I am not as close to the Cornell program as I was when up there, but I keep
close enough contact.  It hurts me, as well, to see how the program has fallen.
 
I never thought McCutcheon was a great coach.  I was there from '88-'92 when he
had good talent.  He also isn't considered a "player's coach."  This was just a
perception on my part for a while, until I heard horror stories later on.  It
seems to me that he was able to get away with being a tyrant with good teams,
but with players who need some motivation and prodding, it isn't working.
 
Beyond that, however, I've never heard great things about the X's and O's,
though I don't profess to know hockey well enough technically to differentiate.
 
Still, he was able to get talent in at first.  Is this because he was living
off past reputation?  I don't know the answer to that, but it's obvious the
talent has not come in lately, or at least not enough of it.  I have heard,
however, that it's possibly not all his fault.  Take a look at the lacrosse
program, look where that has fallen.  I am now at Princeton, and the lacrosse
and hockey programs of the two schools are virtual mirror images over the last
10 years.  I have heard great things about the Princeton admissions dept. and
the feeling is mutual with admissions toward the coaches.  I have heard the
opposite lately with Cornell admissions.
 
Ryan Smart is a great player, but Cornell only got three players in this year
on a team that was decimated in recent years by graduation.  How can a player
like Matt Brush, whose father played on the 29-0 team, not get into Cornell,
but into Princeton?
 
The most damaging this on McCutcheon's record when I was there was in 1990 and
1991.  Those were good teams.  Especially the 1991, there was no excuse for not
winning the ECAC that year.  Cornell needed 2 pts in their final 4 games and
blew the ECAC regular season, and Ivy league title.  They clobbered Colgate in
two games, then lost in OT to St. Lawrence in the semifinal at the Garden.
They snuck into the NCAA's, pulled out a win in game 1 vs. Michigan, then lost
the next two.  That team should have done more.  But late season collapses have
been the rule in recent years.  In 1993, when they didn't make the playoffs,
Cornell lost almost every game down the stretch.  I was at a game in Princeton
when they lost a 2-goal lead with 5 minutes left, then lost in OT.
 
I don't think you can expect Cornell to be as dominant as they were in the
'60's-'80's.  It's just never going to be the same for Ivy League again, in my
opinion.  But you can expect a challenge for the ECAC title.  There's certainly
the resources, it seems, to do that.
 
And, agreed, Bob Gaudet is the best coach in the league.
 
                        AW