Cornell at Princeton postgame thread 1/14/06

Beeeej · January 16, 2006, 07:49:29 PM

[quote KeithK]Listening to the game I don't think Cornell's performance last Saturday was on par with the game against the Black Knights. So a repeat of those post-game activities probably wasn't warranted. (Besides, didn't Schafer get reprimanded?)[/quote]

No, but he decided that it was far more of a punishment to him and his staff than it had been to the players, and possibly the worst error in judgment he'd ever made. He had to ride the bus back to Ithaca along with them, after all.

Beeeej

Dpperk29 · January 16, 2006, 07:59:26 PM

what happened? that game was alittle before my time...

KeithK · January 16, 2006, 08:25:13 PM

[quote Dpperk29]what happened? that game was alittle before my time...[/quote]But it's more fun to make references to the events without explaining... :-D

How do you keep a Cornell fan in suspense? I'll tell ya tomorrow.

Beeeej · January 16, 2006, 10:19:01 PM

You're a cruel man, Keith. :-)

Coach Schafer was so disgusted by the team's performance that he had them run around the rink a few times before heading home, and didn't let them change clothes or shower. So they all rode back from West Point to Ithaca on the smelliest bus in history.

Including Coach Schafer, which is why he regretted the whole idea.

Beeeej

billhoward · January 16, 2006, 10:57:37 PM

Part of the Baker Rink flavor. And Baker is the finest Division-III rink in the country. It would be the pride of Amherst, Williams, or Wesleyan.

Rich S · January 16, 2006, 11:31:50 PM

Bill,

Agreed that Baker isn't up to par with the newer rinks but it has that old style "flavor" that many of us "older" college fans love.

As a visiting team, it has the grit and charm that requires you to work hard to earn a win, especially if the Tigers are playing well and get some fan support.

I recall seeing a number of games in the nearly 30 years I've seen Clarkson play there where Tech had all they could handle to come away with a win, or in some cases a tie. And that's when Clarkson had a much stronger team than Princeton in most cases.

I think the "atmosphere" begins in those locker rooms...definitely D-3 calibre. :-D

jtwcornell91 · January 17, 2006, 12:32:24 AM

[quote Beeeej]Coach Schafer was so disgusted by the team's performance that he had them run around the rink a few times before heading home, and didn't let them change clothes or shower. So they all rode back from West Point to Ithaca on the smelliest bus in history.[/quote]

And the team, which was 7-5-3 (6-2-3 ECAC) before that game, proceeded to go 10-2-1 (9-2-1 ECAC) in their remaining regular season games, crush Colgate in two ECAC quarterfinal games at Lynah, take their first ECAC title in 10 years with wins over Clarkson and Harvard in Lake Placid, and lose a heartbreaker to Lake State in the NCAAs. And so the legend of the smelly busride was born.

Rita · January 17, 2006, 02:07:17 AM

Well, if we could be guaranteed similar results (winning the ECAChLs, we can do without another heartbreaking NC$$ loss), it might have been worth repeating the bus ride. really can stinky hockey players smell much worse than NJ? :-D (just kidding garden state natives, and there were times in ithaca when my hockey bag was quite offensive).

billhoward · January 17, 2006, 05:53:02 AM

The quality of Baker Rink's *home* dressing room was enough to convince David McKee that if he was going to play Ivy League hockey at Princeton, it would only be once a year.

OTOH, the capacity at Baker Rink relative to Princeton's needs is more adequate than Lynah's.

Jeff Hopkins '82 · January 17, 2006, 08:00:36 AM

I thought it was fun when a few of us kept singing Green Day after the organist stopped. But some of it was just weak, too.

On the whole, I prefer the Pep Band. :-P

dadeo · January 17, 2006, 08:38:24 AM

magical weekend?
remember, they beat Colgate 5-3 the night before too. Didnt they also beat UND or something. And yet they have a losing record?
Good for the ECAC, not so great for us.

dadeo · January 17, 2006, 08:46:04 AM

I was sitting behind the Princeton goal (near Beej) and saw Powe attempt to pass the puck from behind the net, and instead hit the back of McKee's shinpad and into the goal. It very well may be possible that before it made it to the shinpad, it hit off of a skate.?
I thought these were the kind of goals that we used to get. Like someone said earlier, forget about waiting for the perfect shots, and just throw the puck on net and hopefully there will be rebounds and deflections (or deflections off of a skate, however, not with a distinct kicking motion, (thinks of BC in '02-'03 NCAA). I hope the kids (and coach) responds to Saturday this weekend.
LGR
dave '02

ugarte · January 17, 2006, 08:56:33 AM

[quote dadeo]I was sitting behind the Princeton goal (near Beej) and saw Powe attempt to pass the puck from behind the net, and instead hit the back of McKee's shinpad and into the goal.[/quote]It hit Gleed's skates and went five hole. It looked like Gleed freaked out a little when he saw where the puck was coming right at him. I'd like to see a replay.

DeltaOne81 · January 17, 2006, 10:51:30 AM

[quote ugarte]It hit Gleed's skates and went five hole. It looked like Gleed freaked out a little when he saw where the puck was coming right at him. I'd like to see a replay.[/quote]

That's how I saw it too - although I was on the otherside of the rink - N-2. Nonethless, it seemed like all stars aligned and I felt I somehow got a great view of that play, and that's what I saw. But I could be mistaken.

heykb · January 17, 2006, 10:54:14 AM

As we were leaving the rink, I commented to my friend and my son that I thought it would be hard for Schaefer to keep a straight face and say the usual platitudes about how Princeton played well, deserved to win, wanted it more, etc. We were in the section next to the band, so we had a very good view of Princeton's "offense" and I can tell you they didn't have much. It was unusual for Princeton to win a face-off in their offensive zone. They had a handful of decent shots, but really not many. McKee looked good except on the one breakaway.

Given Princeton's collapsing defensive style, Cornell's offense seemed too focused on pushing the puck in close to the crease. The Red would've benefited from more shots from the point and the faceoff circle with some rebound chances. Cornell dominated a big part of the game but couldn't get many good looks because Princeton had a lot of guys surrounding the goal.

I agree with those who said Cornell didn't hit enough. The first period should have had many tigers bouncing off boards, but there were precious few significant hits. We had a clear size advantage that wasn't used much at all.

Individual player analysis: Sasha was constantly requesting the puck and not getting it. He was a non-factor on offense but not by choice. O'Byrne needs to learn to use his size properly. He could be really good, but isn't. On offense if everyone had Topher's intensity, the team would score 7 goals a game. Barlow looked pretty awful.

Other notes: It seemed like we lost a total of about 5 faceoffs in the whole game. Our centers are really good at winning the draw. Small consolation. I loved Schaefer pulling McKee with over 3:00 remaining. Princeton didn't hit the EN until they were on the PP.

Karl B. '77