Well, even though I am pessimistic about the Big Red's chances next season,
I'm not too worried about the goaltending situation as long as it's in the
hands of Andy Bandurski.  The guy has looked like a top-notch college goal-
tender almost since the day he got here, and I expect he'll be able to
continue performing the way he did against Vermont -- even behind a defense
that's not likely to be very coherent.  But if Bandurski has to miss a
significant number of games for some reason, Cornell is going to be in deep
doo-doo.  Geoff Raynak was the third-stringer last season; I saw him several
times in practice and during pre-game warmups, and he didn't seem ready to
handle a varsity goaltending spot.  Hopefully, he's improved some.  I don't
think Cornell needs a goalie rotation (Duffus did pretty well starting all
but one game last season), but it would make everyone breathe a little easier
knowing that if the backup were pressed into action, there wouldn't be a big
drop in performance.
 
With Duffus gone to the pros, the lack of a goaltender among the incoming
freshmen looks like a major blunder by the Cornell coaching staff.  But it's
not like they didn't try to recruit anyone -- in fact, they did.  At the
time, though, the Big Red did not have a particularly attractive situation
for a hot-shot college-bound goalie.  Duffus' two remaining years (although
maybe it was one) of eligibility, and Bandurski's three, would have all but
guaranteed that an incoming freshman goaltender would ride the bench until
he was a senior.  That's a pretty tough sell.
 
Anyway, I hope the Cornell coaching staff keeps Bandurski away from all
sharp objects and hires him a food taster...
--
Bill Fenwick
Cornell '86 and probably '94
LET'S GO RED!!
"My wife the bargain hunter -- she buys anything that's marked down.  Today
 she came home with an escalator."
-- Henny Youngman