Whither Mike Schafer?

[nyiballs]

[Q]pfibiger Wrote:

but Matt Connors scored a _ton_ of goals. He was injured a bunch during the year with the Apple Core, but from the boxes scored he had some pretty dominant games. All three guys committed so far for 2006-07 are serious goal scorers.
[/q]


God, I feel like such a naysayer here, but I played in the AppleCore system, don't read too much into the big goal totals... cause everyone has em in that league.

[ugarte]

[Q]Scersk '97 Wrote:

 [Q2]nyiballs Wrote:
In terms of Schafer's system, I have this to say.  It is GREAT!!... for long term success.  However... it's suspect at best when it comes to the one and done tournament system.
[/Q]
Here I think you're onto something.  The typically small margin for error called for in Schafer's "Our Defense is Awesome" System (SODAS) can backfire.  The team has a bad game, lets in three or more goals, can't compensate with a more unusual display of offense and we tie or lose. [/q]I have to disagree. There really is no such thing as a "one-game strategy." You design a system to give you the best chance of winning games. The loss to Minnesota doesn't prove any more or less than the loss to BC or Harvard; the win over OSU doesn't prove any more or less than the wins over Maine or Harvard. There were 16 teams in the tournament; 15 of them are going home with a loss.

As for whether Schafer has enough to take us over the top: Herb Brooks is dead and Scotty Bowman is retired. There is nobody else that I would even consider to replace Schafer.

[nyiballs]

[Q]ugarte Wrote:
As for whether Schafer has enough to take us over the top: Herb Brooks is dead and Scotty Bowman is retired. There is nobody else that I would even consider to replace Schafer.[/q]

Is the answer Jesus?

if you don't get that, you don't know hockey...

[ugarte]

[Q]nyiballs Wrote:
The only point I was trying to make, and it's not even a point really, it's a question.  Is Schafer snakebitten when it comes to sealing the deal?  That's all.  Don't over-read into this thing.[/q]Everyone is snakebit until they win. Don't over-read two friggin' games in three years.

[ugarte]

[Q]nyiballs Wrote:

 [Q2]ugarte Wrote:
As for whether Schafer has enough to take us over the top: Herb Brooks is dead and Scotty Bowman is retired. There is nobody else that I would even consider to replace Schafer.[/Q]
Is the answer Jesus?

if you don't get that, you don't know hockey...[/q]Don't think that I didn't consider putting Jesus in the mix. But he was more of a desert guy. The Olympic sheet would put him at a huge disadvantage.

[pfibiger]

[Q]nyiballs Wrote:
God, I feel like such a naysayer here, but I played in the AppleCore system, don't read too much into the big goal totals... cause everyone has em in that league.
[/q]

His numbers last year w/ the AppleCore actually weren't that good I was talking about the year before...but in an attempt to somewhat back up what I said, here's the quote from ushr.com from when Connors committed:

------
6’1”, 195 lb. Matt Connors, a fast, high-scoring wing with Nichols School and the Buffalo Saints midget major team, has committed to Cornell for the fall of ’05.

Connors, a right shot from Buffalo Grove, NY, is a big get for Cornell. He’s an exciting player who creates numerous chances with his speed, often breaking free for a breakaway. His size and ability to finish round out the picture. Last year, Connors played a combined 70 games for Nichols and the Saints, and finished with a 78-51-129 line. The other schools in Connors’ final five were Maine, Michigan State, Yale, and Dartmouth.

[RatushnyFan]

[Q]billhoward Wrote:
(The other thing a university *could* do is have a hotshot Wall Street alum (even BU has some of them, even BC does even if Larry Summers says it's unusual to see Catholics on Wall Street) as his non-financial conribution to the U personally take care of Jackie's or Jerry's (or Mike's?) investments and make sure he gets in at the head of the line for safe IPOs (oxymoron?) or at least into seeming sure-fire funds. Maybe the coach's big worry is not living on $100K now at 40 but having something go wrong coaching-wise and being out of hockey coaching and just about broke at 50 when his kids are heading off to college.)[/q]
This is crazy Bill!  Read the paper ........ you can't do this sort of thing anymore.  Remember Frank Quattrone his "Friends of Frank" accounts?  All investment banking firms have internal policies preventing this sort of thing because it's not ethical, not to mention that IPO's are no safe haven anymore.

