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Where Angels Fear To Tread - A Cornell Hockey Blog

The Penultimate Chapter

3/5/2013

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Cornell wrapped up the 2012-13 regular season at Yale's Ingalls Rink last Saturday.
Recounting what happened in men's ice hockey for Cornell last weekend almost seems like an exercise in futility. It does not seem that way because of a poor performance. Cornell's level of play remained fundamentally at the same level as it had been. It does not seem that way because of a loss to Yale. It does because this season past has served very poorly as prologue. At this point, all minds should be focused on the playoffs.

Nevertheless WAFT recounts below what happened over Cornell's last weekend of the 2012-13 regular season.

Cornell is a program, like all of those that have enjoyed success, with some pretensions. There is a healthy level of respect for most opponents that Cornell faces, but losses to some programs seem still a little more because of a latent air of superiority within the Cornell program. It is no surprise that Cornell could not abide long Brown's second-ever shutout of Cornell at Lynah Rink.

Cornell fileted the Bears much like it had RPI and Union the previous weekend with a concluding score of 4-1 that did not include an empty-net goal. Cornell could not solve Borelli when he braved Lynah, but it took freshman forward Christian Hilbrich just 8:33 to best the Brown netminder. After the Brown announcers on the broadcast referred to him as a "string bean," Hilbrich shot the puck past the much vaunted Brownie.

Dustin Mowrey tickled the twine by the end of the first frame. The first stanza ended with the Big Red up 2-0 on a very deflated Brown squad. The talking point from the no-grade-system Ivy has been that this Brown team is known for its resiliency. The Big Red braced for a resurgence in the second.

Two minutes into the second period Brown drew a power-play opportunity. Cornell showed glimpses of becoming too comfortable in its own zone, as it had during earlier season mishaps, but regained quickly the form that it has exhibited as of late. Cornell killed off the remainder of Brown's power play as well as the second awarded in the second half of the third with confident poise. The Bears did not tally on the power play during the game.

Erik Axell took a face-off during the closing minutes of the second period. Axell won the face-off, and senior captain and defensive defenseman Braden Birch collected the puck. Birch put the puck on net with a blast of a shot that beat Borelli cleanly. Cornell went back to its locker room up 3-0.

Brown scored within the first three minutes of the second period. Iles would allow no more. Cornell was momentarily deflated but after a line change regained absolute control of the game.

Cornell's offense was not done. The line of Ferlin, Lowry, and Miller was reassembled. It was that line that collected a Brown turnover and rushed down the ice on a two-on-one opportunity with Miller and Ferlin rushing in on Borelli. Miller connected with the pass and Ferlin converted.

Yale awaited. Colgate had taken Yale to overtime while Cornell was trouncing Brown. Yale won that contest.

Clashes between Cornell and Yale, and by extension Schafer and Allain, have become a key clash of the ECAC in recent seasons. The recent history between the two programs includes two meetings in the ECAC Championship Final within the last four years. Added to all of this is the fact that Cornell's rivalry with Harvard undermines Yale's myopic love affair with the Crimson. One can see how all echelons of society at Cornell and Yale have no love lost between them in the modern era.

The game began much like it ended. Cornell leapt to a good start. The Big Red challenged Malcolm and the Bulldogs who prefer high octane offense in their own zone. This continued for no more than two minutes. Then, Cornell's dominance eroded. Yale began corralling Cornell in its zone. Iles was called on to make key saves. Yale generated a significant number of shots while Cornell was hemmed in its own zone (a differential of 17 to 3 in favor of Yale at the close of the first period), but Iles was equal to the challenge as his defenders forced all shots from bad angles and pushed all traffic away from the point.

It was once Cornell regained Yale's zone that Yale converted. The Bulldogs showed how dangerous they are in transition. Yale forwards Agostino and Miller corralled the puck on a turnover and rushed down ice on a two-on-one chance. Iles committed to block the shot from Miller and he fed the pass across the crease to Agostino who slipped it behind Iles who could not shift laterally in time. Iles could have done no more.

Yale's dominance only increased. Until Cornell answered. It did not take long. Cornell's leading scorer Greg Miller, looking much the part that he did against Colgate earlier in the season, began a rush to the net that one could tell would end in a goal. He ripped a shot at Malcolm that bounced off the lower part of the goaltender's helmet. Miller nearly collected his own rebound to convert but momentum carried him to the right side of the crease. It was a surging Lowry who found the puck just outside the blue paint, elevated it, and put it just over Malcolm's right shoulder.

