Baseless Speculation

[scoop85]

I disagree with Mr Linsey on this one..  Retired jersey's are to honor one's accomplishments as a player.  I watched all of Mike's home games and some road games...    I can say that, from a fan's perspective, he was a very solid defenseman and clearly a leader on his teams.   I believe they won one ECAC title during his time on The Hill.   None of this is the makings of a outstanding playing career, just a very solid playing career.   And, he is obviously a very solid person, off the ice!!

As a coach, I have criticized him in the not-to-distant past.  But, the play of the 2017-18 team has shown that Mike is, indeed, able to change with the times and has his team playing a style that involves more skating & skill... Love it!!   Couple this with his past accomplishments as coach and it's clear that Mike deserves some great honor to be bestowed by the University, just not the uniform retirement.

Spot on.  Silly to retire his jersey, which should be reserved for an all-time great PLAYER.  Schafer deserves to be honored for his coaching success, not for an excellent but not spectacular playing career.

[Al DeFlorio]

I'm not arguing this matter one way or the other, but there are obvious examples where retiring a jersey has not been "reserved for an all-time great player:"  Red Auerbach, Casey Stengel, Walter Alston, Tommy LaSorda.  There are others but I'm not going to bother looking them up.

[CU2007]

I'm not arguing this matter one way or the other, but there are obvious examples where retiring a jersey has not been "reserved for an all-time great player:"  Red Auerbach, Casey Stengel, Walter Alston, Tommy LaSorda.  There are others but I'm not going to bother looking them up.

Joe Torre

I think he deserves it. Hard to find people who have had such a sustained, profound impact on Cornell Hockey. I suspect he will be eternally honored in some form a few after he stops coaching - but I don't know that it will be with his jersey retired.

[Cop at Lynah]

It would be a well deserved honor for Mike to have a banner in the rafters with his name on it, doesn't have to be a jersey but a banner non the less

[coz]

I just have trouble with calling Schafer the greatest coach in Cornell history. Titles matter and Harkness had 2 even if he was only here for 7 years.

[RichH]

Jebus. Unretire the numbers. Have a "Wall of Honor" on the western end. Or a "Red Rafter of Glory." Or something similar. This isn't hard.

[Trotsky]

Jebus. Unretire the numbers. Have a "Wall of Honor" on the western end. Or a "Red Rafter of Glory." Or something similar. This isn't hard.

This is the correct answer.  Retired numbers are stupid.

[Jeff Hopkins '82]

Jebus. Unretire the numbers. Have a "Wall of Honor" on the western end. Or a "Red Rafter of Glory." Or something similar. This isn't hard.

This is the correct answer.  Retired numbers are stupid.

+1

[billhoward]

I'm not arguing this matter one way or the other, but there are obvious examples where retiring a jersey has not been "reserved for an all-time great player:"  Red Auerbach, Casey Stengel, Walter Alston, Tommy LaSorda.  There are others but I'm not going to bother looking them up.

I'd argue it. What do you retire: Schafer's jersey? The stick he broke over his head to fire up the team as an undergrad? One of the suits he wore behind the bench - it isn't a trademark like Bear Bryant's hat or Red Auerbach's cigar. (Remember the joke about the shopkeeper with a big clock in the window, the customer comes in to get his watch repaired, the shopkeeper says I'm a mohel, the customer says why is a clock in the window, the mohel says, "So, you want I should put what in the window then?")

[billhoward]

Jebus. Unretire the numbers. Have a "Wall of Honor" on the western end. Or a "Red Rafter of Glory." Or something similar. This isn't hard.

Cultural appropriation. That was used during the Battle of Stalingrad.

[marty]

Jebus. Unretire the numbers. Have a "Wall of Honor" on the western end. Or a "Red Rafter of Glory." Or something similar. This isn't hard.

RPI got this (half) right.  Instead of retiring numbers they have a "Ring of Honor". If I remember correctly they don't necessarily add to it every year.  Their only mistake was the color. I wasn't a Crayola maven and hence can't tell you the color of the banners. Whatever the bizarre orange-red cloth used, it in no way matches the uniforms.

RPI includes Harkness in their ring and it's surely appropriate to consider Ned and Mike for an honor.  Much as I think that Union made a Messa their Achilles of a rink, I can't ignore the Red Berenson script on the ice at Yost.

We'll think of something.

[French Rage]

What do you retire:

Clipboard.

[Trotsky]

RPI includes Harkness in their ring and it's surely appropriate to consider Ned and Mike for an honor.  Much as I think that Union made a Messa their Achilles of a rink, I can't ignore the Red Berenson script on the ice at Yost.

We'll think of something.

I believe we have a Cornell hockey HOF.

[Scersk '97]

Jebus. Unretire the numbers. Have a "Wall of Honor" on the western end. Or a "Red Rafter of Glory." Or something similar. This isn't hard.

This is the correct answer.  Retired numbers are stupid.

Of course. What better honor, or stick to beat someone with, would there be than wearing #25?

"Oh, you're Nieuwendyk, then? Better score, kid."

[French Rage]

Jebus. Unretire the numbers. Have a "Wall of Honor" on the western end. Or a "Red Rafter of Glory." Or something similar. This isn't hard.

This is the correct answer.  Retired numbers are stupid.

Of course. What better honor, or stick to beat someone with, would there be than wearing #25?

"Oh, you're Nieuwendyk, then? Better score, kid."

This.

Does Schafer still make players research someone who had their jersery number?  Kinda dumb then to take away some of the best ones.