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Where Angels Fear To Tread - A Cornell Hockey Blog

Rivals from the First

11/28/2013

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A sight similar to this hosted the first installments of the Boston University-Cornell series.
Forgotten chapters of stories and lost books of volumes are often germinal to the legacy of the work to which they belong. The same can be said of the first installments of rivalries. There is something intuitive about recognizing that the first clashes between two eventually heated foes influence the trajectory of the dynamic of a rivalry. If it will become a rivalry of respect or animosity, or one of undifferentiated rage or ceremony are all questions that begin to find their answers in the first meetings of two programs.

Most members of the Lynah Faithful know that Cornell met Harvard in 1910 for the first time. Clashes between the Red and Crimson began to have elements of the spectacle that they are today in 1962. That rivalry struck a fever pitch in the 1972-73 season as fowl and fish found their way to the ice surface. Cornell's rivalry with Wisconsin began in 1970 when the Big Red eliminated the Badgers after they had received their first berth to the NCAA Tournament. The 1973 and 2006 installments of that series solidified the tone of the Cornell-Wisconsin series. As Red Hot Hockey IV looms on the horizon, this writer realized that few know the stories behind the first encounters of the two historic rivals of Eastern college hockey. These are those stories.

East Hill, nestled in Central New York, and not far from Ontario, proved fertile soil for the emergence of a great college hockey program. The Cornell Daily Sun reported that students as early as the 1890s had palpable interest in starting a hockey program for the University. It took several years and several near misses before Cornell finally began sponsorship of a collegiate hockey program for the 1900-01 season. Coach Smith led his icers to a perfect season over three contests. Cornell outscored its opponents three to one.

The banks of the Charles River waited nearly two decades more before Boston University began sponsoring a collegiate hockey program. Boston University began its first college hockey season with Coach Burkhardt leading the skaters of the University. The team that had not gained a mascot yet fell in its single contest of the season. The contest was played at the Boston Arena of the early 19th Century. The paths of the eventual rivals were set to collide.

Between the first contest that Cornell hockey played to its first meeting with Boston University, 25 years passed. Boston University waited a mere eight years to confront its historic New York-hosted foe. The series opener occurred in Boston University's fifth season. Boston University appeared on Cornell's schedule for the first time in the Big Red's 19th season.

Boston University and Cornell, two programs that would become synonymous with greatness in college hockey, experienced only mere punctuated success before the 1924-25 season. Cornell owned an all-time record of 40-42-3 before that season. Boston University fared worse with an all-time record of 3-17-0. Six and three coaches had led the programs of Cornell and Boston University respectively. Despite these obvious setbacks, Cornell compiled four perfect seasons including an undefeated and untied season for a national title in 1911.

Boston University and Cornell arranged to square off on the ice on January 10, 1925. It would be the first time that the two programs met in a semi-continuous series that is now nearly 90-years old. Legendary coach Nicky Bawlf led the Central New Yorkers against the Bostonians. It was Bawlf's fifth season for Cornell. His opponent on the other side of the ice would be George Gaw who was leading Boston University's icers in his first season.

Boston University's hockey program took only its second trip outside of New England when it swung through Clinton, NY and Ithaca, NY. Boston University possessed a 1-1-1 record before its road trip. The lone win was against Boston College. The meeting with Boston University was Cornell's first contest of the 1924-25 season.

Boston University had practiced for over a month on the artificial ice service at Boston Arena. Cornell relied upon the natural ice of Beebe Lake to practice. The weather on East Hill was not conducive to the Bawlfmen's practices. Cornell had been unable to get on the ice until the Monday before its game against Boston University. The roster of its team was not expected to be finalized until the afternoon after the game against Boston University.

The 1924-25 team for Cornell University returned only three players. Stainton led the team as captain while the other two veterans were Tilton and White. The other members of the team included former members of the freshman squads at Cornell. Benton, Boesche, Bubier, and Cook counted themselves among those ranks. Newcomers who were expected to become star forwards for Cornell were Aronson, Breckenridge, and Wright. Coach Bawlf was greeted with 50 potential players who wanted to represent the young university in Ithaca. He would retain most of them.

Boston University had made its potential known early in the 1924-25 season. Coach Bawlf was keenly aware of the quality of his first opponent in his fifth season. Bawlf highlighted two players in particular that had propelled Boston University to a 0.500 winning percentage before the weekend's contest. M. Kontoff and Martin were those players. The former served as a defenseman and captain. The latter was Boston University's goaltender, or as he was dubbed then "goal guard." Boston University had not recorded a winning season before the 1924-25 season, but most in the small community that was college hockey began to believe that was about to change.

Cornell's line-up for the first installment of what would become Red Hot Hockey included three veteran players and three sophomores. The Red skaters that would take the ice against the Terriers, a nickname that Boston University adopted a few years prior in 1922, were Bubier, Cook, and Tilton as forwards, Edminster and White as defensemen, and Stainton as the goaltender. Gaw of Boston University would put up Lawless, Scott, and J. Kontoff as forwards, M. Kontoff and Ling as defensemen, and Martin as the goaltender to respond to Bawlf's unknown talents. Nicky Bawlf, in a manner that predicted the eventual arc of Cornell hockey strategy, stated that Cornell's playing of a sound defensive game would allow his team a chance to defeat the Terriers.

Face-off was announced in The Cornell Daily Sun with much fanfare and emphasis. Cornell hosted Boston University at Beebe Lake at 3:00 pm on Saturday, January 10, 1925. Gaw's team was reeling from the previous night's 2-0 loss to Hamilton College. Boston University was motivated. Cornell was untested.

The action that throngs of Cornell students witnessed on Beebe Lake unfolded in the shadow of the yet unbuilt Balch Hall. Fans stood on the ice against the make-shift boards that rose a few inches reinforced with mounds of snow to hold them in place. The skaters of both universities dazzled the fans with their speed. Boston University penetrated Cornell's zone immediately after the opening face-off. As Bawlf predicted, sound netminding and defensive play allowed Cornell to return the rush.

Cook, for the Big Red, collected the puck in his end and maneuvered it between Boston University's captain and Ling. The Cornell forward split the defenders and had an open shot on Boston University's exposed netminder, Martin. Cook unleashed a shot and it found the back of the net at one end of the Beebe Lake rink. Cornell students who knew or had heard of previous eras of hockey greatness at Cornell applauded. It was a sophomore forward from Cornell who scored the first goal of the now-historic Boston University-Cornell series.

In an era when line changes had not become a part of the game, Nicky Bawlf found himself needing to make many substitutions to keep his less conditioned skaters fresh against the better conditioned Boston University squad. Bawlf would make 14 substitutions during the course of the game. Gaw would make only four such changes.

Cornell controlled the first third of the game. Boston University had difficulty generating considerable offense and the Big Red kept pace with the Terriers at the early stages. The game remained essentially even with Cornell's enjoyment of any slight advantage. The game changed abruptly.

Boston University took over. The Terriers would total seven goals after Cornell opened scoring in the contest and series. Boston University's Lawless and Scott bested Stainton in Cornell's net twice each. Both M. Kontoff and J. Kontoff added a goal. Ling would score a lone goal as well. The Big Red was unable to equal such an offensive outburst, but it was not entirely answerless.

One of the substitutions that Nicky Bawlf made paid dividends. Aronson was the first player to be substituted into the contest for Cornell. He was also the last. It was on Cornell's last substitution of the game that the sophomore skater impressed. Spectators witnessed the speed and agility of the smaller Aronson as he produced multiple chances in Boston University's end of Beebe Lake. The second goal for Cornell came from Aronson's swiftness. The sophomore provided a meek response, despite the spectacle of its form, to Boston University's seven-goal run.

Cornell fell 7-2 to Boston University on Beebe Lake in the first meeting between the programs. Cornell went on to lose three more contests that season while recording only one win. The opposite was true for Boston University. A successful program finally represented Boston University. The Terriers went on to earn a 7-4-1 record. It was the first winning season in the history of Boston University hockey.

The second meeting between Cornell and Boston University occurred just over a year later on January 23, 1926. After its first successful season, many in college hockey believed that Boston University would compete for a national title in the 1925-26 season. Dartmouth was expected to be Boston University's main competitor for a national title. Cornell, 14 years removed from its own national title run, had far more modest expectations before the 1925-26 season.

The Boston University-Cornell game in 1926 was not Cornell's first of the season. Cornell hosted and defeated Clarkson in a 2-1 affair. The Big Red traveled to play the Big Green of Dartmouth at Davis Rink earlier in January. The hopeful national champions in Hanover embarrassed Nicky Bawlf's skaters with a 12-1 victory for the home crowd. It was one week before Cornell would confront the Terriers, the other anticipated competitor for the national title, at Beebe Lake. The outlook seemed bleak.

The importance of the Boston University-Cornell contest became evident. Boston University could not risk a loss that could prove fatal to their national title hopes. Cornell wanted to make a statement on its lake after the Terriers inflicted the biggest loss that Cornell hockey had suffered in Ithaca in its quarter-century history.

Bawlf's preparation for the game indicated the weight that he gave the contest. A collection of graduated college hockey players who were regarded as all stars scrimmaged against Cornell just days before the tilt between Boston University and Cornell. That team included star players from programs such as Princeton.

The beginning of the second meeting between the Big Red and Terriers could not have been more unlike the end of the first contest. Cornell's captain, Tilton, a senior forward, collaborated with junior forward, Aronson, to keep consistent pressure in Boston University's zone for much of the first half of the contest. For much of the contest, it appeared as though it was Aronson and Tilton against Martin, Boston University's goaltender. The two Cornell forwards bested Boston University's defensemen with surprising ease, however the Terriers's netminder was more than equal to each challenge through almost the entirety of the game.

Cornell's defenseman Taylor and its netminder Nash had answers for the few challenges that the Terriers could muster. The game was Cornell's for the taking. The wool-clad spectators who watched on the Lake as Cornell battled Boston University must have imagined there was a 50-50 chance as to which Cornell skater would best Boston University's Martin for a victory. They were partially right.

