Mike Schafer retiring 2025

[Trotsky]

Some perspective on how Schafer kept us in the mix for his tenure.

[BearLover]

If Cornell wants to get over the hump and start competing for national championships in earnest, here is what Casey needs to do:

Realistic short term goals:
—Improve the Lynah atmosphere.
The Lynah atmosphere has steadily declined the past two decades. Empty seats, students who sit all game and don't know any of the cheers. Casey needs to talk to the athletics department or whoever makes these decisions about doing anything possible to bring in more fans, particularly students. Season tickets should be way cheaper per game than individual tickets, special packages of multiple games should be good deals too. More giveaways/promotional night if those have been shown to improve attendance. The goal should be maximizing attendance/atmosphere, not maximizing revenue. I doubt Schafer focused any time on this, but I think there is some low hanging fruit here.

—Utilize the transfer portal more.
Casey used the portal all the time at Clarkson.  Schafer has been either unwilling or unable to. I think the team could find a great goalie in the portal if they wanted. The question is, do they want to upset team chemistry? I wouldn't want to overdo it, but I'm pretty sure Cornell could grab one or two good players a year to plug holes. The program has been too successful lately and kids will give it a hard look.

Stretch goal:
—NIL funding.
This might sound nuts, but if NIL is actually becoming a thing in college hockey (I'm somewhat skeptical), there is no reason why Cornell can't be involved. This school has too many rich alumni who care about the hockey program. It makes no sense why a place like BU, Denver, or Quinnipiac should spend more money on hockey than us, these schools have no revenues and way fewer rich alumni. Schafer didn't like the fundraising part of the job, but Casey can make real headway here if he wants.

[BearLover]

The dude [BearLover] is toxic, just leave him to die in the cold alone. Right now he's using the Thank You Schafer thread to trash Mike. He's a POS; it took 2 seasons for me to learn to not engage.

Moving this to the correct thread (Trotsky posted it in the lacrosse forum). Given that just today I said I love Mike and called him a HOF coach, I'm very curious in what way I am using this thread to trash him. VERY curious. Is it when I said Schafer didn't like fundraising (direct quote of Schafer from his Ken Schott interview this week) or when I said he didn't use the portal (one player acquired through the portal in four years)?

Your posts are 100% bluster and shitty self-absorbed opinions, 0% substance. You can complain all you want about the tone of my posts—but today I never said a single bad thing about Schafer, and you're completely delusional if you think that. It's an absolute clown show dealing with you, I usually try not to but you're just making shit up now.

[Trotsky]

(removed for The Public Good)

[BearLover]

The correct thread is Ad Hom under JSID.  That's what it's for.   Please remove your shit from here and put it there; I have done the same from the lax thread.  That way nobody else has to look at either.

Maybe you should have put your post calling me a POS there, or actually maybe you should put all your moronic posts there. You totally invented things I said and then called me names like a child. Maybe you should spend a few days in time-out.

[Trotsky]

The correct thread is Ad Hom under JSID.  That's what it's for.   Please remove your shit from here and put it there; I have done the same from the lax thread.  That way nobody else has to look at either.

Maybe you should have put your post calling me a POS there, or actually maybe you should put all your moronic posts there. You totally invented things I said and then called me names like a child. Maybe you should spend a few days in time-out.

I did, and now I encourage you to do the same so the rest of the Chat doesn't have to scroll by this garbage.

[jtwcornell91]

—Improve the Lynah atmosphere.
The Lynah atmosphere has steadily declined the past two decades. Empty seats, students who sit all game and don't know any of the cheers. Casey needs to talk to the athletics department or whoever makes these decisions about doing anything possible to bring in more fans, particularly students. Season tickets should be way cheaper per game than individual tickets, special packages of multiple games should be good deals too. More giveaways/promotional night if those have been shown to improve attendance. The goal should be maximizing attendance/atmosphere, not maximizing revenue. I doubt Schafer focused any time on this, but I think there is some low hanging fruit here.

