11/2 Quinnipiac

[Trotsky]

The first real test of the season.

Quinnipiac (7-1-0, 1-0-0) at Cornell (3-0-0, 1-0-0)
Princeton (1-2-0, 0-1-0) at Colgate (2-5-1, 0-1-0)
St. Lawrence (4-2-1, 0-0-1) at Brown (2-1-0, 0-1-0)
Clarkson (7-1-1, 1-0-0) at Yale (1-1-1, 0-0-1)
RPI (4-2-1, 0-1-1) at Dartmouth (0-3-0, 0-1-0)
Union (2-2-2, 1-0-0) at Harvard (2-0-1, 1-0-1)

[MattS]

After 1 I am mildly impressed with CU ability to make plays off the rush. The PP has come back to where I expect it.

[MattS]

Well that was disappointing. I don't think there is any positive to take away from that game except that occasionally CU managed a decent rush up ice in the first period. After that they looked gassed. And once Q scored it was like they were mentally done. But it was pretty typical of the last couple of seasons. Stupid penalty, check. Bad PP, check. Let other team run around in the defensive zone, check. No sustained forecheck to speak of,check.

A couple of things I would seriously look at changing. Get Ryan off the first unit PP. He is holding them up. He can't or won't or is told not to carry the puck up ice and his outlet pass is poor. That has to change. I think the McCarron or Gotovets would do better in that role on the first unit. Watching the difference between the first and second units ability to move the puck up ice is very startling.

Get Buckles onto a line where his speed and offense can come through. I see flashes of good from him but he is stuck with linemates that do not complement him.

On a very serious question, how can Schafer watch a PP like Q has (or anyone that is decent) then watch CU's PP and not make some kind of changes? Is it possible to have slower passing between the three men who are up high? Q's passing was crisp and quick, while CU's was slow and hesitant. Something has got to change.

[scoop85]

On a very serious question, how can Schafer watch a PP like Q has (or anyone that is decent) then watch CU's PP and not make some kind of changes? Is it possible to have slower passing between the three men who are up high? Q's passing was crisp and quick, while CU's was slow and hesitant. Something has got to change.

What most differentiates teams like Q, Union and Yale from Cornell right now is the ability to quickly and effectively move the puck to get into scoring position.  Cornell's method seems to be to try to "will" the puck towards the net with brute force and score off a scramble in front.

Season's still early, though, and lots of time to get better.

[Jim Hyla]

Well that was disappointing. I don't think there is any positive to take away from that game except that occasionally CU managed a decent rush up ice in the first period. After that they looked gassed. And once Q scored it was like they were mentally done. But it was pretty typical of the last couple of seasons. Stupid penalty, check. Bad PP, check. Let other team run around in the defensive zone, check. No sustained forecheck to speak of,check.

A couple of things I would seriously look at changing. Get Ryan off the first unit PP. He is holding them up. He can't or won't or is told not to carry the puck up ice and his outlet pass is poor. That has to change. I think the McCarron or Gotovets would do better in that role on the first unit. Watching the difference between the first and second units ability to move the puck up ice is very startling.

Get Buckles onto a line where his speed and offense can come through. I see flashes of good from him but he is stuck with linemates that do not complement him.

On a very serious question, how can Schafer watch a PP like Q has (or anyone that is decent) then watch CU's PP and not make some kind of changes? Is it possible to have slower passing between the three men who are up high? Q's passing was crisp and quick, while CU's was slow and hesitant. Something has got to change.

Did you watch the same game as I did? I saw Ryan make a few wonderful carries, one in particular he went around 3 Q players into the offensive zone. No, he is our best defensive, and offensive, defenseman.

[MattS]

Well that was disappointing. I don't think there is any positive to take away from that game except that occasionally CU managed a decent rush up ice in the first period. After that they looked gassed. And once Q scored it was like they were mentally done. But it was pretty typical of the last couple of seasons. Stupid penalty, check. Bad PP, check. Let other team run around in the defensive zone, check. No sustained forecheck to speak of,check.

A couple of things I would seriously look at changing. Get Ryan off the first unit PP. He is holding them up. He can't or won't or is told not to carry the puck up ice and his outlet pass is poor. That has to change. I think the McCarron or Gotovets would do better in that role on the first unit. Watching the difference between the first and second units ability to move the puck up ice is very startling.

Get Buckles onto a line where his speed and offense can come through. I see flashes of good from him but he is stuck with linemates that do not complement him.

On a very serious question, how can Schafer watch a PP like Q has (or anyone that is decent) then watch CU's PP and not make some kind of changes? Is it possible to have slower passing between the three men who are up high? Q's passing was crisp and quick, while CU's was slow and hesitant. Something has got to change.

Did you watch the same game as I did? I saw Ryan make a few wonderful carries, one in particular he went around 3 Q players into the offensive zone. No, he is our best defensive, and offensive, defenseman.

I did not see that on the PP. He made some good rushes at ES but not on PP. So while he maybe the best offensive defenseman he's not playing like it on the PP and the D on the second unit were doing better tonight (& last night too).

[WillCMJr]

There was a random moment in the second period that here was a mostly standing ovation. There was no penalty, no goal, play was stopped, etc. Anyone know what happened?

[TheMatrix]

There was a random moment in the second period that here was a mostly standing ovation. There was no penalty, no goal, play was stopped, etc. Anyone know what happened?

