NCAA Tournament

[KeithK]

And for those of you wondering hypothetically, those two bracket entries do not intersect in the SF.  Just sayin'.

So you're saying we still could have no ECAC team in the finals? Lovely.

I'm rooting for 'em. That doesn't mean I'm counting chickens. (I'm still expecting BC to come roaring back in the 3rd.)

[Trotsky]

And for those of you wondering hypothetically, those two bracket entries do not intersect in the SF.  Just sayin'.

So you're saying we still could have no ECAC team in the finals? Lovely.

I'm rooting for 'em. That doesn't mean I'm counting chickens. (I'm still expecting BC to come roaring back in the 3rd.)

Of course.  That bastard won't be dead until it's staked, exposed to sunlight, and drowned in running water.

[Scersk '97]

I hear this a lot in sports. Never question your own team and its leadership, or you're being a bad fan.

"Fair-weather" may have gone a bit too far. Criticize the team and its leadership all you like.  I have, but I don't tend to do so here, for whatever reason; indeed, I'm probably a bit more critical (and certainly more engaged) during better seasons. Just realize that it could be far worse.

But we were talking about—completely off-topic for this thread—the relative fortunes of Yale and Cornell.  In a sense, we're arguing about the definition of "lately," that's all.  Lately means something different for me now than it used to.  We can agree to disagree.

[Trotsky]

5-0 Union

[Scersk '97]

5-0 Union

"Knock, knock!"

[Swampy]

Not sure why people here want Yale to keep winning.  It doesn't actually do Cornell any bit of good because the rankings are computerized, and I don't want Cornell to no longer be the team that has gotten the farthest in the NCAA tourney in recent memory.  

Nonetheless, it's official: Yale is better than Cornell at hockey right now.  I don't mean this current team, I mean the entire current program.  They've now been doing this for an extended period of time, despite losing players to graduation, with a great system that Cornell can't ever beat.

When the other teams in the ECAC do well it does directly help Cornell. There's the ranking effect - strength of schedule. There's the "playing quality opponents" effect. And there's the reputation effect (easier to recruit good players when they don't think they're going to play in some backwater league that won't help their hockey development.)

Not rooting for ECAC teams in the tournament is fine if 1) you want Cornell to be a big fish in a small pond and are happy for anything that keeps the pond smaller  and 2)you like seeing the big name schools dominate and then bad mouth the less fortunate.

So right you are. That's why right now I'm ecstatic. Assuming U can hold on, we'll have a Frozen Four with 2 ECAC teams, 1 HE, and 1 WCHA or CCHA. How the hell can't you be happy with that. Go to the FF, wear your jersey with pride. See what those WCHA fans say now. Yes, it may only be one year, but as Keith said, it can be head a long distance when you go to recruit.

There are two obvious things here that have a direct bearing on the turn this thread has taken and the Should he Stay thread.

1. The ECAC's national performance this year is the best it's been in decades. Obviously the level of competition in the league has improved tremendously. So it may not be that Cornell has declined or that other teams have become dominant, but rather that the overall level of competition has improved so that no team is dominant year after year.

2. I'll grant that Yale has had Cornell's number the past few years. If this persists, Schafer has to adjust or die. I think he knows what he's doing, but for argument's sake let's assume he didn't see this coming but he's smart. So first he needed a few years to recognize the trend. Second, he needed to start to find a different style to counter the new best practice one. This may be entirely different, but more likely it would be a modified or hybrid version of the style his teams have played before. Instead of the big-bruiser, wear-them-down, lock-up defense and capitalize-on-mistakes style, he experiments with something more wide open. This might take a few years to work things out. Third, he'd have to recruit for the new system, and the system would have to adjust to the kinds of players he recruits successfully. In short, the game might get ahead of an excellent coach, but an excellent coach makes adjustments. With recruiting trends and constraints, the adjustments will take some time and won't happen overnight.

[Trotsky]

2. I'll grant that Yale has had Cornell's number the past few years. If this persists, Schafer has to adjust or die. I think he knows what he's doing, but for argument's sake let's assume he didn't see this coming but he's smart. So first he needed a few years to recognize the trend. Second, he needed to start to find a different style to counter the new best practice one. This may be entirely different, but more likely it would be a modified or hybrid version of the style his teams have played before. Instead of the big-bruiser, wear-them-down, lock-up defense and capitalize-on-mistakes style, he experiments with something more wide open. This might take a few years to work things out. Third, he'd have to recruit for the new system, and the system would have to adjust to the kinds of players he recruits successfully. In short, the game might get ahead of an excellent coach, but an excellent coach makes adjustments. With recruiting trends and constraints, the adjustments will take some time and won't happen overnight.

Well said.

[Trotsky]

Grosenick playing well this period.

[Scersk '97]

1. The ECAC's national performance this year is the best it's been in decades. Obviously the level of competition in the league has improved tremendously.

Counting the current teams, best performance since 1980.  Jeez!  Break up the ECAC!

[Trotsky]

This will be the first time ever that three ECAC teams have won NCAA games.

[Trotsky]

And that's it.  5-1 Union wins, ECAC teams now 4-0.

[Scersk '97]

And that's it.  5-1 Union wins, ECAC teams now 4-0.

The ECAC will be 5–1 after tomorrow.  Slackers.  :-)

I'm picking Union, but then I would always pick the streaking tournament champ over the "regular-season champion."

[Rosey]

Go Union/Quinnipac. Go Yale. Show us how it's done.

[Trotsky]

The USCHO Forum is something to behold right now.

[Scersk '97]

The USCHO Forum is something to behold right now.

It is!  And it's hilarious!