Cornell vs. Princeton--ECAC Semis

Princeton's Max Véronneau has more than twice as many points as any player on Cornell.

BearLover
Princeton's Max Véronneau has more than twice as many points as any player on Cornell.

Cornell’s Matthew Galajda has more than four times as many shutouts as any player on Princeton.

Couldn’t resist.

toddlose

BearLover
Princeton's Max Véronneau has more than twice as many points as any player on Cornell.

Cornell’s Matthew Galajda has more than four times as many shutouts as any player on Princeton. Couldn’t resist.

It was an easy tip-in.

BearLover
Princeton's Max Véronneau has more than twice as many points as any player on Cornell.

As a team, Princeton averages 3.73 goals per game (3rd in the country and highest in the ECAC), while Cornell averages 3.23 (9th in the country and 2nd in the ECAC).

As a team, Cornell allows an average of 1.45 goals per game (lowest in the country); Princeton, 3.15 (42nd in the country and 9th in the ECAC).

I would take scoring distribution among many players any day over two or three players with gaudy points totals.

margolism
I would take scoring distribution among many players any day over two or three players with gaudy points totals.

Without doubt. Much easier to shut down a single great line then 4 very good ones.

We have 15 on our roster with 10 or more points, they have 8.

Cornell has been very good about shutting down a great line. And we have last change.

margolism
I would take scoring distribution among many players any day over two or three players with gaudy points totals.

Oh, absolutely. I would much rather have four lines that can score than just one or two, which seems to be the case on pretty much every other colllege team. This is an incredibly deep Cornell team, way deeper than even some of the good Cornell teams in recent years. Schafer gives all four lines pretty equal playing time and even the "fourth" line, or at least this weekend's version of it, has two players in Mallott and Starrett who have spent time on the first line or been major offensive threats. Of note, the Yates-Barron-Donaldson line, which started the season off on fire, has been quiet lately, but Schafer hasn't shaken it up like he has the other lines.

Trotsky
Cornell has been very good about shutting down a great line. And we have last change.

Very important if Cornell faces Donato and friend's in the final.

Some of this talk is whistling past the graveyard. On the other hand, if we are one of the top four teams in the country, hard work will take down Princeton nine games out of ten. Or four games out of five.

This is where the coach impresses on his team the "this is your time, this is your opportunity, seize it" mindset they need to carry them through the ECACs as champion and into the NCAAs as a one-seed playing close to home.

When Grady mentioned the big Olympic ice during the Saturday broadcast I thought, maybe for the first time ever, "that hasn't seemed to really make much difference but with our guys I'll take it."

We have come a very long way in terms of playing style and recruiting profile. The funny thing is the biggest difference I see is not the Bauld / Vanderlaan style mites, as fun as they are. It's that 4 of our 6 regular defensemen (Smith, Nuttle, Kaldis, McCrea) are also serious offensive threats and all jump into the play with enthusiasm. Combine that with the infusion of speed and skill and this is a really fun team to watch.

I'll bet that 9-goal game Friday made a handful of kids Cornell fans for life. Winning and offense aren't enough on their own, but mixed together they are addictive as crack.

Trotsky

I'll bet that 9-goal game Friday made a handful of kids Cornell fans for life.

That's how it's worked for me... I went to my first CU games (as a teenager) during Ned's tenure. 9-1 games were not uncommon.... I was quickly hooked!!

Trotsky

We have come a very long way in terms of playing style and recruiting profile. The funny thing is the biggest difference I see is not the Bauld / Vanderlaan style mites, as fun as they are. It's that 4 of our 6 regular defensemen (Smith, Nuttle, Kaldis, McCrea) are also serious offensive threats and all jump into the play with enthusiasm. Combine that with the infusion of speed and skill and this is a really fun team to watch.

Haiskanen and Green also jump into the play with regularity -- remember Haiskanen's beautiful goal on Friday when he came down the slot and took the backdoor pass?

redice

Trotsky

I'll bet that 9-goal game Friday made a handful of kids Cornell fans for life.

That's how it's worked for me... I went to my first CU games (as a teenager) during Ned's tenure. 9-1 games were not uncommon.... I was quickly hooked!!

My first game was a 1-0 win at Princeton to start 2008 season. The first of Scrivens’ pair of shut outs to start the season. 9-1 wins are better for blood pressure

redice

Trotsky

I'll bet that 9-goal game Friday made a handful of kids Cornell fans for life.

That's how it's worked for me... I went to my first CU games (as a teenager) during Ned's tenure. 9-1 games were not uncommon.... I was quickly hooked!!

And they make for great memories. I remember 3/8/66, my sophomore year, when we played BC in the ECAC QF. BC was highly regarded, and we got to our seats early. The place was rocking. The lights over the ice were off, then the band started playing the theme from Peter Gunn, out came the Big Red team -- skating to the music, like sharks about to rip an eagle to its carcass -- and after a lap or two around the rink, the lights come on.

Cornell won 9-0. Like crack indeed.

Funnily enough, I strongly prefer the tight 3-2 wins with a late game-winnong goal, and I always have.

BearLover
Funnily enough, I strongly prefer the tight 3-2 wins with a late game-winnong goal, and I always have.

i only prefer these games after the fact; i don't prefer the experiences except for the literal GWG.

ugarte

BearLover
Funnily enough, I strongly prefer the tight 3-2 wins with a late game-winnong goal, and I always have.

i only prefer these games after the fact; i don't prefer the experiences except for the literal GWG.