The minutes of the game lingered. They passed nonetheless. Boston University could not solve Nash. Cornell could not solve Martin. Gaw managed to change the flow of the game in the second period. The head coach of the Beantown natives substituted Gregoire for Scott. The Terriers were energized immediately. The pace of the game hastened. Cornell continued to generate chances, but Boston University had clawed its way back into the game.

The third period arrived with neither team scoring. The game was back-and-forth. Cornell generated sustained pressure down low. A scramble of bodies and sticks in front of Boston University's cage and Martin resulted. The speedy Aronson was predictably part of the offensive effort. It was Aronson who blasted the puck into the back of the Terriers's net. Cornell had broken the deadlock. It had battled even with a bona fide national title contender and it had taken the lead.

A series scarcely can be a rivalry without its contentions and controversies.

The moment that Aronson deposited the puck into Boston University's net, the Terrier skaters and Coach Gaw protested and gesticulated wildly. Bawlf and his Cornell skaters believed it to be a good goal. The Boston University partisans demanded that the goal be disallowed. They claimed that Cornell's rush on Boston University's net was a result of an off-side pass. Cornell disagreed. Vehemently. The officials sided with Boston University in the most controversial call in Cornell hockey history at that point.

The game returned to a 0-0 mark. Aronson had scored with less than four minutes remaining in the contest. His efforts were for naught. Less than one minute after the contentious debate about Cornell's would-have-been goal, Boston University found an answer to Cornell's Nash.

Boston University's Gregoire collected the puck from behind the Terriers's net after Cornell apparently had found the back of it. He raced from his end of Beebe Lake toward the Cornell zone. As he reached the blue line along the boards, he unleashed a shot at Cornell's net. The puck off of his stick took an odd path, arced, and fell into Cornell's net. Approximately three minutes remained in the contest. Boston University took a one-goal lead. The goal, unlike that of Cornell, stood.

Time expired. Boston University won the contest. Boston University earned the first two victories in the series. Cornell felt that it had earned a split and was denied a marker that would have guaranteed the Big Red at least a tie against Boston University. Cornell would not soon forget the anger at a possibly deciding disallowed goal. This controversy made the animosity of the rivalry even more pitched. It was evident as the assemblage on Beebe Lake departed that the programs of Boston University and Cornell were destined to become heated and historic foes.

More than four decades would pass between the first two meetings of Boston University and Cornell, and the beginning of the modern series. Cornell may have fallen in the first two encounters on Beebe Lake, but it would go undefeated in the next 11 meetings with ten victories over that span. It is hard to believe that deep in the recesses of the institutional memories of Boston University and Cornell hockey that the controversy of that January 1926 game was not the germ of a heightened rivalry that biennially fills Madison Square Garden in college hockey's greatest single-game event.

The rivalry is a historic one, not just because nearly one-tenth of the installments of the series have decided championships, but because of its sustained passion. The first time that Boston University and Cornell faced off, three of the Original Six of the NHL had not been established. One of the three that had, the Boston Bruins, was not even two months old when the Big Red and the Terriers first battled on Beebe Lake. The series is an essential element of hockey culture in the United States.

When the Lynah Faithful and Terrier fans assemble at the newly renovated Madison Square Garden this November, it is easy for them to forget the humble origins of the series they are about to witness. They are the descendants of spectators huddled along mounds of snow on a frozen lake in Central New York to witness the rivalry's first installments. It began like the sport itself, on a natural frozen pond. It is appropriate to know the history of the rivalry in the 1960s and 1970s. It is important to reflect that a rivalry immortalized during its eras with Harkness and Kelley at Lynah Rink, Walter Brown Arena, and Boston Garden began with Bawlf and Gaw on Beebe Lake. The rivalry may grow and change, but it was a rivalry from the first.
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Red Hot Hockey at Madison Square Garden has become the largest single-game spectacle in college hockey.
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Preview: Niagara

11/26/2013

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Last Meeting:
The last time that the Purple Eagles of Niagara University braved Lynah Rink, they performed admirably. The visitors gave the home-standing Red nearly more than it could handle as Cornell used the game as an appropriate and trying tune-up before Red Hot Hockey III. Niagara dominated considerable amounts of the play during the game. In short, the Atlantic Hockey program made Cornell play its game. The Eagles proved to Cornell, a season before it was known to the college hockey world, that Niagara was a program with which to be reckoned. Niagara outshot Cornell at Lynah Rink in November 2011. The difference between victory and defeat that evening was Andy Iles who delivered a flawless game that made Cornell's lone third-period goal make the difference. The Purple Eagles would end the season with a 17-11-9 record. This total included a tie against Frozen Four-bound Union. Niagara ended the season in the Atlantic Hockey Championship Semifinal to RIT.

This Season:
Niagara had high hopes entering the season. The Purple Eagles were the deserving recipient of the first at-large bid for Atlantic Hockey. When they arrived in the national tournament, they did not disappoint. Niagara held perennially potent national contender North Dakota to two goals in the 2013 NCAA West Regional Semifinal. If there was a single star of that game, or that season, for the Purple Eagles, it was Carsen Chubak. Chubak nonetheless forewent his senior season and left the Niagara program. This early departure has left a tumultuous wake for Dave Burkholder's program.

Can the Purple Eagles replace Chubak? Had Chubak returned, he would have undoubtedly been in the conversation as a Hobey Baker candidate. But, his decision to leave renders these conversations counterfactual and makes what many assumed would be a second season of Niagara's dominance a period of readjustment for the Purple Eagles. Goaltending has been the downfall of Niagara this season.

Departed is a netminder with a 0.939 save percentage and a 1.91 goals-against average. What has risen in its place is a goaltending tandem that has combined for a 0.882 save percentage and a 3.81 goals-against average. The tandem of
Adrian Ignagni and Jackson Teichroeb has not been able to keep the Purple Eagles in the win column often this season. Niagara has defeated only Canisius, in a series split, and Army, in a series sweep.

The goaltending woes of Niagara are exacerbated by modest offensive production. Niagara averages nearly 0.5 fewer goals per game than it did last season when it went to the national tournament. This lower offensive explosiveness coupled with a 6.1% decrease in netminding efficiency has proven fatal. Five of Niagara's games have been decided by a two-goal margin. The remainder have been decided by much more. Only two of those contests have been in the Purple Eagles's favor.

The strength of the swarming Purple Eagles is that they provide a consistent attack. There is no line or set of players that produces the vast majority of goal-scoring opportunities for the Eagles. No one player has scored more than one game-winning tally. No skater that has played all 12 games for Niagara has scored fewer than four points. Additionally, no player has scored more than eight.

Niagara represents a sound Atlantic Hockey program. A program that will not dominate and dazzle you with one line of awe-inspiring talent, but one that is equally likely to strike on any shift and that opponents must respect throughout the entire course of a contest. Even Niagara's netminder Teichroeb has joined in on the balanced scoring with an assist on the season.

Isaac Kohls stood out in Niagara's contest against Michigan last weekend. He generated several scoring opportunities. Patrick Divjak also showed an ability to grapple with the talents of the Wolverines at fearsome Yost Ice Arena. Mirroring the breadth of scoring talent on Niagara in these fact is that neither player ranks as the Purple Eagles's most prolific scoring contributors. Those honors belong to Mike Conderman, Ryan Rashid, and Hugo Turcotte. Each has contributed eight points while the latter two have contributed four goals each.

What to Expect:
A team that is far better than its record. Niagara may look like a pushover on paper, but any spectator who thinks that Cornell will win easily has forgotten the lesson of November 2011. Niagara is a team enduring growing pains after the most successful season in its program's history. It will right the course. It most likely will do so with a great win. What Cornell must do is ensure that it does not give the Purple Eagles the win that they need.

Niagara is motivated after a 6-0 loss at Michigan. Anyone who watched the game realizes that Dave Burkholder's comment that the game was much more even than the score was exactly correct. Niagara generated sporadic pressure deep in Michigan's zone. The Purple Eagles set up several key plays that just missed the mark of conversion. After the first period, Niagara was outshooting the Wolverines on their home ice surface.

Niagara is a team that will come to fight and has the skill to make the Big Red pay. Cornell has been relying on the power play to fuel its offense. Half of Cornell's offense has been driven by its power-play unit. If the contest with Niagara remains close late, Cornell may need to rely on even-strength grit to down the Purple Eagles. Less than one-fifth of the goals that Niagara has allowed have been on its penalty kill.

It is worth noting that Niagara is the least high-scoring opponent that Cornell has faced to date. However, consider this: Niagara is tied currently with its 2013 NCAA West Regional Semifinal opponent, North Dakota. This should give Cornell pause. Niagara is a team that cannot be overlooked, as Coach Schafer and his team have stated.

Niagara is a solid team that is waiting to find balance. A staggering loss to Michigan may provide the impulse to find that equilibrium. Cornell should be ready for that possibility. The game will be waged in all phases. Cornell's power play should be more than sufficient to overcome Niagara's struggling penalty kill that ranks in the bottom five in the nation. However, Cornell should battle to find the back of the net whenever it can because if the Big Red fails to respect any line of the Purple Eagles, the visitors in purple could quickly make this contest a game and in quick fashion could take the advantage.

This game will be a hard-fought contest for both sides. Niagara is looking for a win desperately and winning at Lynah Rink could provide the type of emotional euphoria that Dave Burkholder knows can lift his team into a more successful season in Atlantic Hockey. Cornell needs to show that it is dedicated to the task at hand and the opponent atop the white board, and not looking ahead, because if they look beyond the purple and white, the Big Red will risk departing Lynah Rink in defeat.