I've only been to one game at Lynah in the last five years, and that one a playoff game, but what shocked me was the blaring piped-in music.  I feel that's taken away something that was special about the Lynah atmosphere, relying on the crowd and the pep band(s) for energy.  I have seen places where the piped-in music fits in with the atmosphere, like RIT, and pro games in Germany and Switzerland (where there are no pep bands, just fan clubs with drums), but at Lynah it just felt like they were piping in the music to fill space.

Note that filling Lynah was one of Schafer's three goals when he took over in 1995, along with beating Harvard and making it to Lake Placid.  So it's not like he didn't understand the value of the atmosphere.  IIRC it was a big selling point in recruiting, so Casey presumably already understands it.

[Trotsky]

The piped-in noise, the defacement of the ice and boards, and the scoreboard garbage are endemic problems of our age.  Consumerism delenda est.

[BearLover]

—Improve the Lynah atmosphere.
The Lynah atmosphere has steadily declined the past two decades. Empty seats, students who sit all game and don't know any of the cheers. Casey needs to talk to the athletics department or whoever makes these decisions about doing anything possible to bring in more fans, particularly students. Season tickets should be way cheaper per game than individual tickets, special packages of multiple games should be good deals too. More giveaways/promotional night if those have been shown to improve attendance. The goal should be maximizing attendance/atmosphere, not maximizing revenue. I doubt Schafer focused any time on this, but I think there is some low hanging fruit here.

I've only been to one game at Lynah in the last five years, and that one a playoff game, but what shocked me was the blaring piped-in music.  I feel that's taken away something that was special about the Lynah atmosphere, relying on the crowd and the pep band(s) for energy.  I have seen places where the piped-in music fits in with the atmosphere, like RIT, and pro games in Germany and Switzerland (where there are no pep bands, just fan clubs with drums), but at Lynah it just felt like they were piping in the music to fill space.

Note that filling Lynah was one of Schafer's three goals when he took over in 1995, along with beating Harvard and making it to Lake Placid.  So it's not like he didn't understand the value of the atmosphere.  IIRC it was a big selling point in recruiting, so Casey presumably already understands it.

Schafer totally gets the value of a packed and loud Lynah, I just think his attention was directed elsewhere. Which is fine, he was a hockey coach, not head of ticket sales. But I am hopeful that Casey will come in with a fresh perspective on this aspect.

[Jim Hyla]

If Cornell wants to get over the hump and start competing for national championships in earnest, here is what Casey needs to do:

Realistic short term goals:
—Improve the Lynah atmosphere.
The Lynah atmosphere has steadily declined the past two decades. Empty seats, students who sit all game and don't know any of the cheers. Casey needs to talk to the athletics department or whoever makes these decisions about doing anything possible to bring in more fans, particularly students. Season tickets should be way cheaper per game than individual tickets, special packages of multiple games should be good deals too. More giveaways/promotional night if those have been shown to improve attendance. The goal should be maximizing attendance/atmosphere, not maximizing revenue. I doubt Schafer focused any time on this, but I think there is some low hanging fruit here.

Check your stats before posting. According to USCHO Lynah attendance this year was 97.9% of capacity. Considering that we don't have standing room, that's about as good as you can get.

Also Sec B and generally A stand. Sec D & E were never great at standing. That's exactly why I started to hand out papers. I started only in D & E to increase enthusiasm. Then it just morphed into the entire rink.

[BearLover]

If Cornell wants to get over the hump and start competing for national championships in earnest, here is what Casey needs to do:

Realistic short term goals:
—Improve the Lynah atmosphere.
The Lynah atmosphere has steadily declined the past two decades. Empty seats, students who sit all game and don't know any of the cheers. Casey needs to talk to the athletics department or whoever makes these decisions about doing anything possible to bring in more fans, particularly students. Season tickets should be way cheaper per game than individual tickets, special packages of multiple games should be good deals too. More giveaways/promotional night if those have been shown to improve attendance. The goal should be maximizing attendance/atmosphere, not maximizing revenue. I doubt Schafer focused any time on this, but I think there is some low hanging fruit here.

Check your stats before posting. According to USCHO Lynah attendance this year was 97.9% of capacity. Considering that we don't have standing room, that's about as good as you can get.

Also Sec B and generally A stand. Sec D & E were never great at standing. That's exactly why I started to hand out papers. I started only in D & E to increase enthusiasm. Then it just morphed into the entire rink.

