O'Byrne goes pro

bothman · August 11, 2006, 10:35:21 AM

Don't you think Cornell could get the Devin who is a defenseman to possibly enroll early? He was a senior and did graduate so I am assuming that there aren't any academic issues relating to his spending a year in the BCHL.

May not be ideal given his readiness aftyer playing in a relatively weak Catholic league, but with 7 defenseman on the roster, unless Schafer can get a forward to play some defense, Cornell is really going to be playing with fire next year on the blue line.

pfibiger · August 11, 2006, 11:10:02 AM

[quote bothman]Don't you think Cornell could get the Devin who is a defenseman to possibly enroll early? He was a senior and did graduate so I am assuming that there aren't any academic issues relating to his spending a year in the BCHL.

May not be ideal given his readiness aftyer playing in a relatively weak Catholic league, but with 7 defenseman on the roster, unless Schafer can get a forward to play some defense, Cornell is really going to be playing with fire next year on the blue line.[/quote]

I think it'd be tough to get Mike to enroll a year early (I am pretty sure they're both already admitted, so that's not an issue), leaving Joe stranded in British Columbia

If we could bring them both early maybe it'd work, but we're already overbooked at forward for next year. I guess that's the problem with recruiting twins.

That said, Bitz played some defense last year when we were hit hard w/ injuries, I could see him moving to the blueline either on spot duty or maybe for the year.

ursusminor · August 11, 2006, 11:37:51 AM

[quote bothman]Don't you think Cornell could get the Devin who is a defenseman to possibly enroll early? He was a senior and did graduate so I am assuming that there aren't any academic issues relating to his spending a year in the BCHL.

May not be ideal given his readiness aftyer playing in a relatively weak Catholic league, but with 7 defenseman on the roster, unless Schafer can get a forward to play some defense, Cornell is really going to be playing with fire next year on the blue line.[/quote] I didn't want to say it here, but since you have chimed in, perhaps Cornell could get Chris Huxley to change his mind again. :-P :-D

Al DeFlorio · August 11, 2006, 12:13:06 PM

[quote ursaminor]I didn't want to say it here, but since you have chimed in, perhaps Cornell could get Chris Huxley to change his mind again. :-P :-D[/quote]
He belongs at Harvard.:-P

bothman · August 11, 2006, 12:14:02 PM

Possibly, but as a puck-moving defenseman, I don't think Chris would subscribe to Cornell's clutch and grab style of play.....:-D

ithacat · August 11, 2006, 12:46:56 PM

[quote ursaminor]Has Brisebois gotten over his injury that caused him to miss most of last season?[/quote]

I think he played in all their playoff games.

ithacat · August 11, 2006, 12:49:48 PM

[quote bothman]Possibly, but as a puck-moving defenseman, I don't think Chris would subscribe to Cornell's clutch and grab style of play.....:-D[/quote]

Do you want to look pretty or win some NCAA games? B-]

Al DeFlorio · August 11, 2006, 02:21:56 PM

[quote ithacat][quote bothman]Possibly, but as a puck-moving defenseman, I don't think Chris would subscribe to Cornell's clutch and grab style of play.....:-D[/quote]

Do you want to look pretty or win some NCAA games? B-][/quote]
"Some?" ::nut::

billhoward · August 11, 2006, 09:12:19 PM

At Cornell's level, it's unlikely there are players of this caliber lurking on campus. It does happen; one of the top ten football teams (top twenty) last year, the placekicker was a walk-on.

You run out of defensemen, a big forward drops back, and that's that. Bitz already knows about playing the point when it's 6-on-5.

If I read not too much into Schafer's quote in the Journal about O'Byrne being the most-ready-for-the-pros player he's seen this year, he's saying maybe Pokulok or McKee shouldn't have jumped? Or that if they jumped, it's easy to see why Ryan did, too.

All of a sudden, I think the Final Four is going to be a challenge. Maybe the ECAC Final Four in Albany?

Some of us said the MVP of every Cornell team the last couple years is the coach. Now we'll see.

DeltaOne81 · August 11, 2006, 09:58:40 PM

[Q]All of a sudden, I think the Final Four is going to be a challenge. Maybe the ECAC Final Four in Albany? [/Q]

The (ahem) Frozen Four is always a challenge. Every single year for every team ever. It was a challenge in 2003... you remember that 2 OT game against BC, right?

This year, Albany will be a challenge. A conference bye could be a challenge. Our team could certainly come together very well, or it could also be a rebuilding/maturing year.

I wouldn't be surprised if we were among the tops in the ECAC. I also wouldn't be suprised if we were hosting games the first post-season weekend. It'd probably be better for the ECAC if it were the latter.

billhoward · August 11, 2006, 10:09:25 PM

[quote DeltaOne81][Q]All of a sudden, I think the Final Four is going to be a challenge. Maybe the ECAC Final Four in Albany? [/Q]

The (ahem) Frozen Four is always a challenge. Every single year for every team ever. It was a challenge in 2003... you remember that 2 OT game against BC, right?

This year, Albany will be a challenge. A conference bye could be a challenge. Our team could certainly come together very well, or it could also be a rebuilding/maturing year.

I wouldn't be surprised if we were among the tops in the ECAC. I also wouldn't be suprised if we were hosting games the first post-season weekend. It'd probably be better for the ECAC if it were the latter.[/quote]

So far, no one on eLynah has been reduced to saying, "I hear the basketball team is going to be competitive." That's right up there with "She's got a great personality" or "I hear he earns a comfortable living."

French Rage · August 11, 2006, 11:36:51 PM

[quote billhoward][quote DeltaOne81][Q]All of a sudden, I think the Final Four is going to be a challenge. Maybe the ECAC Final Four in Albany? [/Q]

The (ahem) Frozen Four is always a challenge. Every single year for every team ever. It was a challenge in 2003... you remember that 2 OT game against BC, right?

This year, Albany will be a challenge. A conference bye could be a challenge. Our team could certainly come together very well, or it could also be a rebuilding/maturing year.

I wouldn't be surprised if we were among the tops in the ECAC. I also wouldn't be suprised if we were hosting games the first post-season weekend. It'd probably be better for the ECAC if it were the latter.[/quote]

So far, no one on eLynah has been reduced to saying, "I hear the basketball team is going to be competitive." That's right up there with "She's got a great personality" or "I hear he earns a comfortable living."[/quote]

Well, I say "look at 2004". With those losses, we still came is 2nd in the regaular season. Part of it was the weak ECAC that year, but the other part is Schafer just has a good system.

Oat · August 12, 2006, 01:11:47 AM

Alright guys, I'm not worried one bit! :-/
We're gonna beat union in the ECAC final this year and then sweep the NCAA tournament shutting out every single opponent. ::yark::

French Rage · August 12, 2006, 02:01:52 AM

[quote Oat]Alright guys, I'm not worried one bit! :-/
We're gonna beat union in the ECAC final this year and then sweep the NCAA tournament shutting out every single opponent. ::yark::[/quote]

Oddly, the most unlikely thing in this prediction is Union making it to the ECAC finals. :-P

calgARI '07 · August 12, 2006, 11:56:38 AM

As others have said, there are not DI caliber defensemen just walking around campus. The best undergraduate hockey player at Cornell who is not on the team is well below the worst player on the team. Even if for some ridiculous reason they took one, he would never come close to dressing unless there was an emergency injury situation.
Bottom line, the blueline is in serious trouble.