The Bulldogs were stunned with a Cornell's response in less than one minute and a half after the Bulldogs's first tally. It was the second time in two games that the reunited line of Ferlin, Lowry, and Miller converted on similar opportunities. The game became a stalemate. When one team did take momentary territorial or opportunistic advantage, it was Cornell.

Some creative shot counting elevated the total number of shots that the Elis tallied. Cornell outshot Yale in the second and third frames despite counting that generously counted any Yale opportunity as a shot. Over the last two periods, Cornell outshot Yale 20 shots to 12 shots.

It was an official's whistle, not extraordinary play from either team, that would break the deadlock. The call was borderline but a Cornell player does make slight contact with the ankle of Yale's Day. Day hurled himself into D'Agostino in an element of mid-game theatrics. The penalty was called on Cornell.

Yale scored with a scramble in front of Cornell's net and the Elis' Stu Wilson on Iles's doorstep six seconds after Cornell's penalty kill began. The goal would stand as the deciding tally.

Cornell rebounded from this disappointment as it has on the microscopic and macroscopic scale throughout this season. Yale would take just six more shots on Iles in the last frame. Two of them came on near breakaways, but Iles was equal to the task at hand each time reading the offensive threats perfectly and neutralizing them in his own unique way.

O'Brien who had called the first penalty on Cornell called the second as well. This time Cornell killed off the penalty allowing Yale to maintain no sustained presence in the Red's zone. Cornell would hit iron at least three times in the third, one of which was from a Lowry blast that clearly bested Malcolm.

Cornell appeared to have the equalizing tally with an empty net in Cornell's zone with just over ten seconds remaining in regulation. An early whistle from O'Brien waived off any consideration of whether Cornell had bested Malcolm yet again in a frantic late-game surge. An appreciable contingent of the Lynah Faithful at Ingalls Rink thought that the puck had crossed the line before the whistle.

Cornell won the resulting face-off, but the game was sealed. Cornell lost another game to Yale with by a one-goal margin.

Cornell finished the regular season on a hot streak. Anyone who allows the disappointment of one loss to influence disproportionately their expectations for the post-season should consider the rationality of such a choice. The only time that Cornell cannot afford a single loss in the coming weekends would be at the ECAC Championships in Atlantic City, NCAA Regionals, or the Frozen Four. The last weekend of the regular season at Ingalls Rink is a far cry from any of those stages.

Cornell has shown that it has regained the ability to score and win while demonstrating the killer instinct to go for the jugular when it knows that it can blow open a game. Cornell has played the best teams in the conference over the last two weekends and dominated them handedly throughout game play. The loss to Yale, as disappointing and bordering on nauseating as it may be, should not change one's outlook of the potential for Cornell's post-season success in the 2013 playoffs.

Cornell killed off 75% of penalties over the weekend. Cornell was penalized just four times during the games over the weekend (Lowry and Yale's Young were given ten-minute misconducts after the Yale game). Cornell put up four tallies against one of the best goaltenders in the nation. Iles registered a 0.951 save percentage over the weekend. Cornell's systems and efforts remained sound.

Some in sports subscribe to the forest-fire theory of losses: that it is better to have purging losses before a team must win to prolong its season. The loss to Yale may serve as such a purging loss. This weekend will tell. There are few reasons to believe that this team cannot go on a run into the playoffs. This team has shown that it can bring home Cornell's 13th ECAC Championship.
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The next chapter of Cornell's 2012-13 season will begin at Hobey Baker Rink on Friday.
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Good Evening, Hockey Fans - Week of March 6

3/5/2013

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Patty Kazmaier Top 10 Finalists
The most prestigious honor in women's hockey is the Patty Kazmaier award.  While Cornellians have been nominated, none has yet won.  This year, the top ten finalists includes four players from the University of Minnesota (defenseman Megan Bozek, forwards Hannah Brandt and Amanda Kessel, and goaltender Noora Raty), another two from the WCHA in North Dakota's Jocelyne Lamoureux and Wisconsin's Brianna Decker (the reigning Patty Kazmaier award winner), two Hockey East players that have faced Cornell in Boston College's Alex Carpenter and Northeastern's  Kendall Coyne as well as two players from the ECAC, Harvard's Jillian Dempsey, and most importantly, Cornell's own junior forward, Brianne Jenner. 

Jenner has been stellar for the Big Red this season, with 63 points, almost evenly split between goals and assists (32 and 31 respectively).  She also has tallied an impressive six power-play goals, one shorthanded goal, and seven game-winning goals, including the overtime winner on Friday and the game winner on Saturday with one second remaining.  As of now, Jenner has a career total of 171 points in 95 games played.