Historical Note:
Cornell and Niagara are two of ten college hockey programs in New York State. The Purple Eagles of Niagara University are the youngest member of the fraternity that is the close-knit hockey community of the state of college hockey. Niagara began sponsoring college hockey at the NCAA Division I level in the second year of Coach Schafer's tenure, the 1996-97 season. The Purple Eagles made the leap to Division I after sponsoring a club hockey team previously. Despite the youth of Niagara's program, the Big Red of Cornell has met them 13 times on the ice. Cornell appeared on Niagara's schedule in the newcomer's second season at the Division I level. It took only two meetings before Niagara defeated Cornell in the third all-time contest between the programs. The disparity of history between the young Niagara program and the historic Cornell program is absent in the series. True, Cornell owns an overwhelming winning record of 11-2-0, but the games themselves have been astonishingly even. Eight of the 13 meetings have been decided by one goal.
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Preview: Brown & Yale

11/22/2013

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Last Meeting:
The Brown series fell in the midst of Cornell's two streaks last season. Brown was the third team to which the Big Red lost in the beginning of its seven-game skid. The Bears were in quick fashion the fourth team that Cornell bested in a five-game undefeated streak at the close of the regular season. Cornell won the second contest by a margin of four to one. Christian Hilbrich scored his first collegiate goal in the mum Meehan Auditorium. The Big Red accumulated three goals before the Bears even could answer, which they did early in the third. The game was an exercise in sheer domination of the Brown Bears from the initial face-off to the final handshake. It was a far cry from the way in which the Bears exerted their will over Cornell at Lynah Rink just over a month prior. The Bears finished the season as the only team to play in ECAC Hockey's first round of the playoff to make it to the league's championship weekend. Brown is slowly, but gradually, becoming a force with which to be reckoned in ECAC Hockey. Brown has appeared in two of the Conference's last four championship weekends. The only programs to appear in more are Cornell and Union. The Bears deserve and demand respect.



This Season:
Brown is a team whose role changes quickly during the transition from the regular season to the postseason. The Bears play spoiler during the regular season. They are talented enough to defeat any, and I say this with no sense of hyperbole, team, but rarely compile gaudy totals of wins. When the playoffs arrive, Brown becomes a reliable and bona fide contender for a Whitelaw Cup.

The Bears sit at 0.500. If Brendan Whittet's comments are any indication, he wants to break the aforesaid cycle and become a force during the regular season. Brown has taken early strides toward that goal. The lone loss that seems striking is against the Wildcats of New Hampshire. Even that loss after last weekend seems less striking. After a lackluster beginning to New Hampshire's season, the 'Cats are back in the black. The combined record of teams that have beaten the Brown Bears is 27-9-3.

That's not to mention that two of those losses came against teams that rank in the top six nationally in terms of winning percentage. Still think these are the Brown Bears of old? Those same teams that defeated Brown also toppled Cornell. Clarkson and Quinnipiac downed Brown with margins identical to those by which the Golden Knights and Bobcats trounced Cornell.

Unease comes with uncertainty. Even though Brown cannot be discounted for its losses, very little can be gleaned from its wins. One win for the Bears came against still winless Dartmouth. While Brown's losses came against teams that win regularly, its wins come against teams that have combined for a modest 6-16-2 record.

The one reasonable barometer for adjudging the level at which Brown is executing is its victory against Yale. The win opened the season. However, that 4-1 Brown win was against Yale's now-starting netminder and sent a message. Furthermore, the Saints of St. Lawrence who had grown to expect four goals per game were held to three by the might of Brown.

Despite that successful note, Whittet has mentioned that his defensive corps has not jelled as quickly as he would like. Brown has suffered some injuries throughout their line-up and in some of their more recent contests have been forced to dress injured players to keep a standard bench in tact. Among the injured players were Joey de Concilys, Ryan Jacobson, Nick Lappin, and Brandon Pfeil.

Last season Matt Lorito and Mark Naclerio made it known that they were skilled enough to dissect any team in ECAC Hockey. Nick Lappin was not far behind. The three predictably are the most potent offensive threat on Brown's squad. They have contributed 52.2% of Brown's offense this season.

Despite this lopsided statistic, Brown presents a united front and a team-first mentality. Consider that of the players who have played in all seven contests that only four have not registered a point this season. In seven games, ten different scorers have found the back of the net.

Defense is the forte of Whittet-led teams. It has been difficult for the Bears to find a replacement for Anthony Borelli. Brown averages allowing nearly three goals per game. Paradoxically, it is Brown's netminder, Tyler Steel, a freshman, with a save percentage of 0.895 has recorded two of Brown's three victories as well as the tie against St. Lawrence. Whittet has been following a rigid platoon of Marco DeFillippo on Friday and Tyler Steel on Saturday. DeFillippo did see action on a mid-week tilt against New Hampshire over a week ago.

Brown's special teams are a weak point in their season. The Bears rank in the bottom ten and bottom 15 in the nation in terms of penalty killing and power play respectively. The Bears surrender few opportunities when on even strength and are coalescing quickly around the defensive mindset and style that led them to the 2013 ECAC Hockey Championship Final.

What to Expect:
A defensive battle is what should be on tap for Brown and Cornell on Friday evening. Both Whittet and Schafer prefer closely contested and sound games, and that is what both likely will get. Brown has been scoring at a higher average rate than has Cornell, but the disproportionate contribution of three players on Brown's squad should allow Cornell to shut down most of the Bears's offensive threats. Cornell has shown that it consistently can shut down teams that rely on one, two, or three players for most of their offense, like it did against the Brothers Carey last weekend, and the Big Red should be able to do the same against the Bears.

Assuming that Whittet maintains his rigid Friday/Saturday rotation, Cornell will face DeFillippo. DeFillippo is the statistically more threatening of Brown's netminders who have seen action this season. DeFillippo has won only one contest, but he has not won a contest since Brown downed Yale in the Liberty Invitational to open Brown's season. DeFillippo has not proven that he is a winning goaltender, but he has proven that he is a skilled and reliable one. If his team delivers a sound effort in front of him in both zones, Andy Iles will need to be his usual self in net to give Cornell a chance to win.

Brown has not won a contest in which it has scored fewer than four goals. This should give Cornell and Iles the breathing room to win the contest. Every opponent that Brown has faced after its first contest has scored at least three goals. Cornell should be no different.

If the game trends toward a high-scoring affair, expect a Cornell victory. Cornell can keep pace with most teams in the nation if given the defensive lapses that provide it with ample opportunity. If the game remains low scoring, especially if Brown clings to a lead late, expect the balance of the game to favor the visitors especially with Whittet expecting all of his injured players back for this contest and after a week of rest.

Cornell should jump on Brown early while over a week without playing is still heavy in its players's legs. The Big Red's first priority should be to break the dam and keep Cornell's high rate of scoring from last weekend rolling. If the Big Red can achieve that goal, even a team as sound in defense and discipline as Brown, will fall.
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Last Meeting:
What Cornell was to RPI's streak at the end of the regular season, Yale was to Cornell's rousing regular-season-ending streak. The Bulldogs marred Cornell's triumphant run to the playoffs. Cornell snapped its losing streak and proceeded to establish a five-game unbeaten streak. Yale ended that streak. Both contests with Yale last season were one-goal affairs. Both seemed like they were decided in overtime. Only the second contest was. At Lynah Rink, John McCarron appeared to score an overtime goal that would have down the Elis. It was disallowed. Then, late in the second meeting of the Ivy-League foes, it was John McCarron again who appeared to score a tying goal. It was disallowed. The contests were excruciatingly close. Joel Lowry's fast-paced goal was Cornell's lone marker in a 2-1 contest at Ingalls Rink. Lowry collected a rebound in front of Malcolm, a goaltender who would seem indomitable in April, and deposited the puck into the back of the net with seeming ease. The quick response of Lowry to Yale's first goal silenced The Whale. A power-play goal spoiled Cornell's chance to extend its unbeaten streak to six games. Cornell had the opportunities to win both games and proved more than talented enough. Oh, yeah, I am pretty sure Yale went on to do something else later in the season.

This Season:
Yale neither lost the number of seniors to graduation that Quinnipiac did nor suffered the emotional blow of losing players early to the ranks of lower professional leagues that Union did, but graduation took its toll. Antoine Laganiere, Jeff Malcolm, and Andrew Miller graduated. Keith Allain has made it apparent that he expects his Yale program not to suffer rebuilding years. The new players that he has brought in to replace the vanguard of the most successful team in the more than one century of Yale hockey seems up to the task.

Frank DiChiara was a highly touted teammate of Eric Freschi on the Dubuque Fighting Saints. DiChiara chose to wear the number of soon-to-be-legendary Yale captain Andrew Miller. Apparently, the luck of 17 for Yale is slow acting and the highly touted freshman is only the second-highest point producing player on the squad. This is not to discount DiChiara. Mike Doherty, the other freshman, outpaces DiChiara by one point. Both have contributed goals.

The depths of Yale's offensive weapons is what is most dreadful for opponents. No player for the Elis has tallied more than four goals. Eight players for the Elis have scored two goals or more on the young season. Consider this fact, potent forward and clutch goal scorer against Cornell, Stu Wilson, ranks a mere fifth in point production. Yale's captain, Jesse Root, who sent his Bulldogs to his hometown for the Frozen Four last season, leads the Yale Blue goal scoring while Anthony Day leads the team in points produced.

Kenny Agostino made headlines in the offseason when he stated emphatically that he was going back to Yale. Not to defend the national title, a semantic choice that Keith Allain has grown to despise, but to win another championship for Yale. Agostino returned to New Haven for his senior season. He deserve great credit for that for embodying what the real principles of a student-athlete. Agostino was expected to lead Yale in scoring this season after he finished second only to Andrew Miller in his junior campaign. Kenny Agostino has not met those expectations. He has played in all contests for Yale, but has notched only five points and scored but one goal. He ranks six in terms of points produced and is far off-pace of his 1.11 points per game performance of last season.

Keith Allain has not been satisfied with the performance of his special-teams units. He has made that clear. His power-play unit finally clicked against Sacred Heart last weekend. Yale's power play contributed two goals of Yale's five goal total. The penalty kill of the Bulldogs surrendered one power-play goal to a Sacred Heart squad with a power play ranked barely in the top half of the nation. The power play of Yale ranks behind that of Sacred Heart at 30th in the nation in terms of conversion rate. Yale's penalty kill is among the ten worst in the nation.

