Greg Berge writes of Cornell:
 
>The only significant difference between this year's and last year's
>team is Mike Schafer.  Mike must have the inside track on ECAC
>coach of the year, with only SLU's Joe(?) Marsh as competition.
>Kyle Knopp's excellent weekend strengthens his position in the
>battle for ECAC rookie of the year, although I am sure there
>are other worthy candidates out there.
 
Schafer is certainly a front-runner, I'd say on even footing with Marsh
at this point. One good indicator for Coach of the Year is the difference
between where a team is projected to finish in the pre-season coaches
poll and where it actually finishes; right now, Cornell is +5 (picked
for 9th, in 4th) and SLU is +5 (picked for 7th, in 2nd). The coaches
seem to be very conservative in the choice for Coach of the Year --
you usually have to pay your dues (see Bob Gaudet). Thus, I expect
Marsh to win. I wouldn't quibble at either selection, however (and don't
forget Mike Gilligan - if Vermont finishes 1st, he'll get many votes).
 
A couple of other Schafer thoughts: unlike Bob Gaudet, Don Cahoon or
Roger Demment, he inherited a team with a respectible level of talent
from top to bottom. The Big Red needed motivation more than anything
else, and he has certainly provided that. He also restored the player's
confidence by loosening the reigns on the ice.
 
Lastly, Schafer is curteous, thoughtful and friendly. Those attributes
go a long way towards getting the media on your side and pleasing
alumni, recruits, etc.
 
As of today, I'd take Knopp for Rookie of the Year. I'll see Clarkson and
SLU this weekend, though, so that could change. I like Knopp's speed,
defensive sense, skills and the fact that he plays PK and PP. Ben Storey
is still my favorite rookie D (despite his benching on Saturday after
taking a bad penalty late against Cornell). Alex Westlund is the top
rookie goalie by default - no other freshman has seen significant time.
 
>BTW, note to Rich Hungerford - I didn't think the Harvard game was
>boring.  This may come with a slightly different perspective... :-)
 
I agree with Greg. The first 40 minutes were about as entertaining as it
gets -- some tremendous hits, plenty of odd-man breaks, great goaltending
from Tracy in the second period, all kinds of weird bounces. The final
20 minutes was an example of great road hockey by Cornell, so the pace
slowed. The Harvard/Colgate game on Saturday was a bit of a disappointment
to me. I thought the Red Raiders played it way too close to the vest and
didn't take advantage of an emotionally drained Crimson group. Tracy's
play was the one of the few real highlights. He has played the best
hockey of his career this year, IMO, but hasn't been rewarded for it
because Harvard can't seem to score at key times (RPI game the exception).
 
I haven't seen any posts discussing the Princeton/SLU game, perhaps
due to the listserve freezeup over the weekend. The Tigers' Jonathan
Kelley received a game DQ for spearing Tom Cullen and will miss the
Dartmouth game. Cullen is fine and Princeton won the game despite
losing its top scorer for the final 10 minutes. According to
Empire Sports Network analyst Lane MacDonald, it was a great game.
 
One possible factor in the race for the final 2 playoff spots - the
Tigers are 9-7 in the last four games of the regular season since
Cahoon took over (never worse than 2-2). For whatever reason, Cahoon's
teams always start slowly and finish well.
 
Geoff Howell
Drop the Puck Magazine
 
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