Bingo!

ugarte

BearLover
Funnily enough, I strongly prefer the tight 3-2 wins with a late game-winnong goal, and I always have.

i only prefer these games after the fact; i don't prefer the experiences except for the literal GWG.

This.

In the afterglow of the actual victory, especially victories like the OT win in the 2003 ECAC title game or the 2OT win in the 2003 NCAA regional final, it's much easier to forget how I felt for a solid hour or two like I might legit have a heart attack. I loved Friday night's 9-1 win over Q, the experience of which for me was more like tubing along a lazy river at a Disney resort.

In Ned's days, people used to ask me why anyone would enjoy going to a 15-1 hockey game.... It's simple... When it's my team scoring the 15 goals and I'm whooping it up 15 times that day, It's a fun time for me!!!

No guilt or sympathy for the other team...

Once a game gets out of reach for the other team, watching the rest of the game is like watching with the outcome predetermined--not why I follow sports. There is nothing so thrilling as hanging onto every lose puck, every shot, every tip, every rebound, knowing full well it could decide the game.

With that said, I'd probably amend my post to say I prefer the 3-2 nailbiters in the regular season and the 6-1 drubbings in the playoffs, as an extremely tight, critically important game is too much for me to bear.

BearLover
Once a game gets out of reach for the other team, watching the rest of the game is like watching with the outcome predetermined--not why I follow sports. There is nothing so thrilling as hanging onto every lose puck, every shot, every tip, every rebound, knowing full well it could decide the game.

With that said, I'd probably amend my post to say I prefer the 3-2 nailbiters in the regular season and the 6-1 drubbings in the playoffs, as an extremely tight, critically important game is too much for me to bear.

But 3-2 nailbiters can go either way. While they are exciting, if you lose, it's not so good.

So I'm assuming you like 3-2 winning nail-biters better than 9-1 winners.

But what about 3-2 losers? Do you prefer those over 9-1 winners? When I'm watching a 9-1 I'm pretty happy about knowing I'll get a win. A 3-2 game, makes me shiver.

Above all I want a win and if it could be predetermined that I'd win, I'd take a 3-2, but it wouldn't be very exciting.

Swampy

And they make for great memories. I remember 3/8/66, my sophomore year, when we played BC in the ECAC QF. BC was highly regarded, and we got to our seats early. The place was rocking. The lights over the ice were off, then the band started playing the theme from Peter Gunn, out came the Big Red team -- skating to the music, like sharks about to rip an eagle to its carcass -- and after a lap or two around the rink, the lights come on.

While I hate all the staged game presentation crap that shows up nearly everywhere in sports these days...but, skating on to the ice, choreographed to a pep band playing? I'd pay extra to see that.

abmarks
While I hate all the staged game presentation crap that shows up nearly everywhere in sports these days...but, skating on to the ice, choreographed to a pep band playing? I'd pay extra to see that.

That's what I was thinking. It sounds like Tokyo's synchronized skating in Rollerball.

Jim Hyla

BearLover
Once a game gets out of reach for the other team, watching the rest of the game is like watching with the outcome predetermined--not why I follow sports. There is nothing so thrilling as hanging onto every lose puck, every shot, every tip, every rebound, knowing full well it could decide the game.

With that said, I'd probably amend my post to say I prefer the 3-2 nailbiters in the regular season and the 6-1 drubbings in the playoffs, as an extremely tight, critically important game is too much for me to bear.

But 3-2 nailbiters can go either way. While they are exciting, if you lose, it's not so good.

So I'm assuming you like 3-2 winning nail-biters better than 9-1 winners.

But what about 3-2 losers? Do you prefer those over 9-1 winners? When I'm watching a 9-1 I'm pretty happy about knowing I'll get a win. A 3-2 game, makes me shiver.

Above all I want a win and if it could be predetermined that I'd win, I'd take a 3-2, but it wouldn't be very exciting.

It’s called tape delay.

KenP

Jim Hyla

BearLover
Once a game gets out of reach for the other team, watching the rest of the game is like watching with the outcome predetermined--not why I follow sports. There is nothing so thrilling as hanging onto every lose puck, every shot, every tip, every rebound, knowing full well it could decide the game.

With that said, I'd probably amend my post to say I prefer the 3-2 nailbiters in the regular season and the 6-1 drubbings in the playoffs, as an extremely tight, critically important game is too much for me to bear.

But 3-2 nailbiters can go either way. While they are exciting, if you lose, it's not so good.

So I'm assuming you like 3-2 winning nail-biters better than 9-1 winners.

But what about 3-2 losers? Do you prefer those over 9-1 winners? When I'm watching a 9-1 I'm pretty happy about knowing I'll get a win. A 3-2 game, makes me shiver.

Above all I want a win and if it could be predetermined that I'd win, I'd take a 3-2, but it wouldn't be very exciting.

It’s called tape delay.

I don't understand.

Trotsky

abmarks
While I hate all the staged game presentation crap that shows up nearly everywhere in sports these days...but, skating on to the ice, choreographed to a pep band playing? I'd pay extra to see that.

That's what I was thinking. It sounds like Tokyo's synchronized skating in Rollerball.

It wasn't choreographed. The team just came out and skated a few laps as part of its warm-up. The first several bars of the Theme to Peter Gunn just happen to be perfect for this kind of fast, ominous skating. I suppose there was enough variation among the individual players that a bunch of them always seemed in time with the music. Alternatively, if your routine was to do 3-4 laps of the rink for the aerobic start to your warm-up before starting stretches, shooting, passing, and similar things, wouldn't you want to time the rhythm of your movement as you did your laps to be in tune with cool music?