Glad to help with your i-banking questions......
:-D

[nyiballs]

[Q]ugarte Wrote:

 [Q2]nyiballs Wrote:
The only point I was trying to make, and it's not even a point really, it's a question.  Is Schafer snakebitten when it comes to sealing the deal?  That's all.  Don't over-read into this thing.[/Q]
Everyone is snakebit until they win. Don't over-read two friggin' games in three years.[/q]

Fair enough... hence me saying that I wasn't convinced of this... just curious.

[nyiballs]

[Q]ugarte Wrote:

 [Q2]nyiballs Wrote:

 [Q2]ugarte Wrote:
As for whether Schafer has enough to take us over the top: Herb Brooks is dead and Scotty Bowman is retired. There is nobody else that I would even consider to replace Schafer.[/Q]
Is the answer Jesus?

if you don't get that, you don't know hockey...[/Q]
Don't think that I didn't consider putting Jesus in the mix. But he was more of a desert guy. The Olympic sheet would put him at a huge disadvantage.[/q]

It's a slapshot reference.  After "dave's a killer"..."dave's a mess"

[nyiballs]

[Q]pfibiger Wrote:

------
6’1”, 195 lb. Matt Connors, a fast, high-scoring wing with Nichols School and the Buffalo Saints midget major team, has committed to Cornell for the fall of ’05.

Connors, a right shot from Buffalo Grove, NY, is a big get for Cornell. He’s an exciting player who creates numerous chances with his speed, often breaking free for a breakaway. His size and ability to finish round out the picture. Last year, Connors played a combined 70 games for Nichols and the Saints, and finished with a 78-51-129 line. The other schools in Connors’ final five were Maine, Michigan State, Yale, and Dartmouth.[/q]

Yeah... but how often do you see...

Smith is a real bust for Cornell.  He just sucks.  Can't skate, can't pass, can't shoot, has terrible vision and bad breath.  He is exceptionally bad at every point in the game where he has to make a decision.  Even though he scored 80 points in 45 games with his junior D team in Honolulu, he was still 16th in overall team scoring.  His sister isn't good looking either.  The other schools Smith was looking at were UPenn, Stanford, MIT, and Dutchess County Community College.

[Scersk '97]

[Q]Jordan 04 Wrote:
Are we?  Losing Cook and Downs from that sustained momentum is nothing to sneeze at.
[/Q]
There's been a continuing downward trend in our GAA since '96 with small upward blips in '98 and '04.  Did anyone really think the defense could get better than in 2003?  I guess I shouldn't have doubted.  We have six defensemen returning that have logged a significant number of minutes.  We also have five defensemen returning who'll be at least that magical age--21--that seems to be the turning point for many players.  I'm really not worried.

(Warning:  understatement approaching.)  Schafer knows defense.

[Q]pfibiger Wrote:
It seems like Cam Abbott was hampered by injury for a bunch of the season, I could see him putting up much better numbers next year. Also, Bitz didn't see any increase in his goal production from last year to this, maybe we'll see him come roaring out of the gate next season.
[/Q]
Could be anybody.  Bitz was also injured early on this year, as was Carefoot.  Lots of potential on this team.

I didn't see a sniper in last year's recruits.  Scott turned out to be a great setup guy but hasn't shown the scoring he showed in the USHL.   Sawada is Hynes, Jr.  (Or Hynes III if Bitz is Hynes, Jr.)  Connors will likely be Hynes IV.  (The Four Shane Hyneses!  Sounds like a band.)  Our RWs have not traditionally been looked to for scoring.  It'd be nice for that to change.  Both McCutcheon and Carefoot put up some rather gaudy numbers in juniors and looked like potential snipers coming in.  Both were forced into checking roles and haven't seen much time on the powerplay.  We'll see how they develop next year.  Kennedy might turn out to be a Knoepfli type sniper--the type that gets hot late in the season.  (Kennedy had 5 goals in 4 games with his team in the playoffs.)

Centers, snipers, and Downses:  oh my!

[DeltaOne81]

To say one thing on the original topic, is Schafer is snake bitten, then Harvard is doomed for all eternity

[CUlater 89]

[Q]CU at Stanford Wrote:

 nyiballs...