Yale has not scored fewer than three goals since Brown held it to one in the Bulldogs's first outing of the season. Oh, yeah, the Bulldogs have not lost since that contest either. Yale has notched wins against Clarkson, Princeton, Quinnipiac, and Sacred Heart since then. Greg Carvel's Saints spoiled Yale's literal banner night with making the Elis settle for a tie.

This is a Keith Allain team. Yale tries to run a high-paced game with a wider open system. The transition game is what fuels Allain's successful teams. High shot totals are what Allain expects. This season's Yale squad averages 32.71 shots per game. A total that places it in the top 15 in the nation.

Has the void of Jeff Malcolm been filled? Alex Lyon had a shaky start against Brown. His performance was far from mediocre. Lyon registered a 0.900 save percentage in his first collegiate start. He turned away 48 shots as the Bulldogs battled Quinnipiac to a tie much more recently. There should be no doubt that Lyon is ready to be a starter for Yale.


What to Expect:
Yale is Yale. The meaning of this statement has changed drastically since Keith Allain took over duties behind the bench at Ingalls Rink in 2006. The Bulldogs, like Union, have proven that they are consistently a force to be reckoned with in college hockey. Their up-tempo style wears down unconditioned and undisciplined teams. Speed is the cache of their success. Allain-coached teams leap on mistakes and spring out on transitions to unleash a flurry of well-positioned, strategic shots. That is the exactly what Yale will try to execute at Lynah Rink on Saturday evening.

Well, Yale has not seemed very Yale-y (not to be confused with Yalie). The overall size and weight of the Bulldogs squad has increased from seasons past. The speed of the team has appeared to lessen. Yale still plays like it is the fastest transition team in the league, or the nation, but it does not currently hold that title.

Yale continues to pinch and commit players to the offensive zone, thinking that it will be able to neutralize any odd-man rushes with its speed and discipline, but it is unable to keep pace. The St. Lawrence contest is a model that Cornell could follow to topple the Bulldogs. The Saints converted twice on break-out  plays against a speed-first Yale team. The success of the Saints came on a night when Yale wanted to lose least in the regular season. St. Lawrence was a team no faster than Cornell last weekend on the Saints's home ice.  Pouncing on transition opportunities is the readiest way for Cornell to exploit Yale's early season Achilles heel.

Cornell will need to respect Yale's speed. However, the speed of these Elis is far from fearsome. Coach Syer mentioned that a quick decision-making and smooth execution are the desired hallmarks of this season. Perhaps unexpectedly, it is against Yale that these tenets can be best put to use.

It is not often that an Allain-led squad gives Cornell a dagger to plunge into its heart, but that is what appears to have happened at this early stage. Cornell's power-play unit is the most efficient at converting on opponents in the nation. Yale's penalty kill is in the bottom ten in the nation. If Cornell clicks on the power play, it will be a long evening for the Elis. If Cornell fails to carry its power-play rhythm back from the North Country, a contest that could be lopsided narrows considerably and begins to gain a blue tincture. Special teams easily could decide the result.
Historical Note:
Last season, Cornell mounted a dominant effort against Yale on Friday evening in a nationally televised game. Cornell nearly won the contest against the eventual national champion. The next evening, when the Big Red squared off against Brown, Cornell fell flat. The game would become the third loss in a streak that would extend to a now-infamous length. It was the manner in which Anthony Borelli and Brown left no question that they would shut out Cornell through much of the contest that left an impression on most attendants at Lynah Rink that evening. It was a historic event. Brown had shut out Cornell only four other times in a series that was in its 54th year. Ned Harkness suffered a shutout in his first season. He would suffer no others to Brown. Mike Schafer earned his first shut-out loss to Brown last season. One might view it as a rite of passage.  It was only the second time that the Bears of Brown shut out the Big Red of Cornell at Lynah Rink. The first came in the second-ever meeting of the Ivy-League foes in March 1959. Never has Cornell suffered two consecutive shut-out losses to Brown at Lynah Rink in the history of the series. This Cornell squad will look to defend that streak when it plays Brown in the 119th meeting of the programs.
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#gotbanners: November 21, 2013

11/21/2013

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A midseason meeting with the defending national champion provided a barometer of measuring Cornell's elevated potential.
WAFT begins a new feature this season. Each Thursday, WAFT will direct our readers's attention to the winning traditions of Cornell hockey with a feature piece that focuses on a tournament championship that the Big Red has won. These pieces will focus upon the story of the entire season that resulted in Cornell's ultimate success. WAFT will try to feature a championship season whose tenor resembles the tone of a given week in Cornell hockey.

Click the image above to be directed to this week's highlighted championship season.

Histories of Cornell's tournament championships are available at any time by clicking the "Traditions of Greatness" tab atop this page on the navigation bar as well as by clicking the "Champions" banner in the sidebar of this page.
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Flash in the Pan or Sparking Dominance

11/19/2013

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A poignant, but painful, reminder of how quickly winning efforts can be for naught with a few mistakes.
The journey to the North Country is always a revelatory one. Great seasons are distinguished there. The most recent seasons of carnelian-and-white dominance in 2003, 2005, and 2010 set themselves apart during their trips to Cheel and Appleton Arenas. The North Country trip in the 2002-03 and 2004-05 seasons witnessed Cornell's most recent sweeps at Cheel and Appleton. The 2009-10 season was when Cornell managed a win at Cheel and a tie at Appleton for three points out of the North Country despite the team's suffering from Pizza Hut-induced illness. It was one of Cornell's two three-point weekends from the Clarkson-and-St. Lawrence roadtrip since the Big Red's last sweep in the 2004-05 season. The other occurred in the 2011-12 season. What is apparent is that the way teams fare in the North Country is a crude barometer of the heights they reach later in the season.

This writer predicted that it would be apparent early during Friday's game if Coach Schafer managed to get through to his players after often hapless efforts in the Capital District. I stand by that prediction. Ben Sexton from Clarkson put the puck in the net for the Golden Knights a mere 45 seconds into the opening frame. The message was not sent; or at the very least, it was not received.

Andy Iles was called on many times in the first period to make spectacular saves to keep Clarkson's lead to one goal after letting one slip by early. Cornell escaped the first period, but it was Clarkson that was still buzzing. Shots on goal are not always a barometer of the flow of play, but the seven-to-two differential in favor of Clarkson captured the apparent angle of the ice.

Cornell came out and looked slightly better in the second period. However, it was the Big Red that would allow again the first goal of that frame. Just over five minutes into the frame, Allan McPherson (remember that name), gave Clarkson a two-goal lead. It was at that moment that Cornell appeared to wake up and realize that it was in a position to lose this game. It was in a position to suffer a zero-point weekend. It was at that moment that Cornell began to play well. The switch flipped after 25:09 had expired.

Clarkson was caught in its own end for long segments of time and the Golden Knights began to have difficulty penetrating the neutral zone. Cornell's chances were not great, but line changes began to become a challenge for Clarkson as it was often caught in its own end. Clarkson needed to resort to icing the puck to gain a respite several times in the second and third periods. It took only five and a half minutes before Cornell struck.

Clarkson was whistled for a penalty at 9:54 of the second period. Casey Jones's Golden Knights shut down Cornell on its first power-play chance. The best power-play unit in the nation looked impotent against the penalty killing of Clarkson on Cornell's first chance. It changed when Dustin Mowrey unleashed a shot from near the point that John McCarron muscled past Clarkson's Greg Lewis down low to begin Cornell's rally.

Casey Jones must be a strict adherent to the principles of Schafer because when the third period began, it was apparent that Clarkson was content to defend its 2-1 advantage. Cornell did not take its foot off the accelerator. Clarkson needed to rely upon delaying tactics to catch its collective breath. The first five minutes of the third period saw Cornell squander another power-play opportunity to even the score. It would not be its last of the period.

The opening for Cornell came at the 12:09 mark of the third period. Cornell wasted no time. Cornell rushed back into the zone. Lowry, for a point on his birthday, and Ryan connected with Ferlin to knot the game. It seemed that Cornell was headed for a guaranteed point. A victory seemed likely. The pressure that Cornell maintained made it seem that a regulation victory was within ready reach.

Clarkson of course began to fight back, but it was Cornell that still controlled the game. In the final 7:23 after Cornell tallied the tying goal, Clarkson mounted only two threatening rushes. The second proved fatal.

The Golden Knights got deep pressure against Iles and forced Cornell on its heels. A scrum in front of the net led to at least three shots from the Golden Knights. Cornell assembled in front of the net, screening Iles, but never finding the clearing shot to arrest the onslaught. Unchallenged, Allan McPherson (remember him?) shot, collected his own rebound, and found an empty third of the net with Iles committed to the right post. Cornell challenged admirably in the last 37 seconds. However, sluggish play and a momentary lapse had done all the damage that was necessary to give Clarkson the victory.

Cornell delivered a high-end and disciplined effort for 34:14 minutes of a 60-minute contest against Clarkson. This included rallying against a stalwart defense and top-end goaltender. The promise is apparent, but the lack of consistency and the drop-off in efficacy when Cornell is not clicking on all cylinders proves ominous. Schafer stated that a lack of fire and implied apathy was why Cornell could not close out Clarkson and why the Big Red has delivered less than complete efforts against Quinnipiac, RPI, and Union before it. In a post-game interview, Schafer stated it was on him to get the team ready to compete the next evening.

Where Coach Schafer appeared to have failed the week before, he seemed to have struck the right chord the evening between the Clarkson and St. Lawrence contests. Both Cornell and St. Lawrence needed a win desperately. Cornell was winless in four outings. St. Lawrence had fallen in its first contest in weeks at proud Appleton.

Cornell made sure early to control the pace of the game. The Big Red would not spot St. Lawrence a lead like it had Clarkson. It was Cornell's power play, a unit that would become the top-ranked power-play unit in the country before weekend's end, that gave Cornell a lead that it would not relinquish. St. Lawrence took to killing a penalty at 4:21 of the first period.

The Saints got a few clears and challenged Cornell foolishly deep in the Red's end. Cornell did not have much zone time, but once it set up in the Saints's end. It was mere moments later that Ryan and Ferlin connected with Lowry to give the lattermost his birthday goal a day late.

