>>2. Cornell. Head coach Brian McCutcheon describes this year's team as
>> "mature". The Big Red lost only two seniors from last season's squad
>> and boast a standout group of defensemen (including six NHL draftees),
>> led by top blue-liner Dan Ratushny.
>
> Cornell put on a good show against RPI in the ECACs in March, and
> Ratushny is a good one. But if they can't put the puck in the net,
> cross them off the list. That was one of their downfalls in '90,
> especially against RPI with all the opportunities they had.
Making and then converting scoring opportunities has been a concern of
McCutcheon's almost since he got here in 1987. The Big Red was not
constantly missing opportunities last season, but they did show an annoying
inability at times to score that one crucial goal to put the game out of
reach. At best, this cost the team some anxious moments; at worst, it cost
them the game. Cornell blew two-goal leads six times last year, going 0-4-2
in those games. McCutcheon has been looking to recruit speed and goal-
scoring ability, and for the second year in a row, he's brought in four
freshman forwards versus one defenseman and a goalie. Cornell's offense
should be significantly improved this season. You'll likely be hearing a
lot from players like Joe Dragon, Ryan Hughes, Kent Manderville, and the
consistently underrated Doug Derraugh. Granted, picking the Big Red #2 is a
bit of a reach, but they are a solid choice to win the ECAC and make the
NCAA's, and it's not inconceivable that they could surprise somebody along
the way and make the Final Four.
>>3. Maine. The Black Bears should not have any trouble on offense, what
>> with the return of their top eight scorers from 1989-90, including
>> Jean-Yves Roy, whose 39 goals was the most by a Hockey East player.
>> The defense lost three players to graduation, but Keith Carney (41
>> assists, also the most in Hockey East) returns. Goaltending may be a
>> bit of a problem. {Note: This article was written before Matt
>> DelGuidice signed with the Boston Bruins. I don't know whether the
>> loss of DelGuidice would remove Maine from "Top 10" consideration -- I
>> understand that freshman Mike Dunham is a good one. -- Bill}
>
> It sounds like they wrote this after DelGuidice signed, since most
> people considered him to be one of Maine's strengths.
Well, that's because I cut out the part of the article that talked about
DelGuidice. What THN actually said was "Scoring goals shouldn't be a
problem for the powerful Black Bears this season, but keeping them out may
be", and later on, "The Bears are also looking for big things from the
goaltending tandem of senior Matt DelGuidice and freshman Mike Dunham". I
figured they weren't any more, since that tandem no longer exists.
> By the way, I think the stats of
> 39 goals for Roy & 41 assists for Carney are *overall* - I believe
> Brown led HE for assists in league games.
The stats are overall, including postseason play.
> RPI is another team worth considering on this list.
Not unless they come up with a halfway decent defense. RPI's high-octane
offense was a thing of beauty last season, and the Engineers did finish
strong, going 7-1 in February to jump five places in the standings, then
coming within one goal of beating Colgate for the ECAC Tournament champion-
ship. However, when that offense was controlled by the opposing team or
simply had an off night, the Engineers were pretty much hopeless. RPI
scored four or fewer goals in a game 14 times last year and went 1-13 in
those games. And that one victory came courtesy of goalie Sean Kennedy's
outstanding 41-save performance against Cornell in the ECAC semis. In
contrast, Clarkson and Cornell, two strong defensive teams, went a more
decent 7-9-2 and 8-9-2, respectively, in games where they scored four or
fewer goals. Even with an excellent crop of goal-scorers, RPI is going to
need a defense. They can't consistently leave Kennedy to face 35 to 40
shots a game as they did last year. (See Brown's Chris Harvey)
Another reason RPI needs to improve defensively is that their offense will
likely slip a notch this season. Top scorer Joe Juneau returns, and he
could pile up points with a broomstick, but the Engineers suffered some key
losses with the graduation of Brian Ferreira, Tony Hejna, Bill Flanagan, and
Kevin Mazzella. They do have some younger players like Francois Cadoret and
Stephane Robitaille who may be able to fill in. Their defense was young
last season (they had no seniors and only one junior among the seven blue-
liners), but with the year's experience working together, they might get
better. If they don't, head coach Buddy Powers might want to try something
that worked well for Colgate last season. The Red Raiders used to be a
high-tempo offensive team, but last year, coach Terry Slater had his
forwards come back to their own end of the ice and help out on defense more.
That tactic, along with the sterling performance of goalie Dave Gagnon (who
by the way almost never faced more than 30 shots in a game), helped turn the
Red Raiders from a perennial ECAC also-ran into the league champs and NCAA
runners-up.
> As for the top players list, I really can't argue except to
> say that David Emma will not win (Heinze has a better chance from
> BC and Amonte is better than both of them) and Rob Cowie from
> NU may be too inconsistent to merit serious consideration.
I guess I should mention here that while THN talked about Hobey Baker
considerations for some of their top ten players, they did not explicitly
state that these ten were their top contenders for the award.
And can anyone explain to me why THN is so high on Northern Michigan goalie
Bill Pye? This is the second year in a row that they've listed him, and
last year they predicted that he'd carry the Wildcats to the WCHA champion-
ship (they finished fourth). I have no idea what his freshman and sophomore
year stats were -- was he top-notch those two years and did he just fall
into a slump last season?
> Of course, as Keith pointed out in his scathing rebuttal of my
> listing of the HE preseason all-star team in 1989 :-), all these
> top 10 lists mean nothing once the first puck is dropped.
True, but they do give us all something to talk (or argue :-) about.
>>Hockey Digest also mentions that St. Cloud State will soon be joining the
>>WCHA, and that Kent State is looking to improve and perhaps join the CCHA in
>>a few years. They also have tabbed Notre Dame and Alabama-Huntsville as
>>programs that may look to join conferences in the next decade, and they
>>predict that North Dakota State, Iowa State, and Wisconsin-Green Bay might
>>field Division I hockey teams by the year 2000.
>
> As Carol pointed out, St Cloud is a full-fledged member of the WCHA
> this year, bringing that league's total to 9 teams. Besides Notre
> Dame, Huntsville, & Kent, the two Alaskas have been trying for some
> time to work out a deal with a conference. Distance is the problem
> there.
Hockey Digest did mention the two Alaska teams -- another tidbit that fell
victim to my indiscriminate editing: "Alaska-Anchorage and Alaska-Fairbanks
have shown promise, but lack membership in an established league, proximity
to top competition, and a long-term record of success." Oh well, I shall
endeavor diligently to increase my verbosity in any future commentaries.
:-) :-)
Bill Fenwick
Cornell '86
LET'S GO RED!!
Opus: "We were watching a Sylvester Stallone movie last night and she was
salivating. I asked her if MY body turned her on...and do you know what
she said?"
Narrator: "What?"
O: "She said all she wants out of a lover physically are 'lips to kiss and a
shoulder to cry on'."
N: "That's very sweet."
O: "I'M SHORT ON BOTH COUNTS!!"
-- "Bloom County"
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