If you will just excuse me for a moment.
 
Ahem.
 
1995-96 Women's Ivy League Champions!
1995-96 Men's Undefeated Ivy League Champions!
1995-96 Men's ECAC Champions!
 
Thank you.
 
 
And thank YOU, Julie and Mike.  The first time is the best for many things,
and it was hard to imagine that even after a ten year wait the second
Cornell ECAC tournament championship that I'd see could rival the
emotional impact of the '86 squad's 2OT/OT triumph.
 
It did.
 
Cornell won both games with a style and finality that the close scores belied.
They were clearly the superior squad on both nights, shutting down the
opposition to a paltry number of quality chances (and allowing a Final Four
record 1 goal).  They managed to put the puck by the enemy netminders
6 times (4 counted and 2 disallowed) and were credited with an additional
score courtesy of Tripp Tracy's fine impersonation of Alexi Lalas on skates.
 
The Faithful were a strong contingent, and clearly held their own in the
critical Volume Per Capita ratio. The wrath of the Clarkson and UVM fans
towards us was illustrative of the fact: nobody gets mad at you if you're
quiet.  Then again,
 
"If you're not the lead dog, the view is always the same."
 
So I suppose they always get mad when you win.  :-)   Jason Elliott assumes the
mantle passed down by Dryden, Cropper, Eliot, and Dadswell as the man
who just Takes Care of Business.  Jason is playing the best hockey of
his young career, and with his two years remaining (and a veteran defense
returning) the Big Red might even get stingier giving up goals.  The special
teams dazzled us again, going +2 (1PPG and 1SHG against nothing) despite being
on the short end of man-up advantages for the weekend.
 
This is a team game, and Cornell plays *as a unit* better than any squad
I have ever seen.  Nobody is off on his own agenda (understandably, since under
Schafer this is a sure way to grab some quality street clothes time).  It
is fitting that on special teams, the quintessential demonstration of teamwork,
Cornell is excellent.  I don't have the numbers in front of me, but I believe
that over their current five game winning streak Cornell has outscored the
opposition while shorthanded by about 4-2.
 
My only disappointment with the all-tournament team is that Brad Chartrand was
not included.  Brad got 0 points... and may have had a stronger influence on
the games' outcomes than anyone in the building other than Elliott.  It was
as if he was providing a highlight reel to punctuate his selection as the
league's "Best Defensive Forward."  And I never thought I'd see a guy better on
clutch faceoffs than Karl Williams, but here he is.
 
>From the "their finest hour" department, Chad Wilson can sleep with a smile
this off-season, being one of the main reasons for the Big Red Chill on
opponents' shots.  Jason Dailey was also way above his game (at least
after giving us one truly gut-wrenching "oh f***!" centering pass into the
slot in front of his own net just to make sure we (and Elliott) were
still awake.
 
OK, a minute ago I said "way above his game," and I am continually reading
that Cornell is "overachieving."  With the full knowledge that this comment
is almost universally meant as a compliment to Mike Schafer's astonishing
ability to get his players to believe in the system and themselves, may
I ask the question: "how long can they 'overachieve' before you start to think
that these just might be damn good hockey players?"  Consider: Schafer's
teams started the season 7-7-3, getting used to a new coach and a
completely opposite style of play.  They have followed that opening
with a 14-1-1 stretch run against the best teams in the league, home,
away, and neutral, winning in the clutch in a convincing manner.  Perhaps it
is time to entertain for a moment the thought that this might be a
very talented team, in addition to being very well motivated.
 
As far as that motivation is concerned: if you haven't actually seen these
guys in person then you're missing something very special.  Cornell hockey
has always been about mutual (and vocal!) admiration between the players and the
fans, but with Schafer in the picture this has explicitly become a
triumverate.  Everybody reinforces everybody else.  I think that Schafer is
a little embarassed by this, and perhaps a little ambivalent about its
affect on the team.  He has never specifically acknowledged the crowd's
chants, he deliberately leaves the ice before the players' center ice salute,
etc.  He's a good coach, and he knows that his players deserve the glory.
But he also appears to be a good man, and is sincerely humble despite his
obvious pride in the team's (and by extension his own) accomplishments.
Here again he is a wonderful role model... I won't be the least surprised if
a head coach or two emerge from his mentorship.
 
The season has been a dream come true: for the hardware, the moments of
dramatic and beautiful hockey, the overwhelmingly positive hope for the
future, and perhaps most of all for the expressions on the nine seniors'
faces after that first Harvard game, the Ivy-clincher, the Lynah QF blow-out,
and then Saturday.  It was worth the wait, for them and for us.
 
Thank you, TEAM!
 
 
Greg Berge
Let's Go Red!
Just count the rings:
    1967, 68, 69, 70, 73, 80, 86, and 1996 ECAC Champions
 
"If they keep playing like this, I can't see anyone beating them."
                           - Colgate Head Coach Don Vaughn,  3/9/96
 
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