This Weekend, Mind Your Qs & Ps

[Jim Hyla]

This week's USCHO ECAC column highlights Cornell.

Some quotes:

"Our fans are starved and we're excited to play back there," said Cornell coach Mike Schafer, who let out a sigh of relief Saturday following the end of his team's 2,400-mile road trip, which amounted to 42 hours on the team bus over a 17-day span.


Schafer said Bliss and Tschantz could return after January, if they come back at all, while Kubiak, the team's leading scorer last season, is day-to-day, but might not get back until after Christmas.


...for Cornell, which scored ten goals in a weekend for the first time in five years.

And for those who still don't think Schafer can change:

Typically one of the biggest teams in the country, the Big Red have taken a different approach to recruiting. Of the five freshman on Cornell's roster, forward Jeff Malott is the only one taller than six feet.

"The physicality is gone out of the game," Schafer said. "Everything is gone out of the game. You can't get into anybody any more, so you have to be quicker and you have to be faster. We want to still play the same kind of hockey; I just think that speed will help us."

Still, Cornell isn't entirely abandoning size when recruiting players. Schafer said next year's incoming freshman class has several players with size in addition to speed.

"Look at Yale, they've been a great defensive team," Schafer said. "They've always been a team that's got great skating speed and they stay above you. It's teams like that have had success on the national level and that's where Cornell belongs. We want to get back to that level and to do that, we've got to switch up.

"We're in transition; we've got some guys who are good sized, but we've got to make a transition and make sure that an ingredient in our recruiting is speed."

[underskill]

I feel like Schafer has that talk about recruiting smaller/faster every 2-3 years (dating back to the Romano/Milo class) and winds up reverting though

[Trotsky]

I feel like Schafer has that talk about recruiting smaller/faster every 2-3 years (dating back to the Romano/Milo class) and winds up reverting though

Maybe, but the world keeps spinning out from under the physical game.  Evolve or die.

[scoop85]

I feel like Schafer has that talk about recruiting smaller/faster every 2-3 years (dating back to the Romano/Milo class) and winds up reverting though

Maybe, but the world keeps spinning out from under the physical game.  Evolve or die.

With the way penalties are being called now, he really has no choice but to adapt.

[Trotsky]

I feel like Schafer has that talk about recruiting smaller/faster every 2-3 years (dating back to the Romano/Milo class) and winds up reverting though

Maybe, but the world keeps spinning out from under the physical game.  Evolve or die.

With the way penalties are being called now, he really has no choice but to adapt.

I'm hoping the more up tempo style will get the snowflakes' noses out of their phones.

Been a while since Lynah felt like a tough place to play.

[RichH]

With the way penalties are being called now, he really has no choice but to adapt.

We haven't really discussed this season's penalty-calling mandate, but I know it has a large number of coaches howling from the North Country to the Western conferences.  We have seen this general penalty edict before, as well as much more targeted and specific orders. Like that year when the NCAA officials wanted to make clear they instituted an "obstruction" operator, so every penalty became "Obstruction hooking" or the notably redundant "Obstruction Interference."  Eventually, the watchdogs stop paying such close attention (maybe satisfied that the message was delivered) and the refs slowly revert to their instincts and training. I'd estimate it takes about 2/3 of a season for the shackles to be removed.

[Dafatone]

With the way penalties are being called now, he really has no choice but to adapt.

We haven't really discussed this season's penalty-calling mandate, but I know it has a large number of coaches howling from the North Country to the Western conferences.  We have seen this general penalty edict before, as well as much more targeted and specific orders. Like that year when the NCAA officials wanted to make clear they instituted an "obstruction" operator, so every penalty became "Obstruction hooking" or the notably redundant "Obstruction Interference."  Eventually, the watchdogs stop paying such close attention (maybe satisfied that the message was delivered) and the refs slowly revert to their instincts and training. I'd estimate it takes about 2/3 of a season for the shackles to be removed.

I'm looking forward to it.  I like 5x5 hockey.  Five penalties per period is dumb.

[Trotsky]

With the way penalties are being called now, he really has no choice but to adapt.

We haven't really discussed this season's penalty-calling mandate, but I know it has a large number of coaches howling from the North Country to the Western conferences.  We have seen this general penalty edict before, as well as much more targeted and specific orders. Like that year when the NCAA officials wanted to make clear they instituted an "obstruction" operator, so every penalty became "Obstruction hooking" or the notably redundant "Obstruction Interference."  Eventually, the watchdogs stop paying such close attention (maybe satisfied that the message was delivered) and the refs slowly revert to their instincts and training. I'd estimate it takes about 2/3 of a season for the shackles to be removed.

I'm looking forward to it.  I like 5x5 hockey.  Five penalties per period is dumb.

Well, the other way to 5x5 is the players adjust.

[andyw2100]

I'm looking forward to it.  I like 5x5 hockey.  Five penalties per period is dumb.

Well, the other way to 5x5 is the players adjust.

I agree with this, to a point. The problem is that some of what the refs seem to be calling this year is really ticky-tack stuff that looks pretty inadvertent. In other words, they are calling penalties for stuff the players couldn't avoid doing, unless they just stopped playing hockey.

[scoop85]

I'm looking forward to it.  I like 5x5 hockey.  Five penalties per period is dumb.

Well, the other way to 5x5 is the players adjust.

I agree with this, to a point. The problem is that some of what the refs seem to be calling this year is really ticky-tack stuff that looks pretty inadvertent. In other words, they are calling penalties for stuff the players couldn't avoid doing, unless they just stopped playing hockey.

That's what I've seen.  Many ridiculous calls on incidental contact.

[Trotsky]

Hi all.  This is the weekend of the annual Hajj; swing by section C row 11-ish and say hi to Anne & me.

[Scersk '97]

I'm looking forward to it.  I like 5x5 hockey.  Five penalties per period is dumb.

Well, the other way to 5x5 is the players adjust.

I agree with this, to a point. The problem is that some of what the refs seem to be calling this year is really ticky-tack stuff that looks pretty inadvertent. In other words, they are calling penalties for stuff the players couldn't avoid doing, unless they just stopped playing hockey.

That's what I've seen.  Many ridiculous calls on incidental contact.

Based on the only game (@ Yale) I've seen in person, I'm not sure I agree. There were many penalties called, of course, but quite a bit of (legal) physical play snuck through. In general, I'd say that you're going to get called if you're doing something from behind a player, i.e. not moving your skates to get into proper defensive position. Whether a hook, slash, or trip, it's getting called when it comes from behind.

Thinking back over the past—I don't know—forever, we've had defensemen hauled down from behind on the breakout (Harvard, in particular, does this) leading to a goal more than a few times per season. I'm sick and tired of that crap and glad to see it go. And I think we generally play good positional defense, so I think we've adapted and continued to adapt well. Our better teams, of which I think this year's is one, have seen their fair share of clutching, grabbing, and stickwork from behind. Frankly, I think this all might turn out for the better for us, and not just because of Schafer's recognition of the role of speed in recruiting offense...

[upprdeck]

i dont know if the issue was ever recruiting speed.. i think the issue was wanting size and thus limiting choices on getting guys with speed. everyone wants the bigger fast guys and we were lower on the list for all those types of guys.

[jtwcornell91]

Hi all.  This is the weekend of the annual Hajj; swing by section C row 11-ish and say hi to Anne & me.

Just saw you on the TeeVee (assuming you're wearing the Chartrand jersey).

[Iceberg]

I think this is the most icings Cornell has taken in any game so far this year, although that's probably the least of the issues in this game.