Princeton Roll Call

[Greenberg '97]

In for Saturday. Appreciate getting a report on how full the rink really was on Friday. Princeton always reports a sellout for RS games vs. Cornell and Harvard and SRO seats are always available, as are seats. Could Princeton fans really take a shine to hockey in March? Their spring break is not until March 16-24.

Will do, if I remember.  We may make the trip Saturday if I can get out of work early enough, but it would be for tickets at the door.

[Trotsky]

National Weather Service now predicting the snow storm will (1) be over by Thursday and (2) miss NJ anyway.  Pretty map here.

[judy]

I hear it's also supposed to be warm so whatever comes down should be melted by the weekend, if not Thursday night

[ursusminor]

No problem. All weekend looks good according to the weather man. Although, I trust him about as much as a typical politician.

Looks good.  Our local DC weather reporting is a bit... alarmist.  (Edit: to be fair, 20 inches would suck even in snow-experienced places.  But hopefully nobody north of the PA-MD state line will see anything)

Is that ever the truth, but the public  blames them for the havoc ::panic:: caused by the few storms that they have underpredicted, so they tend to overpredict. People only laugh at them in those cases. So far this looks like the latter case at least here in DC itself. How are things in the far western suburbs? Is the Potomac going to rise and flood the low-lying part of your town?

[Trotsky]

No problem. All weekend looks good according to the weather man. Although, I trust him about as much as a typical politician.

Looks good.  Our local DC weather reporting is a bit... alarmist.  (Edit: to be fair, 20 inches would suck even in snow-experienced places.  But hopefully nobody north of the PA-MD state line will see anything)

Is that ever the truth, but the public  blames them for the havoc ::panic:: caused by the few storms that they have underpredicted, so they tend to overpredict. People only laugh at them in those cases. So far this looks like the latter case at least here in DC itself. How are things in the far western suburbs? Is the Potomac going to rise and flood the low-lying part of your town?

The Potomac floods the main drag in my town whenever some kid takes a leak in it.  If it ever floods my house AC will have joined the Atlantic Ocean, which will be bad for the ice at Boardwalk.

And actually the snowfall is Ithaca-level suckitude this morning down here (so heavy our power lines, which of course are exposed because Herp Durned Gubmint Herp, are coming down) and it is only going to get worse all day.  However, it seems to be localized to non-ECAC territory.

If anybody is planning on traveling to Princeton from central WV on the other hand, they are screwed.

[ursusminor]

No problem. All weekend looks good according to the weather man. Although, I trust him about as much as a typical politician.

Looks good.  Our local DC weather reporting is a bit... alarmist.  (Edit: to be fair, 20 inches would suck even in snow-experienced places.  But hopefully nobody north of the PA-MD state line will see anything)

Is that ever the truth, but the public  blames them for the havoc ::panic:: caused by the few storms that they have underpredicted, so they tend to overpredict. People only laugh at them in those cases. So far this looks like the latter case at least here in DC itself. How are things in the far western suburbs? Is the Potomac going to rise and flood the low-lying part of your town?

The Potomac floods the main drag in my town whenever some kid takes a leak in it.  If it ever floods my house AC will have joined the Atlantic Ocean, which will be bad for the ice at Boardwalk.

And actually the snowfall is Ithaca-level suckitude this morning down here (so heavy our power lines, which of course are exposed because Herp Durned Gubmint Herp, are coming down) and it is only going to get worse all day.  However, it seems to be localized to non-ECAC territory.

If anybody is planning on traveling to Princeton from central WV on the other hand, they are screwed.

Having ridden my bike up Ballenger Creek Pike several times, although not in a few years, I know you're safe. BTW, it's now snowing quite hard in DC but melting when it hits the ground.

[Jim Hyla]

No problem. All weekend looks good according to the weather man. Although, I trust him about as much as a typical politician.

Looks good.  Our local DC weather reporting is a bit... alarmist.  (Edit: to be fair, 20 inches would suck even in snow-experienced places.  But hopefully nobody north of the PA-MD state line will see anything)

Is that ever the truth, but the public  blames them for the havoc ::panic:: caused by the few storms that they have underpredicted, so they tend to overpredict. People only laugh at them in those cases. So far this looks like the latter case at least here in DC itself. How are things in the far western suburbs? Is the Potomac going to rise and flood the low-lying part of your town?

The Potomac floods the main drag in my town whenever some kid takes a leak in it.  If it ever floods my house AC will have joined the Atlantic Ocean, which will be bad for the ice at Boardwalk.

And actually the snowfall is Ithaca-level suckitude this morning down here (so heavy our power lines, which of course are exposed because Herp Durned Gubmint Herp, are coming down) and it is only going to get worse all day.  However, it seems to be localized to non-ECAC territory.

If anybody is planning on traveling to Princeton from central WV on the other hand, they are screwed.

What is Ithaca-level? It hardly snows in Ithaca.:-D Some of us have to go through what you're having, just to get to regular season games.::bolt::

[Trotsky]

No problem. All weekend looks good according to the weather man. Although, I trust him about as much as a typical politician.

Looks good.  Our local DC weather reporting is a bit... alarmist.  (Edit: to be fair, 20 inches would suck even in snow-experienced places.  But hopefully nobody north of the PA-MD state line will see anything)

Is that ever the truth, but the public  blames them for the havoc ::panic:: caused by the few storms that they have underpredicted, so they tend to overpredict. People only laugh at them in those cases. So far this looks like the latter case at least here in DC itself. How are things in the far western suburbs? Is the Potomac going to rise and flood the low-lying part of your town?

