Clarkson vs. Central NY [Archive] - Golden Knights Hockey Roundtable

daredevilcu

01-16-2006, 03:50 PM

Clarkson heads to CNY this weekend to face down the Colgate Raiders and the Cornell Little Red. Both have been doing well so far this season, and although Cornell got off to a slow start, they seem to have turned it back around for the most part (ignoring the 3-0 blanking they took from Princeton).

I haven't read much about Colgate, but it seems that goalie Mark Dekanich has stepped in and filled the shoes of Steve Silverthorn better than anyone had hoped. From what I hear, they basically just play all-around solid hockey. Cornell has off nights, and it will be nice to catch them on Saturday after they face a very fast, high-powered St. Lawrence offense. Hopefully they'll be a little tired.

Clarkson played a strong 60 minutes against Union and a strong 40 minutes against RPI. The only really disappointing thing about this weekend was the final outcome of each game. Hopefully they can realize that, not get down on themselves, bounce back and take it to two of the stronger teams in the league.

An interesting statistic: 4 is the magic number for Clarkson this year. The team is 12-0-0 when scoring at least 4 goals, 0-8-2 when scoring 3 or less.

Stemmer

01-16-2006, 05:38 PM

[QUOTE=daredevilcu]Clarkson heads to CNY this weekend to face down the Colgate Raiders and the Cornell Little Red. Both have been doing well so far this season, and although Cornell got off to a slow start, they seem to have turned it back around for the most part (ignoring the 3-0 blanking they took from Princeton).

Clarkson played a strong 60 minutes against Union and a strong 40 minutes against RPI. The only really disappointing thing about this weekend was the final outcome of each game. QUOTE]

Sorry but having watched almost all of the Union game on the Albany TV webcast, I don't think we can call the effort agaisnt Union "strong" at all. Coach Roll certainly wasn't happy with the effort in his comments after the second period, and as a coach myself at the HS level, I saw a lot of things I wouldn't be happy with.

Cornell has had an uneven season so far but Lynah is no place to visit if you aren't bringing your A game; your A+ game. And they have always played us tough in recent years. I'm sure Schafer and his team are as disappointed with the loss to Princeton as Roll and Co. are with last weekend so you know they'll come out loaded for Golden Knight. IPlus, I imagine some of those guys, and the faithful as as well, are still smarting from the playoff loss to us 2 years ago.

I wouldn't count on their game on Friday against Slu giving Tech any advantage at all. We'll be at Colgate on Friday and that's no walk in the park!

40 strong minutes against RPI? That does NOT cut it. As every coach reminds his players, it's a "60 minute game" and if you take off the first 5 minutes to find your groove, or ease up in the second period, e.g., you'll go home with an "L."

One thing we have learned so far about the league this year is that old NFL axiom..."On any given night..."

Tech needs to make next Friday and Saturday THEIR Knights. I can't think of better venues to do it than Starr and Lynah!

daredevilcu

01-16-2006, 06:44 PM

I was AT the Union game, and I really don't think that we played that poorly against them. There were about 7 times that we should've had goals and either Mayotte got lucky or we got unlucky. Sometimes the bounces just don't go your way. I will agree that the beginning of the first period was weak, giving up the two early goals, but after that we definitely settled down and played very well--just couldn't bury the rubber.

vicb

01-16-2006, 07:50 PM

From what Josh and Bob were reporting at Union it was just one of those Knights. I think we could have played them for 120 minutes and not scored. RPI was another matter. NO EXCUSE FOR THE SECOND PERIOD!!! And this crap about this team being a young team has to stop. No excuses this weekend. We have won at these places before and we damn sure as better have a chip on our shoulder and think there is no way we will lose this weekend. My new signature says it all:

daredevilcu

01-16-2006, 08:05 PM

Agreed, no excuse for the 2nd period of the RPI game. Came out strong, got a little complacent, a little tired, and a little frustrated early in the second and that led to the meltdown. Those things don't happen to a team that's going to win a league championship.

On a happier note, Nick Dodge made it into the top 20 of all scorers this year, with 29 points so far.

Stemmer

01-16-2006, 11:15 PM

Daredevil,

I'm not trying to be argumentative here but:

Yes, Mayotte played very well and he obviously stopped the "first shot" every time. But when you face a goalie who is on his game like that, you need to work hard to win the battles to get to the rebounds to generate higher quality scoring chances. We didn't do enough of that. Plus Union consistently won the battles on the boards and in the corners more often than we did. That's a key to any game.