Swampy

Trotsky

abmarks
While I hate all the staged game presentation crap that shows up nearly everywhere in sports these days...but, skating on to the ice, choreographed to a pep band playing? I'd pay extra to see that.

That's what I was thinking. It sounds like Tokyo's synchronized skating in Rollerball.

It wasn't choreographed. The team just came out and skated a few laps as part of its warm-up. The first several bars of the Theme to Peter Gunn just happen to be perfect for this kind of fast, ominous skating. I suppose there was enough variation among the individual players that a bunch of them always seemed in time with the music. Alternatively, if your routine was to do 3-4 laps of the rink for the aerobic start to your warm-up before starting stretches, shooting, passing, and similar things, wouldn't you want to time the rhythm of your movement as you did your laps to be in tune with cool music?

Let's see them do it to Metheny's First Circle.

Forwards skate 12/8, defensemen 22/8.

They could do it.

Edit: on second thought, maybe we don't want to get into that business.

BearLover
Once a game gets out of reach for the other team, watching the rest of the game is like watching with the outcome predetermined--not why I follow sports. There is nothing so thrilling as hanging onto every lose puck, every shot, every tip, every rebound, knowing full well it could decide the game.

That's how I feel about games when my team isn't in them. But if my team is up 9-1 I look forward to the 10th goal.

redice
In Ned's days, people used to ask me why anyone would enjoy going to a 15-1 hockey game.... It's simple... When it's my team scoring the 15 goals and I'm whooping it up 15 times that day, It's a fun time for me!!!

No guilt or sympathy for the other team...

Look, let's face it. Sports today fills a certain primitive, tribal urge to conquer and humiliate the opponent. As fellow Cornell alum Richard Farina wrote, "I am King fucking MONTEZUMA ... [and] I will have your heart torn out ... OUT OUT OUT of your body ... At the top of a pyramid. ... And I will eat it RAW."

Or, as Queen wrote:

Buddy you're an old man poor man
Pleading with your eyes gonna make some peace some day
You got mud on your face
Big disgrace
Somebody better put you back in your place

This celebration of humiliation plays at arenas and stadiums across the country and around the world.

And if you go to Google Scholar and enter "tribalism sports" you will get dozens of hits of academic articles dealing with tribalism and sports. Most of them seem to be written by marketing types, explaining how one can use such primal instincts to sell more crap.

But who would deny that there's a certain thrill and joy with a 15-1 victory over an enemy college, one that is almost as thrilling as eating an enemy's heart raw, in front of them, and as they gasp their last breath. ;^)

Swampy
It wasn't choreographed. The team just came out and skated a few laps as part of its warm-up. The first several bars of the Theme to Peter Gunn just happen to be perfect for this kind of fast, ominous skating. I suppose there was enough variation among the individual players that a bunch of them always seemed in time with the music. Alternatively, if your routine was to do 3-4 laps of the rink for the aerobic start to your warm-up before starting stretches, shooting, passing, and similar things, wouldn't you want to time the rhythm of your movement as you did your laps to be in tune with cool music?

In the previous decade, some hockey internet citizen made a post somewhere about how their team skated out to Live is Life by Opus. The crowd gets clapping along to the opening bass drum hits as the team does laps. I can see it. (Apparently, this is also famous because of Maradona).

Swampy

Look, let's face it. Sports today fills a certain primitive, tribal urge to conquer and humiliate the opponent.

Since this is now a youtube thread: [www.youtube.com]

If Swampy's assertion is true, then why is there such a hard-on in our sports society for underdogs and upsets and Cinderellas?

RichH

Swampy

Look, let's face it. Sports today fills a certain primitive, tribal urge to conquer and humiliate the opponent.

Since this is now a youtube thread: [www.youtube.com]

If Swampy's assertion is true, then why is there such a hard-on in our sports society for underdogs and upsets and Cinderellas?

I typically root for the underdog when my team isn’t involved. But if it’s Cornell or one of the pro teams I root for, then I’m all for the 9-1 beat downs.

RichH

Swampy

Look, let's face it. Sports today fills a certain primitive, tribal urge to conquer and humiliate the opponent.

Since this is now a youtube thread: [www.youtube.com]

If Swampy's assertion is true, then why is there such a hard-on in our sports society for underdogs and upsets and Cinderellas?

We want OUR team team to crush the opponent. When we don't have one of our favorite teams playing, we tend to root for the underdog.

-New Englanders root for for the Patriots to not only win, but blow teams out. Almost everyone else roots for our opponent, which is so often an underdog. And the same sort of logic applies to any team (or individual athlete) that is having a dominant run of success.

-A blowout win for one's team is basically a two hour party. Watching your team win a close game is a tension-filled experience with a celebratory release once won. And watching your underdog team bang out a win is much like the close game, except for the joyous party after the game; the tension is basically the same, but the unlikelihood of the victory makes for more joy.

Jim Hyla

KenP

Jim Hyla

BearLover
Once a game gets out of reach for the other team, watching the rest of the game is like watching with the outcome predetermined--not why I follow sports. There is nothing so thrilling as hanging onto every lose puck, every shot, every tip, every rebound, knowing full well it could decide the game.

With that said, I'd probably amend my post to say I prefer the 3-2 nailbiters in the regular season and the 6-1 drubbings in the playoffs, as an extremely tight, critically important game is too much for me to bear.

But 3-2 nailbiters can go either way. While they are exciting, if you lose, it's not so good.

