>1.  We played two fantastic games.  This could easily have been a sweep --
 
        Four one-goal losses in the last four games; I'd say Cornell
is the best 0-4 team in College Hockey the last two weeks.  (And
that's why the RPI announcers were afraid of us.)  But it's an
unfortunate reality that what matters in sports is the final score; I
wonder if the psychological edge of knowing they're better than theur
record will outweigh the feeling of being snakebit.  (If they'd gone
4-0, they would have finished in third place as predicted by the
coaches' poll, and hosted Princeton.)
 
>But, really, this goes down as a great weekend playing two quality teams (I
>dunno why SLU's record sucks so much; they certainly played well enough
>Friday) in their barns.  Yeah, yeah no points and all that --  I was aware
>of that...
 
        Better or worse than the one-point weekend last year?  It
sounded and looked like more fun despite the outcome.  I tell you,
when the Red were beating Clarkson, it was reminding me of the '96
north country trip: a heartbreaking OT loss to the #2 team in the
conference Friday, followed by a clutch win Saturday to grab home ice.
Ah well...
 
>  more experience for Ian Burt (who was awesome
>against SLU and solid against Clarkson)
 
        The silver lining to Elliott's injury is that we've learned
that Pelletier's departure has still left us with a strong goaltender.
Considering that out only losses to graduation will be Auger (who's
gone anyway), Smart (whom we lived without for half the season),
Tymschychyn (who's important but not indispensible), Dailey and
Burgoyne (who will both be missed) and Elliott, it makes next year's
prospects look quite respectable.
 
        I just hope Burt isn't getting too discouraged by his 1-4
record.  I was glad to hear Elliott spoke well of him last weekend,
and disappointed that Schafer didn't put in a good word for him in the
TV interview when he talked about maybe having Elliott back for the
playoffs.
 
>2.  It didn't matter.  There's no home ice advantage at Lynah anymore --
>the only fans who make any noise were with us in the North Country, anyway
>(sorry, but true), and they'll be at Houston next weekend.
 
        Ouch!  I guess a lot has changed since the three games I saw
last fall, where the crowd was incredible.  (Although trying to stand
in the back row of section O for the Princeton game was annoying.)
I've been hearing about no-shows, and the occassional non-sellout, and
I fear it's due to the disappointing and frustrating progress of the
season.  Even Lynah has its fair-weather component, I guess.  (I know;
the monotonic rise in success from Schafer's arrival to the Princeton
game last fall was shadowed by a rise in fan interest.  Maybe this dip
will mean I'll be able to get season tickets for next year, without
going on a waiting list.)  The great thing is the ability of the
hardcore Faithful (the ones that will be in Troy) to organize and
enliven the rest.  So I think a playoff series at Lynah might have
been better than you think, crowd-wise, since the dabblers would have
gotten up for the postseason.
 
        Anyway, this will be a chance to make the RPI fans look bad in
their own building.
 
>4.  The draw, part 2.  If Cornell were to win the battle of the Reds, just
>lookie who finished #5.
 
        Assuming no other upsets, of course.  Looks like if Cornell
goes to Placid, there will be a play-in, since SLU would have to upset
Yale and Vermont knock off Clarkson to prevent it.
 
>So, great effort by the team on both nights -- really, by *both* teams both
>nights
 
        Judging from the scores, the same can't be said for Colgate,
who I'm sure had a worse weekend than you.  Speaking of which, did
anyone make it to the SLU-Colgate game Saturday night (other than Bob
Norton)?  It turned out not to matter for Cornell, but you probably
would have had to get your tickets before you knew that.
 
>And the North
>Country trip is marvelous -- Appleton is the gem of college hockey, and the
>Clarkson band and their hard-core fans are great.
 
        The only time I got to see the two best pep bands in the ECAC
face-to-face, it was on neutral ice, and the Clarkson band seems more
impressive at home with their props.  Appleton is such a great
building that it's a crime they have to pipe music into it.  SLU
allegedly has a band, but if so where were they Friday night?
 
        Wish I could have been there in person, rather than just
catching one game on the radio and the other on TV.  (Although hearing
the cheesy organ at SLU and That Damn Bell at Clarkson brought back
memories.)
                                         John Whelan, Cornell '91
                                     Official Scorer/PA Announcer
                                        U of Utah Ice Hockey Club
                                               <[log in to unmask]>
                      <http://www.cc.utah.edu/~jtw16960/joe.html>
 
HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey;  send information to
[log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.