I've attended 4+ home games each of the last 17 years (including 4 years of season tickets as a student). I watch almost every other game on television. I have an idea of what I'm talking about. It's a much different atmosphere, the students don't know the cheers. A is often mostly empty. D never stands (it stood all four years I was there). C mostly sits too. Even if ticket sales aren't much below capacity, the students aren't showing up enough and they aren't getting loud.

Anyway, I sincerely appreciate your service of handing out newspapers etc.

[dag14]

If Cornell wants to get over the hump and start competing for national championships in earnest, here is what Casey needs to do:

Realistic short term goals:

—Utilize the transfer portal more.
Casey used the portal all the time at Clarkson.  Schafer has been either unwilling or unable to. I think the team could find a great goalie in the portal if they wanted. The question is, do they want to upset team chemistry? I wouldn't want to overdo it, but I'm pretty sure Cornell could grab one or two good players a year to plug holes. The program has been too successful lately and kids will give it a hard look.

I wish all our programs could utilize this alternative to supplement the recruiting of young players who may or may not succeed academically and athletically at Cornell.  Unfortunately, it is very difficult for a transfer student to get admitted because of the graduation requirements in the various colleges.  I was a faculty member for a number of years, now retired, so some details may have changed but the bar faced by coaches going after transfer recruits is college admissions.  The Arts College, for instance, mandates that a transfer student must spend at least four semesters in residence and complete at least 60 academic credits at Cornell.  An Arts student entering as a freshman must take 100 of the 120 credits required to graduate in the Arts College. I presume that the same requirement applies to transfers so 50 credits in Arts.  That does not address fulfilling major requirements. CALS requires that 55 of 120 credits be CALS courses, pro-rata for transfers.  But, unlike Arts, courses taken elsewhere can fill this requirement [like transferring in Bio courses].  I don't believe any Cornel college accepts transfers who have completed 3 years of study elsewhere.

And these hurdles do not include any thrown up by the Ivy League with regard to eligibility.

Add to all of this the lack of athletic scholarships and uncertainty about NIL payments in the Ivy League and relying on the transfer portal for talent is most likely wishful thinking at this point.

[Weder]

If Cornell wants to get over the hump and start competing for national championships in earnest, here is what Casey needs to do:

Realistic short term goals:

—Utilize the transfer portal more.
Casey used the portal all the time at Clarkson.  Schafer has been either unwilling or unable to. I think the team could find a great goalie in the portal if they wanted. The question is, do they want to upset team chemistry? I wouldn't want to overdo it, but I'm pretty sure Cornell could grab one or two good players a year to plug holes. The program has been too successful lately and kids will give it a hard look.

I wish all our programs could utilize this alternative to supplement the recruiting of young players who may or may not succeed academically and athletically at Cornell.  Unfortunately, it is very difficult for a transfer student to get admitted because of the graduation requirements in the various colleges.  I was a faculty member for a number of years, now retired, so some details may have changed but the bar faced by coaches going after transfer recruits is college admissions.  The Arts College, for instance, mandates that a transfer student must spend at least four semesters in residence and complete at least 60 academic credits at Cornell.  An Arts student entering as a freshman must take 100 of the 120 credits required to graduate in the Arts College. I presume that the same requirement applies to transfers so 50 credits in Arts.  That does not address fulfilling major requirements. CALS requires that 55 of 120 credits be CALS courses, pro-rata for transfers.  But, unlike Arts, courses taken elsewhere can fill this requirement [like transferring in Bio courses].  I don't believe any Cornel college accepts transfers who have completed 3 years of study elsewhere.

And these hurdles do not include any thrown up by the Ivy League with regard to eligibility.

Add to all of this the lack of athletic scholarships and uncertainty about NIL payments in the Ivy League and relying on the transfer portal for talent is most likely wishful thinking at this point.

Something I've always wondered, and maybe you know dag14: Do recruited athletes who don't make the cut for admissions get offered guaranteed transfers to enter as sophomores? I'm not sure how much Cornell overall still offers this path to applicants, but it was somewhat common back in my day (1990s).

