New Recruit

[calgARI '07]

I think they will add another defenseman for '05.

[jy3]

good article on Matt Connors in the Buffalo News today - my wife found it and showed it
to me just now. pretty sweet.

some nice tid bits

recruited by 38 schools DI, 6 foot 1 205lbs, accepted early decision, 40th ranked US player for THIS YEARS draft and 103rd North American

this one is great: "On the first day college coaches could contact potential recruit, Connors received phone calls from 19 Division I coaches,while Cornell's delegation sat in his Buffalo living room" - sweet!

basically he chose CU b/c he wants an Ivy education to fall back on, fell in love with Lynah and loved the atmosphere.

not sure if u all posted this info, but i thought it was cool.

http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20050126/1019577.asp

[pfibiger]

Clearly it's hard to predict offensive production with recruits, but Evan Barlow has really picked up his production (he's got 31 goals and 23 assists in 37 games), and both Matt Connors and Colin Greening appear to be highly regarded and heavily recruited offensive players...next year's incoming class could add some serious firepower.

[calgARI '07]

Yeah, big time recuiting class coming in.  Barlow, Greening, and Connors all seem to be top line talents and Mike Kennedy is also ranked for the draft.  With nobody graduating off the top two lines, Cornell will likely have one of the top five offenses in the NCAA.  It's been said before, but next year is THE year.

[Will]

More reason to see the striking similarities between this season and 01-02...that season preceded the freshman year of Moulson, Hynes, the Abbotts...holy crap, next year might be awesome.

[calgARI '07]

How does this look:

Moulson-Scott-Connors
Barlow/Greening-Pegoraro-Hynes
Abbott-Abbott-Sawada
Carefoot-Kennedy-Bitz


O'Byrne-Seminoff
Pokuluk-Gleed
Krantz-Davenport/Glover

They are getting pretty deep on the right side with Hynes, Sawada, Carefoot,  Bitz, and McCutcheon with Connors coming in as well.  The left side is also deep, but Abbott and Moulson will both be seniors.  I do think we'll see a similar type lineup as 02-03 when there was a freshman playing on every line.  Looking at the defense, I think even more that there will be one more freshman blueliner in the fall.

[bijorn]

Evan Barlow added another goal and assist in tonight's 4-4 tie.

[Greg Berge]

The "local minimum" of Schafer's classes is getting stronger over time.  Whether this represents the maturation of his recruiting network or the team's increasing reputation, it provides security for staying in the upper echelon.

One opinion of the 'A' level players brought in, by Fall:

'97 none
'98 Underhill, Kozier, Ladouceur
'99 McRae, McRae, Baby, Murray, Paolini (!)
'00 Vesce
'01 LeNeveu, Cook, Knoepfli
'02 Moulson, Hynes, Abbott, Abbott
'03 McKee, Bitz, O'Byrne
'04 Sawada, Pokulok, Scott

There have been three waves of Cornell strength since Mike took over.  The '96 and '97 titles were won by McCutcheon players responding to Mike's coaching.  The '02 and '03 teams were won by the class of '03.  The continuing strength is distributed evenly over all classes, and that's why there hasn't been a regularly-scheduled precipitous dropoff like '87, '93, or '98.

[calgARI '07]

Your point is well-taken, but as far as "A" level players are concerned, I don't think I'd have Kozier, Matt McRae, Chris Abbott, or Bitz on that list.  Knopfli, Cook, and Ladouceur are  borderline.

[Greg Berge]

That's why it's "one opinion." ;-)

I disagree very strongly about Kozier, though.  He was the poster child for "great player destroyed by injuries."  When he was a freshman, a lot of us were convinced he would be gone to the NHL by his junior year.

[Josh '99]

I thought Vinnie Auger was the poster child for "Great player destroyed by injuries".

[Al DeFlorio]

[Q]jmh30 Wrote:

 I thought Vinnie Auger was the poster child for "Great player destroyed by injuries".[/q]
I'd agree with that.  Most creative Cornell forward in the Schafer era, in my opinion.

[Greg Berge]

OK.  There are two.

[calgARI '07]

[Q]pfibiger Wrote:

 Clearly it's hard to predict offensive production with recruits, but Evan Barlow has really picked up his production (he's got 31 goals and 23 assists in 37 games), and both Matt Connors and Colin Greening appear to be highly regarded and heavily recruited offensive players...next year's incoming class could add some serious firepower.[/q]

What other teams were interested in Greening?

[piker]

pokulok - seminoff ( a given since they played together )
o'byrne - krantz
gleed - davenport