On Jan 15, 19:55, "Susan R. Sharrock" wrote:
>Please, enough of the gratuitous insults to the Army hockey team!
Just to follow up Greg Berge's reply, not everybody is dissing Army. (Pet
peeve: "disrespect" is a noun, not a verb. But I digress) Cornell coach Mike
Schafer said after the game last Saturday that he felt Army was better than five
of the ECAC teams. And while I would probably put the number at three, the
point is the same... this Army squad plays better than a lot of people might
think. They skated pretty well against Cornell, and their physical conditioning
was top-notch. This Army squad is easily better than any of the ones the Cadets
fielded when they were members of the ECAC in the 80s and early 90s.
On the other hand, although Army now sports a 9-9-2 record, they are 4-9-2
against Division I competition and only 1-8-2 (scoring 24 goals and allowing 51)
against Division I teams that are eligible for the NCAA tournament. Ties
against Princeton and Cornell are impressive (we hope), but looking at the
numbers, one might understand the tendency to look for an explanation when
things like that happen.
I don't think Army should be considered a "decidedly lesser" squad, especially
after seeing them play. However, I would still classify a tie or win against a
decent Division I team to be at least "unexpected." (The win, by the way, was
against Minnesota-Duluth in Army's first game of the season.)
--
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
"So what's Cornell's strategy now -- go to the net?"
-- Grady Whittenberg, Cornell (WQNY) play-by-play announcer, following the
clean-up efforts after Providence goalie Dan Dennis got sick on the ice
during the first round of the Syracuse Invitational
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