You are so lucky...you don't sound like you were a Cornell fan during the McCutcheon era.  Do you know how it felt to have gone to the Boston Garden (uh, I mean, Bah-stan Gah-den) four times and never came home with the ECAC championship?  How about a long losing streak at home at Lynah?

Cornell lost to Harvard (uh, OK, Hah-vahd) on January 8, by a 0-1 score.  Cornell lost to Minnesota on Sunday, by a 1-2 score in overtime.  In between, Cornell went 18-0-1 and won two regular-season and one post-season championships.  For an Ivy League school that does not offer athletic scholarships, Cornell did GREAT.

Thank you, Schafer, is all I want to say.[/q]

Actually, I think the 0-for-4 record in at the Garden is similar to the concept expressed here.  At the time that was going on, most fans were thrilled that after '86-'87 the program had bounced back and was clearly building to greater things. By the time we lost the third try (with the great '90-'91 squad), there was legitimate concern about why we couldn't get over that hump.  Once the injuries and disputes with the admissions offices hindered recruiting, things began to spiral downward.  I think it's early to decide for sure that Schafer can't get the team over the hump but if we hit an early NCAA stumbling block next season, the parallels will clearly be there.  Of course, no one expects the program to spiral downwards and in any case, this isn't Division I football -- the adminsitration won't be perturbed that we're not winning national titles as long as we're competitive year-in and year-out.

Regarding the comments about every opponent being tough at the NCAA stage of the season, that's absolutely correct (and perhaps the Schafer system makes it more difficult to win a high percentage of those games).  It is also parallel to the late 80s, early 90s, when it seemed to me that the teams that contended with us for the tourney title were more talented (college hockey talent, not NHL talent) than the current league competition.

Finally, regarding the Ivy League ball-and-chain that Schafer has "overcome", let's not forget Harvard's success under Cleary.  They were perennial national contenders and generally the class of the league for a number of years, despite having to compete with BU, BC and Maine for New England recruits with pro talent and despite the general belief by fans and recruits that the western teams played a better brand of hockey.

[Rosey]

[Q]
Don't think that I didn't consider putting Jesus in the mix. But he was more of a desert guy. The Olympic sheet would put him at a huge disadvantage.[/q]

He may be referring to the old gag, "Jesus Saves, passes off to Moses, who shoots and scores!"

Cheers,
Kyle

[RatushnyFan]

[Q]Scersk '97 Wrote:

 [Q2]nyiballs Wrote:
In terms of Schafer's system, I have this to say.  It is GREAT!!... for long term success.  However... it's suspect at best when it comes to the one and done tournament system.
[/Q]
Here I think you're onto something.  The typically small margin for error called for in Schafer's "Our Defense is Awesome" System (SODAS) can backfire.  The team has a bad game, lets in three or more goals, can't compensate with a more unusual display of offense and we tie or lose.

What compensates for this small margin for error is an explosive offense.  ...................... What we need, as so many Minnesota fans have pointed out to us, are snipers.

[/q]

I agree with much of this.  I think that team speed, in addition to "snipers", is part of what it will take to win a national championship.

MN took it to us for 50 minutes.  We scored a shortie when they made a mistake.  After wearing them down, we started to get some chances in the last 10 minutes.

Teams like MN, MI, CC .......... they have incredible team speed.  Cornell played almost a technically flawless game, particularly on the penalty kill.  They did not allow a much faster team to get many point blank shots.  Mckee saw most of the shots well and controlled rebounds exceptionally well.

But we lose this game probably 8 times out of 10.  Only reason we'd ever win is because the players are so well coached and disciplined and other teams can make mistakes.  The guy who picked O'Byrne's pocket was tiny, but pretty quick.  Speed creates opportunities.  I'm happy that we have 9 or 10 200+ pounders and that we wear people down but I'd like to see if Schafer can find some players who fit his system who have more speed.

The other thing I noted was that MN's breakout passes were a lot quicker and crisper.  I don't think that this hurt us in the game but we did struggle on a couple of attempts to clear the zone.  Our positioning and overall cautious approach covered any mistakes.

I'm a huge Schafer fan so please take this in the spirit that it is meant!!  I want to win the NCAA's in my lifetime and we're making progress (I suffered through the McCutcheon years but was lucky to be at Michigan as a grad student when they won - there's NOTHING like it!!).