Thursday, March 7th the Patty Kazmaier Top 3 are announced and the award ceremony will take place Saturday, March 23 in Minneapolis, MN, in between the first and final sets of Frozen Four games.

All-Ivy Teams Announced
The Ivy League has announced its All-Ivy teams for women's ice hockey.  Brianne Jenner, Laurianne Rougeau, and Jillian Saulnier were all named to the First Team; Jessica Campbell, Lauren Slebodnick, and Laura Fortino were all named to the Second Team; Erin Barley-Maloney and Alyssa Gagliardi were both Honorable Mentions. 

Furthermore, Brianne Jenner was named the Ivy League Player of the Year.  This is the fourth time in a row that Cornell has had the Ivy League Player of the Year.  Last year Rebecca Johnston won player of the year, Laura Fortino won it in 2011, and Catherine White won in 2010.

ECAC Players of the Month
The ECAC has named its players of the week for this past week.  Brianne Jenner and Lauren Slebodnick were named Player and Goaltender of the Month respectively.  Jenner has had a fantastic month, with thirteen points over the span.  Lauren Slebodnick had a 6-1-1 record in February, with two shutouts (one of which was the lone tie) to earn Goaltender of the Month.  She gave up only seven goals in eight games.

RePack Lynah...again!
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Last weekend, Cornell women attempted to RePackLynah for their quarterfinal series against Colgate and drew almost 3,000 people to the weekend series.  This weekend, the women are hosting the ECAC semi-finals and championship game.  Cornell hosts SLU at 1pm on Saturday and Clarkson plays Harvard at 4pm.  The winners of the semi-finals will play on Sunday at 1:00 pm at Lynah.

Red Hot Hockey IV
Boston University and Cornell will once again host their biennial event known as Red Hot Hockey at the World's Most Famous Arena.  MSG, BU, and Cornell all have tickets available for the game which takes place November 30, 2013.

Vote For Hobey
Hobey Baker Fan Voting for the first round is almost up.  The first round of fan voting ends on March 10, so don't forget to vote for Hobey (D'Agostino, Iles, and/or Miller) on each device you have once a day!  #LGR
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Preview: Yale

3/2/2013

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15. Yale Bulldogs
Record:
14-10-3
Series Record:
79-58-5
Saturday, March 2

Last Meeting:

Friday, January 25, 2013
The last time that the Bulldogs and the Big Red met, Cornell lost a nationally televised and hotly contested game to the Elis in overtime at Lynah Rink. Cornell began the game very determined with impressive generation of offense. It took Cornell less than two minutes for sophomore forward Ferlin to best Eli goaltender Malcolm to put the Big Red ahead of the visitors from New Haven. Regulation would continue with each team exchanging goals until 60 minutes elapsed with the game knotted at 2-2. The most notable save of the game was not made by Iles for anyone who has had the opportunity to watch the broadcast from NBC Sports. Junior defenseman Gotovets lunged in front of a Bulldog blast from the point and blocked a shot that seemed bound to beat Iles as he was committed left when the puck was coming from the right. Cornell put extreme pressure on Yale and it seemed that McCarron cashed in on a dirty goal to win in overtime, but it was Yale that scored just under halfway through the bonus frame and upended a valiant effort from the Big Red.

This Season:
The Elis entered the season with the benefit of little expectations. Yale was a complete season removed from its trip to the NCAA Tournament as the overall first seed when the 2012-13 season began. An unceremonious exit at the hands of the Bulldogs's unreciprocated rival in the 2012 ECAC Quarterfinals in three games helped set the bar very low for Yale when the season began.

Yale began to turn heads the weekend that Cornell hosted Michigan at the inaugural Frozen Apple in New York City. The Connecticut-based Ivy ventured to the Mountain Timezone over that span. It returned home with victories over Colorado College and Denver. The college hockey world began to realize that this Yale squad was not one with which to trifle.

Yale is very talented and unquestionably is well coached. The Bulldogs nevertheless have registered only a 2-6-0 mark since they wrested a hard-fought victory from Cornell. Yale managed to sweep Princeton over that span, but recorded losses against Brown, Colgate, Quinnipiac, RPI, and Union. The Capital District swept Yale both home and away.

The less-than-stellar record cannot be considered in isolation. Allain, Yale's head coach, has emphasized the importance of goaltender Malcolm to the mental and tactical stability of this season's Bulldogs. Malcolm was injured against Princeton on February 1, 2013 when Princeton forward Ammon ran Malcolm. The Yale goaltender needed to leave the game.