The Potomac floods the main drag in my town whenever some kid takes a leak in it.  If it ever floods my house AC will have joined the Atlantic Ocean, which will be bad for the ice at Boardwalk.

And actually the snowfall is Ithaca-level suckitude this morning down here (so heavy our power lines, which of course are exposed because Herp Durned Gubmint Herp, are coming down) and it is only going to get worse all day.  However, it seems to be localized to non-ECAC territory.

If anybody is planning on traveling to Princeton from central WV on the other hand, they are screwed.

What is Ithaca-level? It hardly snows in Ithaca.:-D Some of us have to go through what you're having, just to get to regular season games.::bolt::

In my memory Ithaca Snow is not an amount, it's a texture.

[billhoward]

I hear it's also supposed to be warm so whatever comes down should be melted by the weekend, if not Thursday night

Rain today, up to 3" snow in Princeton overnight, then additional precipitation unlikely through Sunday. Temps mid 40s Friday rising to the low 50s by Saturday and Sunday. C'mon down.

[Jim Hyla]

I hear it's also supposed to be warm so whatever comes down should be melted by the weekend, if not Thursday night

Rain today, up to 3" snow in Princeton overnight, then additional precipitation unlikely through Sunday. Temps mid 40s Friday rising to the low 50s by Saturday and Sunday. C'mon down.

Bill, a few inches of snow is not going to stop someone from Syracuse.:-}

[jek86]

interesting interview with Schafer: schafer interview
He mentions Mowrey's injury and how it hurt them for Yale.. Not optimistic for Princeton series.  Was very angry with some of the seniors' play in the first period at Yale.  anybody notice anything?

[Trotsky]

Was very angry with some of the seniors' play in the first period at Yale.  anybody notice anything?

The team as a whole played back on their heels and let Yale bring their game to us.   I thought we were just terrified of taking penalties.  Schafer mentioned in the pregame that the officials could be unpredictable, particularly on the road, in distingushing checking from roughing.

[Scersk '97]

interesting interview with Schafer: schafer interview
He mentions Mowrey's injury and how it hurt them for Yale...

What I found interesting about Schafer discussing Mowrey's injury is how he now considers him one of his "guys down the middle," even projecting that notion back to the beginning of the season.  During the interview, he imagines Miller, Mowrey, Bardreau, and Axell "sitting there [down the middle]" at the beginning of the season and imagines wondering whether anyone will be able to match up with that lineup.

In fact, Mowrey only began to play center starting with the Ferris State game, if the box scores at collegehockeystats.com are to be believed, and I would say his production dropped off significantly during "the schneid," which probably had a lot to do with our problems.  Regarding his linemates, McCarron started scoring consistently when Mowrey took over the center on that line; Esposito, on the other hand, has cooled down.  Now, over the past few games, that line has really started to look as dominant as the Hilbrich–Miller–Ferlin line, and much of it has to do with Mowrey, I think, becoming comfortable and defensively responsible.  But Mowrey playing center kind of came out of nowhere midway through the season, whatever Schafer remembers.  What this tells me is that the search for a second scoring line has been a big problem for us all year long, and what sucks is that, with Mowrey injured, we are searching again, hopefully successfully and hopefully only for two games.

Moreover, it indicates to me how important Schafer considers his centers to be, which is perhaps somewhat unsurprising considering our defensive mindset.  This gives me a bit of pause when I think about next year.  We lose Miller and Axell.  Bardreau, mostly likely, will be back, and Mowrey will be ready to go from the start.  Thankfully, Tiitinen, Hilbrich, and Knisley have all spent significant time at center this year.  I'm particularly bullish on Tiitinen, and I hope that Knisley can turn into a Vesce-type—even a "half" Vesce-type would be fine with me.  So, we're looking at Mowrey, Bardreau, Tiitinen, and, I think, Knisley down the middle next year.  (I don't know on Hilbrich:  he might eventually settle in there and be absolutely dominant a la Baby, or perhaps his talents are "wasted" there.  I just can't tell.)  Anyway, a good lineup, but we'll need significant development from the two current freshmen or the arrival of a phenom to be really successful.

And hilarious how he mentions that Brown offers "no environment."  So very right.  It should remind all of us, if we needed a reminder, how important it is for the Pep Band to travel to as many away games as possible.

[Trotsky]

Moreover, it indicates to me how important Schafer considers his centers to be, which is perhaps somewhat unsurprising considering our defensive mindset.  This gives me a bit of pause when I think about next year.  We lose Miller and Axell.  Bardreau, mostly likely, will be back, and Mowrey will be ready to go from the start.  Thankfully, Tiitinen, Hilbrich, and Knisley have all spent significant time at center this year.  I'm particularly bullish on Tiitinen, and I hope that Knisley can turn into a Vesce-type—even a "half" Vesce-type would be fine with me.  So, we're looking at Mowrey, Bardreau, Tiitinen, and, I think, Knisley down the middle next year.  (I don't know on Hilbrich:  he might eventually settle in there and be absolutely dominant a la Baby, or perhaps his talents are "wasted" there.  I just can't tell.)  Anyway, a good lineup, but we'll need significant development from the two current freshmen or the arrival of a phenom to be really successful.

Excellent point.  From many, many remarks like this over the years it's apparent that Schafer, for all our obsession with blue line play, considers center to be the second-most important position on the ice (after goalie).  The System (TM) is predicated on successful possession, which begins with face offs.

(Now on the down side one could criticize this as paying too little attention to the wing snipers who actually put the damn puck in the net.)

[Trotsky]

interesting interview with Schafer: schafer interview

That was a very good interview.  Than you for posting the link.

I was surprised by Schafer's vehemence about the first period at Yale.  He was not a happy man.