Polls

[RichH]

I mean, there are all sorts of very reasonable explanations for why blue chippers don't come to Cornell. But the fact we get so many players who are just a step or two below the blue chippers makes me wonder why we can't snag a first- or second-rounder from time to time. We were getting them every so often in the early 2000s.

There's also the case of an NHL team/GM making unusual or unexpected decisions based on needs, team control considerations, or developmental expectations. Sasha Pokulok and Reilly Nash went much higher than their rankings, IIRC. There are teams that feel much more comfortable drafting from the collegiate pool than others. There's historically been a premium on size, and smaller, more talented skaters could slip a lot down the draft board, or off it altogether. (See St. Louis, Martin)

That's all true. Though, the premium on size should lead to Cornell having more, now fewer, players drafted.

Perhaps that already has increased the number of Cornell drafted players. I don't really care. We seem to secure a certain type of player, who can fit and buy into a...how do you say...system. I'm not claiming to know how the staff recruits, but they seem to have found a fairly consistent level of success no matter who they bring in. Spend time chasing blue-chippers or pieces that fit a puzzle, that's the choice you often have to make, since I'm guessing their resources are quite a bit more limited compared to the big jock factories.

As for the one that sparks this...like it or not, "My boy is going to Harvard" just has a lot more weight to ma & pa than anything the Cornell brand can offer.

[abmarks]

I mean, there are all sorts of very reasonable explanations for why blue chippers don't come to Cornell. But the fact we get so many players who are just a step or two below the blue chippers makes me wonder why we can't snag a first- or second-rounder from time to time. We were getting them every so often in the early 2000s.

There's also the case of an NHL team/GM making unusual or unexpected decisions based on needs, te.

As for the one that sparks this...like it or not, "My boy is going to Harvard" just has a lot more weight to ma & pa than anything the Cornell brand can offer.

Harvard's also in Boston. Yeah, yeah, Trotsky hates Boston, but for many recruits (and their parents) Boston > Ithaca (or any small college town).

[abmarks]

We have lost a lot of Cornell brats over the years.  Ethan by Kent out of Kim comes to mind.

Ethan Manderville and Jackson Nieuwendyk are two recent sons of Cornell legends who chose to play hockey at other schools. Neither put up great junior hockey numbers, and the schools they committed to (Colgate and Niagara) suggest they weren't heavily recruited. They could turn out to be fine players, and I'm sure the Cornell coaching staff did their due diligence, but as scoop85 said, they aren't on the same level as Moore and especially Beniers. For whatever reason, we've been about to stack up "good" recruits, but the true blue chip recruits don't seem to view Cornell Hockey in the way they view BC, BU, Minnesota, Michigan, Denver, NoDak, Notre Dame, Wisconsin, and, unfortunately, Harvard.

Do you have some stats for all Ivy's?  
Wondering where we fall on the Blue Chip count vs. our peers.

[Trotsky]

Harvard's also in Boston. Yeah, yeah, Trotsky hates Boston, but for many recruits (and their parents) Boston > Ithaca (or any small college town).

Not at all.  I like Boston.

I hate Bostonians.  The students and transplants are great.  Just drag everybody born there out into the ocean on a garbage scow and sink it.

[Roy 82]

Harvard's also in Boston. Yeah, yeah, Trotsky hates Boston, but for many recruits (and their parents) Boston > Ithaca (or any small college town).

Not at all.  I like Boston.

I hate Bostonians.  The students and transplants are great.  Just drag everybody born there out into the ocean on a garbage scow and sink it.

Why do you hate Bostonians so much that you wish to murder them?

[Trotsky]

Harvard's also in Boston. Yeah, yeah, Trotsky hates Boston, but for many recruits (and their parents) Boston > Ithaca (or any small college town).

Not at all.  I like Boston.

I hate Bostonians.  The students and transplants are great.  Just drag everybody born there out into the ocean on a garbage scow and sink it.

Why do you hate Bostonians so much that you wish to murder them?

Ever eaten with them?

[Dafatone]

Harvard's also in Boston. Yeah, yeah, Trotsky hates Boston, but for many recruits (and their parents) Boston > Ithaca (or any small college town).

Not at all.  I like Boston.

I hate Bostonians.  The students and transplants are great.  Just drag everybody born there out into the ocean on a garbage scow and sink it.

While I strongly support location-based hatred, I'm curious what parts of the country have residents you do like.

[marty]

Harvard's also in Boston. Yeah, yeah, Trotsky hates Boston, but for many recruits (and their parents) Boston > Ithaca (or any small college town).

Not at all.  I like Boston.

I hate Bostonians.  The students and transplants are great.  Just drag everybody born there out into the ocean on a garbage scow and sink it.

While I strongly support location-based hatred, I'm curious what parts of the country have residents you do like.

Hah!

[Swampy]

I mean, there are all sorts of very reasonable explanations for why blue chippers don't come to Cornell. But the fact we get so many players who are just a step or two below the blue chippers makes me wonder why we can't snag a first- or second-rounder from time to time. We were getting them every so often in the early 2000s.