There were a number of times when Mayotte was out of position after stopping the first shot when it appeared that our guys weren't hungry going after the rebound or getting into the right place to get it. The "ugly" rebound goals don't make the highlight reels but they count just as much and, they win games! I'll grant you that we had a few bounces not go our way but if you're playing hard all game, that's not usually a deciding factor.

Ask JF and I bet he tells you that he and Whitey potted a lot of those ugly goals their last two seasons at Tech. Those guys and their 'mates were rarely if ever outworked!

Unfortunately, "settling down and playing well" is usually not good enough after you come out flat and dig yourself a 2-0 hole in this league. That's something that will drive any coach nuts because it's inexcusable regardless how young a team is.

Re: winning at Lynah, except for th eplayoff wins there 2 years ago, I was there the last two times we won there, in '97 and '99. In both cases, Tech came out hard and set the tone. Whitey dominated the first time from the first drop of the puck and Erik Cole put on a display of hard-nosed and skilled play in '99 and both took control of the game.

Tech needs to do that this time...who will step up and set the tone?

SpongeRob

01-17-2006, 12:47 PM

Since no one's dredged up the topic yet........

Whatever the reason for our downfall this weekend, it is correctable, and those games were winnable. In the end, we showed inconsistency and an inability to fight through a tough and unluck night. As a result.......we are now hanging out in "Off-the-pollsville" and are barely clinging to the INCH power rankings. Hopefully we'll go into CNY this weekend and show everyone that this past weekend was a fluke! I look forward to listening on the web as the Knights silence the Lynah Losers for the first time since 99' and continue the streak against Colgate!!! LGT!!!!

daredevilcu

01-17-2006, 02:31 PM

If anyone is going to step up and set the tone, it's going to be the Dodge/Sullivan/Cayer line -- especially if Cornell doesn't put some of their best defenders up against them. They've been doing most of the scoring for the last few games. I would love to see the Weller/Zalewski/Guthrie line start producing again. They generate chances but just haven't buried much recently.

Todd '86

01-17-2006, 10:22 PM

In honor of this weekend's tilt, here are a couple of mildly amusing items:

http://www.cornellcollege.edu/about_cornell/not_in_ithaca.shtml
http://www.cornellcollege.edu/about_cornell/comparison.shtml

Hmm. Not even a state school.

Brett Gobe

01-18-2006, 09:10 AM

Hmm, founded 15 years after Cornell College? Cornell Jr.?

Todd '86

01-18-2006, 01:03 PM

The original and still the better of the two?

Go Rams.

coolhandtouc

01-19-2006, 10:13 PM

(t) vs. Cornell who do we root for on Friday night?

Bill

01-20-2006, 01:52 AM

(t) vs. Cornell who do we root for on Friday night?
Neither -- 0-0 ot tie!;)

daredevilcu

01-20-2006, 02:32 AM

vicb

01-20-2006, 06:46 AM

Colgate 3 Clarkson 2
Cornell 2 Clarkson 1

There, that should guarantee us 2 wins (I hope).

ursaminor

01-20-2006, 09:26 AM

Colgate 3 Clarkson 2
Cornell 2 Clarkson 1

There, that should guarantee us 2 wins (I hope).
Vic,
You should know that reverse woofing doesn't work. :D

Heyotter

01-20-2006, 09:55 AM

Brett Gobe

01-20-2006, 10:11 AM

Sadly, we vote for Cornell. SLU is ahead of us by 5 points in the standings, Cornell and Colgate are two points ahead each. If SLU gets swept and we sweep, that's the best possible situation for us. That's a pretty tough thing to do on the CNY trip...
Excuse if I may, but I think I need to Defy Convention here. A North Coutnry sweep, while improbable sets up the best match up for next weekend. Clarkson would be in a tie for second with Colgate and Harvard and would be 5 points behind SLU. Making those 2 games very meaningful for both teams as SLU would be looking to put a lock down on the #1 seed and Clarkson would be looking to spoil a nice run SLU has put together. I want to see Clarkson SLU next weekend at what hopefully will be both teams best, and this is the best scenario for that to happen.

In conclusion, Go SLU. Beat Cornell, in overtime, in fact, play 2 overtimes.

Ron

01-20-2006, 10:34 AM

Mr. McDonald over on USCHO says Clarkson won't even score a goal this weekend in losing 1-0 and 1-0 for the weekend. Goes along pretty well with his statement at the bottom of the article on how we shouldn't have dropped out of the Top 20 this past week.

Yeah, right on cue I got an e-mail from my buddy Matt who busted out his best impression:

Well, Clarkson is a better team, they want it more, they are at home with a huge home ice advantage, they are ranked higher, they seem hungrier for the win, and they are poised for victory.