[marty]

If Cornell wants to get over the hump and start competing for national championships in earnest, here is what Casey needs to do:

Realistic short term goals:
—Improve the Lynah atmosphere.
The Lynah atmosphere has steadily declined the past two decades. Empty seats, students who sit all game and don't know any of the cheers. Casey needs to talk to the athletics department or whoever makes these decisions about doing anything possible to bring in more fans, particularly students. Season tickets should be way cheaper per game than individual tickets, special packages of multiple games should be good deals too. More giveaways/promotional night if those have been shown to improve attendance. The goal should be maximizing attendance/atmosphere, not maximizing revenue. I doubt Schafer focused any time on this, but I think there is some low hanging fruit here.

—Utilize the transfer portal more.
Casey used the portal all the time at Clarkson.  Schafer has been either unwilling or unable to. I think the team could find a great goalie in the portal if they wanted. The question is, do they want to upset team chemistry? I wouldn't want to overdo it, but I'm pretty sure Cornell could grab one or two good players a year to plug holes. The program has been too successful lately and kids will give it a hard look.

Stretch goal:
—NIL funding.
This might sound nuts, but if NIL is actually becoming a thing in college hockey (I'm somewhat skeptical), there is no reason why Cornell can't be involved. This school has too many rich alumni who care about the hockey program. It makes no sense why a place like BU, Denver, or Quinnipiac should spend more money on hockey than us, these schools have no revenues and way fewer rich alumni. Schafer didn't like the fundraising part of the job, but Casey can make real headway here if he wants.

I don't have the energy this morning to read a too long blathering post about coaching giving advice to the guy he thought had screwed up the Big Red because he was the wrong choice to succeed Mike.  I've tried to ignore you for a couple of weeks but consider how insane this is.

You all but brought the readers of the forum to Hockey 101 telling, asking and surmising what the eff was wrong with the team while pointing to the coaching ad nauseum.

Well Brian where have you gained this insight?  I'm sure pee-wee programs wouldn't put up with your glass 7/8 empty routine.

Did you learn anything from listening to Schafer talk about no one outside the team understanding what a team like Cornell goes through - especially in a season like the one we just watched? I'll answer - YOU DID NOT.

Furthermore what brand and size skates do you wear?  I'm going out on a limb and posting odds in response to your demented 30% chance bull.  Odds are you couldn't even lace 'em up.

[BearLover]

If Cornell wants to get over the hump and start competing for national championships in earnest, here is what Casey needs to do:

Realistic short term goals:

—Utilize the transfer portal more.
Casey used the portal all the time at Clarkson.  Schafer has been either unwilling or unable to. I think the team could find a great goalie in the portal if they wanted. The question is, do they want to upset team chemistry? I wouldn't want to overdo it, but I'm pretty sure Cornell could grab one or two good players a year to plug holes. The program has been too successful lately and kids will give it a hard look.

I wish all our programs could utilize this alternative to supplement the recruiting of young players who may or may not succeed academically and athletically at Cornell.  Unfortunately, it is very difficult for a transfer student to get admitted because of the graduation requirements in the various colleges.  I was a faculty member for a number of years, now retired, so some details may have changed but the bar faced by coaches going after transfer recruits is college admissions.  The Arts College, for instance, mandates that a transfer student must spend at least four semesters in residence and complete at least 60 academic credits at Cornell.  An Arts student entering as a freshman must take 100 of the 120 credits required to graduate in the Arts College. I presume that the same requirement applies to transfers so 50 credits in Arts.  That does not address fulfilling major requirements. CALS requires that 55 of 120 credits be CALS courses, pro-rata for transfers.  But, unlike Arts, courses taken elsewhere can fill this requirement [like transferring in Bio courses].  I don't believe any Cornel college accepts transfers who have completed 3 years of study elsewhere.

And these hurdles do not include any thrown up by the Ivy League with regard to eligibility.

Add to all of this the lack of athletic scholarships and uncertainty about NIL payments in the Ivy League and relying on the transfer portal for talent is most likely wishful thinking at this point.

While this is all true and highly relevant, I'm pretty sure I've read about quite a few transfers on other Cornell sports teams over the past year or two: women's hockey, lacrosse, football, for example. More than on the men's hockey team at least.