Cornell 1 @ Dartmouth 6 (post-game thread)

[French Rage]

I think to send the message that this type of play is unacceptable, Schafer should kill one of the players.  Now, I have no attachment to Kennedy, so in all fairness it should be him.

[johnnieag\'99]

[Q]billhoward Wrote:Maybe it was the defense plus the goalie that made for the low GAA...[/q]
Isn't that exactly what everyone else always says about goaltender U?? Lenny et al were certainly great, but were they *that* great???  

Drugs or whatever, McKee is one more double-digit GAA game  :-(  away from a looong flight back to texass.

[Tub(a)]

[Q]johnnieag'99 Wrote:

 [Q2]billhoward Wrote:Maybe it was the defense plus the goalie that made for the low GAA...[/Q]
Isn't that exactly what everyone else always says about goaltender U?? Lenny et al were certainly great, but were they *that* great???  

Drugs or whatever, McKee is one more double-digit GAA game    away from a looong flight back to texass. [/q]

Lenny is already playing at the NHL level, so he at least has some talent.

McKee has to improve. When he gives up a rebound, he is not directing it in the right place (corner boards). Most of the goals are on rebounds. This means that the defense is not doing their job clearing the front of the net, but it also means McKee HAS to start controlling the puck better. Right now, he isn't even making the spectacular saves we are used to. Has he stopped a breakaway all season?

It may seem like we are asking a lot of Dave, but really we are just asking for what he has already shown he can do.

I don't think anytime is ever the right time to start Chabot. However, if McKee plays like this in Lynah a couple times... Schafer might have to make a tough decision.

[ben03]

[Q]French Rage Wrote:
 I think to send the message that this type of play is unacceptable, Schafer should kill one of the players.  Now, I have no attachment to Kennedy, so in all fairness it should be him.[/q]
 ::twitch:: ::wtf::  ::twitch:: ::wtf::

[Dpperk29]

cut McKee some slack... he hasn't had a horrible game since the clarkson playoff loss in 2004. hopefully this is the last one he has. every goalie has an off night every now and then.

[cmoberg]

Dartmouth had an excellent game plan and they showed tremendous hustle.  We lost most faceoffs and were beaten to the puck most of the night.  Most telling was the way Dartmouth swarmed our puck handler on the PK.  Reminded me of a basketball trap, and our passing was not fast enough to beat the trap.

On a postive note, Chabot played well and the team kept its composure in the third.  PK looked much better in the third too.

I also have to think the Dartmouth was due for a breakout game.  On paper (and in the preseason poll) they are a much better team than their record shows.  

Chris

[TCHL8842]

Well I think that McKee's main problem this year is rebound control.  He seems to be  leaving rebounds out in front of the net.  Maybe he did this last year and I was not paying close enough attention, because our def did a good of clearing the puck out.  If McKee gets his rebounds under control he will have a much better time.  I dont think Dartmouth had any goals further then 5-6 feet from the goal.  This tells me our defense is doing an embarrassing job of clearing the front of the net.  Hopefully this team learns how to play defense before next friday.

[2tkCornell]

I still believe that last year's team on paper and overall was better and will be better then this years team:

Losing 2 skilled two-way forwards in Mike Knoepfli and Mike Iggulden, a top notch offensively gifted and defensively aware defenseman in Charlie Cook, a defensive stalwart in Jeremy Downs, a great penalty killer in Paul Varterresian, and a absolute horse in Shane Hynes hurt is tremendously:

(1) On the penalty kill, Iggulden and Knoepfli were "killers" (along with Carefoot).  They were two of your best penalty killers in the nation.  Throw in Varteressian, who was a primary penalty killer who did an admirable job, shows how our penalty kill units were decimated.

(2) Iggulden was one of the most clutch scorers I have ever seen play, his speed and tenacity is unmatched by any player on this years team.

(3) Knoepfli was the anchor of the second powerplay unit and was the parallel to Moulson on that unit as a slot shooter on the powerplay.  This years second unit is non-existent.

(4) Losing Charlie Cook's quarterbacking skill on the powerplay and his quick one-time release has hurt immensely.  Although O'Byrne has tried to fill the void, I still has brain freezes when carrying the puck out of the zone and trying to keep it in the offensive zone at the point.  In addition, our "offensive" defenceman have played terribly on the powerplay - Pokulok is not playing like a number 14 draft pick, Krantz is just awful.  Add in Gleed, who is just mediocre.  There exists no anchor at all on the powerplay.

(5) Losing Shane Hynes physical presence and his ability to wear opponents down on the board has been the biggest offensive downfall of this team so far.  Hynes was able to initiate the cycle down low in powerplay opportunities.  This took some stress off the point men and allowed Moulson and Cook to get open for quick strikes.  Sawada & Bitz have done a terrible job filling this void.  They do not have the great stick handling ability that Hynes possessed and it is showing.