RIT 17 - Clarkson 0

chuck

01-20-2006, 03:31 PM

I won't stop woofing till the season is over then I'll start for next year:

CU 4 'Gate 2

CU(Tech) 3 CU(State School) 2

coolhandtouc

01-20-2006, 04:37 PM

I won't stop woofing till the season is over then I'll start for next year:

CU 4 'Gate 2

CU(Tech) 3 CU(State School) 2

Woofing gods pay him no mind.:D

We have to stay out of the box this weekend, and let's get that top line going, they are due!!

Goldie Knight

01-20-2006, 06:47 PM

Friday, January 20, 2006 6:45 PM

The glutton for grief says:

CLARKSON 3

colgate 1

LET'S GO TECHERS....SQUEEZE THE TOOTHPASTE.:)

Todd '86

01-20-2006, 09:33 PM

Well, the hockey gods weren't kind to the Knights tonight. 'Gate wins on a fluke goal (pass goes off a defenseman's stick, hits the back of the goaltender's helmet and falls in the goal) and thier goaltender becomes a wall (22+ saves in the third alone).

Great effort in the third, but our guys just couldn't finish again. Was it me or were there a lot - and I mean a LOT - of times where our forwards overskated the puck?

Brett Gobe

01-20-2006, 09:35 PM

12-0-0 when scoring 4+
0-9-2 when scoring >4

Gotta agree with you Todd.

vicb

01-20-2006, 09:36 PM

All I can say is UNFREAKINBELIEVABLE. What the h - e double hockey sticks is it with the opposing goalie on Friday Knight.

The Good:

43 freakin shots on goal

Dodge- Cayer and Sullivan once again with all the points

The not so good:

43 freakin shots on goal and only 2 goals.

Everytime we scored we let them score.

2 Bad Defensive plays give Gate their first 2 goals.

Again the other team gets the winning goal on a freak play. Somehow Burton scores from behind the net as it hits a Clarkson dman in the head or upper body and goes in the net.

Gotta give the team credit. They gave it everything they had but just could not buy a goal. I can't fault them for the effort. On to Lynah (Ugh).

Chaz

01-20-2006, 09:51 PM

Arghh..... Watched the game on Time Warner. That was a game we should have won. I'm absolutely speechless!

Todd '86

01-20-2006, 10:32 PM

They gave it everything they had but just could not buy a goal.

Let's just hope they don't start believing that. Based on tonight's game and what parts of the Union game I saw, they just seem snake-bit on offense since the game at the Corel. Obviously this is a crucial stretch of games and this is a bad time for a scoring drought.

Heyotter

01-21-2006, 10:30 AM

RSTuthill

01-21-2006, 11:10 AM

Todd '86

01-21-2006, 12:45 PM

Clarkson has a long history of games against Colgate like this. When was it, 1998 or 1999, when the Knights did the same thing at Cheel, tons of SOG's to very few against, and came away losers. Very frustrating, but things will get better.

The Knights will win tonight, you watch.

You're right about our history with Colgate, although we've had pretty wierd games against other teams, too. Can't say much about shot totals of this one, but there was one particular game in 1996 at Cheel that stands out in my mind. We had a 4-2 lead halfway through the game and ended up with a tie. The third period was just bizzare. I can still see Dave Seitz skating through center ice on a partial breakaway without a stick. Seitz merely kicked the puck up the ice. As this play developed, Colgate's goalie Dan Brenzavich had come out almost to the blue line to stick the puck away. Seitz then dove at Brenzavich's feet, causing the goalie to complete a full 360-degree flip, injuring him on the play. All I can think is that Seitz ran out of ideas for what to do with the puck. No whistle. A brawl nearly broke out in front of the Clarkson bench, which finally stopped play.

Later in the period, the tying goal was scored on a power play that resulted from this "play." From where I sat, anyway, it appeared that Dan Murphy clearly had the puck covered in the crease, but Colgate's offense was allowed to continue to poke away until the puck crossed the goal line.

I think it was Colgate at Cheel, too, when a particularly weak team effort resulted in the band cheering "its about effin time" after a late Tech goal when it didn't matter anymore.

Then, there's those strange things that happen at lynah....

Goldie Knight

01-21-2006, 01:16 PM

Saturday, January 21, 2006 1 PM

Dick...I love your thoughts about toknight's game.....thank you. I suspect the Golden Knights will want to honor your prediction too.:)

Now some stuff about last knight's game from the local newspapers. Coach Roll felt the Golden Knights were a totally different team than they were last weekend against Union and RPI. (Maybe that's why it took me so long to get over last weekend's losses...those games were agonizingly painful).

