Sports

Cornell Hockey Wrap-Up

by Mark H. Anbinder

I can understand the impulse that has led some Cornell men's ice hockey fans to say, in recent weeks, "Just wait 'til next year!" Really I can! After the 12-1-1 run that ended the Red's regular season, followed by the pair of lopsided home-ice drubbings handed to an unprepared Colgate squad and clear victories in the ECAC tournament, the first-round loss in the NCAA playoffs was a painful deflation. Yet, I'm unwilling to sum up the season on that depressing note.

For a patient Lynah Faithful, the 1995-96 hockey season was an unqualified success.

Measuring Success

There are several ways to measure the team's success, but let's start with the yardstick set out by rookie head coach Mike Schafer. When the former Cornell player and assistant coach took the helm last year, three goals were foremost in his plans:

Sell out Lynah Rink.

Once known as the scariest place in college hockey for a visiting team to play thanks in large part to its solid wall of vocal fans, Lynah has seemed comparatively lifeless the last few years. The facility, which seats just under 4,000, hadn't been full in a few years, but according to Cornell's athletic ticket office, five games sold out this season alone! The seats were never quite all filled, but that'll come in time; the word is spreading that hockey on east hill is fun yet again.

Beat Harvard!

Cornell had not won a regular season game against the arch-nemesis Crimson squad since 1983, so this was no fluff target. Most of the student crowd, and many other fans, had never seen a victory over Harvard (the triumphant quarterfinal sweep over the Crimson five years ago is too far in the past for the current crop), so a regular season sweep, followed by the sweet victory in the ECAC final game, was a wonderful treat.

The traditional shenanigans at Harvard games have lost a bit of their flavor, after an unpleasant poultry incident and some fish-induced bench minor penalties levied by impatient refs, but the Lynah Faithful have managed to maintain the energy level. We hope upcoming schedules will move the home Harvard game a little later in the season so the crowd will be better prepared to enjoy the next Red-Crimson matchup.

Home ice.

The best way to cap off a stellar season is to begin postseason play where your fans can enjoy it, and Cornell did just that this March, hosting Colgate for a best-of-three ECAC quarterfinal series that left no question as to whether the Red deserved a trip to Lake Placid. The "encore performance" was a reward for players and fans alike. Certainly the Red Raiders had enjoyed more pleasurable weekends, but they're not the focus of this article.

Other Measures

As one smart hockey fan said this spring, "Every team but one ends its season with a loss." Before doing that in Albany, Cornell's icers, who'd been picked in a preseason coaches' poll to finish ninth in the twelve-team ECAC, first succeeded in winning the Ivy League title, then went on to the ECAC championship.

Perhaps more important than a championship title (if such a thing is possible) is the new level of energy seen in Lynah Rink this season. Mike Schafer restored a pride in his team that we haven't seen in years, by encouraging them to learn about the program's history and its legendary players.

Speaking of legendary players, senior captain Brad Chartrand played a leadership role not only in maintaining some continuity despite the new coaching staff, but also with his great skating, passing, and scoring. We can believe that Chartrand's example leaves the Red with a strong team for next year; he didn't simply perform and then leave the team behind.

Sophomore netminder Jason Elliott is too young to be a legend just yet (and besides, we don't want to inflate his head), but we're confident that despite some understandable nervousness evident in last month's NCAA tournament, Elliott is a solid goalie with a bright future. It's a good thing, because with Eddy Skazyk's graduation, Elliott will be left as the only heavily-used goaltender on the squad. Freshman Jean-Marc Pelletier will need to get some significant time between the posts before long, but he has a good coaching staff and a good role model to work with.

Wait 'Til Next Year?

Of course we'll wait, and we'll look forward to another great season of Cornell hockey the way it was in the Old Days. We'll soon be hearing about the Big Red's recruiting successes this spring, and will get an idea of what the entering freshmen will be like in the fall. As Mike Schafer's recruiting talents start to shape the team, we'll begin to see what he can really do. (This season he was, in a sense, working with someone else's team.)

Mike Schafer has the advantage and disadvantage of having some stellar coaching history surrounding his program. Coach Ned Harkness and his undefeated NCAA champion 1969-70 team (the only college hockey team ever to go undefeated in a season, then and since) provide a great backdrop but a daunting set of skates to fill.

I won't suggest that a 29-0 season is the yardstick against which Mike Schafer and his team should be measured, but neither will I be disappointed if they aim for that lofty goal.

Coverage of Cornell hockey could hardly be called complete without at least a mention of the Ivy League Champion Cornell women's ice hockey squad. The team, under third-year head coach Julie Andeberhan, went 8-1-1 in Ivy League action this season. The team had a 9-5-2 ECAC record and finished 16-7-2 overall. Following last season, Anderberhan was named coach of the year by the Women's Hockey Coaches Association, and now that our notice has been drawn to this squad, we plan to pay more attention in the future.
Mark H. Anbinder is 14850's sports columnist, the Local Sports Editor at WVBR FM, a Cornell alumnus, and a card-carrying member of the Lynah Faithful. He encourages readers to visit the Cornell Athletics web site at http://www.athletics.cornell.edu/