NCAAs quarterfinal Cornell vs. BU

[ugarte]

At the end of the day though, my argument was more an emotional one (not wanting to see the team that thumped us ten times in a row, with me watching in person, win a national title before we did) rather than a logical one.

*whispers* Penn State playing Connecticut for a spot in the Frozen Four stings

We would have had a very winnable game in the frozen four had we advanced.

memories of being relieved that we got bemidji. one of the few second round games where iirc we got dogwalked.

[Jeff Hopkins '82]

At the end of the day though, my argument was more an emotional one (not wanting to see the team that thumped us ten times in a row, with me watching in person, win a national title before we did) rather than a logical one.

*whispers* Penn State playing Connecticut for a spot in the Frozen Four stings

We would have had a very winnable game in the frozen four had we advanced.

memories of being relieved that we got bemidji. one of the few second round games where iirc we got dogwalked.

That was the first thing I thought of, too.

[Swampy]

We have been fortunate to have eLynah, and USCHO, and before them all Wayne Smith and Mike Machnik's hockey-l all the way back in the early 90s before some of you were born. ::cheer::  Before that was Don Birkmayer's "The Hockey News," begun in 1954, before we all (I think?) were born.

We stand on the shoulders of giants.

Wrong!
.

Very.

Yeah, just the opposite.

And from our perspective, we won't return to our former glory until and unless: (a) Casey coaches both men's lacrosse and men's ice hockey to undefeated seasons and therefore NC's, or (b) Connor Buczek coaches both men's hockey and men's lacrosse to NC's. (Back in the day, you couldn't win an NC in lacrosse even if you went undefeated, unless your school was in greater Baltimore. But back then, coaches were real men who could go undefeated in both sports.) In the meantime, those of us who remember the good old days, and expect no less now, will have to feel the repeated utter pain of losing at least one game every year in one of these two signature sports.

[David Harding]

We have been fortunate to have eLynah, and USCHO, and before them all Wayne Smith and Mike Machnik's hockey-l all the way back in the early 90s before some of you were born. ::cheer::  Before that was Don Birkmayer's "The Hockey News," begun in 1954, before we all (I think?) were born.

We stand on the shoulders of giants.

Wrong!
.

Very.

Trotsky gets it very, unexplainably wrong. How in the world could we have seen 1970, say nothing of 67 if we were born after 56.

I know we oldies were awfully smart, but Cornell didn't take us when we were 10.

And Don Birkmayer's mimeographed (You youngsters go look that one up) report was called "The Intercollegiate Hockey Newsletter."

Well...  I enrolled in Cornell nursery school in Martha Van Rensselaer in 1953 and I was playing Pee Wee Hockey at Lynah before I was 10.  There are several of us here who remember the Paul Patten era and savor every win.

[Swampy]

... this was the single biggest opportunity, and single most devastating loss, in my 17 years as a die-hard Cornell hockey fan.

BearLover, your aspirations and expectations are not realistic. Consider this.

Richie Moran coached Cornell lacrosse for 29 seasons, during which he won NC's in 1971, 1976, and 1977; lost title games in 1978, 1987, and 1988; and won 15 Ivy championships, including 10 straight from 1974 to 1983. Yet notice that after winning an NC in 1977, he never again won an NC during the ensuing 20 years. He was a great coach with great teams, yet he repeatedly experienced "devastating" losses. And even then, when he won NC's, it was really hard and unusual.

[dag14]

We have been fortunate to have eLynah, and USCHO, and before them all Wayne Smith and Mike Machnik's hockey-l all the way back in the early 90s before some of you were born. ::cheer::  Before that was Don Birkmayer's "The Hockey News," begun in 1954, before we all (I think?) were born.

We stand on the shoulders of giants.

Wrong!
.

Very.

Ditto

[BearLover]

... this was the single biggest opportunity, and single most devastating loss, in my 17 years as a die-hard Cornell hockey fan.

BearLover, your aspirations and expectations are not realistic. Consider this.

Richie Moran coached Cornell lacrosse for 29 seasons, during which he won NC's in 1971, 1976, and 1977; lost title games in 1978, 1987, and 1988; and won 15 Ivy championships, including 10 straight from 1974 to 1983. Yet notice that after winning an NC in 1977, he never again won an NC during the ensuing 20 years. He was a great coach with great teams, yet he repeatedly experienced "devastating" losses. And even then, when he won NC's, it was really hard and unusual.

Winning a national title is my aspiration, not my expectation. I get how hard it is. This program has overachieved under Schafer. That doesn't make it any less brutal how we keep losing in the regional final. We were so close yesterday, the closest we've been since I became a fan. The last day has been the most painful in my 17 years as a die-hard Cornell hockey fan, aside from the 2020 playoffs getting canceled.

[ursusminor]

We have been fortunate to have eLynah, and USCHO, and before them all Wayne Smith and Mike Machnik's hockey-l all the way back in the early 90s before some of you were born. ::cheer::  Before that was Don Birkmayer's "The Hockey News," begun in 1954, before we all (I think?) were born.

We stand on the shoulders of giants.

Wrong!
.

Very.

