Hey Clownlover, the sky isn't falling: this year's team is last year's team.

[BearLover]

I'm not worried about the transfer portal or CHL stuff because we have never had trouble with losing people to the portal and we're always great at bringing in Canadians and we are bringing in a new Canadian coach. If anything the CHL change should help us, getting talented, old Canadian players that age out.

I'm not sure we're going to get those aged out players. Those players likely don't plan on playing for a U.S. university (otherwise they wouldn't have committed earlier), and so I'm unsure they would have the requisite academics for a place like Cornell? Just looking at recruiting in the last month or two, Quinnipiac and a lot of lesser hockey schools seem to have recruited CHL kids who are aging out, while Cornell and a few other Ivies appear to be targeting younger kids who are starting or will soon start their CHL careers. With that said, it's true our proximity to Canada plus our Canadian coach should help.

I agree we probably won't lose any/many players to the portal. Though, this next offseason is uncharted terrain. We have never had a coaching change during the transfer portal. Also, we will probably be coming off of a hugely disappointing season.

I think the coach-in-waiting plan just wasn't a smart idea. Notre Dame is trying the same thing and it hasn't worked for them either. I'm actually excited to see what Casey can do next year as the full time head coach. Whatever's going on this season just isn't working out.

People on here love to heckle me for suggesting a problem with the coaching, but at this point things have gotten so bad that I believe the burden is on the coaching-defenders to justify that the coaching is fine and dandy. Once again, when the whole team regresses, it's hard to pin that on the players.

[adamw]

Why are people sick of Bearlover? Because he tells the truth. This is the first time in 20 years we have not been good, why shouldn't we be upset? We care about the team and that's a good thing. You want us to not care and fade into irrelevance like Brown or Princeton?

We are at a crossroads where we are in serious trouble with the new CHL rules, a new coach, and a Wild West transfer portal to deeply fall as a program. Just look at other ECAC programs and how quickly they fell. This is serious and someone needs to recognize it.

Hell I've had a feud with him for two years and the fact is he is right. Something is going on and it would be nice to know why instead of watch the team consistently underperform compared to last year which was basically the same team.

I'll try to be say it succinctly - again - without attacking ... The issue is not saying that this team is having issues, or underachieving - I've said it myself, all the time.  The issue is trying to ascribe it to "coaching" -- using "reasons" that are specious, based on nothing, and not true on any base level. And then being absolutely so sure of himself about it.

[BearLover]

Why are people sick of Bearlover? Because he tells the truth. This is the first time in 20 years we have not been good, why shouldn't we be upset? We care about the team and that's a good thing. You want us to not care and fade into irrelevance like Brown or Princeton?

We are at a crossroads where we are in serious trouble with the new CHL rules, a new coach, and a Wild West transfer portal to deeply fall as a program. Just look at other ECAC programs and how quickly they fell. This is serious and someone needs to recognize it.

Hell I've had a feud with him for two years and the fact is he is right. Something is going on and it would be nice to know why instead of watch the team consistently underperform compared to last year which was basically the same team.

I'll try to be say it succinctly - again - without attacking ... The issue is not saying that this team is having issues, or underachieving - I've said it myself, all the time.  The issue is trying to ascribe it to "coaching" -- using "reasons" that are specious, based on nothing, and not true on any base level. And then being absolutely so sure of himself about it.

Yawn. First of all, I'm still waiting on an alternative viewpoint as to why the entire team has regressed. Secondly, I couch all of my thoughts with "I think" or "this suggests to me" or similar. So, obviously I am not certain of anything I'm saying and I am careful to convey that.

[adamw]

Why are people sick of Bearlover? Because he tells the truth. This is the first time in 20 years we have not been good, why shouldn't we be upset? We care about the team and that's a good thing. You want us to not care and fade into irrelevance like Brown or Princeton?

We are at a crossroads where we are in serious trouble with the new CHL rules, a new coach, and a Wild West transfer portal to deeply fall as a program. Just look at other ECAC programs and how quickly they fell. This is serious and someone needs to recognize it.

