Cornell vs Dartmouth 1/25/25

[BearLover]

Embarrassing levels of cope here.

That is not how we treat each other on this forum.  I know it is ubiquitous in the rest of the social media world.  Sometimes it may be hard to distinguish our joking around with each other with that calculated rudeness that is the witless man's attempt at an authenticity drag act.  But this is not reddit.  We do not do that here.  Clean it up.

This dude has been stalking me and calling me clownlover for months

[TimV]

Embarrassing levels of cope here.

That is not how we treat each other on this forum.  I know it is ubiquitous in the rest of the social media world.  Sometimes it may be hard to distinguish our joking around with each other with that calculated rudeness that is the witless man's attempt at an authenticity drag act.  But this is not reddit.  We do not do that here.  Clean it up.

Trotsky chastising anyone for online ungentlemanly behavior. ::banana::::banana::::banana::

[George64]

Ow.

Scriptio continua - Even at 82, I never fail to learn something new on eLynah!

[ugarte]

...I'm genuinely puzzled, why has the team so underperformed this season?  Did we expect too much, losing only Seger?

I think expectations were way too high, yes...

in our defense, after a smoking hot spring semester, we beat maine and damn near took out denver. that said, if we were over our skis in expecting a top 5 team, what we've seen has been disappointing even if we had more realistic expectations of being a clear 3-4 seed band squad.

[fastforward]

If you get a chance, check out the YTD cumulative stats- team and individual
I find it interesting

[Tom Lento]

...I'm genuinely puzzled, why has the team so underperformed this season?  Did we expect too much, losing only Seger?

I think expectations were way too high, yes...

in our defense, after a smoking hot spring semester, we beat maine and damn near took out denver. that said, if we were over our skis in expecting a top 5 team, what we've seen has been disappointing even if we had more realistic expectations of being a clear 3-4 seed band squad.

I'm not saying those expectations were ridiculous, especially given the strong NCAA appearance, merely that they were inflated by a hot run against weak competition and one good weekend in the NCAAs. I think about it like this - had Q not laid an egg in the SF and beaten Cornell in the finals as expected nobody would've been talking about national championship contention as a baseline expectation for a team with 10 sophomores that watched the NCAAs on TV the previous season.

I agree that this season to date has been disappointing relative to any reasonable pre-season expectation. I also contend the gap between pre-season expectations and where they are isn't really a mystery - they've been crushed by injuries. Personally, I'd put season to date on the disappointing end of the injury-adjusted expectation spectrum, but well within what's normal.

So yeah, disappointment is justified. I think the only thing that'll fix this season is guys getting healthy and staying healthy and getting the time to get back to the level of fitness and execution they need to succeed. Fortunately, they seem to be getting back to full strength (pending suspension news). Unfortunately, time is running short even for a strong RS position. They might just have to win 6 games in the playoffs, which is a tall order even in a down year for the conference.

[BearLover]

...I'm genuinely puzzled, why has the team so underperformed this season?  Did we expect too much, losing only Seger?

I think expectations were way too high, yes...

in our defense, after a smoking hot spring semester, we beat maine and damn near took out denver. that said, if we were over our skis in expecting a top 5 team, what we've seen has been disappointing even if we had more realistic expectations of being a clear 3-4 seed band squad.

I agree that this season to date has been disappointing relative to any reasonable pre-season expectation. I also contend the gap between pre-season expectations and where they are isn't really a mystery - they've been crushed by injuries. Personally, I'd put season to date on the disappointing end of the injury-adjusted expectation spectrum, but well within what's normal.

Citing injuries as the number one reason seems incorrect. This past weekend we got Penney back and lost at home to Dartmouth 6-1. Yes, we have injuries. So does every other team. Are ours worse than average? Yes, but not by so much that they come anywhere close to fully explaining our struggles. Shane has been (apparently) healthy the whole season, and the first PP unit (until Major's recent injury) as well. Yet those are by far the two biggest weaknesses of this team.

[billhoward]

Dartmouth players celebrate the 6-1 toppling of Cornell near the primo student sections (A and B, nearest to the visitor net periods 1/3) perhaps as payback for Cornell fans getting in Dartmouth's collective head during the game. Followed by Cornell also skating over to Sec A-B, followed by pushing, shoving, grabbing and some swinging arms.

End of game penalties:
Cornell 69 minutes including 3 game disqualifications (Penney, O'Leary, Stanley)  
Dartmouth 69 minutes including 3 game disqualifications (Fusco, Pierce, Silverberg)

First photo: Dartmouth celebrating at game's end, in front of student sections A & B
Second photo: Pushing, shoving, three game misconducts per side

[VIEWfromK]

They might just have to win 6 games in the playoffs, which is a tall order even in a down year for the conference.

It's down to five right with the first round now a winner take all single game?

[The Rancor]

...I'm genuinely puzzled, why has the team so underperformed this season?  Did we expect too much, losing only Seger?

I think expectations were way too high, yes...

in our defense, after a smoking hot spring semester, we beat maine and damn near took out denver. that said, if we were over our skis in expecting a top 5 team, what we've seen has been disappointing even if we had more realistic expectations of being a clear 3-4 seed band squad.

I agree that this season to date has been disappointing relative to any reasonable pre-season expectation. I also contend the gap between pre-season expectations and where they are isn't really a mystery - they've been crushed by injuries. Personally, I'd put season to date on the disappointing end of the injury-adjusted expectation spectrum, but well within what's normal.

Citing injuries as the number one reason seems incorrect. This past weekend we got Penney back and lost at home to Dartmouth 6-1. Yes, we have injuries. So does every other team. Are ours worse than average? Yes, but not by so much that they come anywhere close to fully explaining our struggles. Shane has been (apparently) healthy the whole season, and the first PP unit (until Major's recent injury) as well. Yet those are by far the two biggest weaknesses of this team.