Yale went on to defeat Princeton that evening, but they would not win again until the rematch between the Tigers and Bulldogs. The Elis went on a five-game losing skid during which the offensively minded team never tallied more than two goals and was shut out once. They surrendered four or six goals during that skid on all but one occasion.

The correlation between Malcolm's presence between the pipes and Yale's goal scoring seems counterintuitive, but it seems more than coincidental. It is apparent that he brings more to Yale than just reliable goaltending. Malcolm returned to Yale's lineup last Saturday against Princeton. Yale won 4-3.

Yale has maintained a respective power-play unit that opponents must respect even during Yale's most recent slump. Yale's power-play unit is ranked 15th in college hockey. The Bulldogs's penalty killing has suffered recently. Yale allows its opponents to convert on 18.3% of their power-play opportunities. Malcolm allowed opponents to score three or more goals on just five occasions in 19 games played before his injury. Malcolm in his first game back allowed Princeton to tally three goals. He recorded only a 0.850 in his first game back last weekend.

Keys to the Game:
The agony of this game may be having to battle back against a very solid Yale team that Cornell was on the verge of beating just weeks ago. Yale does most things very well. Cornell cannot count on Yale's goal-scoring drought to continue when the Big Red visits Ingalls Rinks. The return of Malcolm for the Bulldogs clearly has quantifiable and intangible effect upon this Yale team. Cornell will need to deliver an effort at least as good as it did against Yale at Lynah to improve the chances of Cornell leaving Ingalls with a win on Yale's senior night.

A slight defensive lapse for Cornell in overtime led to the opportunity that Yale converted to defeat Cornell in February. The good news? The Cornell team that left Dartmouth and Harvard with three points and swept RPI and Union last weekend has been playing with a soundness and confidence that had been lacking since Cornell's first game against RPI. Cornell is not afraid and it is apparent from the net to the front three.

Iles produced a respectable 0.912 save percentage against the Bulldogs in Cornell's last clash against the canine Ivy. Last weekend, Iles recorded a 0.956 save percentage over the weekend. The loss to Yale earlier in the season was not Iles's fault. However, as a reflection of how stellar his play was last weekend, had Iles registered the same save percentage against Yale as he did last weekend against the pair from the Capital District, Cornell would have defeated Yale 2-1 in regulation.

The offensive skills of Cornell cannot be overlooked. Two forwards last weekend had four or more points on the weekend. The skills of Miller and Ferlin likely will be key to enhancing Cornell's chances at leaving Ingalls with a victory. The recent offensive outburst has been a team effort. Seven different Cornell players have scored goals since the Big Red's win over Dartmouth.

The Big Red's offense has outplayed even among the most talented netminders in the league. Cornell has reduced goaltenders of its opponent to earning a save percentage of only 0.888 over the last four games while the goaltenders that Cornell has faced over that span enjoy an average save percentage over the season of 0.921. Malcolm's save percentage of 0.915 is below that of the average goaltender whom Cornell has confronted in the last four games and worse than both individual save percentages of Kasdorf and Grosenick from last weekend.

The most alarming deviation from previous weeks last weekend was the number of penalties called on Cornell. Yes, some of the penalties were frail. Cornell overcame the sometimes uneven officiating. However, it will be dangerous to allow Yale's power-play unit to take the ice too many times on Saturday. Yale's power-play unit is better than its national statistics, especially when its confidence likely will have returned with Malcolm behind the blue line. Discipline will be key against the Bulldogs.

Cornell's penalty killing will need to remain at the impressively high level that it has attained recently. Cornell killed off 90.9% of the power-play opportunities from which RPI and Union benefited last weekend. This team has killed off 80-85% of penalties that it has faced in recent weeks. It will need to do the same to keep a hungry Bulldog squad that wants victory on senior night at bay.

The keys to the game seem holistic. That is likely a product of the unpredictability of the effect of Malcolm's return on Yale as well as the convincing manner in which Cornell defeated RPI and Union last weekend. Cornell's chances are best if Iles can continue to maintain his heightened level of play while Cornell's forwards and offensively-minded defensemen continue to generate and convert with confidence their many opportunities.