So I'm assuming you like 3-2 winning nail-biters better than 9-1 winners.

But what about 3-2 losers? Do you prefer those over 9-1 winners? When I'm watching a 9-1 I'm pretty happy about knowing I'll get a win. A 3-2 game, makes me shiver.

Above all I want a win and if it could be predetermined that I'd win, I'd take a 3-2, but it wouldn't be very exciting.

It’s called tape delay.

I don't understand.

Watching a Tape delay is terribly unexciting if you already know your team won the game.

abmarks
We want OUR team team to crush the opponent. When we don't have one of our favorite teams playing, we tend to root for the underdog.

People who root for the favorite when they don't have a rooting interest are sociopaths or Austrian economists.

I want to see more of this

scoop85
I want to see more of this

I got through the first 15 seconds and felt sorry for these children. Thanks a lot.

RichH

scoop85
I want to see more of this

I got through the first 15 seconds and felt sorry for these children. Thanks a lot.

It got better. Maybe it's the parent in me, but it wasn't that bad in all.

Chris '03

RichH

scoop85
I want to see more of this

I got through the first 15 seconds and felt sorry for these children. Thanks a lot.

It got better. Maybe it's the parent in me, but it wasn't that bad in all.

I began watching with morbid fascination, but by the end I thought the guys did a credible job

scoop85

Chris '03

RichH

scoop85
I want to see more of this

I got through the first 15 seconds and felt sorry for these children. Thanks a lot.

It got better. Maybe it's the parent in me, but it wasn't that bad in all.

I began watching with morbid fascination, but by the end I thought the guys did a credible job

Oh, I kid, I kid. They did a good job and were fair to both sides. And they had a natural rapport. I’ve seen Harvard student reporting that looks like a robotics lab.

Trotsky

abmarks
While I hate all the staged game presentation crap that shows up nearly everywhere in sports these days...but, skating on to the ice, choreographed to a pep band playing? I'd pay extra to see that.

That's what I was thinking. It sounds like Tokyo's synchronized skating in Rollerball.

Houston had their own- the "Power Stride." Jon-a-THAN!

In '63 or '64 I attended a Cornell-Colgate game in Hamilton. It was a rout. At the end of the second period Cornell was up by several goals and dominating play. There were gaps in the bleachers leading to the dressing rooms and I was sitting on the end seat of one row above the gap. The coaches were following the teams to the locker rooms and Ned was walking next to the Colgate coach who I overheard quietly saying something about "taking it easy," to which Ned replied quite clearly, "Go fuck yourself!" Cornell poured it on the third period. Harkness enjoyed watching a good shellacking as well as any man.

TimV

Trotsky

abmarks
While I hate all the staged game presentation crap that shows up nearly everywhere in sports these days...but, skating on to the ice, choreographed to a pep band playing? I'd pay extra to see that.

That's what I was thinking. It sounds like Tokyo's synchronized skating in Rollerball.

Houston had their own- the "Power Stride." Jon-a-THAN!

Cue the Bach "Tocata & Fugue in D Minor!"

In our high school gym, there were 6 foot baskets on the sides of the main court. We used to play a contact game of basketball, no dribbling, where you had to slam dunk the ball through the 6 foot hoops. Just like Rollerball without the wheels.

When Ned got the team started at Union, his team was all freshman, skating against much more experienced division II teams, and, once, defeating UNH when they were the number one DIV I team in the country. His teams skated out to the Starship cut of Miracles which is far from your usual pump-up song. But with the arena lights dimmed and sequentially getting brighter as they skated out it was fabulous. Still makes me cry over 35 years later.

This sounds like Rocky / Gary Glitter like we do for period 3.

Sports Illustrated ran an article relating the staging of an actual Rollerball match after filming was done at the Munich Olympic arena. The stuntmen in the film played under "Madrid Rules" and it sold out.

Trotsky

abmarks
We want OUR team team to crush the opponent. When we don't have one of our favorite teams playing, we tend to root for the underdog.

People who root for the favorite when they don't have a rooting interest are sociopaths or Austrian economists.

+1, tho I'm not sure there's much difference.

TimV
When Ned got the team started at Union, his team was all freshman, skating against much more experienced division II teams, and, once, defeating UNH when they were the number one DIV I team in the country. His teams skated out to the Starship cut of Miracles which is far from your usual pump-up song. But with the arena lights dimmed and sequentially getting brighter as they skated out it was fabulous. Still makes me cry over 35 years later.

Thanks. I hadn't thought of it, but he probably had a hand in the Peter Gunn thing too.

TimV
When Ned got the team started at Union, his team was all freshman, skating against much more experienced division II teams, and, once, defeating UNH when they were the number one DIV I team in the country. His teams skated out to the Starship cut of Miracles which is far from your usual pump-up song. But with the arena lights dimmed and sequentially getting brighter as they skated out it was fabulous. Still makes me cry over 35 years later.

That is... really strange. For you youngins who had the good fortune not to be alive in the 70s, Miracles was the definitive prom lose your virginity song.

Trotsky

TimV
When Ned got the team started at Union, his team was all freshman, skating against much more experienced division II teams, and, once, defeating UNH when they were the number one DIV I team in the country. His teams skated out to the Starship cut of Miracles which is far from your usual pump-up song. But with the arena lights dimmed and sequentially getting brighter as they skated out it was fabulous. Still makes me cry over 35 years later.

That is... really strange. For you youngins who had the good fortune not to be alive in the 70s, Miracles was the definitive prom lose your virginity song.

