Questions for the Coach on ECACHL website

[JasonN95]

Coach Schafer answers questions from fans:
http://www.ecachockeyleague.com/news/coachans

[CowbellGuy]

[q]3) What do you think of the "Fish" tradition??

Coach Schafer: I think there are so few traditions left in college sports that as long as the tradition of throwing fish on the ice remains under control and I think the fans have done a great job, in the last couple of years, that they get thrown on the ice once and that there isn’t a constant delay in game. I think that is important, it is a tradition, but not a delay the actual event itself. It’s also important to not be out of control.[/q]

::twitch:: Wonder what Mr. Nighman has to say about that...

[KeithK]

[q]Frank from Boston:
There’s been talk the last few years of renovations to Lynah Rink? Any truth to that? If so, what kinds of things are in the plans and when will it happen?

Coach Schafer’s answer:
There will be renovations to Lynah Rink. Whether they are a year, or two years from now. We have plans on renovating it, to update the facility. Not much has been done to it since it was built in 1957. We are hoping to update all our facilitiesâ€"locker rooms, offices and visiting teams locker rooms. It is in the works and hopefully it will be done in a couple of years.[/q]Come on coach, I thought you read the forum! If you did, you'd know that the visiting locker rooms are a feature, not a bug!
:-D

[Robb]

Unless by "update" he meant adding bigger air conditioners, splinters to the benches, and making them smaller... :-D

[atb9]

Seriously!  I was surprised by this answer!  Keep the visiting locker room!  It makes my heart warm to know that Harvard has to try to relax in a stuffy, worn down room with a chalk board that most classrooms don't have any more.  :-)

[Al DeFlorio]

[Q]KeithK Wrote:

 Come on coach, I thought you read the forum! If you did, you'd know that the visiting locker rooms are a feature, not a bug!
 [/q]
Could an inhospitable visiting locker room be a deterrent to getting top teams to Lynah?

[calgARI '07]

I've been hearing for four or five years that in "one or two years" they are going to renovate.

[KeithK]

[q]Could an inhospitable visiting locker room be a deterrent to getting top teams to Lynah?[/q]I suppose it could be, but it strikes me as a pretty lame excuse.  I'd put my money on the money issue.

[Brian]

I happen to have first hand knowledge that firms have been bidding on the renovation.

[Townie]

[Q]atb9 Wrote:

 Seriously!  I was surprised by this answer!  Keep the visiting locker room!  It makes my heart warm to know that Harvard has to try to relax in a stuffy, worn down room with a chalk board that most classrooms don't have any more.[/q]

Four "big league" locker rooms would make Cornell a more attractive host for tournaments like the Everblades.  Right now there are three rooms, so a fourth team keeps their gear in Bartels and puts their skates on in the rink.  Rinky-dink to say the least.  A first-class facility is also a recruiting tool.

I trust Mike Schafer knows what's best for his program.

[Townie]

[Q]calgARI '07 Wrote:

 I've been hearing for four or five years that in "one or two years" they are going to renovate.[/q]

Then you probably have been listening to the wrong people.  Nothing is announced until there are definite plans, and that includes $$$.

If Brian is correct, then they have a target price in mind, and probably have some or all of the money lined up.  Knowing the way Cornell works, they will not announce anything until it's a done deal.  That makes perfect sense.

[KeithK]

I doubt very few recruits who visit Cornell would hold the visitor's locker room against the program.  The home locker room maybe.

[Will]

[Q]KeithK Wrote:

 I doubt very few recruits who visit Cornell would hold the visitor's locker room against the program.  The home locker room maybe.
[/q]

It might dissuade recruits from other ECAC programs. :-D

[CUlater 89]

[Q]KeithK Wrote:

 I doubt very few recruits who visit Cornell would hold the visitor's locker room against the program.  The home locker room maybe.
[/q]

Players come to Cornell even before they're officially recruited to play in junior and pee wee tournaments.  Having some of them dress in the crappy visitors' locker room, and others across the street, hasn't exactly left a favorable impression on many of them.  

In addition to addressing that problem, if they expand the number of locker rooms, which I'm not sure is actually part of the plans that Athletics approved, it makes it easier to host youth tournaments, and thus get kids excited about Cornell at an early age.

[MB]

[q]Knowing the way Cornell works, they will not announce anything until it's a done deal. That makes perfect sense.[/q]

HAHAHA *breathe* HAHAHAHA

Let's take Cornell's new shining star-- Duffield Hall.  Duffield was announced way before it was a "done deal."  Hell, nothing was a "done deal" for a long time with Duffield-- being bounced around departments, arguments over lab space, what should be in the lab space, etc...  To this day Cornell really doesn't know how to pay for the upkeep of Duffield, and if you walk through it, you see that it's not exactly the "hub of research" it was supposed to be.  I think the only thing the building is being used for is a shortcut to Upson and Phillips halls.  It may look nice on the inside, but it is, unfortuanately, useless as of now.  I want the old Engineering quad back.

To get to the point, Cornell has not been too good at managing building projects.  What may seem as a done deal will really change many, many times.  I don't have any reason to believe that a Lynah rennovation will be much different.  This adminstrative stuff at Cornell never really makes sense.