(6) Jeremy Downs was a great defenseman at containing the man (or two).  He cleared pucks out of the front of the net, was amazing on the penalty kill, and NEVER had defensive lapses.  Seminoff was pegged as his replacement, but has had similar brain freezes as all our defensemans.  I can say that the best overall defensive defenceman this season for us has been Danny Glover.

(7) I am beginning to question Matt Moulson's leadership abilities.  It was apparent that Knoepfli was a spectacular leader in terms of being emotional, hard-working, and vocal.  The team at times does not look inspired and it is Moulson's job as captain to make sure they are inspired.

The incoming freshman class has not had the big impact that previous classes have had.  They take way too many penalties as a whole and do not show any presence on the ice.  Barlow has to step up and play better offensively.  Mugford is playing great except that he has to contain his emotions a little better and not take stupid penalties.  Kennedy has not played much and so I have no opinion on him.  Seminoff has made some questionable decisions with the puck, he seems to try to much offensively and should dump the puck in instead of carrying it in sometimes.

Physically, we are getting beaten.  Cornell teams DO NOT get beaten physically lke this.

I propose that Schafer shuffle the lines up a bit.  Definitely put Scott on the first line with Moulson and Bitz (they all three have great chemistry).  I think that Mugford-Abbott-Abbott will be reminiscent of Hornby-Abbott-Abott line of two years ago.    Maybe put Sawada-Pegs-Carefoot on the third line and Barlow-Kennedy-McCutcheon has a speedy fourth line.  A little bit of grit, defense, and offense on all lines will not hurt.  Another thing is too maybe insert Matt Connors or Ryan Kindret into the lineup to give some added physical presence in place of Kennedy.  Defensivley, something must be done .... it is a mess right now .... I say that Krantz should be sat in favor on Davenport.

[Dafatone]

It's been said before, but we looked awful tonight.  I guess every team looks awful once in a while (hopefully a long while).

Anyway, I like the idea of shaking up the lines, maybe put Scott on the first line.  Maybe see how we look against Union first.

The only player who I thought looked alright tonight was Pegoraro.  But I'm a bit confused on him.  I'm constantly thinking that he looks really good and is playing well, yet we never seem to score with him on the ice.  Given that there's more to playing well than scoring, but you gotta get goals to win and all.

[mjh89]

Schafe will start McKee next weekend. If we're going anywhere this year, McKee's gotta be the one to carry us there. That being said, a congrats to Chabot for proving he can play at this level, and a thanks for keeping the came (some what) close.

[ithacat]

[Q]jimmy Wrote:

 I don't think we're being to hard on McKee here.  He gave up a few soft goals against Michigan State and from what I hear (although I didn't see any of the games) he wasn't great in the 4 road games either.  He started off slowly last year, and only began to dominate in the second half of the season, but this is ridiculous.  He should start next weekend, but he should have a VERY short leash.  Chabot is gonna get some playing time this season, and hopefully he's ready for it.  Not the end of the world, but a terrible game for the Big Red tonight.[/q]

I think people may be being too hard on McKee, but that comes along with being a Hobey finalist. Goalies, in general, probably get a little too much credit when things go well and too much blame when things go not so well.

A 4-2 start may compare favorably to last year's 4-1-1 beginning, given that this year's team has played 2 at home and 4 on the road. However, after 6 games last year Cornell had outscored its opponents 24-7 (yep, that's 7 goals in 6 games, which included 2 games at Munn), while this year it's 19-19. Last year's team didn't give up their 19th goal until the BC game, which was their 12th game. That game was also the only time a team scored more than 3 goals against Cornell all year; this year's team has given up more than 3 goals in 2 games already. McKee's currently at 3.31 and .868%. Ouch. In any top program those numbers probably put one on the bench. It sure makes me wonder if he's ok.

[jtwcornell91]

[Q]johnnieag'99 Wrote:
Drugs or whatever, McKee is one more double-digit GAA game    away from a looong flight back to texass. [/q]

Uh, yeah, we're not a jock factory.  Getting benched or cut does not mean leaving school.

[CaribRedFan]

a lot of things have to happen if we're going to go anywhere this year.  and mckee stepping up to the level of play we saw last year, is only one of those things, a defense in front of him that can pick up some slack, and an offense to score some goals wouldn't hurt either.  

yeah the goalie is the last line of defense, and it looks bad on him if they're scoring on us all the time, but we'll never win without the scoring ourselves, where was moulson last night?  definitely not making much happen....

[JDeafv]

I wasn't at the game, but 3 PPGs and 1 SHG can't all be McKee's fault, right?  

The Big Red need to stay out of the penalty box, if they can't kill penalty's successfully.

[Trotsky]

[Q]French Rage Wrote:

 I think to send the message that this type of play is unacceptable, Schafer should kill one of the players.[/q]

Exactly.  Anything less would not be taking this one lousy game after five years of success seriously.

However, it should be McKee.  We scored one.  If McKee were competent, that would have been enough.