RPI @ CU 2/15/14

[flyersgolf]

Still no definitive information on Hilbrich & Mowrey?  

No line up changes tonight.  

If they have the same effort and occasionally get a shot on goal we should be good.

[MattS]

If they have the same effort and occasionally get a shot on goal we should be good.

And Andy makes some good saves and doesn't leave juicy rebounds.

[flyersgolf]

I was going to say its time for Iles to get hot and stay hot till the end of the season.  He has not stood on his head in a while. @ Colorado College? This is it for Andy I hope he has a fantastic final chapter.  Great young man.

[MattS]

I was going to say its time for Iles to get hot and stay hot till the end of the season.  He has not stood on his head in a while. @ Colorado College? This is it for Andy I hope he has a fantastic final chapter.  Great young man.

+1

[ScrewBU]

Did they win a single faceoff that entire game?  And the lack of any urgency whatsoever in the last 15 mins, just nauseating. This will be the reality until they get rid of Shithead Schafer.  If they don't turn it around by the end of the year, burn the program to the ground.

[sah67]

Did they win a single faceoff that entire game?

27, to be precise.

[MattS]

Did they win a single faceoff that entire game?  And the lack of any urgency whatsoever in the last 15 mins, just nauseating. This will be the reality until they get rid of Shithead Schafer.  If they don't turn it around by the end of the year, burn the program to the ground.

I agree with the urgency part. I am so absolutely frustrated with the team and the coaching. Its getting to the point where the team could not score on an empty net with no opposition on the ice. The highlight of the game was at least nobody got kicked out of the game for retaliating after Ryan was kneed.

I also feel like players are regressing during their time at CU. For example, does anyone honestly think that Ferlin or Lowry are better today than they were almost 3 years ago? I certainly don't, I am beginning to wonder why any potential recruit with decent NHL aspirations would come to Cornell. I don't think from a hockey standpoint that it would serve them well.

[sah67]

I also feel like players are regressing during their time at CU. For example, does anyone honestly think that Ferlin or Lowry are better today than they were almost 3 years ago?

It was certainly frustrating to see Lowry play like he had little-to-no interest in being there in the third period, particularly toward the end of the game. To be fair, he looked interested when he took a run at an RPI player with an elbow straight to the head, although that was in the second period.

[cbuckser]

I was going to say its time for Iles to get hot and stay hot till the end of the season.  He has not stood on his head in a while. @ Colorado College? This is it for Andy I hope he has a fantastic final chapter.  Great young man.

Andy stole the game at Brown two weeks ago. I wouldn't be surprised if his neck is still sore from that game.

I also feel like players are regressing during their time at CU. For example, does anyone honestly think that Ferlin or Lowry are better today than they were almost 3 years ago? I certainly don't.

Although Joel Lowry's improvement has been fairly modest, I think Brian Ferlin has improved quite a bit. Last month he was flat-out dominant.

Kirill Gotovets and Joakim Ryan, two other NHL-drafted upperclassmen, have also become much more complete players since they arrived on campus.

[Trotsky]

Did they win a single faceoff that entire game?  And the lack of any urgency whatsoever in the last 15 mins, just nauseating. This will be the reality until they get rid of Shithead Schafer.  If they don't turn it around by the end of the year, burn the program to the ground.

I agree with the urgency part. I am so absolutely frustrated with the team and the coaching. Its getting to the point where the team could not score on an empty net with no opposition on the ice. The highlight of the game was at least nobody got kicked out of the game for retaliating after Ryan was kneed.

I also feel like players are regressing during their time at CU. For example, does anyone honestly think that Ferlin or Lowry are better today than they were almost 3 years ago? I certainly don't, I am beginning to wonder why any potential recruit with decent NHL aspirations would come to Cornell. I don't think from a hockey standpoint that it would serve them well.

I must have been watching a different game from you two.  I disagree 100% with all your points.

Bardreau won most of the key faceoffs down the stretch -- enough so that I noticed he was winning in clutch situations in the offensive zone.  Zalewski beat Kubes on the last big one only because the puck floated into neutral territory and an RPI guy happened to get there a split second early.


The players controlled play for much of the game.  They can't score for shit right now, but sometimes that happens.  They set themselves up to be in the Union game and they outplayed RPI.  Good process, bad result.  Very frustrating, but nothing to do with failure on the part of either the coaches or the players.

Ferlin is the best player on the ice these days.  When he got to Ithaca he had raw gifts and strength; now he's a solid hockey player.  I'm stunned people would cite him as an alleged example of failure to develop after last night especially -- he dominated RPI and drove the offense.  He was responsible for several dangerous chances.  In prior years the signature strong arm arcs he cuts would wind up with him trapped in the corner or flying off the puck as he tried to pivot towards the net; now he winds up in good position to either pass across the crease or take a hard shot.  That's coaching plus player improvement.

Add there was plenty of urgency down the stretch.  RPI was playing five skaters across the blueline like the Pinetree Early Warning Line and we still managed to penetrate, hold the puck, move it despite seemingly three guys clogging up every lane.

Sometimes a loss is bad (Colgate), sometimes it is basically a coin flip (Union), and sometimes it is the fickle hand of fate (RPI).

[billhoward]

Cornell was 0-for-3 on the power play, leaving it scoreless on its last 26 opportunities on the man advantage.

[KGR11]

Sad results this weekend, especially last night.  The good news is that Clarkson also lost two games this weekend when they probably expected to win two.