Historical Dimensions:
Lynah and Ingalls Rinks are two of the venues whose fanbases that occupy them throughout the collegiate hockey season regard with almost sacred reverence. Lynah Rink with aura of history and the intimidation of the Faithful gives Cornell a decided home-ice advantage. Ingalls Rink has been home to Yale teams that have enjoyed a statistical advantage in winning in recent seasons when playing in front of the home crowd. The advantage of Cornell and Yale teams playing at home was not present when the buildings were in their nascence. Both Cornell and Yale lost to the first varsity-level program that they hosted at their respective venue. Cornell won the first collegiate game at Lynah against Lehigh Club while Yale lost the first collegiate game that the Bulldogs hosted at Ingalls 4-3 to Northeastern.

Let the video below serve as a travel advisory for those members of the Lynah Faithful who will travel to Ingalls Rink. The video is far from new, but it is too good not to share. It highlights the many things that are lacking with Yale (and Harvard for that matter).

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Preview: Brown

3/1/2013

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Brown Bears
Record: 10-11-6
Series Record: 69-43-5
Friday, March 1

Last Meeting:

Saturday, January 26
Anthony Borelli backstopped Brown to a 3-0 win at Lynah on Saturday, January 16 as Brown celebrated their first shutout of Cornell since 1991 at Meehan and their second-ever shutout at Lynah, the first being their first trip to Lynah in 1959.  For a bit of perspective, when Brown played at Cornell in 1959, it was prior to the existence of the ECAC.  Borelli had a stellar game, stopping 23 Cornell shots as his skaters had 30 shots on goal and converted on one of the seven power-play opportunities they were given.  Cornell was extremely penalized, including for discipline issues such as a too many men on the ice minor.  The final score was 3-0 Brown, in spite of Cornell's attempt to put as many shots as possible on Borelli.

This Season:
Brown has had an interesting season.  They shut out Cornell on the road for the first time in recent memory, and they also tied both games against Quinnipiac this season, in spite of Quinnipiac being the number one team in the conference.  This includes a 1-1 tie during Quinnipiac's unbeaten stretch as well as a 3-3 tie last weekend. Brown currently has 18 points, sitting in the last home-ice spot for the first round of the ECAC tournament.  They could finish with as many points as 22 or as few as 18.  That could mean being within reach of a first-round bye, or of losing home ice entirely and playing on the road.

Keys to the Game:
Solving Borelli is Cornell's main goal for the game against Brown.  In spite of what offense it put up last time, Borelli would not allow goals to pass.  However, he did allow three goals in during his last game, in spite of his 0.947 save percentage.  Brown can be beaten.  RPI and Union did it the weekend before last, with a 5-1 and 2-0 game respectively.  Borelli can be solved, and Brown can be scored on, whether on even strength or the power play.  Cornell is a dangerous team to play when it is on and last weekend has proven that even teams in the top of the conference need to watch out for the Big Red.

Brown is still at the bottom of the nation in terms of penalty minutes.  They take just over five penalties per game, compared to Cornell's eight and a half.  Cornell will need to be disciplined to avoid many power-play opportunities for Brown.  Though they killed off 10 of 11 power plays last weekend, tempting fate and taking too many penalties does not seem like a good idea against a Brown team wanting a win to put them at 0.500.

Historical Dimensions:
As mentioned in the previous Brown preview, Brown has not had a home-ice advantage in any of the past five seasons.  In fact, one would have to go back as far as the 2004-05 season to find a Brown team that hosted a playoff series.  In 2004-05, Brown hosted RPI, beating them in two games before traveling to Colgate to lose its next two games.  With Brown's precarious placing making it possible to finish with home ice, it would be the first time since the league was under its current composition for Brown to finish with a home-ice advantage. Additionally, the year before that, 2003-04, Brown had a first-round bye!  The last time Brown had home ice or a first-round bye, Vermont was still in the ECAC.  The travel partners were also all mixed up.  Vermont was travel partners with Dartmouth at the time.  Dartmouth's current travel partner, Harvard, was then travel partners with Brown.  Finally, Brown's current travel partner Yale, was travel partner's with Princeton, who had yet to be matched with its fellow feline travel partner.  Less than a decade ago, the ECAC looked different in more ways than one.  Brown had home-ice as well as a first-round bye in the last ten years and the travel partners looked very different for half the league.

Speaking of Brown, when watching Brown play Quinnipiac, one can hear that Brown has fans attend, especially when the Bears score.  For one of the better, but clearly not the best, band in the ECAC, this video exists.

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    Where Angels Fear to Tread is a blog dedicated to covering Cornell Big Red men's and women's ice hockey, two of the most storied programs in college hockey. WAFT endeavors to connect student-athletes, students, fans, and alumni to Cornell hockey and its proud traditions.

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