Did McKee just have a bad weekend?

[Pace]

First and foremost, I know that "a win's a win", and I'm happy that we had a 4-point weekend. However, as people pointed out after the disappointing Vermont-Dartmouth road trip, we absolutely had to win these three solidly. So the team did what they had to do.

That said, many points of concern can be raised about this weekend's games. On the one hand, I'm happy that we're in a position to talk about "points of concern" after three consecutive wins at home. On the other, what's up with McKee? He let in the game loosing goal at Dartmouth, though since I wasn’t there I don’t know if much could have been done. He did well against Canisius, but that’s not saying much. However, he let in two against Yale. That’s a little much, no? And then three against Princeton? I was at both games, and from where I was it seemed like only one of the goals per night was a real toughie to block. His GAA is still very good, even nationally, but can we really afford to take 2 and 3 goals against teams like Yale and Princeton? At home? It’s one thing to take that many when we can score 5 or 6 ourselves. But what about tougher teams and on the road? We have seen that we have real trouble scoring then. So I’m hoping that McKee was just having a bad weekend.

What are other people’s thoughts?

[calgARI '07]

I thought the defense played terrible this weekend and McKee was only average.  McKee did make big saves in both games though.  A goal Friday night was directly attributed to a Cook turnover deep in the offensive zone that led to an odd man rush that led to a goal.  And Pokuluk made a bad decision to pinch on a powerplay against Princeton that led to the short handed breakaway goal.  In general, McKee has been above average this year.  At times he has been really good and at times just decent.  I think he's doing fine though.  

[jdm]

I agree with calgARI '07 in that the defense was more to blame this weekend. However, the goal off the Cook turnover also highlighted McKee's less than stellar performance. With his butt in the net he let the play come to him instead of cutting down the angle and forcing the break to make a premature decision with the puck.

[DeltaOne81]

I'll comment on Dartmouth, which was absolutely not McKee's fault... well, okay, he gave up a rebound, but it was a breakaway due to a turnover in our half of the neutral zone, and it was about the 3rd odd man rush in 45 seconds against us. You can only give them so many chances...

Man, only at Cornell can two goals be "a little much." McKee isn't steller, but he does make some very clutch saves, and then maybe gives up a softie. He had a few great kick and gloves saves both nights, with us up by 1 (against Pton, at least).

Personally, I dunno, this weekend our offense looked really sharp. Yes, I know its Yale and Princeton, but we were making plays that it seems like we wouldn't have even attempted before. For instance, we had some more aggressive moves on the PP, where before we would just pass it around the outside until we took a shot. On Friday, and some on Saturday, they had this "walk it in from the side" move. I don't think it produced anything, but it made some great shots and added a new weapon. I'm wondering if Schafer is actually taking offense seriously for once, after 4 goals total over two weekends. You just can win that way, no matter your D.

Don't get me wrong, I believe in a strong, disciplined defense, and it should absolutely be Cornell's focus, but I'd give up a goal extra per game for a team that can actually make some offensive opportunities happen, and not just shoot with their fingers crossed. I guess we'll see if there's any merit to this in Florida, or if it was just the sub-par competition.

[Greg Berge]

McKee had a mediocre weekend, and the defense had mediocre weekend.  The difference between this year and all other Schafer years except for '96 and '03 is, we still won, with relative ease.  I know, to some extent we lucked out in opponent -- if this had been Dartmouth/Vermont, it might have been bad.  But what a difference in this generation, er, I mean offense.  The Abbotts woke up, Knoepfli was stellar, and the Big Line was its usual intimidating self.  Even Topher scored! :-)

[Jeff Hopkins '82]

Add to that Princeton's got one of the best power plays in the country.  They suck at most everything else, but they can score on the PP.

Everybody can have an off weekend.  Relax.

[billhoward]

McKee gotten beaten on a breakaway in the third period against Princeton but he stopped others before in other games. What does a good goalie do against breakaways - save half of them? 40%? 70%? Maybe this is just random tjat McKee let in an SHG.