True about that. Many who you just referred to were probably CONCEIVED with that music playing. Like I said, mot your standard Pump-Up music but it definitely worked at a small school with their first hockey team of all freshmen playing a tough schedule of historic programs. They didn't play the whole 6 minutes, just the main hook of the song- the more assertive part in the last 2 min or so.

TimV
True about that. Many who you just referred to were probably CONCEIVED with that music playing.

No, that would make them way too old. Those kids were conceived to this shit.

Trotsky

TimV
When Ned got the team started at Union, his team was all freshman, skating against much more experienced division II teams, and, once, defeating UNH when they were the number one DIV I team in the country. His teams skated out to the Starship cut of Miracles which is far from your usual pump-up song. But with the arena lights dimmed and sequentially getting brighter as they skated out it was fabulous. Still makes me cry over 35 years later.

That is... really strange. For you youngins who had the good fortune not to be alive in the 70s, Miracles was the definitive prom lose your virginity song.

I had a good time in the 70s. That is, once my draft number came in okay, I had a good time. And what's wrong with Don Henley?

Jim Hyla
And what's wrong with Don Henley?

[www.youtube.com]

[www.youtube.com]

Next week, why Billy Joel sucks.

Jim Hyla

Trotsky

TimV
When Ned got the team started at Union, his team was all freshman, skating against much more experienced division II teams, and, once, defeating UNH when they were the number one DIV I team in the country. His teams skated out to the Starship cut of Miracles which is far from your usual pump-up song. But with the arena lights dimmed and sequentially getting brighter as they skated out it was fabulous. Still makes me cry over 35 years later.

That is... really strange. For you youngins who had the good fortune not to be alive in the 70s, Miracles was the definitive prom lose your virginity song.

I had a good time in the 70s. That is, once my draft number came in okay, I had a good time. And what's wrong with Don Henley?

So how many times during the 70s did you lose your virginity to Miracles?

Trotsky

Jim Hyla
And what's wrong with Don Henley?

[www.youtube.com]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wm-o7_VVAoU

Next week, why Billy Joel sucks.

Subtle!

[www.cltampa.com]

So literally anything is better than talking about Princeton hockey.

Swampy

Jim Hyla

Trotsky

TimV
When Ned got the team started at Union, his team was all freshman, skating against much more experienced division II teams, and, once, defeating UNH when they were the number one DIV I team in the country. His teams skated out to the Starship cut of Miracles which is far from your usual pump-up song. But with the arena lights dimmed and sequentially getting brighter as they skated out it was fabulous. Still makes me cry over 35 years later.

That is... really strange. For you youngins who had the good fortune not to be alive in the 70s, Miracles was the definitive prom lose your virginity song.

I had a good time in the 70s. That is, once my draft number came in okay, I had a good time. And what's wrong with Don Henley?

So how many times during the 70s did you lose your virginity to Miracles?

Since I was married, that was long gone before the 70s. There were a lot of other fun times, however.

I think the late 60s and mid-late 70s were some of the most fun times I've had. Nuff said.

French Rage
So literally anything is better than talking about Princeton hockey.

Insane thread drift is my favorite tradition of Championship Week.

RichH

French Rage
So literally anything is better than talking about Princeton hockey.

Insane thread drift is my favorite eLynah tradition.

Fixed your post.

Swampy
So how many times during the 70s did you lose your virginity to Miracles?

My first prom was 1980 so it was probably this Wagnerian masterpiece.

I repeat: if you missed the 70s count yourself lucky. A kidney stone of a decade.

Trotsky

Swampy
So how many times during the 70s did you lose your virginity to Miracles?

My first prom was 1980 so it was probably this Wagnerian masterpiece.

I repeat: if you missed the 70s count yourself lucky. A kidney stone of a decade.

Not going to click. Assume it was Kill Da Wabbit.

ugarte

Trotsky

Swampy
So how many times during the 70s did you lose your virginity to Miracles?

My first prom was 1980 so it was probably this Wagnerian masterpiece.

I repeat: if you missed the 70s count yourself lucky. A kidney stone of a decade.

Not going to click. Assume it was Kill Da Wabbit.

Personally, I’m just done in general hearing about eLynah regulars getting laid.

French Rage
So literally anything is better than talking about Princeton hockey.

Judging by Princeton's hockey site, for them too. There is a mention of the ticketing and tourney format for Lake Placid but no other mention so far of what is after all an uncommon achievement by the Tigers.

This, however, is interesting:

The Stanley Cup will appear at upcoming ECAC Men's Hockey Championship on Friday, March 16 at both the 4 & 7:30 p.m. semifinal games. Fans can see the Cup up close and take photos with the National Hockey League (NHL®) championship trophy at the 1980 Rink-Herb Brooks Arena, on the main concourse near section 19, during both ECAC Men's Hockey Championship Semifinal games.

Trotsky
Judging by Princeton's hockey site, for them too. There is a mention of the ticketing and tourney format for Lake Placid but no other mention so far of what is after all an uncommon achievement by the Tigers.

Been trying to do a story on their top players for weeks, and hit nothing but roadblocks.

RichH

ugarte

Trotsky

Swampy
So how many times during the 70s did you lose your virginity to Miracles?

My first prom was 1980 so it was probably this Wagnerian masterpiece.

I repeat: if you missed the 70s count yourself lucky. A kidney stone of a decade.

Not going to click. Assume it was Kill Da Wabbit.

Personally, I’m just done in general hearing about eLynah regulars getting laid.