There's also the case of an NHL team/GM making unusual or unexpected decisions based on needs, team control considerations, or developmental expectations. Sasha Pokulok and Reilly Nash went much higher than their rankings, IIRC. There are teams that feel much more comfortable drafting from the collegiate pool than others. There's historically been a premium on size, and smaller, more talented skaters could slip a lot down the draft board, or off it altogether. (See St. Louis, Martin)

That's all true. Though, the premium on size should lead to Cornell having more, now fewer, players drafted.

Perhaps that already has increased the number of Cornell drafted players. I don't really care. We seem to secure a certain type of player, who can fit and buy into a...how do you say...system. I'm not claiming to know how the staff recruits, but they seem to have found a fairly consistent level of success no matter who they bring in. Spend time chasing blue-chippers or pieces that fit a puzzle, that's the choice you often have to make, since I'm guessing their resources are quite a bit more limited compared to the big jock factories.

As for the one that sparks this...like it or not, "My boy is going to Harvard" just has a lot more weight to ma & pa than anything the Cornell brand can offer.

By this logic one would expect Princeton & Yale to be perennial powers and Quinnipiac, a perennial doormat. Yale did catch lightning in a bottle in 2013, but not consistently, and I don't recall a plethora of first round picks on that team.

While you may be right about the Harvard name being part of the explanation, I think the evidence suggests this is not the whole story.

[BearLover]

I mean, there are all sorts of very reasonable explanations for why blue chippers don't come to Cornell. But the fact we get so many players who are just a step or two below the blue chippers makes me wonder why we can't snag a first- or second-rounder from time to time. We were getting them every so often in the early 2000s.

There's also the case of an NHL team/GM making unusual or unexpected decisions based on needs, team control considerations, or developmental expectations. Sasha Pokulok and Reilly Nash went much higher than their rankings, IIRC. There are teams that feel much more comfortable drafting from the collegiate pool than others. There's historically been a premium on size, and smaller, more talented skaters could slip a lot down the draft board, or off it altogether. (See St. Louis, Martin)

That's all true. Though, the premium on size should lead to Cornell having more, now fewer, players drafted.

Perhaps that already has increased the number of Cornell drafted players. I don't really care. We seem to secure a certain type of player, who can fit and buy into a...how do you say...system. I'm not claiming to know how the staff recruits, but they seem to have found a fairly consistent level of success no matter who they bring in. Spend time chasing blue-chippers or pieces that fit a puzzle, that's the choice you often have to make, since I'm guessing their resources are quite a bit more limited compared to the big jock factories.

As for the one that sparks this...like it or not, "My boy is going to Harvard" just has a lot more weight to ma & pa than anything the Cornell brand can offer.

By this logic one would expect Princeton & Yale to be perennial powers and Quinnipiac, a perennial doormat. Yale did catch lightning in a bottle in 2013, but not consistently, and I don't recall a plethora of first round picks on that team.

While you may be right about the Harvard name being part of the explanation, I think the evidence suggests this is not the whole story.

Yale was consistently great during that period. They were not a flash in the plan. Yale made the NCAAs in '09, '10, '11, '13, '15, '16. But you're correct that they didn't have many players drafted. It looks like the 2013 team only had a single draft pick on its roster (John Hayden, third round).

[Trotsky]

While I strongly support location-based hatred, I'm curious what parts of the country have residents you do like.

West of Interstate 77 + North of Interstate 40.

[ursusminor]

We have lost a lot of Cornell brats over the years.  Ethan by Kent out of Kim comes to mind.

Manderville's a nice player—I would compare him with Tukper. But Moore and especially Berniers are at a different level.

About week ago, RPI received a commitment from legacy Landen Hilditch, son of Todd Hilditch '92. If he does show up, he will be RPI's first legacy to play for the 'Tute since Ken Kearns, son of Garry Kearns '58, played one game in 1980-1. Garry was also RPI's coach. The only other RPI legacy at RPI whom I know about is John Magadini who played on the 1954 NCAA championship team. His father was A. J. Magadini, captain in 1929-30.

RPI has had many legacies of other schools. E.g., Dan Peace '08 whose father played for Cornell and at least three on the current roster. I am sure that Cornell wasn't interested in Peace. :-P It also has had many play elsewhere.

[Trotsky]

I am sure that Cornell wasn't interested in Peace.

I mean...

[Scersk '97]

While I strongly support location-based hatred, I'm curious what parts of the country have residents you do like.

West of Interstate 77 + North of Interstate 40.

Kentucky?!

If that was your attempt to delineate the beginning of the Midwest, you are way off target. I always say anything west of the Appalachians and north of the Ohio. Conversations full of the Northern Cities Shift, with all those nasal flat As. Buffalonians, for example, are VERY midwestern. It's the transplants from downstate that sour the batch. Pittsburgh is a special case, phonologically, but it fits. Places like Syracuse, Ithaca, Binghamton, and Scranton are tough to place.

[Trotsky]

If that was your attempt to delineate the beginning of the Midwest

It was my answer. I am not responsible for your reaction.

Also do not conflate the political livability of a place with whether its people are tolerable.  Those are different axes.

Good politics, good people: Oregon
Bad politics, good people: Utah
Good politics, bad people: New York
Bad politics, bad people: Mississippi