placid News. Although it looks like they're not really sure about the author's authenticity.

By ADAM?WODON

He's also "Special to the News." Nowhere does it mention that the article was published elsewhere.

Really?  They were supposed to do this as an express condition of reprinting.

[adamw]

Adam Wodon's point from his column remains key: We (ECAC) are no longer big stuff and we need to have realistic expectations for who'll welcome us and how many fans will show up for the tournament.

That ... however, I believe most of the eLynah opponents of Lake Placid understand this point. ... So, my point was not just about having realistic expectations - but moreso, given those expectations, what's the only place that could actually boost the league's profile?

[Trotsky]

Ben Syer promoted to associate head coach

Have we ever figured out exactly what that means?  Is it like being tenure track?

It's an administrative difference; typically, "associate" positions are one pay band above "assistant" positions, which means that the minimum salary for the position is higher (though it's possible for someone in a lower band to be making more than someone in a higher band).  They also typically have a little more repsonsibility, and sometimes a little more supervisory repsonsibility .

So, with the caveat that this is completely on a guessing/theoretical level, while the assistant and associate head coaches may both participate more or less the same way in practices and at games, the associate head coach may have greater recruiting responsibilities and may have the equipment manager and the trainer as his direct reports.

Thanks.

[RichH]

Adam Wodon's point from his column remains key: We (ECAC) are no longer big stuff and we need to have realistic expectations for who'll welcome us and how many fans will show up for the tournament.

That ... however, I believe most of the eLynah opponents of Lake Placid understand this point. ... So, my point was not just about having realistic expectations - but moreso, given those expectations, what's the only place that could actually boost the league's profile?

And that's the part I've been struggling with slightly...that the main argument is...marketing?  I'm just not buying that in exchange for the greater inconveniences for a good number of fans.

The benefits to the league are what? More eager television partnerships, I guess.  I can't really believe that it would have that big an impact on recruitment.  League tournament location is most likely far down the list of recruit concerns after hockey facilities, coaching, educational quality, financial benefits, consistent media exposure, geographic preferences, etc.

[Josh '99]

Fifty years ago Quinnipiac was a small commuter school offering little but a business curriculum with not much of a reputation (started life in the 1920s as Connecticut College of Commerce and subsequently changed its name to Junior College of Commerce).  It actually shut down during World War II.  In the 1950s when I was growing up in New Haven its teams were part of the NAIA, if anyone here has heard of that.

The University has grown dramatically and ambitiously in the past fifty years, now offering 52 undergraduate majors, 20 graduate programs, and a JD program.  State-of-the-art facilities have been built for the law center and the communication and business programs.  Its new medical school is scheduled to open next year.  Its athletic programs are now NCAA Division I and it wasn't that many years ago that it moved up to ECACH from what was then viewed as the minor leagues.

Sounds great! How do I apply? You do work for the Quinnipiac admissions office, right?

Al graciously leaves unsaid that the J-school is the Ed McMahon School of Communications. Imagine a School with the motto, suitably done up in Latin, as "Right You Are, Johnny." Never sure if Ed's claim to fame was as Johnny Carson's sidekick, spokesmodel for Publisher's Clearing House, or for giving so much money to Q that he died broke. Another personal data point about Q: A friend's daughter partied her way through high school and then when at Q found there was too much partying. She departed. There's a running joke that the No. 1 Like for students attending Q is that it looks like a country club, and the No. 1 dislike is that it looks like a country club.

Do you ever get tired of reading your own rambling?