Ditto

Add one more, assuming non-Cornell alums count.

BTW, Birkmayer, had nothing to do with "The Hockey News" which still exists but now is a magazine. His publication was "The Intercollegiate Hockey Newsletter". I still have all of them since I think 1966, but it probably injure myself again climbing to look. Birkmayer moved to Ithaca from Troy when he retired.

[jtwcornell91]

At the end of the day though, my argument was more an emotional one (not wanting to see the team that thumped us ten times in a row, with me watching in person, win a national title before we did) rather than a logical one.

*whispers* Penn State playing Connecticut for a spot in the Frozen Four stings

What a tough game for me to have a rooting interest.

They loved it on E$PN, though.

I can finally say go bu.

I am rooting for Penn state. I'm not rooting for the team with the mercenary goalie who ended Mike's career

Unlike what seems like a majority here, I like your posts. But we will disagree on this particular game on rooting interest.  

Ps-I've been called an asshole as well by a current Elynah member. Badge of honor I guess.

I'm assuming the ultimate dagger would be WMU winning the whole thing.

I'll be all in on WMU. They'll be the only remaining team that I could stomach winning it.

I was surprised to learn they'd never made the Frozen Four.

[jtwcornell91]

So the thing about losing in the quarterfinals is that this performance--going on a run in the playoffs, pulling off two third-period upset comebacks to stay alive, and falling tantalizingly short in the regional final--would be satisfying in isolation, but it's frustrating as part of the larger picture: we could have easily won a number of those quarterfinal games, but we didn't (except when we were one of the top two teams in the country).  The thing that makes it particularly sad, though, is that since it's Schafer's last season, he won't have another chance to have the outcome turn out the other way.

The rest of us will, though, so it remains a great time to be a Cornell Hockey fan.

[billhoward]

Sad ending for Cornell in OT. We made it through the previous seven games with skill unseen at midyear, and a bit of luck.

Interesting that the final four D1 basketball teams are all 1-seeds. For hockey, the final four were seeded at:
1. Western Michigan
2. BU
3. Denver
4. Penn state
... four of the weekend's six games went to OT.

[George64]

Well...  I enrolled in Cornell nursery school in Martha Van Rensselaer in 1953 and I was playing Pee Wee Hockey at Lynah before I was 10.  There are several of us here who remember the Paul Patten era and savor every win.

I remember Laing Kennedy, Steve Kijanka, Rudy Mateka, George Walker (at 6'2" big for his time).  I went back and looked at the roster — how did we do it with one coach and dressing only 20 players?
.

[Jim Hyla]

Well...  I enrolled in Cornell nursery school in Martha Van Rensselaer in 1953 and I was playing Pee Wee Hockey at Lynah before I was 10.  There are several of us here who remember the Paul Patten era and savor every win.

I remember Laing Kennedy, Steve Kijanka, Rudy Mateka, George Walker (at 6'2" big for his time).  I went back and looked at the roster — how did we do it with one coach and dressing only 20 players?
.

We did it like that because many schools did that. Especially in the 50s, that's how Harkness got his Championship at RPI in 1954. He had around 15 or 16 skaters plus goalies.

Some of you RPI guys can help me out here.

[jeff '84]

Frozen Four bound: Four takeaways from a wild NCAA hockey weekend

From Fansided: The stories are endless from the start of the 2025 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey championship. Retirements, NHL, and multiple championships, oh my!

https://apple.news/A5veGVP4hRpW3-Na6--vlwA

1. Cornell University is really good at hockey despite falling short

College hockey fans know that Cornell is a good program; the Big Red representation in the NCAA tournament is not new. Clinching a berth this year for their 27th appearance in college hockey's post-season by winning the ECAC championship, Cornell has made the Frozen Four eight times. They've won the national title twice, the most recent being 55 years ago in 1970.

They didn't make it past the Toledo regional final this year, but they stirred the pot on their way out.
Cornell upset the number one seed in their region in Michigan State in the final seconds of regulation. They then took on Boston University in the regional final, tying up the game with about five minutes remaining. The battle in overtime was won by BU's Quinn Hutson, sending the Terriers to their 25th Frozen Four appearance. It was not an easy road through the Big Red, though.

Despite ranking 17th on PairWise, Cornell was in it until the very end of each game they played in this tournament. They have playmakers on offense, big boy senior defender Hank Kempf (New York Rangers drafted, Colorado Avalanche with NHL rights) and a brick wall in net in senior Ian Shane (who had 40 saves vs. BU). They'e physical and have a forecheck that had me on the edge of my seat every time they were down in the offensive zone.

What's bittersweet here is that Cornell head coach Mike Schafer, who's been at the helm for 30 years (561-300-117 record), is hanging up the skates. He led his team to 15 NCAA tournament appearances, earning one trip to the Frozen Four in 2003. This isn't the way he likely wanted to step away, but as someone who watches a lot of hockey, I will shout from the rooftops that he should be incredibly proud of his team.

Happy trails, Schafer. You created an incredible program.

[kaburke00]

This. As a longtime fan ('90) and a proud father of a soon to be '25 who covers the team (you figure it out), .... Nailed it.