Perspective

[JordanCS]

Murray is definitely not the best skater, but I disagree about Bâby. While obviously not the most agile guy on the ice, I think he skates extremely well given his size.

[Ben Doyle 03]

Mark is defiantly not a poor skater. . .might not be the fastest on the team but his position and vision are much more valuable than being an exceptionally fast skater. . .and "Yes" they do win games, which we are all for!!!

[Josh '99]

Ben '03 wrote:

Mark is defiantly not a poor skater. . .might not be the fastest on the team but his position and vision are much more valuable than being an exceptionally fast skater. . .and "Yes" they do win games, which we are all for!!!

Agreed.  I'd have to say Mark and Matt are among the best skaters on the team, along with Vesce.

[Greg Berge]

> I'd have to say Mark and Matt are among the best skaters on the team

I think you're making my point for me.  ;-)

The McRaes are average skaters by league standards, which makes them below average for being the team's leading skaters.  Vesce is flat out a good skater, no argument.  Baby on the other hand is an aircraft carrier.  He's better than Joel Prpic, but probably only because he's 3 inches shorter.

Age -- how does eLF magically know to circumflex the Baby?  (oy!)

There's a difference between being a great skater and being able to be in the right place at the right time.  Gretzky is the poster child example.  He was an average to below average skater, but he had the ability to watch the play develop and be in the right place.  I'm sure there are rebounders in hoops, defensive backs in football, outfielders in basball with that same ability.  Likewise, there are guys on Cornell with good instincts, and Schafer appears to be able to teach great positional play (special teams is a great example), but nobody in red is going to win any skating contests.  Well, maybe if we pressured the judges.  ;-)

The best skating team in the conference is probably Harvard, so the recent game at Lynah is a good demonstration of how great physical play can put lightning right back in the bottle.

[tml5]

Don't forget Travis Bell.  He's one of the fastest guys on the team, and he doesn't get knocked off the puck very much.  I think Iggulden and Knoepfli move pretty well for their size, but it's tough to compare Cornell skaters because the whole team emphasizes positioning over using skating ability to catch up.  Of course, if they didn't emphasize positioning, I doubt the team GA/GP would be so low. . .

It's tough to say much about a guy like Hornby, since he's such a pinball out there, but it seems like he moves pretty well, too.

The smoothest skater is probably Ladoceur, and Kozier also has good balance and some nice moves that he doesn't seem to use much.

As mentioned, Vesce might well be the best overall skater on the team.

Also, Baby moves reasonably well for his size, and he's improved tremendously over the last two and a half years, but he's still not a good skater.

Yale's top line (particularly that Higgins character) skates very well, so if you were at that game that wouldn't be a bad example either.

[Will \'01]

agreed...you can skate around like a korean short-tracker all you want, but you won't win any games unless you are willing to pay the price, crash the boards, crash the net, and finish your checks...these are four traits that define our team and the whole Schafer mantra. LGR!!!

[Will \'01]

>The smoothest skater is probably Ladoceur, and Kozier also has good balance and some nice moves that he doesn't seem to use much.

maybe I am biassed since some of my friends in the women's hockey team always picked on DL's skating stride, but I was never impressed by Ladoceur's skating. He is strong on his skates, but he never struck me as being quite smooth. Kozier is a remarkable skater when healthy (i remember seeing him flying his sophomore year before being jammed into the boards against Niagara)...but understandably, your skating prowess is severely affected by repeated major knee surgeries (not to mention the psychological effect that has on you...unfortunately, i know it first hand)...i like Paolini's skating...choppy, yes very, but he is fast, hard to knock down, and extremely good at cutting...just my two cents...go Svenska!!

[Greg Berge]

> you can skate around like a korean short-tracker all you want

We all know the winning strategy is to hang back like an Australian. :-)

> I was never impressed by Ladoceur's skating. He is strong on his skates, but he never struck me as being quite smooth. Kozier is a remarkable skater when healthy

Of course, you could say the same thing about Ladouceur.  The big hole in the offense last year was due in part to the team's best two natural skaters and scorers having had their careers redirected by injury.  Ladouceur, at the beginning of his career, skated beautifully.

[Will \'01]

LOL!!! They have it all, the Foster's, Paul Hogan, and now a Winter Olympic GOLD!!!

[Melissa \'01]

just wanted to chime in my 0.02. was surprised when i read that Greg thought Mark wasn't among the best skaters on the team. would put him near the top of my list, just behind Travis ( that boy can friggin fly). Judy and I were just talking about the team defense and how when we see Travis and Mark out there we rarely worry about the opposition scoring because of their speed (and their tendency to stop the puck in any way possible).

Thankfully our defense isn't in the poor shape that Canada's Olympic team defense is in (or hopefully about to be out of). Watching the Friday game (we just popped in the tape after missing the game to follow Cornell on the road) all I can say is, "This is pathetic!" They might as well have had the defensemen sit on the bench the entire game. Definitely don't think that CuJo deserves all the blame!

[ugarte]

I think you are missing Greg's point.  Without scrolling back through all of these emails, he was saying that even if Mark is the fastest on the team, that doesn't make him fast for a college hockey player.  

For instance, Danny Schayes was the best Jewish player in the NBA for a while. You decide if the title is worth having.

[littleredfan]

speed doesn't necessarily translate perfectly into great skating, though it is a huge component. theres other factors invovled, including stability strength, and agility, and as a whole, we aren't really a great skating team--i think yale REALLY showed us up in that last home game.

and last year, i would argue that we were a really subpar passsing team, and that seems to have gotten better by leaps and bounds this year-a big reason for the dramatic increase in goals scored.  but still, the skating, especially while moving the puck towards the goal, is kind of weak. it actually seemed a lot better earlier in the year though.

[Melissa \'01]

i got greg's point. i totally agree. was just posting what initially popped into my head when catching up on the week-end posts. whoever said it before was right on track....mucho volume!!!

also agree that speed doesn't necessarily mean great skating but speed definitely makes certain peple stand out when you start thinking about good skaters. tho cornell might not be a great skating team i don't think that they are (at this point) the slow, non-skating team that others have generalized them  in past years. and the passing has DEFINITELY improved over last year. I think that this year's team in November was better in passing than last year's team was in March. It was great to see this im[provement!

[Jim Hyla]

For instance, Danny Schayes was the best Jewish player in the NBA for a while. You decide if the title is worth having.

On the other hand, when you consider how long it took him to mature in college and how many years he lasted in the pros, say nothing of his money (especially when compared to what his father was able to earn in the NBA), I'd be willing to take that title any day.

There goes another of those damn sentences with too many commas.

[judy]

hmmm...skating teams, thanks everybody for kinda clearing up this whole concept. Now here's a question, and it may sound stupid...Harvard's always been referred to as a skating team, yet it seems like everytime I watch them play (against Cornell, I know, small sample size), someone's always falling for no good reason, and so I was confused as to why skating team if they have trouble even staying on their feet.

Separate thought...is it just me or is Doug Murray getting slower and slower as the season progresses? Earlier this season, he seemd to be an elephant on skates when he's the lone defenseman trying to chase down the opponent from the neutral zone into our end. Now he seems to be moving at the speed of an iceberg...