2004 All Over Again?

French Rage · February 21, 2006, 06:30:00 PM

Am I the only one who recalls some fellow named Vesce who did alot of the scoring that year (7 points against Princeton) and whose absence was the biggest reason we had to drive in the Clarkson series?

Dafatone · February 21, 2006, 06:30:11 PM

We need more point players for the PP. Bitz just isn't good there, his slapshot is too inaccurate, and he's not much of a puckhandler or passer. When someone puts pressure on him, he gets scared with the puck.

O'Byrne and Moulson work, though I'd like to see Moulson get chances below as well. Except we need him on the point.

How about Scott at the point? He has no slapshot, but he can penetrate and dish out much better than anyone else on our team.

cth95 · February 21, 2006, 07:09:38 PM

I was thinking the same thing. I had seen a couple of away games in '04 and took a friend to Lynah for the last game against Clarkson to show her how fun it was to watch hockey there. I was very bummed to find out Vesce was out, as he had been off and on throughout the year. The offense went almost entirely through him, and they simply couldn't get anything going without him in the lineup. I can't remember for sure, but I think he might have played in the 1st game that they won handily.

I was actually thinking of how crucial Vesce's faceoff wins were to our success in '03 against Harvard in the ECAC's and against BC in the NCAA's. The tying goal against Harvard came directly off of his faceoff win in the waning seconds while Lenny was on the bench. We lost way too many faceoffs this past Saturday. Vesce was almost automatic.

calgARI '07 · February 21, 2006, 07:44:25 PM

[quote French Rage]Am I the only one who recalls some fellow named Vesce who did alot of the scoring that year (7 points against Princeton) and whose absence was the biggest reason we had to drive in the Clarkson series?[/quote]

Well it was tough losing Vesce - he only played in Game 1 of that series. But even when he was playing, he playing with a severe injury (I think he had a torn abdominal muscle and was playing through it) and wasn't nearly as effective in his last few games due to the injury. There were just too many passengers on that team and there were only two other seniors besides Vesce and the leadership was an issue. I still believe that Varteressian picking the fight with Nickerson at the end of Game 1 was the turning point of that series. It really fired that Clarkson team up. When they picked up their play in Game 2, Cornell's many holes were exposed - lack of scoring, inconsistent goaltending, bad leadership, and not enough take the bull by the horns players.

Steve M · February 21, 2006, 08:06:19 PM

[quote DeltaOne81]The ECAC is also distinctly better this year than in 2004. In 2004 the only ECAC NCAA representation was the tournament champion Crimson who then proceeded to crash horribly against Maine.

So while our ECAC numbers may seem more like 2004, its not an even playing field.[/quote]

I disagree. If you look at the KRACH rankings, Cornell is the only top 20 team in the league right now. The math from the results indicate the ECAC is not nearly as good as last year, and only marginally if at all improved over 2004. The ECAC might put in 2 teams because the PWR are shaking out better than KRACH, but I would be surprised to see any conference teams win a game in the NCAAs, unless Cornell can turn it around when O'Byrne returns.

French Rage · February 21, 2006, 08:27:32 PM

[quote Steve M][quote DeltaOne81]The ECAC is also distinctly better this year than in 2004. In 2004 the only ECAC NCAA representation was the tournament champion Crimson who then proceeded to crash horribly against Maine.

So while our ECAC numbers may seem more like 2004, its not an even playing field.[/quote]

I disagree. If you look at the KRACH rankings, Cornell is the only top 20 team in the league right now. The math from the results indicate the ECAC is not nearly as good as last year, and only marginally if at all improved over 2004. The ECAC might put in 2 teams because the PWR are shaking out better than KRACH, but I would be surprised to see any conference teams win a game in the NCAAs, unless Cornell can turn it around when O'Byrne returns.[/quote]

I dunno. The traditional recent powers, us and Harvard, had definte off years. Colgate was possibly better than now, but certainly not noticably. And Dartmouth and Brown wouldnt have made much of a splash. I'd take Cornell and Harvard this year, Colgate's too close too call, and SLU is definitely better than D or B.

daredevilcu · February 21, 2006, 08:58:26 PM

I'm with you on that turning point, Ari. Didn't Varteressian get a game DQ for picking that fight, while Nickerson only got a misconduct?