Hell I've had a feud with him for two years and the fact is he is right. Something is going on and it would be nice to know why instead of watch the team consistently underperform compared to last year which was basically the same team.

I'll try to be say it succinctly - again - without attacking ... The issue is not saying that this team is having issues, or underachieving - I've said it myself, all the time.  The issue is trying to ascribe it to "coaching" -- using "reasons" that are specious, based on nothing, and not true on any base level. And then being absolutely so sure of himself about it.

Yawn. First of all, I'm still waiting on an alternative viewpoint as to why the entire team has regressed. Secondly, I couch all of my thoughts with "I think" or "this suggests to me" or similar. So, obviously I am not certain of anything I'm saying and I am careful to convey that.

Repeating ... Asked and answered.

[Tom Lento]

Why are people sick of Bearlover? Because he tells the truth. This is the first time in 20 years we have not been good, why shouldn't we be upset? We care about the team and that's a good thing. You want us to not care and fade into irrelevance like Brown or Princeton?

We are at a crossroads where we are in serious trouble with the new CHL rules, a new coach, and a Wild West transfer portal to deeply fall as a program. Just look at other ECAC programs and how quickly they fell. This is serious and someone needs to recognize it.

Hell I've had a feud with him for two years and the fact is he is right. Something is going on and it would be nice to know why instead of watch the team consistently underperform compared to last year which was basically the same team.

I'll try to be say it succinctly - again - without attacking ... The issue is not saying that this team is having issues, or underachieving - I've said it myself, all the time.  The issue is trying to ascribe it to "coaching" -- using "reasons" that are specious, based on nothing, and not true on any base level. And then being absolutely so sure of himself about it.

Yawn. First of all, I'm still waiting on an alternative viewpoint as to why the entire team has regressed. Secondly, I couch all of my thoughts with "I think" or "this suggests to me" or similar. So, obviously I am not certain of anything I'm saying and I am careful to convey that.

Injuries + youth + weak freshman class + whatever is going on with Ian Shane (which, to be fair to him, might be a knock on effect of the injuries + youth bit in terms of the team in front of him) explains things more than adequately. In fact, I could make a reasonable argument that the season to date has been disappointing but well within the range of expectation given that:

1. The team lost one player, but he was BY FAR the best playmaker they had
2. The team lost a lot of other game and practice time to injuries and has been juggling lines throughout
3. The team is still really young, anchored by 10 sophomores of the "4 year college hockey player hoping to get good enough to land in the pros" type rather than the "2 years to prep for a jump to a 2-way contract and a chance at the NHL" type

That doesn't mean the coaching staff isn't making any mistakes. And yes, maybe the coach in waiting thing is just a bad setup and that's causing some of the inconsistency. That said, I don't really buy the argument that coaching issues are the cause of the problems. From what I've seen a lack of consistency and special teams problems are the biggest issues with this year's team, and those are precisely the things that are hardest for a coach to address when you have a revolving door of injuries.

The one exception I'd note is the PP unit's continued impotency despite having all more consistency there. This is, I think, a bit of a weakness in the coaching staff, but it's not a new one. As far as I can tell Schafer hasn't meaningfully changed his PP sets since the Doug Murray era, and since then Cornell's PP has ranged from mediocre to excellent with more of the former than the latter. When they've got the right personnel, they do well. When they don't, yuck. They don't have the right personnel this year, and Seger was likely the reason we weren't tearing our hair out last year. That said, I'd expect the PP to regress to the mean and be mediocre the rest of the season (which, of course, would be a tremendous improvement). I also don't think it's an accident that folks around here are talking about how much better it's looked since the break, when the team had more focused practice time to work out some of the kinks. Improving special teams takes a lot of reps, and I'm betting with all the injuries they weren't able to focus on them as much as they needed to because they had to get guys slotted into new even strength roles every week.