St. Lawrence's power play evened the goal as one of the Brothers Carey bested Andy Iles on the power play. Greg Carey, a Hobey Baker Award hopeful, according to some, taunted The Captain from Cornell as the elder McCarron left the penalty box. Unwise choice. The Captain appeared driven by fire. John McCarron assisted on Joel Lowry's second goal of the contest. Lowry's blast was from the right face-off circle and beat Weninger glove side.

Cornell's strike was again on the power play. The game was even for a brief 44 seconds. The Saints got the message. Dustin Mowrey contributed a second assist on Brian Ferlin's first goal of the contest. Ferlin corralled passes from his teammates on a bad turnover from the Saints. Ferlin put it in the back of the net. Greg Carvel switched his netminder.

John McCarron gave Tyler Parks, the back-up netminder, a warm welcome to the contest less than four minutes later. The three-goal, 4-1 lead at the close of the first period proved insurmountable for the Saints. What happened next was disappointing. Cornell took its foot off the gas.

Predictably, the defense saw Cornell's attempt to retreat into a defensive shell and dare St. Lawrence to make it a game again. Cornell at its best does this with uncanny ease. However, at one moment, Cornell was far from at its best.

Sloppy stick-handling from Cornell defensemen in front of Iles led to a horrible turnover down low that put Sean McGovern of St. Lawrence on Iles's doorstep. With little space or time in which to navigate, McGovern bested Iles for his first collegiate goal. The goal was a quick reminder for this Cornell team how quickly even a minor mistake can ruin a solid effort.

Ferlin would tally a second goal of the evening that put the game in the win column even though 1:53 remained in the contest. The final margin of victory was 5-2. The take-away messages from both contests are the same despite the differing results.

When this team plays with fire and intensity, its efforts are enough to take down the most talented teams in the nation and in ECAC Hockey. When this team even allows a slip of discipline or encroachment of apathy into its game, the level of the team plummets to a level uncharacteristic of even poor Cornell teams allowing opponents to convert in record time. No effort will be perfect, but the trend this season is that when Cornell errs, it errs with conviction. These errors have been almost team-wide and systemic collapses, rather than individual collapses, that allow for easy goals like the last goals allowed against Clarkson and St. Lawrence over the weekend.

Coach Schafer was concerned with lack of "fire" after the game against Clarkson. It came back against St. Lawrence. However, the question remains how long will the fire remain stoked? Moments of malaise plague the team and seem capable of downing even its best efforts. The margin of error with this Cornell team is smaller than it has been with most.

Recognition is in order for some of Cornell's most talented players who showed up in a huge way on Saturday. Brian Ferlin, Joel Lowry, and Dustin Mowrey had three-point efforts against St. Lawrence. The Captain did his part with two points. Eight Cornellians recorded points also including Kubiak, MacDonald, Ryan, and Willcox. A balanced attack downed the Saints.

While the return efforts of some that have been sorely missed over the four-game winless drought, players like Dustin Mowrey and Joakim Ryan have contributed mightily, even in ties and losses. Armand de Swardt had a great game against Clarkson on Friday night. De Swardt generated zone time and even challenged on a few key scoring opportunities.

Clarkson and St. Lawrence had few high-quality scoring chances. Most opportunities were from the outside and up the ice. The exceptions in the first contest were the first and last Clarkson goal while in the second contest it was St. Lawrence's second tally. However, this all is generally reassuring.

The four-goal total in one period for Cornell was the most a Cornell team has scored in one period since Cornell scored four goals against Clarkson at Lynah Rink in January 2010. The most memorable recent game in which Cornell scored four goals in one period occurred in November 2009 when the Big Red rallied to dominate the Crimson at Lynah Rink. The feat should be neither over- nor under-stated. If Cornell continues to play with passion, then it is a great benchmark of what can be. If Cornell dapples in indifference, then it will become a painful remainder each time it falters of what could have been.

Cornell returns to Lynah Rink bringing with it the most lethal power-play unit in the nation. The Big Red have left unanswered if it is among the best in the nation. It is a wide-open question. Cornell has shown glimmers of greatness, but until it can produce sustained success this season it is not sufficient to take solace in popular perceptions informed by the long historical coattails of Cornell hockey.

As Cornell's trip through the North Country comes to a close, this season's Cornell hockey program should heed the advice of legendary St. Lawrence coach Joe Marsh. Marsh stated that "tradition is not something you really can rely on. It is something that you have to build on." This Cornell teams needs to build off of this weekend. It is then that it can begin to worry if it can add to the proud tradition of Cornell hockey.

This Cornell team has had moments of greatness already, but only sustained success can prove it is a truly great team.
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Preview: Clarkson & St. Lawrence

11/15/2013

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Last Meeting:
Cornell's last trip through the North Country is one that the Big Red wishes that it could forget. Clarkson was Cornell's opponent on the back half of the trip last season. The Big Red suffered a disappointing loss to the Saints the previous evening. All things seemed right when Joakim Ryan put Cornell on the board with less than a minute expired. All was right in the world. At 18:08 of the first period, with Cornell still nursing a 1-0 lead, Cornell was assessed a five-minute major. Casey Jones's Golden Knights made Cornell pay. The Golden Knights scored three power-play goals on the resulting major. Cornell went from what seemed like an all but guaranteed victory to the depths of despair. Cornell clawed back to a 4-3 margin by the time that the second period expired, but despite a Herculean effort, the damage was done. Clarkson expanded the lead to 6-3 as Cornell pressed to re-zero the contest. As if such a disseminating and deflating loss was not sufficient, Cornell lost work-horse defenseman extraordinaire Kirill Gotovets to injury on an unpenalized hit. Gotovets would be out until last season's playoffs.


This Season:
Clarkson opened its season as early as it could. The first foes of the Golden Knights were the Purple Eagles of Niagara, a 2013 NCAA Tournament team. Clarkson downed  Niagara by a combined margin of four to one.

The 2013 Ice Breaker Tournament is where the Golden Knights fell next. New Hampshire was expected to be a major national contender this season. The 'Cats dominated Casey Jones' squad at Mariucci Arena. New Hampshire had the game well in hand with four even-strength goals to slay the Golden Knights. Two things detract from the quality  of this loss: New Hampshire would continue down a winless skid for its next six contests and it was the first game of the season for the Wildcats.

Clarkson returned to its winning ways of old against Mercyhurst. A win and a tie against RIT began a three-game winning streak for Casey Jones and his Golden Knights. That streak included the program's first-ever win and sweep of Colorado College. The emotional high continued as the Golden Knights beat Brown, just to fall to the defending national champion.

Clarkson committed too many penalties. Yale's power-play was the difference. The Bulldogs scored two power-play goals to generate the margin of victory excluding Yale's empty-net tally to put the game formally out-of-reach. The next weekend Clarkson took two points out of a winless and tieless Dartmouth team. Clarkson prepared for this weekend with another one-goal affair and win at Bright Hockey Center.

Seven of Clarkson's 12 games have been decided by one goal or less. The Golden Knights have won six of the contests. The other result was a tie. Casey Jones has made the Golden Knights comfortable in a controlled duel of a contest where one break decides the outcome.

Goaltending was Clarkson's looming question mark last season. How could the Golden Knights replace Paul Karpowich? The answer was that they really could not. The result was obvious. Clarkson allowed over three goals per game and permitted opposing teams to converted on nearly 15% of their shots.

All that has changed. A tenet of this Casey Jones squad is holding opponents below 25 shots per game. His Knights have done well in reaching this goal as opponents average just 26.6 shots per game against Clarkson. Clarkson's defense is much improved. The improvement in Clarkson's netminding was inevitable. Sophomore Greg Lewis and freshman Steve Perry nearly have split time.

The two netminders have save percentages at or just above 0.925 while allowing just 1.86 and 1.94 goals-against per game for Lewis and Perry respectfully. This pace keeps Clarkson's tandem in the top 20 of the nation in both categories.

Clarkson's special teams have produced respectable, but modest numbers. It is the combined talents of its skilled players on even strength that have slain most opponents. No players on the team produce one point per game. However, ten talents on the team have scored at least five points in ten to 12 outings. Ben Sexton, Allan McPherson, Paul Geiger, and Pat Meganetty are the top four scorers. Do not ignore the fifth-most prolific scorer for Clarkson. The top four cannot be overlooked, but Joe Zarbo is a potent threat farther down the columns of the statistic sheets. He has made two of his four goals on the season stand as the difference maker. These players are talented and committed to playing responsibily at both ends of the ice. Oh yeah, do not forget that their playing with the motivation that only being chosen to finish last in one's conference can give.

What to Expect:
Cornell closed last weekend with a loss in a contest that could be described as Cornell vs. Cornell. The Big Red will open this weekend with a similar contest. Clarkson, Cornell, and Union play a tight defensive scheme that limits opportunities, makes penetration of the neutral zone difficult, punishes the opposition with physical play, and waits patiently for precious few opportunities to open, then pounces. This is Cornell's chance at redemption in an encore of a similar contest.

The game should be tight. The scoring opportunities few. Casey Jones has stated already that it would be very unwise for his team to put his alma mater's team on the power play. Cornell needs to prove that Jones's Cornell degree was not for naught.

Finishing will be the name of the game. Cornell semi-regularly got down low on RPI and Union. Some of Cornell's most skilled forwards managed to cut deep into the opposition's zone on several occasions, but could not convert. That will need to end if Cornell has any hope of leaving Cheel Arena with a victory. Cornell will get chances, they will be few, and the yoke of propelling the team likely will need to fall on the shoulders of Cornell's most touted forwards to put it in the back of the net after less-than-stellar, zero-point weekends.

Cornell will need to avoid any implosions like the major penalties from last season that turned an all-but-guaranteed weekend sweep into a weekend of getting swept.

Special teams is where Cornell will crack an opening or expand a lead, but it will not be sufficient in downing Clarkson. Cornell's power play will need to return to its highly productive form of the season's first five games. And Cornell's forwards will need to be better on even strength than they were last weekend.

