Favorite Harvard Game Memory

[ScrewBUHarvardtoo]

For the big game this weekend (my fifth Harvard game, third at Lynah) I am going to write an article for the Big Red Sports Network detailing the history of the rivalry, and what has made it so special to generations of Cornell students. I'm going to try to go back as far as the 1890s, and try to get as much information about the early days of the Cornell hockey program. I know for sure I'm going to write about our 1962 victory at Lynah (which I talked about in a previous article), how the fish throwing tradition started, the connection to Love Story, and some key playoff wins (i.e. Sam Paolini GW goal in 2003 ECAC finals).

What I was wondering is if any of you guys experienced any Harvard games that were particularly thrilling or memorable? From any year is fine (earlier the better even!), although it'd be nice to write about games that had a lot riding on them standings-wise. A lot of students here now don't really understand the rivalry too much because Harvard hasn't been as strong in recent years, but for a while they were a top dog in the ECAC. Whether it's a story from Schafer's years (seriously did he actually break a stick over his head?) or from five years ago, I'd love to hear it.

[Jeff Hopkins '82]

In 1979, Harvard was pretty much irrelevant standings-wise, especially since only 8 of the teams made the playoffs.  But it was still fun to see the craziness.  

At that time we threw the fish on the ice just before Harvard came out for the third period.  After the figure skater finished her routine, Lynah got quiet.  With about a minute left in intermission, someone walked down the aisle and simply dropped a fish over the glass.  Then fish started raining down.  There were fresh fish - and some not so fresh - of all shapes and sizes.  Someone tossed out a box of Mrs. Pauls' fish sticks.  I saw a handful of shrimp fly out along with a can of tuna.  There was even a lump of something in a plastic bag that someone told me was a baby shark from a biology lab dissection project.  

After that, someone jumped over the boards with a cloth bag and pulled out a live chicken!  He walked over to the Harvard goal and tied the chicken to the goal posts with pink ribbons.  It was loud already, but when the chicken took a dump in the crease, it got even louder.

Eventually Harvard came out, knocked a few fish around with their sticks, and the ushers cleaned up all the mess.  They made the usual announcement warning about calling a delay of game penalty and the game went on.  

But this was when they let anyone in for free once the third period started. So at the first stoppage of the third period there was a commotion a the top of the rink.  Two guys ran down the aisle and threw a giant phallus with "Harvard Sucks" painted on the side of it.  Again the place went crazy.  This time they called the delay of game penalty.

Right after we killed that penalty, Brock Tredway completed a hat trick.  Of course plenty of hats were tossed on the ice.  And the ref called another delay of game penalty!  That incensed the crowd.  But it really didn't matter because we were so far ahead.  I think the final was 11-4.  

Interestingly, I don't remember anything about any the other games my last three years on campus.  I guess you never forget your first time.

[Trotsky]

But this was when they let anyone in for free once the third period started. So at the first stoppage of the third period there was a commotion a the top of the rink.  Two guys ran down the aisle and threw a giant phallus with "Harvard Sucks" painted on the side of it.  Again the place went crazy.  This time they called the delay of game penalty.

Said phallus.

Note our seniors have never won Fish & Fowl.

[ScrewBUHarvardtoo]

I was just thinking about that. But hey at least they've won 2 of 3 at Harvard!

[ACM]

Yes, Schafer really did break a stick over his head (although he cheated a bit; he sawed it part-way through). Here's a contemporary account.

[Beeeej]

First of all, you should probably know that the first Cornell-Harvard men's hockey game was in 1910, regardless of when the programs each started playing. Harvard beat us 5-0 at St. Nicholas Rink in New York City.

In no particular order:

It's worth mentioning that the context of the 2003 ECAC title game was one of the factors that made it so special. The previous title game, 2002 in Lake Placid, there was a general feeling among the Lynah Faithful who'd made the trip that this should be our year. Yes, we'd had our usual crapfest in the Florida tournament, but we finished strong, and dispatched Yale and RPI pretty easily in the ECAC QFs and SFs respectively. There's always something exciting and aggravating about meeting Harvard in the playoffs, especially the title game, but this one in 2002 was particularly close and hard-fought, and when Harvard won in double overtime I think we all felt it more keenly. We hadn't won the title since 1997, and we'd come close enough in 2000 and 2001 (eliminated by SLU both times) that we really, really wanted this one. Watching Harvard go one-and-done in the NCAA tournament the following week while we trounced newly-DI Quinnipiac 6-1 in the same building wasn't as satisfying as you might think it would've been.