Unless the injury situation stabilizes I wouldn't expect this team's final record to live up to anything like its pre-season potential - which, to be clear, I would have put at "league title + at large contender with a strong chance of a favorable first round NCAA matchup" rather than "1 seed in the NCAAs competing for national title" - regardless of whatever the current coaching setup is doing. Assuming the injury run tapers off I expect things will look a little better as time goes by but it'll be 1-2 weeks after Penney and company return before they look like what we thought they'd be.

[Tom Lento]

I hereby solemnly swear to stop yanking the Doomers' chains.  I've made my opinion of them clear. It hasn't changed, but it is Streisand Effect to engage with them.  I will concentrate on the good things, keep things in perspective, and try to lead by example.

It's weird to label people doomers when the season is objectively awful. Given our results this season, it seems the people out of whack are the optimists who think things are fine and dandy as we meander through the most disappointing season in 30+ years.

Stop with this nonsense.  No one here thinks things are "fine and dandy."  But no one else is this obsessive about finding out who the culprit is that's the cause of this so we can pin blame for it.

And no one else here has the same degree of sick entitlement that demands answers to questions that are - should be - and in any true team will be none of our business.

i can't believe that you are genuinely this incurious. it's sports not national defense. this kind of pious crap is why my first dedicated online posting was trolling the Clarkson Roundtable.

but but but.... our red are AWESOME!

(Did I do that right? It's been a very long time....)

[BearLover]

Why are people sick of Bearlover? Because he tells the truth. This is the first time in 20 years we have not been good, why shouldn't we be upset? We care about the team and that's a good thing. You want us to not care and fade into irrelevance like Brown or Princeton?

We are at a crossroads where we are in serious trouble with the new CHL rules, a new coach, and a Wild West transfer portal to deeply fall as a program. Just look at other ECAC programs and how quickly they fell. This is serious and someone needs to recognize it.

Hell I've had a feud with him for two years and the fact is he is right. Something is going on and it would be nice to know why instead of watch the team consistently underperform compared to last year which was basically the same team.

I'll try to be say it succinctly - again - without attacking ... The issue is not saying that this team is having issues, or underachieving - I've said it myself, all the time.  The issue is trying to ascribe it to "coaching" -- using "reasons" that are specious, based on nothing, and not true on any base level. And then being absolutely so sure of himself about it.

Yawn. First of all, I'm still waiting on an alternative viewpoint as to why the entire team has regressed. Secondly, I couch all of my thoughts with "I think" or "this suggests to me" or similar. So, obviously I am not certain of anything I'm saying and I am careful to convey that.

Repeating ... Asked and answered.

Alright, since you continue to refuse to restate whatever is your conclusion, and also refuse to provide a link or direction to your conclusion, I'm just going to assume it doesn't exist.

[ugarte]

Why are people sick of Bearlover? Because he tells the truth. This is the first time in 20 years we have not been good, why shouldn't we be upset? We care about the team and that's a good thing. You want us to not care and fade into irrelevance like Brown or Princeton?

We are at a crossroads where we are in serious trouble with the new CHL rules, a new coach, and a Wild West transfer portal to deeply fall as a program. Just look at other ECAC programs and how quickly they fell. This is serious and someone needs to recognize it.

Hell I've had a feud with him for two years and the fact is he is right. Something is going on and it would be nice to know why instead of watch the team consistently underperform compared to last year which was basically the same team.

I'll try to be say it succinctly - again - without attacking ... The issue is not saying that this team is having issues, or underachieving - I've said it myself, all the time.  The issue is trying to ascribe it to "coaching" -- using "reasons" that are specious, based on nothing, and not true on any base level. And then being absolutely so sure of himself about it.

Yawn. First of all, I'm still waiting on an alternative viewpoint as to why the entire team has regressed. Secondly, I couch all of my thoughts with "I think" or "this suggests to me" or similar. So, obviously I am not certain of anything I'm saying and I am careful to convey that.

Repeating ... Asked and answered.