This game will be a grinding slug fest between the master and his one-time apprentice. It will be obvious early if Coach Schafer's comments after the Union contest were a fleeting veneer or real passion. If a real message was sent in a vintage Schaferian fashion, Cornell will impose its will early.
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Last Meeting:
There was an eerie resemblance between Cornell's two contests in the North Country last season. In many ways, the contests were mirror images of one another. The way the contest against the Saints ended, the clash against Clarkson began. St. Lawrence knotted the game early in the third period. Cornell did not yield the flow of play. Cornell had the better of chances and it was the Big Red that seemed, even to partisan broadcasters in Canton, NY, it was inevitable that Cornell would win. Cornell was on the verge of snapping its losing streak at three consecutive losses. The fates had other things in mind. The Saints were given the opportunity to capitalize on a Cornell penalty with a five-minute major. Barely more than five minutes remaining in the game. St. Lawrence broke the deadlock approximately 30 seconds later. The goal was scored on the major penalty. Cornell was forced to chase the lead with an empty net. The Saints sank an empty-net goal to take away a 4-2 victory in a game that Cornell dominated. Instead of stanching the wound of a three-game losing skid, the loss to St. Lawrence propelled Cornell into a seven-loss slide.

This Season:
The Saints were chosen to finish modestly in ECAC Hockey's preseason polls. The contributors of WAFT dared to place them even higher than we placed Cornell. Does this writer think Cornell is a team built slightly better for the playoffs? Yes. But, do I think that St. Lawrence has the talent to accumulate more wins during the regular season than the Big Red? Absolutely. St. Lawrence has taken to proving the contributors of WAFT correct.

The Saints rattled off quick wins against Maine and Ferris State. The first two at home and the third on the road. Ferris State salvaged a split at Ewigleben Arena in the second game. The Bulldogs of Ferris State have not lost since they fell to the Saints of St. Lawrence.

The Saints slid in their next contest against Northeastern when they allowed a season-high six goals. Greg Carvel's team exacted revenge the next evening with a a 6-4 victory. St. Lawrence tied out its trip through New Haven and Providence. It is the Saints's tie against Yale that had most talking about the skill of this team and its ability to compete with the best of college hockey's greatest conference.

A roadtrip to Dartmouth and Harvard was next on their slate. The Saints pasted the Big Green and Crimson by combined margins of 11 goals to six goals. They converted on 25.0% of their power-play opportunities while allowing their opponents to convert on slightly more, 37.5%. It is worth considering that when Yale downed St. Lawrence's North-Country rival on the power play, the Saints held the Bulldogs to just one conversion on six opportunities.

Despite a lackluster outing last weekend, St. Lawrence's power-play is converting at a rate that places it in the top six in the nation. The Saints make their opponents pay for their infractions 27.9% of the time. Penalty killing is the exact opposite story as Saints rank in the bottom quarter of the nation in their ability to kill off opponent's power plays.

As one may expect with a team that struggles on the penalty kill, St. Lawrence's netminding is solidly average, one may even dare say slightly below average. The numbers from which Clarkson fled from last to this season have found home in neighboring Canton. Matt Weninger is very talented, but his numbers do not show it yet. He has produced a sub-0.900 save percentage, 0.894 to be exact, while allowing more than three goals per game.

What saves the Saints? The fact that Greg Carvel's team has been scoring goals in clusters. The Saints average four goals per game. St. Lawrence ranks fifth in the nation for scoring offense. Boston College and Minnesota are among the few programs that rank higher. The Saints have not scored fewer than three goals in any contest this season. In nearly one-third of their games, the Saints have scored five or more goals.

The unavoidable result of high-scoring offense and lackluster defensive statistics? St. Lawrence has not played in a contest that has seen fewer than four goals scored. Two of the Saints's contest have witnessed ten or more goals scored. St. Lawrence prefers high-scoring affairs and has been winning such contests all season long.

Much may be made of Greg Carey, and deservedly so, but it is his freshman brother Matt who has found the back of the net more often this season. Matt Carey has scored 20% of St. Lawrence's goals. The Brothers Carey combine for 32 points. The only player without said surname who scores even half as many goals as Greg Carey is Patrick Doherty. 35% of St. Lawrence's offense comes off of the stick of either Greg or Matt Carey. All other lines contributed evenly outside of the Brothers Carey, so the Saints produce an element of an even attack, but it is apparent who hones the sword's edge.

What to Expect:
This contest presents so many possible scenarios. There are so many ways for Cornell to win it, yet there are equally as many ways for Cornell to drop the game in spectacular fashion. The likely predictability of the Clarkson contest vanishes when trying to predict how Cornell and St. Lawrence will fare against one another.

Goals for St. Lawrence have come easily and often. That goes as well for the opponents of the Saints. The surest way to defeat the Saints is to shut down the Brothers Carey. Upon doing that, St. Lawrence's offense becomes 65% as potent. Or, producing approximately 2.60 goals per game. The real question is if Cornell can achieve that feat.

Cornell over the last several seasons has become adept at shutting down pointed line-ups that have a noted and extreme spike when certain players are on the ice. Consider that last season Greg Carey averaged 1.34 points per game. Cornell held him to 75% of that rate in the two meetings of the teams despite Cornell allowing five goals against the Saints last season. The task of shutting down Greg and Matt Carey will not be an easy one. If it proves impossible, then Cornell's offense by committee will need to ignite a response.

Cornell's power play will need to be at full steam on the ice of Appleton Arena. St. Lawrence has the sixth-best power-play unit in the country. Cornell has one just better. The Saints will make Cornell pay if the Big Red gives them too many chances. Cornell will need to return the favor. The power-play units of both teams will exchange blows at some point in the contest. Cornell will need to make sure that its statistically better penalty kill delivers.

Defense is what can win this for Cornell. Mire the Saints in a viscous neutral zone and Cornell likely will emerge victorious. If the wheels fall off Cornell's defensive wagon and the game's scoring opens, the advantage shifts to St. Lawrence. Cornell can keep pace with the highest of octane scoring in the nation, but it has not shown that ability in the team's last four outings. Andy Iles may need to be the difference as he was in Cornell's second game against Nebraska-Omaha.
Historical Note:
A revelation for this writer last evening was that Clarkson regards Cornell as the second-biggest rival of the Golden Knights. The primary rival of green and goldenrod of the North Country is St. Lawrence. So, naturally, I assumed that the Golden Knights would dislike its fellow engineering institution in ECAC Hockey, RPI, the second most. Anyone who follows twitter or listens closely at Houston Field House can see or hear that the fans of Engineer hockey still say that "Clarkson still sucks" after the one-minute-remaining notification is given. But, apparently, as Casey Jones said in a recent interview, Clarkson views the Big Red of Cornell as a rival. This writer has viewed Clarkson always as a respected foe with a proud history, but not a hated one. And, for many, there needs to be animosity for the rivalry to exist. Most of the Lynah Faithful and this writer in particular feel no pent up animosity toward Clarkson.

The fans of the Golden Knights may have a point. Clearly, Clarkson and Cornell are among the most successful programs in ECAC Hockey. Cornell has the most wins in the national tournament with 18 victories. Clarkson has the third-most with 13 wins. The Golden Knights handed Cornell its first loss in the ECAC Hockey Championship game in 1966. Clarkson and Cornell have met three times since that first meeting in the title game. Cornell has won all three. Remember April when the media was emphasizing the fact that Quinnipiac and Yale were from the same state? New York State was the first state in the history of the NCAA Tournament to produce two programs that battled for the national title. Those two schools were Clarkson and Cornell. Currently, Clarkson is on a list with New Hampshire and Providence as historic programs without a national title. It is in large part to that first-ever intrastate feud that Clarkson remains on that list.

Cornell had won its first title in 1967. Clarkson had been runner-up twice before the 1970 NCAA Championship Final. Cornell stood between Clarkson and its first NCAA national title. It was both programs's third trip to the NCAA Championship Final. Cornell emerged victorious in a hard-fought, but spectacular game, to end its perfect season with a national championship. Clarkson has not returned to the national-title game since then. There may be more to a possible rivalry between Clarkson and Cornell than this writer initially thought. Perhaps, with a Cornell alumnus at the helm, Clarkson can overcome its veritable curse to become the fifth national-championship program of the current ECAC Hockey.
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#gotbanners: November 14, 2013

11/14/2013

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Dick Bertrand predicted that Cornell's season would be over by Christmas if it did not find its winning rhythm early.
WAFT begins a new feature this season. Each Thursday, WAFT will direct our readers's attention to the winning traditions of Cornell hockey with a feature piece that focuses on a tournament championship that the Big Red has won. These pieces will focus upon the story of the entire season that resulted in Cornell's ultimate success. WAFT will try to feature a championship season whose tenor resembles the tone of a given week in Cornell hockey.

Click the image above to be directed to this week's highlighted championship season.

Histories of Cornell's tournament championships are available at any time by clicking the "Traditions of Greatness" tab atop this page on the navigation bar as well as by clicking the "Champions" banner in the sidebar of this page.
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Wake-up Call.

11/11/2013

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After this weekend's outings, I have decided to take a different approach to this weekend's recap. It is slightly less formal, but perhaps captures the messages and learning lessons from Cornell's trip through the Capital District better than any lengthy recap could. First, Coach Schafer said it best in his press conference after Union's dominating defeat of Cornell.
The above video is borrowed from Union Hockey Blog. I was unable to attend Cornell's game at Messa Rink in person, so as I awaited the posting of the video, I decided that Schafer's reaction to the loss would provide a bifocal lens into the internal expectations and workings of Cornell hockey. It would clarify one of two things, if not both: whether Schafer believed that his team this season can compete at the championship level expected of Cornell hockey teams and if he still had the fiery zeal to win. I am far from a member of a particular enclave of Cornell fandom, but a coach with as high of a social IQ as Schafer can parlay mediocre results into reassuring analysis with his skills of verbal manipulation. Schafer, like a few others coaches in ECAC Hockey, can make his audience hear what they want to hear in his speech. Flatly, I did not want a Rorschach test of a post-game press conference. I wanted outrage at the team's performance; or at the very least, disappointment.

