At 11:42 AM -0400 6/10/96, Bill Fenwick wrote:
>Larry Weintraub writes:
>>  Finally, (no offense meant to Mike Machnick or any other
>>Merrimack fans) but Merrimack is a step down from last years first round
>>tourny game against CC.  I'd rather see us play top rate competition and
>>gain the experience than play teams which aren't as good, but which have a
>>reputation for beating top teams.
>
>Well, perhaps, but I'm not sure what the Big Red learned from that 11-0
>drubbing in the Denver Cup, except maybe the CC fight song.  Despite
>>Merrimack's
>disappointing showing in 95-96 (and the loss of McKenna), I expect this
>will be
>a tough game for Cornell... and if the Big Red does win it, that will be an
>added boost for a relatively young team.  And Merrimack has been known to pull
>some shockers in the past, so the Big Red would be wise not to be looking for
>a cakewalk (though the Army debacle in January should have cured them of
>that).
 
Very diplomatic answer!  Can't tell that you put any stock in the Woofing
Theorem. :-)
 
I don't think the loss of McKenna is going to hurt the Merrimack defense,
since fellow Twin Tower John Jakopin (6-6 235) is going to move back there
to start the season and he is a better all-around player than McKenna.  If
anything, they will have much more offense from the blueline (Jakopin had
10-15--25 to McKenna's 3-11--14).  It would have been nice to have Jakopin
back up front, but they have the added luxury of being able to move Jakopin
around if the younger Ds come along quickly and the forwards struggle, as
well as possibly putting Jakopin up front on the power play.
 
Cornell loses a lot while Merrimack returns just about everyone and has
some potential freshman snipers in Jayson Philbin, Sandy Cohen and Chris
Halecki.  This is a team that closed the season with a 7-4 win over BU, a
9-2 defeat of Army, and a last minute one goal loss at UNH - all three
after they had been eliminated from playoff contention - and those games
followed nail biting losses to Maine, PC, and Lowell (twice).  If they pick
up where they left off and get that additional scoring, then the Cornell
game probably projects as a tossup.
 
There's an added story in that perhaps the top recruits for each team,
Merrimack's Philbin and Cornell's Ryan Moynihan, were linemates the last
few years at prep powerhouse Cushing Academy.
 
It will also be the first time that Cornell and Merrimack have ever met, in
the 40 year history of Merrimack hockey and the 85 or so year history of
Cornell hockey.  That's another reason to look forward to this game.  There
aren't all that many matchups any more between teams that have never played.
 
Keep an eye on the layoff factor, too.  Cornell will have been off for
three weeks before the SIT, while Merrimack hosts Dartmouth a week before
on 12/21/95.
 
---                                                                   ---
Mike Machnik                   [log in to unmask]            *HMM* 11/13/93
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