So internalize that for a moment, and then imagine what it must have been like for us the very next year, 2003, when we were absolutely 100% certain we had all the right pieces in place for a deep national run and might never have them again, and yet Harvard was still winning by a goal late in the third period in Albany. We literally could not believe that this was happening again. If you're going to write this article, I suggest watching video of this game from the third period on - there's a moment after Schafer had pulled LeNeveu from the goal when Harvard sent the puck toward our empty net, and the entire building lost three years from their lives as the puck wobbled on its edge and then magically curved away to the side. Mark McRae's game-tying goal shortly afterward was a thing of beauty, and some of us who watch video of the game on a regular basis all these years later are still not sure exactly how our player got that puck (and himself) around the defender, or how he sniped the puck past Dov Grumet-Morris (who after all made the all-tournament team when LeNeveu did not), but it's hard to care when the result was so satisfying. The win cemented our year-long domination over the ECAC, and more so, it landed us in the #1 overall spot in the Pairwise, a spot in which we were not accustomed to finding ourselves.

Now let's go back to 1990, when McCutcheon was head coach and we had some pretty decent firepower on our team - Joe Dragon, Dan Ratushny, Kent Manderville, Tim Vanini, Ryan Hughes, Doug Derraugh, Trent Andison, et al., plus Jim Crozier as our star in net. Our hopes for an ECAC tournament title ended rather abruptly when RPI beat us in the semis in the old Boston Garden, but the previous week, Harvard marched into Lynah for the Quarterfinals as defending national champions, with Bill Cleary having already announced this would be his last season as head coach. We were smack-dab in the middle of what would eventually become a ten-and-a-half-year regular season winless streak against Harvard (three ties and seventeen losses, IIRC, plus three more losses in ECAC tournament play), yet we swept them 6-2, 4-2 to take away what Bill obviously felt should have been his opportunity for a victory lap and a return trip to the dance (they didn't get an at-large bid either, though that wasn't shocking back in the days of the 8-team field). In one of the worst displays of sportsmanship I've ever seen, Bill angrily marched his team off the ice after losing the second game without letting them shake hands with the Big Red, and immediately transitioned from coach to Harvard's AD. The ECAC's decision to name the regular season title trophy after him still galls some of us to this day.

I'll let someone else talk about Schafer's first game against Harvard as head coach in November, 1995, since I wasn't there - that's (sort of) the last time I voluntarily skipped a Cornell-Harvard game, since I instantly regretted it. I'll merely comment as an aside that following the aforementioned horrible winless streak, Schafer coached our guys to three straight victories over Harvard in 1995-96, including an obviously quite satisfying ECAC title game win in Lake Placid.

Last but not least, a little story about how my wife and I became engaged the day of the Harvard game two years ago:

http://elf.elynah.com/read.php?1,173733

Good luck with your article!

[adamw]

Beeeej, isn't there also a story, though, from that 1990 series, where Cleary was having fun with the crowd and pep band before the game ... and/or he shook hands with many faithful after the game? I have this archived somewhere - since I don't always trust my memory anymore

I was at that series, and the only thing I can remember really is the post-game interview with Cleary, knowing that was the end of the road. I was only 19 at the time, and the impact of that moment didn't occur to me as much as it would now, though I still remember it was a big deal.

[Jeff Hopkins '82]

In 1979, Harvard was pretty much irrelevant standings-wise, especially since only 8 of the teams made the playoffs.  But it was still fun to see the craziness.  

At that time we threw the fish on the ice just before Harvard came out for the third period.  After the figure skater finished her routine, Lynah got quiet.  With about a minute left in intermission, someone walked down the aisle and simply dropped a fish over the glass.  Then fish started raining down.  There were fresh fish - and some not so fresh - of all shapes and sizes.  Someone tossed out a box of Mrs. Pauls' fish sticks.  I saw a handful of shrimp fly out along with a can of tuna.  There was even a lump of something in a plastic bag that someone told me was a baby shark from a biology lab dissection project.  

