Frozen Four Results

[Trotsky]

One thing that struck me this weekend was Yale's* knack for moving the puck out to the wing and then quickly back to the center while moving through the neutral zone.  This seemed to be awfully effective at enabling them to carry the puck into the other team's zone in a position to quickly generate a good scoring chance.  I don't think I've ever seen any team make quite that same pass quite so regularly at any level of hockey

Harvard in the 80's.  It was their Signature Move, and no matter what we could never stop it.

It may be Yale's style but you need someone special, like an Andrew Miller (or a Lane MacDonald) to pull it off.

[Scersk '97]

There are two things I think Cornell has always been poor at: neutral zone passing, and clearing the puck on the PK.

Well, the first is something that, yes, we've always seemed poor at, the second is something we were unfathomably bad at this year.  I've never seen a Cornell team struggle so much to clear the zone on the PK.  Get it; nail it with authority or flick it at the right hole.  Doesn't seem that hard.  Usually the problem is in getting it in the first place.

The only time I want to see something other than an immediate clear is when we've got a couple of talented forwards on the "power kill" who feed off each other and create shorthanded chances.  That was not the case this year.

[Jeff Hopkins '82]

I'll take it a step further.  We suck at clearing the zone.  Period.  We insist on sitting behind the net and waiting for absolutely clear ice to bring the puck out of the zone.  That gives weaker teams a chance to set up their defenses in the neutral zone.  OTOH, stronger teams come in with a good forecheck and make our guys do something other than a slow clear and we give up the puck.

IMO, We need to work on that even more than the power play.

[ugarte]

See, this is what I like. Calmly picking apart the flaws. Nobody - even the fans who think Schafer should be here for a long time - think that the team is or has ever been perfect.

[dbilmes]

The "classy" Quinnipiac fans didn't take the loss well.

[RichH]

The "classy" Quinnipiac fans didn't take the loss well.

I heard that Quinnipiac canceled the normal bus service to New Haven on Saturday night, which is about the smartest thing they could have possibly done for obvious reasons.

[Trotsky]

The "classy" Quinnipiac fans didn't take the loss well.

It's their proposal to Hockey East.

[BearLover]

The "classy" Quinnipiac fans didn't take the loss well.

At least they care about their team (unlike Yale students).

[Trotsky]

The "classy" Quinnipiac fans didn't take the loss well.

At least they care about their team (unlike Yale students).

If they won it would have been the same.  Like Maryland hoops, everything is an excuse for dropping flaming couches out of high rise dorms.

[dbilmes]

At least they care about their team (unlike Yale students).

They only care about their team when it's winning, and even then I've seen the student section of the rink empty out with Q ahead so the students can catch the busses to the New Haven clubs. In Game 1 of the Cornell-Q playoff series, the student section was virtually empty by the third period, despite the fact that Q was only trailing by one goal.

[Josh '99]

See, this is what I like. Calmly picking apart the flaws. Nobody - even the fans who think Schafer should be here for a long time - think that the team is or has ever been perfect.

I don't know if I'd say "ever".  I mean, there was that one year.

[Trotsky]

See, this is what I like. Calmly picking apart the flaws. Nobody - even the fans who think Schafer should be here for a long time - think that the team is or has ever been perfect.

I don't know if I'd say "ever".  I mean, there was that one year.

Nice.

[RichH]

The "classy" Quinnipiac fans didn't take the loss well.

At least they care about their team (unlike Yale students).

Well, I'll tell you what.  The Yale section in Pittsburgh proved their worth to me last weekend.  A couple things really stood out, and that were the school sections.  I thought, from inside the building, the Q and Y fans were the loudest on Thursday.  (A tip of the hat to the small group of UML fans right by the glass...when they tied their game up, despite being heavily outplayed, they were practically tackling each other in the seats with joy. So much so that I'm pretty sure I saw an arena cop go over and tell them to settle down).  On Saturday, there were several groups of Y-A-L-E chest painters, and for some reason, several groups were allowed to cram together and stand in the aisle. They sang "Happy Birthday" to Jeff Malcolm after a great save in the 1st (which sent me to the CHN app to verify his birthdate). By the 10-minute mark in the 3rd, the atmosphere over in that corner got downright boisterous...not the "boola-boola, isn't this lovely" golf clap that would be the stereotypical Yalie response.  They did a loud "Harvard Sucks" chant.  And by far the most respect I'll give them: with about 5 minutes left, they spontaneously started singing, without band prompting, an a cappella version of their fight song during play.  I loved that.  I daydream that if we're ever in that situation, the alma mater would go up in vocal celebration as the clock wound down.

After getting back on Sunday, I had to make an IKEA run to New Haven.  I decided to make a "day after" swing by Ingalls to see if anyone had put up a sign or something.  I snapped a couple pictures at the homemade "Go Bulldogs" sign planted in front, and as I was about to leave, a van pulled up, and 6 students piled out festively to pose for a picture in front and ran back to the van.  That reaction was kind of endearing, as small a gesture as it may be (or maybe it was part of a scavenger hunt or whatever).

Just to put closure on the season, I took the oft-referenced 9-mile drive to Hamden on my way home. In front of QU's arena, parked right in front of the ticket windows, was a campus security truck with its lights going.  I like to think it was to keep any would-be rioters/vandals away, but maybe they're usually stationed there.

[Swampy]

Every time I drive past Pepperdine I think "How can you get through in four years with the beach across the street [faith in the Lord to draw you away from temptation?]?" and "That is the best housing most students will live in until they're 30 or trust-fund babies."

Version 1: I don't think they do.
Version 2: Among the Pepperdine grads I've met, they got through, but they didn't learn very much. (lim x -> 0 = 0).

[Swampy]

The "classy" Quinnipiac fans didn't take the loss well.

Typical!