George felt the team played as well as they had all year....we had some marvelous scoring chances. Believe it or not, when Colgate's Tyler Burton shot near the Clarkson net, he was the only Colgate player in the Clarkson zone. That darn puck evidently deflected upward off from a Golden Knight's stick, rolled over the back of David Leggio and into the net, for Colgate's winning goal......it must have been absolutely disgusting for the Golden Knights to deal with that horror.

George said the team was very upset after the game. Yet, he felt the Golden Knights had nothing to be ashamed of about the way they played. I guess when the team plays poorly and loses, that is upsetting for everyone. But, when they play well and lose, that a different matter. I know I feel much better today about the loss to Colgate last knight than I did after last weekend's disasters.

BEAT little red........................:)

coolhandtouc

01-21-2006, 01:29 PM

Having only seen the Union and 1/2 the Colgate game on TV, can anyone tell me if this is the way the team has been playing all season? It seems our general strategy is to take long shots from the points and hope to get traffic. A lot of these shots are low corner shots, easily deflected into the corner by the goalie with no chance of a decent rebound. And given the fact that most teams have great goaltending in this league, they seem happy to pinch lower to take away the forwards movement and let them drop it back to the defense to set this play up. I mean, we actually outhustled Colgate to the pucks in the corner, but just did the same thing over and over, hence the high shot count.

In the games I have watched this year it appear the team was getting into the habit of making the "perfect" pass or "extra" pass. I think the coaching staff wanted more traffic in front and more shots on net to create more opportunities.

If we keep working hard, the breaks will come our way, hopefully the guys won't get frustrated during this rut. I think tonight is going to be some game.
LGT!!

vicb

01-21-2006, 09:44 PM

Well what can be said. A season that started so promisingly is rapidly going into the toilet. And the sad thing is we are not getting dominated by any of these teams. We do just enough to lose. This is what is so frustrating.

The Good

Someone other than Dodge/Sullivan/Cayer Scored: Congrats to Zalewski

Cayer with the 2nd goal

2 Power Play goals

Another game where we played well and hustled. No shame in the effort from the team.

The not so good

Again lost the lead twice just like last night.

Again had chances to go up by 2 or 3 goals and did not convert.

Again could not take advantage of NUMEROUS GREAT CHANCES. Paquet misses a wide open net as an example.

The penalty kill (2 power play goals given up)

Cornell just dominated us 4 on 4 and got 2 goals 4 on 4.

Referee McDonald did us no favors. Dodge was nearly beheaded with a hit from behind and no call. McNulty thought he was interfered with on the 2nd goal and no call.

2nd knight in a row we go into the third period tied and lose the game.

We now sink into an 8th place tie with Union in the league :( .

Well a good old North Country hoe down next weekend at Cheel and then Appleton. Maybe we can break up this losing streak.

Brett Gobe

01-21-2006, 09:56 PM

Young team, making the mistakes a young team makes.

Hopefully they can turn it around and get out of this slump in February. I almost want to say its better to be in a slump now than the first 2 weekends in March. Hopefully theyll figure it out and start putting some pucks in the net.

EDIT: If the season ended today the Knights would travel to Union for the third straight year.

coolhandtouc

01-26-2006, 10:26 PM

INCH Interview with Tyler Burton of Colgate:

"Joe Gladziszewski: Who are your most respected opponents?

Tyler Burton: One player that did impress me was from Clarkson last weekend was Nick Dodge. We had some great battles and we were out there every shift. It will be fun playing against him in the future. Going to Cornell, it will always be a test playing against a goaltender of McKee's calibur and playing against him will be a test in the next couple of weeks. I was fortunate enough last year to get a goal against him, but it will be a test going against someone of his calibur. "

Nice things to say after that lucky ass goal;)

Stemmer

01-27-2006, 12:50 PM

I notice that Burton didn't call Dodge "a goon" but showed some respect. I guess it's only the other CNY team that thinks Tech recruits goons, eh? :rolleyes:

daredevilcu

01-27-2006, 12:59 PM

Rich, that thread turning into what it did... well, you had to expect it, didn't you?

Stemmer

01-29-2006, 01:51 AM

Rich, that thread turning into what it did... well, you had to expect it, didn't you?

On the one hand, I really didn't, and expected most cornell posters to acknowledge that Clarkson's program historically has NOT had goons and certainly doesn't now.

On the other hand, I've become used to some of those folks, especially the young ones, demonstrating their lack of knowledge of other teams in the league, so I wasn't shocked but I was disappointed.

The remarks by the played from Colgate about Dodge just demonstrate how idiotic it was by the cornell fan to call him a "goon".