1st round: Quinnipiac

[Weingarm]

So who wants to talk about our opening game against Quinnipiac?

[Beeeej]

Sure, I'll go first:

I believe that Cornell should beat Quinnipiac... if they don't go into the game believing it's a foregone conclusion.

Anyway, not to get ahead of things, but I hope we get to see a CU vs. UNH match-up on Sunday; it would definitely be a great game.

And I notice that the only way we'll play Hahvahd again this season is in the national title game.  ::rolleyes::

Beeeej

[Weingarm]

Actually, can't we still play Harvard again in the semifinals on 4/4?

[cmoberg]

Does anyone know or have a guess as to if and when Cornell will get a block of tickets for this weekends games at the Worcester Centrum??

Chris

[Weingarm]

Cornell may have a block of tickets, I'm not sure.  But here's the info to get tickets directly from Worcester if all else fails:

617-931-2000 or 617-931-2222 or via ticketmaster.com

By the way, the Cornell vs. Quinnipiac game is at 3:30pm on Saturday, March 23rd.
If Cornell moves on, the game vs. New Hampshire is also at 3:30pm on Sunday, March 24th.

[cmoberg]

I suppose that is possible, but not probable.  Maine is not as strong as they have been in past years, but Harvard played the game of their season last night.  I doubt they can muster that kind of effort against anyone BUT Cornell.

Chris

[Beeeej]

Whoops - totally my bad, we can only play them again in the semis, not the finals.

Beeeej

[nshapiro]

I dont think so Beeeej,  I am pretty sure it is 1E vs 2W, not 1E vs 2E, like USCHO brackets show...so we cant play the BU-Hahvahd(still sucks)/Maine winner until the NCAA final

[Beeeej]

Grrr... you're right.  National finals.

*sigh*  Time for sleep.

Beeeej

[JordanCS]

I just got tickets to the first round (ticketmaster), and they did not have all that much left.  I got tickets for the upper level, in the corner.  I wasn't sure if Cornell got an alottment or not, and since they were running out online, I got them.  Anyway, I'll be there for the Saturday game against Quinnipiac only...won't be able to stay for the Sunday game should we advance to face UNH (Ugh...).  Let's hope we are totally focused for a run at the title....  

We got an interesting draw...I'm confident if we play our style of hockey that we can beat Quinnipiac.  But, let's hope the ECAC final taught our guys that no team can be taken lightly.  We need to come out strong and hard.  However, should we win that game, UNH will be a damn hard team to get past...especially with a bye.  The good news is that if we beat UNH, we can beat anyone...but let's not get ahead of ourselves.  

LGR!  Kick some butt on Saturday!  

Harvard's draw is interesting.  They have a tougher first round, but I'd say they have an overall easier path to the frozen four.  UNH is going to be very, very hard to beat, while we already know we can beat BU.

[Greg Berge]

And I notice that the only way we'll play Hahvahd again this season is in the national title game.

Semi-finals.

According to a quote on USCHO, the selection committee specifically changed the bracketing this year so that E1 plays E2 and W1 plays W2 in the semi's, to set up an East-West final.

The posters are screaming bloody murder, of course.  Love it.

[KeithK]

Getting Q for the first round is very much a mixed blessing. Yes, we "should" beat them.  We've drawn arguably the easiest first round matchup in the tournament.  However, because it's a MAAC school we won't get any "credit" for the win.  If we lose we're a pathetic ECAC team losing to the MAAC.  If we win it'll mean nothing in the eyes of much of the college hockey world.  So in order to get any respect we need to beat the #1 team in the nation after playing a game the day before.

All that said, I don't think we ought to take Q lightly.  They've played us tough the past couple years and certainly could pull an upset.  Can't say I know much about them except that they were spotted 4 goals in the MAAC championship game and then tried very hard to blow it.

[Al DeFlorio]

I'm not happy with this draw at all.  If we beat Quinnipiac we get a "so what's the big deal" reaction.  If we lose, we become the first "real" team to lose to a MAAC team in the NCAAs--and aren't we already the first "real" team to a lose to a MAAC team in the regular season?

I'd rather be playing a "real" team. ::help::

But the all east and all west "regionals" truly do live up to the term, at long last.  The two teams that emerge from each will get to the Frozen Four, just like the ECACs and WCHAs from long ago.  If Harvard and Cornell can somehow muster wins Saturday, we'll have the same teams playing Sunday as in the ECAC semifinals of 1972.

[peterg]

From the CU website:

"For information on tickets, call the Cornell athletic ticket office at 607-254-BEAR (2327). Tickets for this weekend's games can also be purchased through Ticketmaster (508-931-2000). The Cornell ticket office will receive a limited number of tickets for the regional. Ticket Prices: Individual Day Tickets: $25.00 / All Session Tickets: $50.00 "

[Stewart]

I saw the Quinnipiac v. Mercyhurst game on the "MAAC television network" and I can tell you from seeing that game that we should win. They got 4 easy goals in the first, held that lead through the second, and then let Mercyhurst get to 5-4 before they finally got an empty-netter to seal it.

They didn't seem like a very physical team, nor a team with a lot of skill... of course they played defense for most of the game after getting the big lead, but they were not at all impressive in the third period even protecting the big lead...

That said, they will be game for an upset... they want to win respect for the MAAC like Hahvahd wanted to make up for a disappointing season. Their goalie Holden had some moments in the first period where he looked very sharp, but later on in the game (3rd period obviously) he did not look very strong.

Figured you'd all like to hear my humble opinion on the subject... Quinnipiac is in CT, which means they'll probably have a good number of fans since it is but a 1.5 hour drive for them. Should be a good game... even if we really should win by 2 goals judging by their recent results. Of course we said that about Hahvahd too...

Good luck