Alright, since you continue to refuse to restate whatever is your conclusion, and also refuse to provide a link or direction to your conclusion, I'm just going to assume it doesn't exist.

please man, stop. you are pretty clear about your reasoning - which is basically a blunt ockham's razor - and adam has provided his reasoning for why that's not the "obvious" answer to what you see, based on historic evidence from the program, multiple times. you are asking him to offer proof that your calculation of angels on the head of a pin is off. if i were to offer an alternate conclusion - not that i have any actual conclusion - it would be "shit happens."

[BearLover]

Why are people sick of Bearlover? Because he tells the truth. This is the first time in 20 years we have not been good, why shouldn't we be upset? We care about the team and that's a good thing. You want us to not care and fade into irrelevance like Brown or Princeton?

We are at a crossroads where we are in serious trouble with the new CHL rules, a new coach, and a Wild West transfer portal to deeply fall as a program. Just look at other ECAC programs and how quickly they fell. This is serious and someone needs to recognize it.

Hell I've had a feud with him for two years and the fact is he is right. Something is going on and it would be nice to know why instead of watch the team consistently underperform compared to last year which was basically the same team.

I'll try to be say it succinctly - again - without attacking ... The issue is not saying that this team is having issues, or underachieving - I've said it myself, all the time.  The issue is trying to ascribe it to "coaching" -- using "reasons" that are specious, based on nothing, and not true on any base level. And then being absolutely so sure of himself about it.

Yawn. First of all, I'm still waiting on an alternative viewpoint as to why the entire team has regressed. Secondly, I couch all of my thoughts with "I think" or "this suggests to me" or similar. So, obviously I am not certain of anything I'm saying and I am careful to convey that.

Repeating ... Asked and answered.

Alright, since you continue to refuse to restate whatever is your conclusion, and also refuse to provide a link or direction to your conclusion, I'm just going to assume it doesn't exist.

please man, stop. you are pretty clear about your reasoning - which is basically a blunt ockham's razor - and adam has provided his reasoning for why that's not the "obvious" answer to what you see, based on historic evidence from the program, multiple times. you are asking him to offer proof that your calculation of angels on the head of a pin is off. if i were to offer an alternate conclusion - not that i have any actual conclusion - it would be "shit happens."

No, I think you have this backwards tbh.
>I suggest there's coaching issue
>adamw says no, you'd have to be stupid to think that
>I ask adamw, "OK, do you have an alternative viewpoint (as in, not having to do with the coaching) as to why the entire team has regressed this season?"
>adamw claims he's answered this question already

On the other hand, Tom Lento's nuanced post is great, FWIW.

[ugarte]

Why are people sick of Bearlover? Because he tells the truth. This is the first time in 20 years we have not been good, why shouldn't we be upset? We care about the team and that's a good thing. You want us to not care and fade into irrelevance like Brown or Princeton?

We are at a crossroads where we are in serious trouble with the new CHL rules, a new coach, and a Wild West transfer portal to deeply fall as a program. Just look at other ECAC programs and how quickly they fell. This is serious and someone needs to recognize it.

Hell I've had a feud with him for two years and the fact is he is right. Something is going on and it would be nice to know why instead of watch the team consistently underperform compared to last year which was basically the same team.

I'll try to be say it succinctly - again - without attacking ... The issue is not saying that this team is having issues, or underachieving - I've said it myself, all the time.  The issue is trying to ascribe it to "coaching" -- using "reasons" that are specious, based on nothing, and not true on any base level. And then being absolutely so sure of himself about it.

Yawn. First of all, I'm still waiting on an alternative viewpoint as to why the entire team has regressed. Secondly, I couch all of my thoughts with "I think" or "this suggests to me" or similar. So, obviously I am not certain of anything I'm saying and I am careful to convey that.

Repeating ... Asked and answered.

Alright, since you continue to refuse to restate whatever is your conclusion, and also refuse to provide a link or direction to your conclusion, I'm just going to assume it doesn't exist.

please man, stop. you are pretty clear about your reasoning - which is basically a blunt ockham's razor - and adam has provided his reasoning for why that's not the "obvious" answer to what you see, based on historic evidence from the program, multiple times. you are asking him to offer proof that your calculation of angels on the head of a pin is off. if i were to offer an alternate conclusion - not that i have any actual conclusion - it would be "shit happens."