Mostly talk, and likely little action

adamw

Trotsky
Judging by Princeton's hockey site, for them too. There is a mention of the ticketing and tourney format for Lake Placid but no other mention so far of what is after all an uncommon achievement by the Tigers.

Been trying to do a story on their top players for weeks, and hit nothing but roadblocks.

College hockey’s best kept secrets.

RichH

adamw

Trotsky
Judging by Princeton's hockey site, for them too. There is a mention of the ticketing and tourney format for Lake Placid but no other mention so far of what is after all an uncommon achievement by the Tigers.

Been trying to do a story on their top players for weeks, and hit nothing but roadblocks.

College hockey’s best kept secrets.

I dunno, I think most people know about roadblocks.

Trotsky

Swampy
So how many times during the 70s did you lose your virginity to Miracles?

My first prom was 1980 so it was probably this Wagnerian masterpiece.

I repeat: if you missed the 70s count yourself lucky. A kidney stone of a decade.

If you missed the 70s, you also missed the 60s, except for those that were permanently stoned.

Therefore you missed Cornell hockey's greatest period.

Too bad.

Beeeej

RichH

adamw

Trotsky
Judging by Princeton's hockey site, for them too. There is a mention of the ticketing and tourney format for Lake Placid but no other mention so far of what is after all an uncommon achievement by the Tigers.

Been trying to do a story on their top players for weeks, and hit nothing but roadblocks.

College hockey’s best kept secrets.

I dunno, I think most people know about roadblocks.

Isn't that our usual defensive strategy under Schafer?

RichH

Swampy
It wasn't choreographed. The team just came out and skated a few laps as part of its warm-up. The first several bars of the Theme to Peter Gunn just happen to be perfect for this kind of fast, ominous skating. I suppose there was enough variation among the individual players that a bunch of them always seemed in time with the music. Alternatively, if your routine was to do 3-4 laps of the rink for the aerobic start to your warm-up before starting stretches, shooting, passing, and similar things, wouldn't you want to time the rhythm of your movement as you did your laps to be in tune with cool music?

In the previous decade, some hockey internet citizen made a post somewhere about how their team skated out to Live is Life by Opus. The crowd gets clapping along to the opening bass drum hits as the team does laps. I can see it. (Apparently, this is also famous because of Maradona).

SCB uses that as part of their pregame routine (or at least they did 15-20 years ago when I was going to hockey games in Bern). But I think it's before the team comes out, although the crowd does insert some well-timed "Jetzt geht's los!" and "Here we go, here we go, here we go" cheers. (This is why "Life is Life" is on my euro-jock-jams list.)

Just occurred to me that Princeton has won 2 ECAC titles:

1998
2008

Years that end in 8

Will there be a gathering in NYC to view this game?

margolism
Will there be a gathering in NYC to view this game?

There is none planned that I know of, though obviously you could arrange one if you wanted. I have to be at work for the semifinal. If we win, I'm tempted to try to put together a group for the final (or at least join whatever group has been put together), but I can't promise anything.

CHN feature on Princeton reaching Lake Placid:

[www.collegehockeynews.com]

Also, CHN's overall tournament preview:

[www.collegehockeynews.com]

We're supposed to have a Cornell feature today too. Still waiting for it. FYI.

adamw
We're supposed to have a Cornell feature today too. Still waiting for it. FYI.

Thanks, Adam.

As we get closer, the more I think about what a strange opponent this is. Unleashed offense, yes, but a very suspect defense. On one hand, Princeton has the number one offense in the nation over the past 2 months (according to the CHN story) at 4.53 gpg. Sure, by now we know that Veronneau and Kufner are immensely dangerous, but Princeton has 6 players with more points than our leading scorer. But their defense! It looks like Teves and Thom are their leading d-men, and they've hung +/- of 14 and 12. Ferlund in net has a GAA north of 3 and a Save % of 0.911. Cornell scored 12 goals in two against them, but that early game at Baker Rink was quite the stressful affair that required a gutty comeback. Nothing really jumps out of the advanced metric boxes, except how few shots Kufner took. Cornell scored most of their goals from the midpoint of each game onward, so it looks like we wore them out.

I don't know. This could easily be a 7-4 game...for either side. It's not your typical ECAC team we're facing. If Cornell plays with the same confidence, speed, and possession skill they did in the QF game 1, it's certainly a game we should win. We've got a great shut-down defense, and if the four deep lines keep coming at them, I feel good about get through their D.

Is it obvious I'm nervous and just sputtering nonsense yet?

RichH
As we get closer, the more I think about what a strange opponent this is. Unleashed offense, yes, but a very suspect defense. On one hand, Princeton has the number one offense in the nation over the past 2 months (according to the CHN story) at 4.53 gpg. Sure, by now we know that Veronneau and Kufner are immensely dangerous, but Princeton has 6 players with more points than our leading scorer. But their defense! It looks like Teves and Thom are their leading d-men, and they've hung +/- of 14 and 12. Ferlund in net has a GAA north of 3 and a Save % of 0.911. Cornell scored 12 goals in two against them, but that early game at Baker Rink was quite the stressful affair that required a gutty comeback. Nothing really jumps out of the advanced metric boxes, except how few shots Kufner took. Cornell scored most of their goals from the midpoint of each game onward, so it looks like we wore them out.

I don't know. This could easily be a 7-4 game...for either side. It's not your typical ECAC team we're facing. If Cornell plays with the same confidence, speed, and possession skill they did in the QF game 1, it's certainly a game we should win. We've got a great shut-down defense, and if the four deep lines keep coming at them, I feel good about get through their D.