We weren't going to hold every opponent to 0, 1 or 2 goals. At least we have the distinction of having the season open with a nice round number of games - 10 - where we held everyone to <= 2 goals.

In the four point Yale/Princeton weekend, we didn't get any game misconducts or next-game DQs for checking from behind.

The power play got good again, that or lucky, against Princeton and Yale.

We were explosive in the middle period against Yale.

We were 4x10 on PP or 40% (2x5 each night while the opponents were 2x11 or 18% (1x6 Yale, 1x5 Princeton) and Princeton was #1 in the nation on PP (that could be an early season fluke, but they did look good). Cornell remains #1 in team defense, 1.45GAA, and moves up to #6 in offense. Of teams in the top 20 on both offense and defense, note the goals differential:

Team   Differential
Cornell   2.28
Minnesota   1.87
Michigan   1.68
Colorado College   1.64
Wisconsin   1.5
Ohio State   1.44
Maine   1.28
Minnesota-Duluth   0.56

[Brian]

I noticed whenever we needed a good check to get us fired up this weekend it never came.  Only two of the players made it happen at all (Hynes and Vart) and there both forwards.  We need atleast one defensemen to step up and be an enforcer!  Hornby (again, a forward) did a great job of it last year but I think it took away from some of his offensive capabilities.  So O'Byrne, Glover, Gleed--KILL SOMEBODY!!!!:-(

[atb9]

Ah, short memory...O'Byrne already spends way too much time in the box--he's on pace to match his PIM's from his rookie campaign.  The good news is that he hasn't had a penalty since Dartmouth, I believe, but it has also loosened up his coverage.

I was most concerned about the turnovers in our own zone.  Very sloppy.  We're still getting short handed opportunities, we're controlling the tempo, our work rate is extremely high, and the passing through neutral ice is crisp.  Hell, Moulson was able to score while shooting a screamer lazily off of his back foot!  I'm not worried.  

But there's other things to talk about...Topher hitting after the whistle :-D, Fulton screwing up calls and running into players, the band playing less during stoppages of play (seriously, is it just me?), and our concentration to score at the beginning and end of periods.  And we're undefeated at home!

I do wish we didn't have three weeks off...

[calgARI '07]

Still issues with the breakout.  It relies too much on the defenseman carrying the puck making the right decision and this is not so simple considering they will be facing a different forecheck every game.  Glover had some big hits this weekend, only he made a ton of mistakes.  O'Byrne looked out of sorts.  Pokuluk is 6'5" and not remotely physical.  I think Gleed has been good though, perhaps why he was moved to the top defensive pair with Downs.

[Beeeej]

I thank heaven we have three weeks off.  It'll give me a chance to focus on final exams without feeling guilty about my skewed priorities.  :-D

Beeeej

[Will]

[Q]atb9 Wrote:

the band playing less during stoppages of play (seriously, is it just me?)[/q]

It's not just you, but honestly, I have no problem with this whatsoever, at least during the second period.  It gives me the opportunity to taunt the goalie some more.  Hey, it worked great against Modelski and Yale, and maybe against Leroux and Princeton as well. :-D  Okay, I'm not really claiming credit for the wins against those two teams this weekend.  But, then again, 8 of the weekend's 11 goals came during the second period.  Hmm...;-)

[BCrespi]

I stand right next to the conductor and there were several times this weekend (mostly against Yale as I recall) that there were interruptions to their normal routine.  They said there were a few unscheduled announcements backed by the Tuba cheer that caused a long period without play.

[Jacob '06]

During the firs period at least, the band was playing a lot because we were all trying to taunt the goalie by chanting sweeeeep tap tap etc. and were not loud enough to overcome the band.

[Pace]

It's true, Pokulok is very light on contact for such a big guy. He's also very uneven at times. Most of the time he plays very solidly, is rarely out of position and keeps his cool. But sometimes he just does some real silly shit. Like those few times in past games when he would clear through our crease with enemy players closeby. Or this Sat. against Princeton his bad call gave Princeton a shorthanded breakaway. I suppose it's a rookie adjustment period thing...