The Lynah Faithful got both along with a few other illuminating comments. Schafer was unhappy with how his team performed in the game at Union. Cornell played a good game on Friday night. It was not a great effort. However, in a venue where the fans hate Cornell perhaps more than they do at any other venue in ECAC Hockey, Cornell battled valiantly. The second period was sloppy. But, with its back against the wall, Cornell battled back from a 1-3 deficit to tie the game with two goals in 65 seconds against a team that was making few mistakes. A glimpse of what could be. Cornell generated sustained pressure in the overtime frame, but it was Andy Iles who was three times forced to make highlight-reel saves to keep the game even.

Cornell equaled RPI, a team expected to be elite in ECAC Hockey, in what was an emotional win with the way Big Red rallied to tie the contest. The emotional hangover was too much. The Dutchmen of Union College dominated Cornell in their own effort to right their ship after undisciplined play led them to a loss to Colgate. It was Rick Bennett's first victory over Cornell. Bennett coached teams that went to the Frozen Four and embarrassed Boston College in the NCAA Tournament. Cornell did not lose to either. But, on Saturday, Cornell fell to a Bennett-coached Union squad.

There is no disgrace in losing a hard-fought, closely played contest. But, that is not what Saturday was. Going through the gory details of what went wrong serves few people from the student-athletes to the fans who have wounds of their own from the loss. The simple conclusion is that Cornell did not do enough and was not ready enough. This is where Coach Schafer's comments are most illuminating.
"I watched Rick's press conference last night...As pissed off as Rick was at his team last night, that's about as upset as I am with our team [] this night...First six games we've had a pretty good effort...Mentally weak players can't get up for two games in a row...First one of six we weren't focused for long periods of the game...Our forwards were just, there's no other way to say it, they were awful...Just a frustrating night all around...Disappointed with our guys."
Schafer gave Union credit for the win. It deserved it, but I omitted those parts and included those sections which indicate his opinions of how Cornell performed in the contest at Messa Rink. There are few better recaps or more cutting critiques than those words.

Many have invoked the pain of last year, particularly the losing streak, as a specter of failure, but most in media have used it in a contradistinctive manner. They distinguish why this season has gotten things right while last season did not. At this point last season, Cornell had a record of 3-2-1 and earned three points in ECAC Hockey. What is Cornell's current record? 3-2-1. It sits with three points in ECAC Hockey. Nearly nothing distinguishes the two. I highlight this only in an effort to draw attention in any way that I can so that the errors of last season, that condemned Cornell to a low seed and a nearly insurmountable task for a successful playoff run, can be addressed early.

Alarmism? Perhaps. But, it is better safe than sorry. It appears that Coach Schafer feels similarly. He stated that he, not the team's strength and conditioning coach, would lead the team's practice at 6:30 am on Monday morning. It appears that Schafer has not lost the fire to motivate his teams to compete. The question of his efficacy will be addressed in the coming weeks. Much will be learned in the next several days.

It was not accidental that last Thursday WAFT highlighted the 1996 Whitelaw Cup season. That season is remembered less for the ultimate championship that was won than how Coach Schafer righted the course for his first Cornell team, and arguably the program, after a 1-4 loss to Army at Tate Rink. The post-game laps that he made his first team run taught his team of the importance of discipline and execution, and that there was no excuse for losing in Cornell hockey. After Saturday's outing, it became obvious that this team, Coach Schafer's 19th team, needed another such moment.

Cornell had been winning games, yes, but its efforts were incomplete. One can continue to recite that the team has been giving a "60-minute effort," but that does not make it so. It has been winning, but it has not been reaching its potential. The first game against Nebraska-Omaha, Cornell took the second period off. Its play went from stifling and creative to less than stellar and at times lethargic. Then, Cornell obliterated the Mavericks in the third frame. The second game of that series was the closest Cornell has come to a 60-minute effort, but again, the second period saw a lull with one individual player's mistake in the third leading to a goal for the Mavericks. Princeton did not stand a chance against Cornell in the first two periods of that contest. Then, Cornell squandered a chance at a shutout in the third with sloppy play including surrendering a goal with barely more than 30 seconds remaining. The first goal may have been excusable, but the second was undisciplined. The Quinnipiac game saw Cornell deliver a great first period, but then wither when it did not down the Bobcats on the power play. RPI knotted and took the lead over Cornell on two poor plays from the Big Red. Cornell's only great time of effort was in the closing minutes of the contest when the Big Red mounted a stellar rally to tie the game. Then, the Union game where Schafer could find barely nothing laudatory to say. The Union game was not an aberration, but was an inevitable result of coasting and getting results that were good-enough, not great.

Think this analysis is off-base? Listen again to Schafer's interview.
"As pissed off as Rick was at his team last night, that's about as upset as I am with our team this year."
Notice the Freudian slip? Coach Schafer states that he has been this upset with his team's effort "this year." He rewords his phrase quickly, but it is a telling comment. Cornell may be getting some positive results, but it is playing nowhere near its potential and it has begun already to dig itself a hole that will become too difficult to dig itself out of if change does not occur soon. Last season, the second weekend of ECAC Hockey play was where some of the flaws in Cornell's foundation were apparent. Flaws that led to that now-infamous and much-invoked losing streak. Those flaws went unaddressed. The result? Cornell lost in the ECAC Hockey Quarterfinals for the first time in six years.

Cornell has fallen to eighth in the standings of ECAC Hockey when they are weighted for points earned per contest. Cornell is averaging only 0.75 points per in-conference match-up. That pace is tied with that of Brown and is just higher than that of Harvard. Compare Cornell's rate with the 1.75 points per in-conference contest that Quinnipiac is earning currently.

Coach Schafer is not happy with the efforts of some of his players. WAFT will not venture any guesses of which players because we remain loyal to our pledge to never hang blame or target any individual student-athletes. Cornell wins and loses as a team. The head coach has made it apparent that he plans to hold the team, individually and collectively, accountable. Also, the 6:30 am practice on Monday morning proves that he has not lost the passion to do what is needed to show that Cornell hockey demands success from its teams. One is left to wonder what the bus ride back from the Capital District was like on Saturday evening.

It needs to be said that despite these honest criticisms and a lack of goal production, Cornell's freshmen have been phenomenal.

Why bring any of this up? It is still early. The course can be righted. Last season, those associated with Cornell hockey from WAFT to those more closely connected with the team did a disservice to the Lynah Faithful and the Cornell team by glossing over early-season blemishes. It seems that a different tack has been adopted. Accountability is this season's currency of the realm.

Cornell could be dominant, not just competitive, in the best league in college hockey if it stopped coasting and focused on defeating each conference opponent, whether ranked or unranked. This will require focus and mental strength. Only time will tell. WAFT will be here along the way.

Let's hope that the team got its wake-up call on Monday morning.
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Preview: RPI & Union

11/8/2013

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Last Meeting:
The Engineers were one of the hottest teams down the final stretch of the 2012-13 regular season. The last ten games of the regular season saw RPI earn nine victories. The lone loss came against Cornell. At Lynah Rink. Cornell dominated Seth Appert's Engineers from the opening draw to the final whistle while three Cornellians contributed four goals that made much-lauded RPI netminder Jason Kasdorf look like a sieve. The Engineers left East Hill deflated and no amount of pre-game hand-wringing and exchanging of pucks to their current head coach from Doug Hearns could wipe the egg from their faces. It was not the coups de grâce to the Engineers' season, but it might as well have been. RPI earned its first first-round bye of the seven-year-old Seth Appert Era.  RPI's season ended when Brown took two games out of a rested Engineer squad at Houston Field House to advance to the 2013 ECAC Championship Weekend.

This Season:
This is the first season in a long time that preseason expectations for the Institute on the banks of the Hudson River are as high outside of the Engineers fanbase as they are within it. Each season it seems, fans of RPI (choose one of the myriad of self-appellations) claim that this coming season will be the season. Well, this season, many agree with them. And, this writer cannot say they are entirely off-base. I think that these expectations should be tempered with a healthy dose of skepticism considering Appert's lack of playoff success (winning only two playoff series in seven postseasons), but the talent on RPI's team is undeniable.

RPI appeared to put the cart before the horse in its season debut. Seth Appert likes to use terms like "trap game" to disparage perceived lesser opponents like Sacred Heart, but Jerry York's Boston College showed up for the Eagles's trap game and demolished the Engineers 7-2 behind three-goal second and third periods. The Engineers rebounded in spectacular fashion with a convincing win over Boston University. The final tally was 3-1 and some of the goals appeared to follow odd paths from a suspect ice surface, but the ice plays the same for both teams, and the Engineers controlled play convincingly. The game was played against a Terriers team that is still trying to find its winning identity under Quinn, but they all count the same and wins at Agganis are never easy.

The Engineers took a second win out of Sacred Heart. They arched on to prove finally that they had found a winning rhythm. The Wildcats of New Hampshire fell to the Engineers of RPI in a high-scoring affair at Houston Field House. The official margin was 4-2, but early on it appeared that RPI had the game in hand. The Engineers surged to a 4-0 lead before surrendering a single goal.

Then, RPI's first weekend in the toughest conference in college hockey began. The Engineers played three games over five days. They would win only one of the contests. They emerged victorious from Dartmouth with a 7-1 victory, but allowed Harvard to take three points out of them in a Black-Tuesday tie and a loss at Lynah East.








What to Expect:
Seth Appert touted scoring depth as what he expected to be the strength of this team. He exclaimed that this Engineers team would not have a Chase Polacek to rely on and would need to score by committee. Perhaps it is naturally suited toward Engineer hockey or Appert-coached teams, but it appears that what Appert did not expect is what happened. One player, or 8% of RPI's roster that has seen action in all eight of the Engineers's contests, accounts for 31.3% of the Engineer's scoring output to date. RPI is undefeated when he scores goals, but when in its two losses, he has been shut out. Any loyal follower of ECAC Hockey knows that it is Ryan Haggerty who is having this season. He leads the nation in goals per game with an average of 1.25 goals scored per game.