Lauren '06 · February 21, 2006, 09:24:43 PM

[quote daredevilcu]I'm with you on that turning point, Ari. Didn't Varteressian get a game DQ for picking that fight, while Nickerson only got a misconduct?[/quote]
Nickerson didn't play in the next game (I don't remember whether or not he played Sunday). Whether that was due to injury or disqualification, I don't know.

redhair34 · February 21, 2006, 09:32:18 PM

[quote Section A Banshee][quote daredevilcu]I'm with you on that turning point, Ari. Didn't Varteressian get a game DQ for picking that fight, while Nickerson only got a misconduct?[/quote]
Nickerson didn't play in the next game (I don't remember whether or not he played Sunday). Whether that was due to injury or disqualification, I don't know.[/quote]

I think your wrong...Nickerson played in both games.

This box score from USCHO confirms that Nickerson played the second game (as he recorded an assist on their first goal).
http://www.uscho.com/box/?date=20040313&vis=ckn&home=cor&gender=m

Lauren '06 · February 21, 2006, 09:40:50 PM

[quote redhair34][quote Section A Banshee][quote daredevilcu]I'm with you on that turning point, Ari. Didn't Varteressian get a game DQ for picking that fight, while Nickerson only got a misconduct?[/quote]
Nickerson didn't play in the next game (I don't remember whether or not he played Sunday). Whether that was due to injury or disqualification, I don't know.[/quote]

I think your wrong...Nickerson played in both games.

This box score from USCHO confirms that Nickerson played the second game (as he recorded an assist on their first goal).
http://www.uscho.com/box/?date=20040313&vis=ckn&home=cor&gender=m[/quote]
Huh. I distinctly remember looking out for his number and not seeing it on that Saturday. My mistake, I guess.

French Rage · February 21, 2006, 09:41:44 PM

[quote Section A Banshee][quote redhair34][quote Section A Banshee][quote daredevilcu]I'm with you on that turning point, Ari. Didn't Varteressian get a game DQ for picking that fight, while Nickerson only got a misconduct?[/quote]
Nickerson didn't play in the next game (I don't remember whether or not he played Sunday). Whether that was due to injury or disqualification, I don't know.[/quote]

I think your wrong...Nickerson played in both games.

This box score from USCHO confirms that Nickerson played the second game (as he recorded an assist on their first goal).
http://www.uscho.com/box/?date=20040313&vis=ckn&home=cor&gender=m[/quote]
Huh. I distinctly remember looking out for his number and not seeing it on that Saturday. My mistake, I guess.[/quote]

Nah, I distinctly remember holding a sign about him up to the glass 5 feet from where he stood in the line-up.

Jacob '06 · February 21, 2006, 09:58:41 PM

[quote French Rage][quote Section A Banshee][quote redhair34][quote Section A Banshee][quote daredevilcu]I'm with you on that turning point, Ari. Didn't Varteressian get a game DQ for picking that fight, while Nickerson only got a misconduct?[/quote]
Nickerson didn't play in the next game (I don't remember whether or not he played Sunday). Whether that was due to injury or disqualification, I don't know.[/quote]

I think your wrong...Nickerson played in both games.

This box score from USCHO confirms that Nickerson played the second game (as he recorded an assist on their first goal).
http://www.uscho.com/box/?date=20040313&vis=ckn&home=cor&gender=m[/quote]
Huh. I distinctly remember looking out for his number and not seeing it on that Saturday. My mistake, I guess.[/quote]

Nah, I distinctly remember holding a sign about him up to the glass 5 feet from where he stood in the line-up.[/quote]

And I distinctly remember his beautiful black eyes.

ebilmes · February 21, 2006, 10:04:28 PM

From an entirely non-statistical viewpoint, watching the end of the Harvard game brought back a deja vu feeling from 2004. I remember seeing a Mercyhurst tie and then a home shutout loss to RPI, both of which featured tons of Cornell chances in the closing minutes, but ultimate failures. It seems like several games this year have fit that build; Cornell plays pretty mediocre over the course of the game and finally gets it together too late.

calgARI '07 · February 21, 2006, 10:17:11 PM

Nickerson got a 2 and 10 I think while Varteressian got a five and the DQ and didn't play Saturday. It wasn't a huge loss not having him in the lineup seeing as he wasn't dressing regularly anyways, but the emotional lift it gave Clarkson was the most significant part and the turning point of the series as I said.

Chris \'03 · February 21, 2006, 10:42:49 PM

[quote redhair34]

This box score from USCHO confirms that Nickerson played the second game (as he recorded an assist on their first goal).
http://www.uscho.com/box/?date=20040313&vis=ckn&home=cor&gender=m[/quote]

He also took 10 PIMs Saturday for a total of 20 in the series. The fight apparently only garnered him a double minor: http://www.collegehockeystats.net/0304/boxes/mclkcor1.m12

2004 All Over Again?

Chris \'03