On Dec 1, 10:09, John T. Whelan wrote:
>        I just saw on US College Hockey Online that Cornell defeated
>Niagra last night 2-0, with Doug Steinstra and Tyler Sutherland
>scoring first-period goals for the Big Red.  So far, so good, but I
>also see that Jason Elliott played the whole game in goal.
>Conventional wisdom had said that this would be the perfect game to
>give freshman backup Ian Burt some action (an "easy" non-conference
>opponent, and a game that might not even count towards tournament
>selection).  In fact, I would have started him.
 
As I've said before, Niagara is not your typical second-season-of-varsity team.
They threw a good scare into RPI before finally bowing 4-2 (not the 12-2 or so
that was expected), and actually they played pretty well against Cornell on
Sunday... especially goalie Greg Gardner.
 
>        Does anyone know what Schafer's reasons were for not playing
>Burt (especially with his team up 2-0 after one)?  A desire to keep
>Elliott from getting rusty with a week off?
 
Bingo.  That was the reason Coach Schafer gave in a post-game interview.  Had
Elliott not played this game, he would have been idle -- or rather, not game-
tested -- for *two* weeks going into the Big Red's trip to the Capital District
(Union and RPI) this coming weekend... and that road trip has proven to be
rather difficult for Cornell in recent years.  With Elliott having a pretty hot
hand this season, I can see why Coach Schafer wouldn't want to disturb the
routine and risk Elliott cooling off while he's on the shelf.
 
I suggested a couple times on the Cornell hockey discussion forum that Elliott
should play the whole Niagara game for precisely that reason... it's good to
see that the coach is listening to me :-)  (though I would advise him not to
make a habit of it!)
 
--
Disclaimer -- Unless otherwise noted, all opinions expressed above are
              strictly those of:
 
Bill Fenwick
Cornell '86 and '95
LET'S GO RED!!                                                  DJF  5/27/94
"Two kids left alone... stranger comes over, destroys the house, terrifies the
 kids, tortures the fish."
"R.J., _The Cat in the Hat_ was *not* written by Stephen King."
"He's been known to use a pseudonym."
-- Michael Fry and T. Lewis, "Over the Hedge"
 
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