After that, someone jumped over the boards with a cloth bag and pulled out a live chicken!  He walked over to the Harvard goal and tied the chicken to the goal posts with pink ribbons.  It was loud already, but when the chicken took a dump in the crease, it got even louder.

Eventually Harvard came out, knocked a few fish around with their sticks, and the ushers cleaned up all the mess.  They made the usual announcement warning about calling a delay of game penalty and the game went on.  

But this was when they let anyone in for free once the third period started. So at the first stoppage of the third period there was a commotion a the top of the rink.  Two guys ran down the aisle and threw a giant phallus with "Harvard Sucks" painted on the side of it.  Again the place went crazy.  This time they called the delay of game penalty.

Right after we killed that penalty, Brock Tredway completed a hat trick.  Of course plenty of hats were tossed on the ice.  And the ref called another delay of game penalty!  That incensed the crowd.  But it really didn't matter because we were so far ahead.  I think the final was 11-4.  

Interestingly, I don't remember anything about any of the other games my last three years on campus.  I guess you never forget your first time.

[Beeeej]

Beeeej, isn't there also a story, though, from that 1990 series, where Cleary was having fun with the crowd and pep band before the game ... and/or he shook hands with many faithful after the game? I have this archived somewhere - since I don't always trust my memory anymore

If there is, I've never been aware of it. I just remember the look on his face when he practically shoved his players off the ice, as if Cornell beating them in that round had been the most audacious, personally offensive thing he'd ever experienced.

[adamw]

I can't find specific reference to what I said -- I think I have it at home -- but this is from The Crimson's game writeup...

Cleary exited college hockey the way he entered it--with class. Unflustered by chants of "Goodbye, bald guy" from Cornell students pouring onto the ice, Cleary hopped off the bench after the contest to give victorious Big Red Coach Brian McCutcheon a farewell hug.

"Billy's a real credit to the game of hockey," McCutcheon said.

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1990/3/5/cornell-ends-icemens-season-pithaca-ny-the/

[Larry72]

First of all, you should probably know that the first Cornell-Harvard men's hockey game was in 1910, regardless of when the programs each started playing. Harvard beat us 5-0 at St. Nicholas Rink in New York City.

In no particular order:

It's worth mentioning that the context of the 2003 ECAC title game was one of the factors that made it so special. The previous title game, 2002 in Lake Placid, there was a general feeling among the Lynah Faithful who'd made the trip that this should be our year. Yes, we'd had our usual crapfest in the Florida tournament, but we finished strong, and dispatched Yale and RPI pretty easily in the ECAC QFs and SFs respectively. There's always something exciting and aggravating about meeting Harvard in the playoffs, especially the title game, but this one in 2002 was particularly close and hard-fought, and when Harvard won in double overtime I think we all felt it more keenly. We hadn't won the title since 1997, and we'd come close enough in 2000 and 2001 (eliminated by SLU both times) that we really, really wanted this one. Watching Harvard go one-and-done in the NCAA tournament the following week while we trounced newly-DI Quinnipiac 6-1 in the same building wasn't as satisfying as you might think it would've been.

So internalize that for a moment, and then imagine what it must have been like for us the very next year, 2003, when we were absolutely 100% certain we had all the right pieces in place for a deep national run and might never have them again, and yet Harvard was still winning by a goal late in the third period in Albany. We literally could not believe that this was happening again. If you're going to write this article, I suggest watching video of this game from the third period on - there's a moment after Schafer had pulled LeNeveu from the goal when Harvard sent the puck toward our empty net, and the entire building lost three years from their lives as the puck wobbled on its edge and then magically curved away to the side. Mark McRae's game-tying goal shortly afterward was a thing of beauty, and some of us who watch video of the game on a regular basis all these years later are still not sure exactly how Sam Paolini got that puck (and himself) around the defender, or how he sniped the puck past Dov Grumet-Morris (who after all made the all-tournament team when LeNeveu did not), but it's hard to care when the result was so satisfying. The win cemented our year-long domination over the ECAC, and more so, it landed us in the #1 overall spot in the Pairwise, a spot in which we were not accustomed to finding ourselves.

