I'll leave it to others to post box scores and game summaries but I think
I'll just give some general impressions.
 
Princeton:
 
This team reminds me of Harvard which may or may not be good.  There is a
lot of individual talent but I did not see any cohesive offensive team
play.  The offense was generally based on individual efforts and almost
never sustained.  Princeton looks very good on power play and that gets me
to thinking perhaps they are more like BU teams of old than Harvard.  They
did not seem to try to generate any offense but were content to lay back
and wait for an opportunity to present itself.  It a team were guilty of
defensive break downs I bet Princeton would capitalize.  Defensively they
were very competent and got excellent goaltending.  It is unfortunate that
they seemed to be an irritable team that took numerous penalties.  Cornell
took quite a few penalties also but in my mind Cornell's penalties were for
the most part "good" penalties taken in the act of trying to get the puck
but perhaps with too much adrenaline.  Princeton's penalties were often
from frustration or in reaction to things not going their way.  Hence their
penalties were in a number of cases after the whistle, from behind the
Cornell player or behind the play entirely.  If this is typical and not
just because I caught them on a bad weekend Princeton has a problem.
 
Yale:
 
This team is improved over last year but this is not much of a surprise
since they seemed to be on the up swing last year.  Offensively they tend
to rely on a single player lugging the puck up ice.  They seem to have a
number of players that are capable of this and who are difficult to
separate from the puck.  However, my respect must be tempered by the fact
that they will seldom make the assertive play to make a good offensive
thrust at break out, through the transition zone or even in the offensive
zone.  It is easier to carry the puck if you are not in a hurry and you do
not drive aggressively to the net where the defense will tighten.  In the
offensive zone Yale often looked very good because of a combination of a
very quick and aggressive forecheck combined what I thought was excellent
movement away form the puck.  The good movement away from the puck tended
to have people open to get passes if they gained control on the forecheck
and if they lost control there were people loose with a full head of steam
to upset clearing attempts, back check or reinitate the forecheck.
Defensively they were competent and their goaltending was very sharp but
since they only allowed two goals on the weekend and got two road wins I
guess we know that they can play defense and the goaltender does not leak.
Yale came to play good hard hitting hockey and not to take unnecessary
penalties.
 
Cornell
 
Cornell played some very good hockey and although the loss to Yale was a
bitter disappointment I still think they will be ok and they do have a good
start on the season.  Offensively they are playing for a big break out pass
to head man the puck.  When they achieve the break out and head man it
through the transition zone they can and do create unsettled situations
that they try to exploit by making plays, drop passes, give and goes, etc.
as they enter the offensive zone.  Certainly they do drive to the net but
perhaps on occasion they do try to make one too many plays instead of just
letting it rip.  It seems that every team I have seen this year (including
Cornell) is lacking the go to guys with the big shots and the quick
release.  However, it is still early in the season and perhaps this will
emerge as teams gel and come up to mid season form.  The injury to Vincent
Auger certainly has an impact; he adds a lot of experience, creativity and
an excellent shot--Cornell is a better team when he is on the ice.  Cornell
is on occasion establishing a good forecheck and maintaining pressure in
the offensive zone.  I think on balance they dominated most of the periods
of hockey they played this weekend even though they only won one game.  If
you only score three goals it is hard to win both games but then again if
you only allow three you certainly have a chance.  (Note: Yale only allowed
two on the weekend and St. Lawrence allowed none)
 
Cornell's defense if fine but playing with four defensemen (two are
freshmen) plus freshman Telesmatic who from the number of shifts he takes I
believe is not fully recover from his injury.  I think the shortage of
staff is making for a tired defense that is not fully effective defensively
or offensively.
 
Face offs and break outs are problematic.  Cornell is not getting enough of
the draws and even though the play after the draw is generally excellent
there is not much you can do if the other team wins draws cleanly and
quickly takes a shot.  Our break out play are not really working that well.
Often we are wrapping the puck around the board to the other team or
looking to make long ball passes that do not work.  Tired defense that is
one half freshman may be a factor here and that should improve with the
return of two experience defenders, as the freshman mature and as the coach
continues to work on the break out and line combinations.  It is very
encouraging that the power play looked much better this weekend and
produced some goals.
 
Bottom line they played well and took a lot of shots.  They just need
better shot selection and execution which I hope will come as the season
progresses.  They seem to be playing up tempo with spirit and a positive
attitude which is probably just as important as the nitty-gritty details
like break out patterns.
 
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