Cornell 2 at St. Lawrence 1, FINAL

[Scott Goldsmith \'96]

We have been so spoiled with Elliot, Pelletier, Leneveu, and even Underhill.  Give McKee a break.  It is rare that a freshman goalie starts for Cornell.  And McKee wasn't even that highly touted.  Granted the ECAC stinks, but McKee is helping Cornell pile up wins in the conference.

[RedScore]

I agree, give the kid a break.  I watched the Yale game where after a shaky start he got really strong as the game progressed.  It just feels like he's starting to put it together nicely now.

[rhovorka]

It's also a team effort.  The more the defense cuts down on high-percentage shots even being taken, the more confidence our guys in the net will have.

[dsr11]

One also has to remember that Cornell has a completely new look on D this year, as besides, as long as we're winning, does it really matter what McKee's save percentage and GAA is?

[RedScore]

And while we're at it, can we quit the "its O'Byrne again" comments every time he takes a penalty? The posts here make it seem like he's costing us games.    Granted, the timing of his penalties were not great, but the fact is that he only had two penalties, one in each game, this weekend.  This guy IS going to be a superstar for us.  Let's all remember it's early in the season and take whatever pill it is that keeps us calm through these early missteps.

[rhovorka]

RedScore wrote:

And while we're at it, can we quit the "its O'Byrne again" comments every time he takes a penalty? The posts here make it seem like he's costing us games.    Granted, the timing of his penalties were not great, but the fact is that he only had two penalties, one in each game, this weekend.  This guy IS going to be a superstar for us.  Let's all remember it's early in the season and take whatever pill it is that keeps us calm through these early missteps.

Great post.  O'Byrne is a big part in CU's physical style of play.  Remember that he is still new to this level, and is learning what he can and can't do in this league.  Some of it may be because of his size (a S. Baby "you're bigger than them" penalty) too.  Watch him play some shifts, and you'll see that he covers a lot of ice quickly and with a good defensive sense.

[jtwcornell91]

Grad '77 wrote:
McKee's not as good as Todd Marr - he's a lucky freshman getting some early opportunities due to injuries.

I'm not sure what you're basing that conclusion is on.  I think if Marr were healthy, he'd be platooning with McKee and then we'd have a lot more evidence to decide who was better in game situations.  McKee played better in the Red-White game and against Team USA, and I've heard nothing to indicate Marr looked better in practice.

[Will]

Got back from the game a bit over an hour ago, and here are some observations:
- Zeiler's goal for SLU should have been a crease violation.  It sucks, but we can't win them all, I guess.
- Cam Abbott's goal was absolutely beautiful.  He just fought off the guy trying to stop him, and got it past McKenna nicely.  Naturally, I'd love to see more of these types of goals by our guys.
- McKee is definitely getting better as time goes on.  Personally, I'm still a little concerned about some of the rebounds he gives off, but on the whole he's definitely shaping up.  I honestly think he'll make a fine addition to the Cornell goalie dynasty we've had these past few years.
- I think Kotyra actually did a good job officiating this game.  I'm not one to praise refs often, so this is a big thing for me.  (SLU fans, on the other hand, were very unhappy with some alleged missed calls late in the third period.)
- Both Iggulden and Varteressian are still not doing a lot to impress me that much, but I guess they were necessary this trip/game with the losses of Salmela and Pegoraro this weekend.
- The defense is definitely improving on the whole, particularly the penalty kill unit.

[jnachod]

I was also at the game last night:

A few comments

1) I was disappointed with the turnout of Cornell fans.

2) It really says something when you can walk into an arena right at 7:00, buy three general admission tickets, and sit on the blue line just 5 feet up from the rink.  Totally different from Lynah.

3) I was impressed with McKee's play last night.  He did make some very good saves and was a key part in our win.

4) Vesce, as always, is doing very well on faceoffs.  I wasn't counting, but it seems that we were dominating faceoffs, and quite often a St. Lawrence player would be excused from a faceoff for a false start.

5) We need to work on our power play.  We're doing fine on penalty killing, but when we have the man advantage, we are not converting on those opportunities.

[Greg Berge]

> I was disappointed with the turnout of Cornell fans.

I'd like to turn that around and thank the fans who did go.  This isn't a job, after all.

We had three (3) Cornellians for a game at Gutterson in the early 90's.  If it aint smaller than that, I'm not gonna complain.



Post Edited (11-16-03 12:29)

[HOTELCALIFORNIA]

Naw... McKee's aight it's just that when he came to Cornell he brought a lot of hype with him and then never lived up to my expectations... :-O



Tiffany Twisted

[Drew]

Could you tell me how, with only 6 full games to his credit, you can say he has not fulfilled your expectations?  You sure are quick to judge someone with so few games under his belt.  Maybe I would be more willing to agree with you if we were having this discussion in April of the year 2006.  By that time, I can safely say whether or not he has fulfilled my expectations.

[ugarte]

I also don't think he came with much fanfare.  If Coach had his wishes, McKee would have had another season of juniors before coming to Cornell as a member of the class of '08.  McKee was well regarded, but less so certainly than Chabot.

As far as "expectations", after 6 games McKee is 3-1-2.  And he has only played one game that he would probably like to forget - his first game under the glare of the Faithful.  

Not bad, kid. Keep up the good work.

[Will]

bigredapple wrote:

I also don't think he came with much fanfare.  If Coach had his wishes, McKee would have had another season of juniors before coming to Cornell as a member of the class of '08.  McKee was well regarded, but less so certainly than Chabot.

As far as "expectations", after 6 games McKee is 3-1-2.  And he has only played one game that he would probably like to forget - his first game under the glare of the Faithful.  

Not bad, kid. Keep up the good work.

Well, to be fair, McKee was NAHL First Team and All-Rookie Team last year, which is no small feat in any junior league.  Nevertheless, any new Cornell goalie deserves an adjustment period, mainly because he'll likely have large skates to fill.  So far, McKee has achieved a 2.12 GAA in six NCAA games, which obviously isn't as good as Lenny, but is still quite good.  For comparison, last year's #2 overall goalie in GAA, Frank Doyle of Maine, had a 2.14 GAA in 21 games; #3 Mike Ayers of UNH had 2.18 GAA in 41 games.  So, as long as McKee remains consistent with what he's done so far, he should still do well for us in the long run.

[Section A]

Well said. McKee makes me nervous sometimes when he'll save a puck and then look behind him as if he isn't sure, but nevertheless, he's improved tremendously in the past 2 weeks. This 4-game road trip happened at a great time. It allowed McKee to begin to feel comfortable playing behind our defense (which has also improved considerably), without the added heavy pressure of playing in Lynah Rink. When the team returns to Lynah this weekend, he'll be a lot more confident and much calmer than he was against Western Michigan.

On another note, someone mentioned that we need to work on our power play this week. Indeed. Especially since Bowling Green's penalty killing is 4th best in the nation at 93.0%

Quick final side note - It'll be an interesting Saturday, rooting for Ohio State in football and then against them in hockey just a couple hours later (at least for me...) :-P