No, I think you have this backwards tbh.
>I suggest there's coaching issue
>adamw says no, you'd have to be stupid to think that
>I ask adamw, "OK, do you have an alternative viewpoint (as in, not having to do with the coaching) as to why the entire team has regressed this season?"
>adamw claims he's answered this question already

On the other hand, Tom Lento's nuanced post is great, FWIW.

i don't want to speak for him, yet i will. he doesn't have an alternate viewpoint, if he did it would pretty much be "shit happens," but his belief is that historical evidence suggests that "coaching bad" is a crude conclusion from a small sample.

[Dafatone]

Why are people sick of Bearlover? Because he tells the truth. This is the first time in 20 years we have not been good, why shouldn't we be upset? We care about the team and that's a good thing. You want us to not care and fade into irrelevance like Brown or Princeton?

We are at a crossroads where we are in serious trouble with the new CHL rules, a new coach, and a Wild West transfer portal to deeply fall as a program. Just look at other ECAC programs and how quickly they fell. This is serious and someone needs to recognize it.

Hell I've had a feud with him for two years and the fact is he is right. Something is going on and it would be nice to know why instead of watch the team consistently underperform compared to last year which was basically the same team.

I'll try to be say it succinctly - again - without attacking ... The issue is not saying that this team is having issues, or underachieving - I've said it myself, all the time.  The issue is trying to ascribe it to "coaching" -- using "reasons" that are specious, based on nothing, and not true on any base level. And then being absolutely so sure of himself about it.

Yawn. First of all, I'm still waiting on an alternative viewpoint as to why the entire team has regressed. Secondly, I couch all of my thoughts with "I think" or "this suggests to me" or similar. So, obviously I am not certain of anything I'm saying and I am careful to convey that.

Injuries + youth + weak freshman class + whatever is going on with Ian Shane (which, to be fair to him, might be a knock on effect of the injuries + youth bit in terms of the team in front of him) explains things more than adequately. In fact, I could make a reasonable argument that the season to date has been disappointing but well within the range of expectation given that:

1. The team lost one player, but he was BY FAR the best playmaker they had
2. The team lost a lot of other game and practice time to injuries and has been juggling lines throughout
3. The team is still really young, anchored by 10 sophomores of the "4 year college hockey player hoping to get good enough to land in the pros" type rather than the "2 years to prep for a jump to a 2-way contract and a chance at the NHL" type

That doesn't mean the coaching staff isn't making any mistakes. And yes, maybe the coach in waiting thing is just a bad setup and that's causing some of the inconsistency. That said, I don't really buy the argument that coaching issues are the cause of the problems. From what I've seen a lack of consistency and special teams problems are the biggest issues with this year's team, and those are precisely the things that are hardest for a coach to address when you have a revolving door of injuries.

The one exception I'd note is the PP unit's continued impotency despite having all more consistency there. This is, I think, a bit of a weakness in the coaching staff, but it's not a new one. As far as I can tell Schafer hasn't meaningfully changed his PP sets since the Doug Murray era, and since then Cornell's PP has ranged from mediocre to excellent with more of the former than the latter. When they've got the right personnel, they do well. When they don't, yuck. They don't have the right personnel this year, and Seger was likely the reason we weren't tearing our hair out last year. That said, I'd expect the PP to regress to the mean and be mediocre the rest of the season (which, of course, would be a tremendous improvement). I also don't think it's an accident that folks around here are talking about how much better it's looked since the break, when the team had more focused practice time to work out some of the kinks. Improving special teams takes a lot of reps, and I'm betting with all the injuries they weren't able to focus on them as much as they needed to because they had to get guys slotted into new even strength roles every week.

Unless the injury situation stabilizes I wouldn't expect this team's final record to live up to anything like its pre-season potential - which, to be clear, I would have put at "league title + at large contender with a strong chance of a favorable first round NCAA matchup" rather than "1 seed in the NCAAs competing for national title" - regardless of whatever the current coaching setup is doing. Assuming the injury run tapers off I expect things will look a little better as time goes by but it'll be 1-2 weeks after Penney and company return before they look like what we thought they'd be.