Is it obvious I'm nervous and just sputtering nonsense yet?

One question I always have this time of year is whether there will be a bunch of media timeouts. They help the "one big line" teams and hurt the "we can roll all four" teams. It's a frustrating change in the way the game is played once the playoffs come around.

Chris '03

RichH
As we get closer, the more I think about what a strange opponent this is. Unleashed offense, yes, but a very suspect defense. On one hand, Princeton has the number one offense in the nation over the past 2 months (according to the CHN story) at 4.53 gpg. Sure, by now we know that Veronneau and Kufner are immensely dangerous, but Princeton has 6 players with more points than our leading scorer. But their defense! It looks like Teves and Thom are their leading d-men, and they've hung +/- of 14 and 12. Ferlund in net has a GAA north of 3 and a Save % of 0.911. Cornell scored 12 goals in two against them, but that early game at Baker Rink was quite the stressful affair that required a gutty comeback. Nothing really jumps out of the advanced metric boxes, except how few shots Kufner took. Cornell scored most of their goals from the midpoint of each game onward, so it looks like we wore them out.

I don't know. This could easily be a 7-4 game...for either side. It's not your typical ECAC team we're facing. If Cornell plays with the same confidence, speed, and possession skill they did in the QF game 1, it's certainly a game we should win. We've got a great shut-down defense, and if the four deep lines keep coming at them, I feel good about get through their D.

Is it obvious I'm nervous and just sputtering nonsense yet?

One question I always have this time of year is whether there will be a bunch of media timeouts. They help the "one big line" teams and hurt the "we can roll all four" teams. It's a frustrating change in the way the game is played once the playoffs come around.

Yes and no. The "one big line" team gets to rest their big line a little longer before their next shift and give them more ice time that way, but more ice time is still going to wear them out over the course of three periods. Maybe that's the "wearing out" RichH spoke of, and it wouldn't be quite as helpful with the media timeouts, but if they rely too heavily on that I think it'll come back to bite them badly.

I don't have time to get nervous about the game while I'm still nervous about getting there.

Comparing Princeton and Cornell with results against weak opponents excluded (Brown, St. Lawrence, RPI), last 13 games.


Princeton
GF GA
3 -3  ot  St. Cloud State (nc)
2 -2  ot  St. Cloud State (nc)
1 -7    at Cornell
0 -4    at Colgate
1 -3    at Harvard
6 -3    at Dartmouth
5 -3    at Quinnipiac
4 -3    Clarkson
2 -7    at Yale
1 -4    Union
3 -3  ot  at Clarkson
5 -3    at Union (nc)
3 -2    at Union (nc)

36 -47 Total, no shutouts


Cornell
GF GA
1 -2    at Miami (nc)
4 -0    at Miami (nc)
6 -2    Canisius (nc)
7 -1    Princeton
1 -0    Quinnipiac
3 -3  ot  at Yale
2 -0    Colgate
2 -0    at Colgate
3 -0    at Harvard
3 -1    at Dartmouth
4 -3    Union
0 -0  ot  at Clarkson
3 -2    Yale
3 -4    at Union
9 -1    Quinnipiac (nc)
2 -0    Quinnipiac (nc)

53 -15 Total, 6 shutouts

Trotsky
I don't have time to get nervous about the game while I'm still nervous about getting there.

Weather nervous? Road condition nervous?

Don't be, at least so far. The roads here in CNY are clear and dry, with a few areas of wetness.

We may get an inch or two of snow overnight and it's supposed to be less than an inch in LP.

I don't know which way you're going, but if it's thru Albany, they're not supposed to have snow.

So get in your car and fly.

Jim Hyla

Trotsky
I don't have time to get nervous about the game while I'm still nervous about getting there.

Weather nervous? Road condition nervous?

Don't be, at least so far. The roads here in CNY are clear and dry, with a few areas of wetness.

We may get an inch or two of snow overnight and it's supposed to be less than an inch in LP.

I don't know which way you're going, but if it's thru Albany, they're not supposed to have snow.

So get in your car and fly.

Fly DC --> Boston; drive Boston --> LP. Don't ask, it just worked out easier that way.

But I hate logistics.

Trotsky

Jim Hyla

Trotsky
I don't have time to get nervous about the game while I'm still nervous about getting there.

Weather nervous? Road condition nervous?

Don't be, at least so far. The roads here in CNY are clear and dry, with a few areas of wetness.

We may get an inch or two of snow overnight and it's supposed to be less than an inch in LP.

I don't know which way you're going, but if it's thru Albany, they're not supposed to have snow.

So get in your car and fly.

Fly DC --> Boston; drive Boston --> LP. Don't ask, it just worked out easier that way.

But I hate logistics.

So I was almost right, fly and get in your car.

I assume you'll go thru Albany, so once you get out of Boston, no problem.

But it is funny that you're going thru your favorite city.

Jim Hyla
But it is funny that you're going thru your favorite city.

Anne's birth defect is trying but I still love her.

The aforementioned Cornell feature on CHN:

[www.collegehockeynews.com]

Great article, I thought (even if it takes the "60 Minutes" route of being a cheerleader and stenographer for its subject.)

djk26
Great article, I thought (even if it takes the "60 Minutes" route of being a cheerleader and stenographer for its subject.)

Great insight for those who've been saying (or even thinking) that Schafer couldn't and wouldn't change.