Now let's go back to 1990, when McCutcheon was head coach and we had some pretty decent firepower on our team - Joe Dragon, Dan Ratushny, Kent Manderville, Tim Vanini, Ryan Hughes, Doug Derraugh, Trent Andison, et al., plus Jim Crozier as our star in net. Our hopes for an ECAC tournament title ended rather abruptly when RPI beat us in the semis in the old Boston Garden, but the previous week, Harvard marched into Lynah for the Quarterfinals as defending national champions, with Bill Cleary having already announced this would be his last season as head coach. We were smack-dab in the middle of what would eventually become a ten-and-a-half-year regular season winless streak against Harvard (three ties and seventeen losses, IIRC, plus three more losses in ECAC tournament play), yet we swept them 6-2, 4-2 to take away what Bill obviously felt should have been his opportunity for a victory lap and a return trip to the dance (they didn't get an at-large bid either, though that wasn't shocking back in the days of the 8-team field). In one of the worst displays of sportsmanship I've ever seen, Bill angrily marched his team off the ice after losing the second game without letting them shake hands with the Big Red, and immediately transitioned from coach to Harvard's AD. The ECAC's decision to name the regular season title trophy after him still galls some of us to this day.

I'll let someone else talk about Schafer's first game against Harvard as head coach in November, 1995, since I wasn't there - that's (sort of) the last time I voluntarily skipped a Cornell-Harvard game, since I instantly regretted it. I'll merely comment as an aside that following the aforementioned horrible winless streak, Schafer coached our guys to three straight victories over Harvard in 1995-96, including an obviously quite satisfying ECAC title game win in Lake Placid.

Last but not least, a little story about how my wife and I became engaged the day of the Harvard game two years ago:

http://elf.elynah.com/read.php?1,173733

Good luck with your article!

Said Videos from 2003: Paolini's winning OT goal and Mark McRae's tying goal with 33 seconds left

[Towerroad]

Even though it has been nearly 40 years since my time on the hill I am a relatively recent convert to college hockey. It started a little over 10 years ago when I went to the see the Big Red play in the first round of the NCAA Tournament against UNH in Worcester. I was hooked and started going to BU games with my wife '77 who was a BU Law School Grad.

Living in Boston, I regularly have to endure Cantab arrogance and hogwash. We go to the games at Lynah East and each time for a few minutes, regardless of the score, I get psychic revenge as follows:

The first game at Lynah East I went to during the second intermission the announcer said "Please stand and join us for the Harvard Alma Mater" Some words were scrolled across the scoreboard and the band played something that sounded like "Little Brown Jug". Nobody seemed to notice as the music petered out. About 5 seconds later without the benefit of the announcer, there was a drum roll. Two thousand plus Cornellians from the youngest Freshman to old farts like me, stood, linked arms and sang leaving no doubt about the title to the barn.

Victory on the ice is always nice but owning the house is priceless.

[Beeeej]

Even though it has been nearly 40 years since my time on the hill I am a relatively recent convert to college hockey. It started a little over 10 years ago when I went to the see the Big Red play in the first round of the NCAA Tournament against UNH in Worcester. I was hooked and started going to BU games with my wife '77 who was a BU Law School Grad.

Second round - the first round was when we drubbed Quinnipiac 6-1. 2002 was the last year of the 12-team field, so we faced a rested UNH team the next day, and still gave them pretty decent fits before they finished us of.

[KGR11]

The first game at Lynah East I went to during the second intermission the announcer said "Please stand and join us for the Harvard Alma Mater" Some words were scrolled across the scoreboard and the band played something that sounded like "Little Brown Jug". Nobody seemed to notice as the music petered out. About 5 seconds later without the benefit of the announcer, there was a drum roll. Two thousand plus Cornellians from the youngest Freshman to old farts like me, stood, linked arms and sang leaving no doubt about the title to the barn.

Victory on the ice is always nice but owning the house is priceless.

This never gets old.

In the 2009-2010 season, we beat Harvard 4 times with an aggregate score of 17-4, which I assume is a season record.  The third game of that set began a shutout streak by Scrivens which included 3 complete games, the last being the ECAC Championship game against Union.

[Trotsky]

If there is, I've never been aware of it. I just remember the look on his face when he practically shoved his players off the ice, as if Cornell beating them in that round had been the most audacious, personally offensive thing he'd ever experienced.

I remember it this way as well.

Cleary may have shaken McCutcheon's hand -- you're supposed to -- but throughout the series he behaved as if personally insulted that Cornell was daring to beat His national champion Princess Anne squad.