I don't think we control our fate anymore as far as getting a bye: If we and Clarkson win the rest of our games, they win the tiebreaker, since they would have 3 wins against the top 4, while we would have 2 wins and a tie.  However, their schedule is definitely harder in the last two weeks (1 game against U and Q)

[Trotsky]

I don't think we control our fate anymore as far as getting a bye: If we and Clarkson win the rest of our games, they win the tiebreaker, since they would have 3 wins against the top 4, while we would have 2 wins and a tie.  However, their schedule is definitely harder in the last two weeks (1 game against U and Q)

We do not control our fate, but it is close.  If we win out we have 28 and Q has lost 2 points, giving them a max of 31.  For Clarkson to stay with us they need to win out which means Q has lost another 2 points, giving them a max of 29.  If Colgate wins out Q has lost another 2 points giving them a max of 27 and putting us ahead of Q.  If OTOH Q beats Gate then both Gate and Q have a max of 29 so we do not control our fate.  If Q and Gate tie then Clarkson, Q and we each have a max of 28 but we lose the three-way with them.  If in that scenario Gate loses to one of the non-contenders then we wind up on the bottom of a 4-way tie for 2nd.

[MattS]

I was going to say its time for Iles to get hot and stay hot till the end of the season.  He has not stood on his head in a while. @ Colorado College? This is it for Andy I hope he has a fantastic final chapter.  Great young man.

Andy stole the game at Brown two weeks ago. I wouldn't be surprised if his neck is still sore from that game.

I also feel like players are regressing during their time at CU. For example, does anyone honestly think that Ferlin or Lowry are better today than they were almost 3 years ago? I certainly don't.

Although Joel Lowry's improvement has been fairly modest, I think Brian Ferlin has improved quite a bit. Last month he was flat-out dominant.

Kirill Gotovets and Joakim Ryan, two other NHL-drafted upperclassmen, have also become much more complete players since they arrived on campus.

I won't disagree with you on the D-men. They do develop nicely at CU. I should have been more specific and said the forwards.

Did they win a single faceoff that entire game?  And the lack of any urgency whatsoever in the last 15 mins, just nauseating. This will be the reality until they get rid of Shithead Schafer.  If they don't turn it around by the end of the year, burn the program to the ground.

I agree with the urgency part. I am so absolutely frustrated with the team and the coaching. Its getting to the point where the team could not score on an empty net with no opposition on the ice. The highlight of the game was at least nobody got kicked out of the game for retaliating after Ryan was kneed.

I also feel like players are regressing during their time at CU. For example, does anyone honestly think that Ferlin or Lowry are better today than they were almost 3 years ago? I certainly don't, I am beginning to wonder why any potential recruit with decent NHL aspirations would come to Cornell. I don't think from a hockey standpoint that it would serve them well.

I must have been watching a different game from you two.  I disagree 100% with all your points.

Bardreau won most of the key faceoffs down the stretch -- enough so that I noticed he was winning in clutch situations in the offensive zone.  Zalewski beat Kubes on the last big one only because the puck floated into neutral territory and an RPI guy happened to get there a split second early.


The players controlled play for much of the game.  They can't score for shit right now, but sometimes that happens.  They set themselves up to be in the Union game and they outplayed RPI.  Good process, bad result.  Very frustrating, but nothing to do with failure on the part of either the coaches or the players.

Ferlin is the best player on the ice these days.  When he got to Ithaca he had raw gifts and strength; now he's a solid hockey player.  I'm stunned people would cite him as an alleged example of failure to develop after last night especially -- he dominated RPI and drove the offense.  He was responsible for several dangerous chances.  In prior years the signature strong arm arcs he cuts would wind up with him trapped in the corner or flying off the puck as he tried to pivot towards the net; now he winds up in good position to either pass across the crease or take a hard shot.  That's coaching plus player improvement.

Add there was plenty of urgency down the stretch.  RPI was playing five skaters across the blueline like the Pinetree Early Warning Line and we still managed to penetrate, hold the puck, move it despite seemingly three guys clogging up every lane.

Sometimes a loss is bad (Colgate), sometimes it is basically a coin flip (Union), and sometimes it is the fickle hand of fate (RPI).

I think there is a big difference between scoring and creating solid scoring chances, and looking fancy skating around with the puck. Ferlin doesn't do a lot of A, some of B, and tons of C. Ferlin's moves are impressive but I don't think they are all that effective at creating scoring chances. I don't think he dominated RPI at all. CU controlled play for much of that game but I don't believe he was the driving force in it. And when you put up a big zero on the scoring sheet I don't know how anyone can say you "dominated".

I thought the urgency was there until shortly after CU scored. After that it seemed to have slacked off. It's not hard to gain the zone on a dump and chase against a team that was obviously just trying to hold on for a win. 8 shot on goal (yes, I know SOG are not a super indicator of offense but still) in a period when you need 3? Seriously that is dominating that is urgency?

I will admit that part of my complaints is born partly of frustration. I just don't believe that Schafer is making this team better. I don't believe in luck. I don't believe in a "hot goaltender" and any of that other BS that people use for excuses. Bottom line is that this team needs to get these wins against teams they should be beating right now (Union excluded). They are giving away points when they should be playing their best hockey of the season preparing for a playoff push.

[Trotsky]

I don't believe in luck. I don't believe in a "hot goaltender" and any of that other BS that people use for excuses.

It's all very well to not believe in "luck" as a supernatural pattern emerging out random variation.  I don't believe in that either; it's magical thinking.  But a "hot" goaltender just expresses the fact that the players are not Strat cards and some days they are more on their game, for whatever permutation of body and brain chemistry.  That's absolutely real.

I think we sometimes fall into the trap of assuming our team dictates the result of a game and the opponent is a stable background condition.  This is untrue: it is possible to play poorly and win (UNO) and play well and lose (RPI).  If we could just will ourselves into scoring position and goals Topher Scott would be the all-time NCAA scoring leader.