Greg Berge writes:
>Is Union slated for a full 22 game ECAC schedule?
Yes they are. This makes me wonder about the administration's decision to
limit the season to 25 games overall. I can understand some of their
reasons -- the school's last brush with "big-time" hockey, under Ned
Harkness, ended up not being particularly pleasant -- but if they were so
concerned, why didn't they choose to join the ECAC as a provisional member,
like Army did back in 1984? Under that scenario, the Dutchmen could play an
11-game ECAC schedule for a while, and then decide whether they wanted to
become a full-fledged member. Maybe the ECAC didn't offer them this option
for some reason.
>1. Despite not winning Anything, this was the best Cornell team I've
>seen in my admittedly brief tenure among the Lynah Faithful (since 81/82).
Well, talent-wise maybe. But in my biased opinion, the 1985-86 squad that
won the ECAC tournament would have walked all over this team, and maybe the
1987-88 team would have given them a tough fight as well. The reason I say
that is the 1990-91 team occasionally played without much heart. I know
that's a common cop-out when a team fails to live up to high expectations,
but just look at the last weekend of the regular season. Going in, Cornell
could clinch the title with a pair of wins. With that bit of inspiration,
the Big Red came out dead as a doornail (a what?) and allowed the Engineers
to build a 5-1 lead before putting together a rally in the third period that
ultimately fell short. OK, these things happen, and often a team will pull
together after such a loss -- especially if they still have a crack at first
place, which Cornell did. The next night against Vermont, the Big Red took
a 3-2 lead after one and then gave the game away to the Catamounts, allowing
them to score five of the next six goals. Other examples include the ECAC
semifinal game against St. Lawrence and the losses at Princeton and Brown.
In reading over this, I realize I sound like a spoiled child who is bitter
about his team being the runners-up. That isn't really true -- second place
marks the Big Red's highest finish since 1978, and the season WAS pretty
successful (after all, Cornell made the NCAAs for the first time in five
years). It's just that the Big Red looked for so long like they were going
to win it all. They held first place for almost two months before their
season-ending slump, and then they destroyed Colgate in the quarterfinals.
It'll be a long time before they have that kind of talent again.
>3. Call me the eternal optimist, but I don't share Arthur Mintz' and
>Bill Fenwick's worries that the Red might be headed deep into the
>second division, a la 87. The heart of the squad is the blueline, and
>though Bruce Frauley, Tim Vanini, and, possibly, Rat will depart, the
>remainder of the corps (Dave Burke, Etienne Belzile, Paul Dukovac et
>al.) is quite solid.
The problem here is that there pretty much IS no "al." The only other
returning defenseman with varsity experience is Marc Deschamps, and he
played in just seven games during 1990-91. Granted, it was probably pretty
tough to crack the Big Red's defensive lineup last season, but he may also
have been having problems with his knee, which he injured two years ago.
One more thing to worry about is that the three departing defensemen were
not only Cornell's best blue-liners, but they were also legitimate threats
on offense. While the guys who are returning are big, physical players and
should be pretty solid in Cornell's end, it appears that none of them will
be giving opposing goaltenders a great deal to worry about. The top scorer
among the Big Red's returning defenders is Dave Burke, who has a total of 24
points in three seasons. It isn't exactly necessary for defensive guys to
be able to light the lamp at the other end, but it would sure help out a
Cornell offense that will be losing at least five of its top eight scorers.
>4. Having said that, Kent Manderville's potential defection may be an
>even greater cause for worry than Ratushny's since, coupled with the
>graduation of HAD linemates Trent Andison (22-26-48) and Doug Derraugh
>(30-36-66), it would be a serious blow to a less than robust offense.
The Big Red would certainly miss Mandy's scoring talents, but there may be a
few other things going on here. There were some whispers during the season
that Manderville was a little lackadaisical. I was ready to dismiss that as
just talk by those who felt he had not lived up to his "potential" -- until
last December, when I saw that coach McCutcheon, for a time, moved him from
the second to the FOURTH line. The reason given, naturally, was "to build a
more balanced attack", but I don't buy that for a second. That line was
centered by Jim McPhee -- a converted defenseman, for crying out loud! You
just don't put a talent like Manderville on the fourth line unless maybe
you're trying to give him a message.
One of the things that a number of people noticed (and that Arthur pointed
out to me) about Mandy last year is that he seemed reluctant to go in and
fight for the puck, preferring instead to wait for the pass. Perhaps that's
just his style, and there's nothing wrong with that -- except that at 6-3
and 200 pounds, Manderville is bigger than practically every defenseman in
the ECAC, and he'd be able to win a lot of those battles. It's something
I'd like to see him do more of if he comes back next year. To his credit,
he did seem to be working on that toward the end of the year. Don't get me
wrong -- I am hoping like crazy that Manderville does come back next season.
But the team is going to need him to be an inspirational leader and a hard
worker -- someone who can take over for the departing Doug Derraugh.
>But look at the players the rest of the ECAC is losing to graduation
>alone! How much worse must be the fears in Cambridge and Troy!
Harvard and RPI are losing a lot, no question about it. The Crimson will
graduate Peter Ciavaglia, Ted Donato, and Mike Vukonich, who were the top
three scorers in ECAC play (all with 50 points or more), and the Engineers
will say good-bye to Joe Juneau, Derek DeCosty, Bruce Coles, Kevin Mazzella,
and Mickey LeBlanc. Both teams are losing their big guns -- but in both
cases, the defense and goaltending will return intact, which will help out
quite a bit. Harvard is all set with Allain Roy and Chuckie Hughes between
the pipes, their defense will probably come together, and they are always
able to drum up offense from somewhere, so I'm not shedding too many tears
for the Crimson (well, I wouldn't anyway :-) RPI will probably have more
trouble, but I was impressed with the performance of goaltender Neil Little
this season, and their defense has improved over 1989-90. Cornell, con-
versely, is suffering significant losses on offense, defense, and especially
goaltending.
>5. Points 2 through 4 are likely moot if Parris Duffus isn't the
>greatest thing since Doug Dadswell. Is he? Does anybody know?
In a word, "No." In two words, "No way." Of course, you have to realize
that asking a goalie to be the next Doug Dadswell is not that far from
asking him to be the next Ken Dryden. Duffus has looked reasonably good,
but not GREAT, between the pipes. Since he was stuck behind Corrie D'Ales-
sio and Jim Crozier this season, he hasn't had much game experience; 37
minutes, to be exact. He might do all right, especially if Cornell can put
together a strong defense and a high-powered offense. I still don't see
either of those two happening.
Things look rough, Cornell fans. The one hope I can grasp at is the
recruiting. McCutcheon and his staff have been pretty good at convincing
some big talents to come to Ithaca: Ratushny in 1988, Manderville and Ryan
Hughes in 1989, and Shaun Hannah last year. If McCutcheon can put together
his best freshman class yet, the Big Red may not go into a dive. But let's
face it, that's a big "if". To put it bluntly, I'm not betting on home ice
for the quarterfinals next season.
Bill Fenwick
Cornell '86
LET'S GO RED!!
"If you are what you eat, then I'm dead meat..."
-- Timbuk 3, "Grand Old Party"
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