Maybe they were all hungover after the Beat Harvard Victory Party.

[VIEWfromK]

Ow.

Sorry, I went to school on the other hill.

[Tom Lento]

...I'm genuinely puzzled, why has the team so underperformed this season?  Did we expect too much, losing only Seger?

I think expectations were way too high, yes...

in our defense, after a smoking hot spring semester, we beat maine and damn near took out denver. that said, if we were over our skis in expecting a top 5 team, what we've seen has been disappointing even if we had more realistic expectations of being a clear 3-4 seed band squad.

I agree that this season to date has been disappointing relative to any reasonable pre-season expectation. I also contend the gap between pre-season expectations and where they are isn't really a mystery - they've been crushed by injuries. Personally, I'd put season to date on the disappointing end of the injury-adjusted expectation spectrum, but well within what's normal.

Citing injuries as the number one reason seems incorrect. This past weekend we got Penney back and lost at home to Dartmouth 6-1. Yes, we have injuries. So does every other team. Are ours worse than average? Yes, but not by so much that they come anywhere close to fully explaining our struggles. Shane has been (apparently) healthy the whole season, and the first PP unit (until Major's recent injury) as well. Yet those are by far the two biggest weaknesses of this team.

I suspect you grossly underestimate the knock on effects injuries have in terms of practice time and fitness. Penney is back, but did he look like his old self Saturday, or maybe like a guy who was a step slow despite limited minutes? What does it tell you that he was out there instead of another player in mid-season form? Fegaras has been back for what, 4 games? And he's finally looking like himself now, two weeks after being cleared to play? Again, why play him instead of someone who isn't still recovering from a broken wrist? The answer is that these guys at less than 100% are better than the alternatives - the same alternatives who were forced into unfamiliar roles in their absence.

Also, yes, every team has injuries. Not every team loses their senior captain for nearly half the season, one of their top young defensemen for 1/3 of the season, and several other regular shift players - mostly upperclassmen - for ~1/4 of the season. That kind of thrash causes absolute havoc with lines, and makes it all but impossible to focus adequate practice time on such niceties as power play configurations and breakout sets.

I don't envy the coaches or the players. This has been a rough season to date. They should, nevertheless, have won a few more games. Splitting with Dartmouth and taking maximum points from Yale and Brown was well within reach even accounting for the injuries. But that's within normal variance in a sport like hockey.

In the end, it kind of doesn't matter - the regular season is likely a bust. The thing to hope for is they get healthy and get it together in time for a big playoff run. Absent that, this will be a short season, and Schafer's tenure will go out with a whimper.

[BearLover]

...I'm genuinely puzzled, why has the team so underperformed this season?  Did we expect too much, losing only Seger?

I think expectations were way too high, yes...

in our defense, after a smoking hot spring semester, we beat maine and damn near took out denver. that said, if we were over our skis in expecting a top 5 team, what we've seen has been disappointing even if we had more realistic expectations of being a clear 3-4 seed band squad.

I agree that this season to date has been disappointing relative to any reasonable pre-season expectation. I also contend the gap between pre-season expectations and where they are isn't really a mystery - they've been crushed by injuries. Personally, I'd put season to date on the disappointing end of the injury-adjusted expectation spectrum, but well within what's normal.

Citing injuries as the number one reason seems incorrect. This past weekend we got Penney back and lost at home to Dartmouth 6-1. Yes, we have injuries. So does every other team. Are ours worse than average? Yes, but not by so much that they come anywhere close to fully explaining our struggles. Shane has been (apparently) healthy the whole season, and the first PP unit (until Major's recent injury) as well. Yet those are by far the two biggest weaknesses of this team.

I suspect you grossly underestimate the knock on effects injuries have in terms of practice time and fitness. Penney is back, but did he look like his old self Saturday, or maybe like a guy who was a step slow despite limited minutes? What does it tell you that he was out there instead of another player in mid-season form? Fegaras has been back for what, 4 games? And he's finally looking like himself now, two weeks after being cleared to play? Again, why play him instead of someone who isn't still recovering from a broken wrist? The answer is that these guys at less than 100% are better than the alternatives - the same alternatives who were forced into unfamiliar roles in their absence.

Also, yes, every team has injuries. Not every team loses their senior captain for nearly half the season, one of their top young defensemen for 1/3 of the season, and several other regular shift players - mostly upperclassmen - for ~1/4 of the season. That kind of thrash causes absolute havoc with lines, and makes it all but impossible to focus adequate practice time on such niceties as power play configurations and breakout sets.

I don't envy the coaches or the players. This has been a rough season to date. They should, nevertheless, have won a few more games. Splitting with Dartmouth and taking maximum points from Yale and Brown was well within reach even accounting for the injuries. But that's within normal variance in a sport like hockey.

In the end, it kind of doesn't matter - the regular season is likely a bust. The thing to hope for is they get healthy and get it together in time for a big playoff run. Absent that, this will be a short season, and Schafer's tenure will go out with a whimper.

TBH Fegaras looked like one of our better players as soon as he returned. Fair enough on the rest of your post—I really don't know. In the 2018-19 season we had even worse injury luck but still made the NCAAs as a 3-seed and would have won the ECAC if not for several blown calls by the refs and freak injuries in the ECAC final.

[Trotsky]

Ow.

Sorry, I went to school on the other hill.

Mons Capitolinus?

[Trotsky]

They might just have to win 6 games in the playoffs, which is a tall order even in a down year for the conference.

It's down to five right with the first round now a winner take all single game?

Correct.