Only four players on RPI's roster are averaging a point per game or higher. Haggerty is of course one such player. Predictably, Brock Higgs, Matt Neal, and Jacob Laliberte round out the remaining three. Laliberte has been underperforming in his junior season with just one goal on the season. If he were on pace with his goal production from last season, he would have scored three if not four goals by this point in the season. Cornell needs to be mindful of any abrupt changes in production that may occur mid-season and make sure that they do not happen at the Big Red's expense.

Where supposedly offensively minded RPI has only four players averaging one point per game, defensively minded Cornell has six producing at that pace. Cole Bardreau is unlikely to see action this weekend, but it indicates that the scoring attack of Cornell is much deeper than that of RPI. No Cornell goal scorer has contributed more than 25% of the goals that Cornell has scored. The highest producer is Joel Lowry who has contributed 23.1% of Cornell's goal-scoring offense.

The Engineers will try to defeat Cornell without the services of Jason Kasdorf. Kasdorf suffered a season-ending injury to his shoulder during practice earlier in the season and needs to undergo surgery to try and rehabilitate it. All harassing banter aside, I wish Kasdorf well and that he can return to form and continue to play the game he loves. This has made the Engineers rely upon Scott Diebold.

Diebold has been stellar in net. His numbers are great and his play as been nearly as good. He owns a goals-against average of 1.58 and a save percentage of 0.946 headed into the contest. Scoring on the Buffalo native will be no small task. He has played as many games this season as he did last. Diebold has not proven that he is a workhorse goaltender who can take the majority of minutes of the Engineers. Last season, with one exception, his save percentages dipped in every sequential game ranging from outings with save percentages as high as 0.967 and as low as 0.750 including a contest when he was pulled. That trend has not been apparent this season, but it is worth considering that as he logs more minutes than expected, his form may diminish.

Cornell will look to get rolling on the power play. RPI's penalty kill, killing at a rate of 85.2%, will be a formidable test. But, look for the game to be decided on even strength when Cornell can exploit stubborn yet entrenched stereotypes within Engineer hockey that Cornell plays an uncreative, slow game. If the freshmen decide to tickle the twine, it will be in this contest. I have my eye on one player in particular after last weekend.

What is there not to love about a contest between a program and fanbase that loathe your program and fanbase more than you even care about them?
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Last Meeting:
The story on opposite sides of the Hudson River hardly could be more different. While RPI has not won more than two playoff series in the last seven seasons, Union has swept two playoff series and won consecutive Whitelaw Cups. Union rose to that level of success after Cornell hung three first-period goals on the Dutchmen at Lynah Rink in February 2013. The atmosphere of the game was captured best when Rick Bennett went to discuss something with the officials, obviously irritated, and the Lynah Faithful informed him in unison that he just sucked. Well, that hardly is the case, notwithstanding a lack of success at Lynah Rink, Rick Bennett led his team to playoff glory for the second season in a row and had the pleasure of eliminating the defending national champion, Boston College, in a 5-1 rout. The win ranks easily as one of the best from ECAC Hockey in the last five seasons and is a strong contender for the most important.

This Season:
It is obvious on what Union has its sights set. It has tasted playoff glory. It wants more. To their credit, the Dutchmen are very up front about their desires and expectations. They want to do what only two other programs in the history of ECAC Hockey have done: win three (or more) ECAC Hockey championships in sequence. The last program to do so was Boston University from 1974 to 1977. The last current member of ECAC Hockey to win four, obviously, was Cornell from 1967 through 1970.

The Dutchmen stumbled on their first steps toward reaching that goal. Troy Grosenick abandoned his team for the professional ranks before the team began and before his eligibility expired. The next goaltender on the depth chart was Colin Stevens. Stevens was viewed as the only starter on the team that had a chance to fill the void left after the early defections of Kinkaid and Grosenick. Stevens played admirably for six minutes. Then, injury removed him from the first game of the season against Bowling Green. Beat writers and sports information directors alike flipped frantically through their depth chart to see who was next and then prayed the pronunciation guide would be merciful. Alex Sakellaropoulos took his place in the blue paint as a freshman who did not expect to see game time.

Miraculously, Union responded. The Dutchmen did not get a win but they did enough to get the tie. In the second game of the series, Union downed the Falcons and gave Sakellaropoulos his first win. Rick Bennett-coached teams are nothing if not resilient and the first weekend showed that even though some brand-name players from Union are gone, the character remains.

Union dropped two one-goal decisions to Lake Superior State at Messa Rink. The Lakers at that point were undefeated and Union did not quite have enough to put them away. The untold narrative? Union has not lost since then. Quietly, Union is on an unbeaten streak.

This included taking a tie out of UConn, a team that owns the best power-play conversion rate in the country. The Dutchmen allowed no power-play goals in that meeting. While RPI floundered with Harvard, Union swept the Dartmouth-Harvard weekend by a margin of 11 goals for to four goals allowed. The lone blemish on that outing according to detractors? Ted Donato played the wrong goaltender against Union so the Dutchmen did not have the privilege of giving Girard his first loss.

What to Expect:
One of the best games during the regular season. That is what has become expected of the Cornell-Union series over the last two seasons since Rick Bennett has become head coach in Schenectady. Yes, I realize the disparity in the winning record at this point, but all games were closely played, all were well played, and all were accompanied by tremendous amounts of zeal from both fanbases. Cornell travels well and Union has a respectably sized contingent that travels. This will be a fun contest in one of ECAC Hockey's unique buildings.

Union has outshot its opponents by a margin of 116 shots over a mere seven games. Where most coaching staffs that espouse the doctrines of Guy Gadowsky or Seth Appert may think that is a promising sign, Rick Bennett, et al. wanted to see a dramatic change after the UConn series. Quality, not quantity, was the focus. The philosophy of the inevitability of sinking a shut in a haphazard deluge does not appeal to the way the Dutchmen play.

Whether the Dutchmen heeded that warning or not (they outshot their opponents 78 to 39 last weekend), the results were two wins. Oh, yeah, and Colin Stevens returned.

Not enough can be said in praise of Sakellaropoulos' service to the Dutchmen this season or Union's defensive corps that made it seem seamless, but Union appears immediately more like a team poised to win a championship with Stevens between the pipes. Stevens recorded a mere 0.897 on the weekend, but the Dutchmen kept his shot total over two games to a number that some teams allow commonly in a single game.

Stevens will improve. It was his first weekend back from injury. Anyone who thinks that goals will come cheap and easy at Messa Rink will be in for a rude awakening. Cornell knows well that reality. Last season's Union squad according to Bennett relied too much on its power-play unit that ranked among the best in the nation throughout the season. Whether it is a positive or negative in the eyes of Union's coaching staff is unknown, but the Dutchmen rank a respectable, but not fear-inducing, 19th nationally in power-play conversion headed into the weekend. Union converts on 22.0% of its power-play chances.

Union, like Cornell, has six players producing offense at a rate of one or more points per game. Where Cornell is expected to be without the services of Cole Bardreau, Union welcomed back Max Novak last weekend. Novak had a coming back party of sorts with a four-point weekend including a goal against Dartmouth.

Defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere, who last season could be counted on to shoot the puck whenever it was on his stick, has been instructed to look for offensive openings less than goals this season. He appears to have taken to that approach to his game as he has scored only one goal this season but has contributed six assists. Gostisbehere's skill is undeniable and as he has added to his game, he becomes all the more threatening. He was the only Dutchman to tally a point in each of the games that Cornell and Union played last season.

The game will be a great match-up. Union has been allowing just 21.3 shots on goal per game. Cornell has been winning with fewer. Rick Bennett and his staff will not have overlooked the talent of Cornell's freshmen, so the heavy lifting in this match-up may fall on the more seasoned usual suspects of Brian Ferlin and Joel Lowry who combined for five points against Union last season. Ferlin assisted on three of Cornell's four goals at Lynah Rink. Cornell cannot underestimate the scoring dynamism of Union freshman Michael Pontarelli.

Mike Schafer likened the experience of playing Bennett-coached Union teams as like Cornell playing itself. Cornell and Union are the two teams soundest in their systems. The games between the two have become great and are particularly enjoyable affairs for the Lynah Faithful who prefer team-first, disciplined contests.
Historical Note:
Union is aiming for the truly historic with the goal of winning a third Whitelaw Cup. Much has been made that Union would be the first team since Boston University in 1976 to win three consecutive ECAC Hockey Championships. However, what of what it would mean for Rick Bennett? Ned Harkness won four consecutive ECAC Hockey Championships for Cornell, but he did not do it in his first four seasons on East Hill. Rick Bennett, like Mike Schafer, won a Whitelaw Cup in each of his first two seasons. However, if Rick Bennett manages to win a third consecutive ECAC Hockey Championship, he will tie the record of Boston University's Jack Parker who won the four consecutive titles of the Terriers. Bennett would be unique in that he achieved the feat as the first ECAC Hockey Championships for his program, like Harkness, and in his first three or more seasons, like Parker. The 1975-76 team that won Boston University's third consecutive ECAC Hockey Championship went on to the Frozen Four where they fell to Herb Brooks and the Minnesota Golden Gophers in the national semifinals. That team from Boston University counted Mike Eruzione and Jack O'Callahan as members. It is fitting that if Rick Bennett has the opportunity to seek a third consecutive Whitelaw Cup, that he will do it in Lake Placid.
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#gotbanners: November 7, 2013

11/7/2013

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Coach Schafer sent an emphatic message at mid-season that buoyed Cornell on to championship glory in his first season as head coach.
WAFT begins a new feature this season. Each Thursday, WAFT will direct our readers's attention to the winning traditions of Cornell hockey with a feature piece that focuses on a tournament championship that the Big Red has won. These pieces will focus upon the story of the entire season that resulted in Cornell's ultimate success. WAFT will try to feature a championship season whose tenor resembles the tone of a given week in Cornell hockey.

Click the image above to be directed to this week's highlighted championship season.

Histories of Cornell's tournament championships are available at any time by clicking the "Traditions of Greatness" tab atop this page on the navigation bar as well as by clicking the "Champions" banner in the sidebar of this page.
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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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