Beeeej
The aforementioned Cornell feature on CHN:

[www.collegehockeynews.com]

One of the more interesting articles I’ve read in awhile. Nice work by Adam and his team!

scoop85

Beeeej
The aforementioned Cornell feature on CHN:

[www.collegehockeynews.com]

One of the more interesting articles I’ve read in awhile. Nice work by Adam and his team!

What he said^ . Well done.

jeff '84

scoop85

Beeeej
The aforementioned Cornell feature on CHN:

[www.collegehockeynews.com]

One of the more interesting articles I’ve read in awhile. Nice work by Adam and his team!

What he said^ . Well done.

It's a nice and fascinating story. I do wonder, though, how well part of the premise is actually supported by the numbers. Cornell is tied for the second-tallest team in college this year, and it's winning a ton with a big freshman class whose average age (19.8) is essentially unchanged from the years cited in the article when Cornell was "younger." And the leading scorers on the team (Angello, Yates, Rauter, Mallott) are all pretty big. Vanderlaan being the exception, but Cornell has usually had a small top-scoring guy or two (Vesce, Topher, Gallagher, Roeszler, Mowrey). I'm not going to argue the team doesn't look faster and all-around better than it has in years past, but I think the reason might lie beyond age and size. Cornell waiting until later to recruit guys is probably part of it.

That is a great article. Good job by both the author and the editor(s).

BearLover
It's a nice and fascinating story. I do wonder, though, how well part of the premise is actually supported by the numbers. Cornell is tied for the second-tallest team in college this year, and it's winning a ton with a big freshman class whose average age (19.8) is essentially unchanged from the years cited in the article when Cornell was "younger." And the leading scorers on the team (Angello, Yates, Rauter, Mallott) are all pretty big. Vanderlaan being the exception, but Cornell has usually had a small top-scoring guy or two (Vesce, Topher, Gallagher, Roeszler, Mowrey). I'm not going to argue the team doesn't look faster and all-around better than it has in years past, but I think the reason might lie beyond age and size. Cornell waiting until later to recruit guys is probably part of it.

It may be recruiting guys with a similar frame but a different skill set. Eric Lindros and Gary Nyland are the same size.

So are Mitch Vanderlaan and Tie Domi.

BearLover

jeff '84

scoop85

Beeeej
The aforementioned Cornell feature on CHN:

[www.collegehockeynews.com]

One of the more interesting articles I’ve read in awhile. Nice work by Adam and his team!

What he said^ . Well done.

It's a nice and fascinating story. I do wonder, though, how well part of the premise is actually supported by the numbers. Cornell is tied for the second-tallest team in college this year, and it's winning a ton with a big freshman class whose average age (19.8) is essentially unchanged from the years cited in the article when Cornell was "younger." And the leading scorers on the team (Angello, Yates, Rauter, Mallott) are all pretty big. Vanderlaan being the exception, but Cornell has usually had a small top-scoring guy or two (Vesce, Topher, Gallagher, Roeszler, Mowrey). I'm not going to argue the team doesn't look faster and all-around better than it has in years past, but I think the reason might lie beyond age and size. Cornell waiting until later to recruit guys is probably part of it.

You talk about the forwards, but there has also been a big change in our defense. We have a group of defensemen who, virtually all, have the ability to carry the puck up the ice and, if they feel they can make an offensive move, are not afraid to jump into the offensive action, including skating all the way to the goal line and the corners. None of that would have been as prominent 5 or 10 years ago.

Finally, as I posted on Adam's article:

"You also have to look at the fact that the class of 2015 never lived up to their billing. I'm sure that was also a reason to look at who they were recruiting."

BearLover

jeff '84

scoop85

Beeeej
The aforementioned Cornell feature on CHN:

[www.collegehockeynews.com]

One of the more interesting articles I’ve read in awhile. Nice work by Adam and his team!

What he said^ . Well done.

It's a nice and fascinating story. I do wonder, though, how well part of the premise is actually supported by the numbers. Cornell is tied for the second-tallest team in college this year, and it's winning a ton with a big freshman class whose average age (19.8) is essentially unchanged from the years cited in the article when Cornell was "younger." And the leading scorers on the team (Angello, Yates, Rauter, Mallott) are all pretty big. Vanderlaan being the exception, but Cornell has usually had a small top-scoring guy or two (Vesce, Topher, Gallagher, Roeszler, Mowrey). I'm not going to argue the team doesn't look faster and all-around better than it has in years past, but I think the reason might lie beyond age and size. Cornell waiting until later to recruit guys is probably part of it.

Excellent article.

These may be minor points, and perhaps they better belong on the mathematical models thread. But I'm putting them here because they have to do with the kind of statistics being presented to characterize teams and recruiting, rather than with predicting winners and losers.

1. I wish reporters and commentators would use median age, height, etc. to characterize teams, instead of using means. It's a well-known characteristic of means that one or two outliers (e.g., one 5' 6" player) can greatly affect the value of the mean. In contrast, the median just identifies a center point, and it's therefore sensitive to the overall distribution of the data but not sensitive to extreme values.

2. When reporting certain statistics, such as age, at the team level, how should we interpret them? Is a team "young" because its players all joined the team fresh out of high school, and therefore they all started playing college hockey at age 18 or younger. Or is a team "young" because it plays a disproportionate number of underclassmen?

There are a number of well established, rather simple ways to decompose such summary statistics into such components, such as the average ages of each class versus the number of players in each class, and this would be much more interesting than simply reporting a single overall statistic that could reflect multiple underlying realities.

USCHO's preview:

[www.uscho.com]