I could be mistaken but I think this was right after Cornell killed the second penalty of the 5v3. There was a stoppage right as the penalty expired and people looked at the scoreboard and realized that both penalties were killed as Cornell made a change before the faceoff. That happened early in the third period but it was the only standing ovation where play was stopped that I recall.

[MattS]

There was a random moment in the second period that here was a mostly standing ovation. There was no penalty, no goal, play was stopped, etc. Anyone know what happened?

I could be mistaken but I think this was right after Cornell killed the second penalty of the 5v3. There was a stoppage right as the penalty expired and people looked at the scoreboard and realized that both penalties were killed as Cornell made a change before the faceoff.

This was it. That was the only time I remember standing during the game.

[WillCMJr]

Ok, thanks.

[ScrewBUHarvardtoo]

Qunnipiac beat us at our game simple as that. Great penalty killing and timely PP goals. I would've liked to see us play more of an "open ice" style, as I think we have the players to do that. Because Qpac is similar to us in terms of playing style, I think that would've caught them off guard. What worried me the most was our complete inability to win any battles in the corners, especially the offensive zone. Besides 1 play in the 1st period, we never seriously challenged their goalie

[Trotsky]

On the video cast the crowd seemed completely dead, and not just after we fell behind but throughout the entire game except the latter stages of the 5x3 kill.

The Jones brothers and Peca were amazing (again).  Looks like Q has found a good goaltender (again).

There aren't a lot of games where you get the first 5 pp chances.  Not burying at least one really hurt (especially when Q then scored on its first chance).

I'm not sure about "willing the puck into the net" but we had guys alone in front in perfect position many times in both games, and that hasn't been the case in years.  That sure seems like an improvement.

Andy looked good.

On at least one even strength offensive zone faceoff we dropped Ferlin back to point (I think Patrick McCarron took his place up front).  Never seen that before.

Knisely and Freschi seem to be this year's designated pests.  Weidner seems to magically be in the right place at the right time a lot.  Haven't seen him do much with it but it beats being out of position.  Buckles seems invisible on the videocast that just follows the puck.  He may be really burning it up out there, but so far it hasn't come across.

The Gotovets + 4 Freshmen 2nd pp unit didn't score but it did move the puck around well.  It scares me everytime they do it but I don't think they've been burned on a good chance coming back yet.

MacDonald made at least two egregious turnovers that could have led to goals this weekend.

Getting out of next weekend with 2 points would be fantastic.  These may be the three best teams in conference back-to-back-to-back, making this the toughest stretch of the RS.  It just happens to be coming right at the beginning (not necessarily a bad thing if they haven't got it completely together yet).

[hippo]

Last night's Cornell team failed to shoot the puck while on the power play.  By my count, they might have had 3 shots on goal in the first 5 power plays.  In the York game, for the 1st time in years, the power play units actually did shoot often and scored.  They need to get back to that fundamental element and remember that if you don't shoot, you won't score.

Also, it seems Cornell has had difficulty clearing the puck.  Their clearing efforts often end up on the stick of the opponent or just barely get outside the zone.  On penalty kill, their clears rarely make it over the red line.

The talent is there.  The offense, not so much.

As for the crowd, it wasn't into the game and there wasn't even a "Townies up!" chant.

[Johnny 5]

There was a random moment in the second period that here was a mostly standing ovation. There was no penalty, no goal, play was stopped, etc. Anyone know what happened?

I could be mistaken but I think this was right after Cornell killed the second penalty of the 5v3. There was a stoppage right as the penalty expired and people looked at the scoreboard and realized that both penalties were killed as Cornell made a change before the faceoff.

This was it. That was the only time I remember standing during the game.

Yes, if one of the officials is named Shattie and an opposing player is named Anas you can get an idea of how the game will play out.
In the first period our guys came out like a house afire and it looked like we might have a chance.
But, skating backwards most of the remainder of the game takes its toll on the legs. Neh?
Does anyone have a stat on how many 5 on 3's we've had to kill off so far in this young season??
At the end of the second Lowrey took a run and belted a Q-pee player well after the whistle. Just typical of a general (continuing?) lack of discipline.
I sorta don't mind losing to a better team; maybe. But, giving it to them is another matter entirely.

Oh, and what is it now....11 PP's in a row without a score? That ain't helpin', either.
Stow the umbrella??

::bang::

[Scersk '97]

Meh. Whichever team scored first was going to win that game, since both were "feeling each other out" for most of it. Yeah, we didn't score with all the powerplays in the first, but QU's goaltender made some amazing saves. After the goal, Quinnipiac went into a version of our "hold the lead" strategy, which very much worked for them when we had to start taking chances in the 3rd.

All-in-all, I saw pretty even game that got broken open at 9:50 of the third. I saw neither a huge talent nor a huge strategy gap between the two teams. Certain freshmen (Weidner, Lewis, and McCarron) continue to impress. Ryan continues to be one of the best defensemen I've ever seen in a Cornell uniform. Some upperclassmen (Mowrey, McCarron) have raised their games. I saw very solid play from two goaltenders, and I found myself wondering if I'd be watching a similar game (with hopefully a different result) at Placid.

The only thing similar to last year is how many on this board are ready to pack it in after the fourth game of the season. Typical. ::rolleyes::