This sums it up well. I'll add in my usual drumbeat of a younger offensively skilled team struggling against lower skilled physical opponents who can clog the net front on both ends. SHU's 2nd and 3rd goals were rebounds that we could maybe have cleaned up with a better presence down low.

[Big Dingus]

You might not be worried but you should be.

Big schools now have massive recruiting power and with the "Ivy" degree not as useful anymore, it really makes sense to go to some of these bigger state schools with more money, more parties and the same job placements.

Recruiting will completely change

[BearLover]

One thing the PP really misses is vision and playmaking ability from the forwards. That more than anything was where Seger excelled. Cornell tried to use Major in that role but it hasn't worked out. He's only a freshman, he may well be great in future years. But the fact Cornell needed to slot a freshman in that role from day 1 was a sign of weakness. Cornell has Robertson and Fegaras up top, but who among the forwards is setting anybody up? Bancroft and Walsh are scorers, Castagna has amazing hands but passing doesn't appear to be his strength. DeSantis has been weirdly ineffective since a great freshman season. I don't think it's a coincidence that our PPs start with the D playing catch at the point for 20 seconds before the puck is quickly turned over down low.

[Swampy]

No, I think you have this backwards tbh.
>I suggest there's coaching issue
>adamw says no, you'd have to be stupid to think that
>I ask adamw, "OK, do you have an alternative viewpoint (as in, not having to do with the coaching) as to why the entire team has regressed this season?"
>adamw claims he's answered this question already

On the other hand, Tom Lento's nuanced post is great, FWIW.

Alright! It didn't come directly from Adamw, but he's certainly hinted at some things like those Tom Lento mentions. But even if Adam hadn't done so, maybe now the sniping between BL & Adamw can end.

[adamw]

Why are people sick of Bearlover? Because he tells the truth. This is the first time in 20 years we have not been good, why shouldn't we be upset? We care about the team and that's a good thing. You want us to not care and fade into irrelevance like Brown or Princeton?

We are at a crossroads where we are in serious trouble with the new CHL rules, a new coach, and a Wild West transfer portal to deeply fall as a program. Just look at other ECAC programs and how quickly they fell. This is serious and someone needs to recognize it.

Hell I've had a feud with him for two years and the fact is he is right. Something is going on and it would be nice to know why instead of watch the team consistently underperform compared to last year which was basically the same team.

I'll try to be say it succinctly - again - without attacking ... The issue is not saying that this team is having issues, or underachieving - I've said it myself, all the time.  The issue is trying to ascribe it to "coaching" -- using "reasons" that are specious, based on nothing, and not true on any base level. And then being absolutely so sure of himself about it.

Yawn. First of all, I'm still waiting on an alternative viewpoint as to why the entire team has regressed. Secondly, I couch all of my thoughts with "I think" or "this suggests to me" or similar. So, obviously I am not certain of anything I'm saying and I am careful to convey that.

Repeating ... Asked and answered.

Alright, since you continue to refuse to restate whatever is your conclusion, and also refuse to provide a link or direction to your conclusion, I'm just going to assume it doesn't exist.

please man, stop. you are pretty clear about your reasoning - which is basically a blunt ockham's razor - and adam has provided his reasoning for why that's not the "obvious" answer to what you see, based on historic evidence from the program, multiple times. you are asking him to offer proof that your calculation of angels on the head of a pin is off. if i were to offer an alternate conclusion - not that i have any actual conclusion - it would be "shit happens."

No, I think you have this backwards tbh.
>I suggest there's coaching issue
>adamw says no, you'd have to be stupid to think that
>I ask adamw, "OK, do you have an alternative viewpoint (as in, not having to do with the coaching) as to why the entire team has regressed this season?"
>adamw claims he's answered this question already

On the other hand, Tom Lento's nuanced post is great, FWIW.

have literally said all the same things - just more briefly. you don't see it, because you don't want to see it.