Norwich 2016-17 Season Thread: ISO first NEHC title

[NU56]

Re: Norwich 2016-17 Season Thread: ISO first NEHC title

All us Norwich fans and some not fans are also looking forward to this weekend's games with much anticipation. Was the Prime Link for real or was it the Skidmore game? We'll all have our own answers by Saturday night................but remember it is a long season. How many other Norwich fans are down here in Florida with me watching the stream?
NU56
Old Member
Maybe the Oldest

[NU Pastime]

Re: Norwich 2016-17 Season Thread: ISO first NEHC title

My question is, what has changed? When I arrived at Norwich in 2008, the Corps came out in strong numbers for games in Kreitzberg. The number of Corps students on the roster was similar (small!). Since then, Corps attendance has steadily declined. Why?

I think a part of it is a lack of athletes with leadership positions within the Corps. My understanding is that, in the old days, many athletes held leadership positions within the Corps. That, with some exceptions, is not the case anymore. We can debate the merit of the "bad cadets" argument, but my experience tells me that the Corps administration makes it so difficult for athletes to hold these positions that many athletes just don't feel that it's worth it.

Not sure what you mean by "Corps administration", but if you're referring to the commandants then I don't think that's true. In my experience, Jackman officials were very pro-athlete when it came to Corps leadership positions, President Schneider in-particular. I know my senior year the Regimental Staff had at least 5 athletes on it (2 baseball, 1 women's rugby, 1 swimming, 1 cross country). And then 3 of the 5 battalion commanders were athletes (baseball, women's rugby, swimming). I think some sports have inherent advantages when it comes to placing people in leadership positions, such as the spring sports. This is especially true when talking about freshmen or Rook leadership positions, as the nature of Rook Week and the beginning of Rookdom being the most intense portion requires a time commitment that is difficult for Fall athletes to fulfill.

If, however, you're referring to actual Cadet leadership, then I think this is absolutely true and depends on the year and the leadership. Again, from personal experience, my junior and senior year I think great progress was made in improving Corps-athlete relations and Corps involvement at athletic events. But, the year after I graduated the new Regimental Commander had different priorities and a negative perspective on athletics and pretty much erased all the progress (except for, ironically, club hockey).

[KRBFLINT03]

Not sure what you mean by "Corps administration", but if you're referring to the commandants then I don't think that's true. In my experience, Jackman officials were very pro-athlete when it came to Corps leadership positions, President Schneider in-particular. I know my senior year the Regimental Staff had at least 5 athletes on it (2 baseball, 1 women's rugby, 1 swimming, 1 cross country). And then 3 of the 5 battalion commanders were athletes (baseball, women's rugby, swimming). I think some sports have inherent advantages when it comes to placing people in leadership positions, such as the spring sports. This is especially true when talking about freshmen or Rook leadership positions, as the nature of Rook Week and the beginning of Rookdom being the most intense portion requires a time commitment that is difficult for Fall athletes to fulfill.

If, however, you're referring to actual Cadet leadership, then I think this is absolutely true and depends on the year and the leadership. Again, from personal experience, my junior and senior year I think great progress was made in improving Corps-athlete relations and Corps involvement at athletic events. But, the year after I graduated the new Regimental Commander had different priorities and a negative perspective on athletics and pretty much erased all the progress (except for, ironically, club hockey).

You did a great job, as did your predecessor. Since then, things have backslid considerably. It's a shame. The feedback I'm hearing from athletes, of multiple sports, is that it isn't worth the headache.

[KRBFLINT03]

Re: Norwich 2016-17 Season Thread: ISO first NEHC title

It appears rumors of the demise of Norwich hockey were greatly exaggerated. I don't know how this season will end, but I feel comfortable saying the Cadets are still very much an elite program and have not been left behind. It's going to be a fun and exciting winter here in Northfield.

Still way too many empty seats!!'

[NU Pastime]

So...I think this team is pretty good, eh?

Great job withstanding the UMB onslaught in the third. Granted, two goals given up, but you knew they were too good to shut down the entire night. Ostepchuk came up big multiple times after the lead was cut to two.

I know earlier in the season there was talk about maybe guys relying too much on Pelletier. I don't know how true that is, but I feel like we have multiple offensive weapons who can really do some damage.

On a related note, I love the way Salvucci plays. Head down and taking the puck to the net. His second goal was a prime example, surrounded by 4 Beacons defenders, but the penalty he drew with 8:00 left in the third was big in slowing some of UMB'S momentum (even if the call was iffy).

Also, St. Mike's upset Babson. A win tomorrow gives the Cadets a 2 game lead over both UMB and the Beavers.

[NU Pastime]

Still way too many empty seats!!'

I wanted to ask about this. Could see a decent number of empty seats on the screen, and the whiteout memo obviously wasn't embraced, but how was the crowd?

[KRBFLINT03]

I wanted to ask about this. Could see a decent number of empty seats on the screen, and the whiteout memo obviously wasn't embraced, but how was the crowd?

I would guess that many season ticket holders didn't show. Good crowd around the railing, but a lotta empty seats.

[17'sfanNU]

Re: Norwich 2016-17 Season Thread: ISO first NEHC title

All us Norwich fans and some not fans are also looking forward to this weekend's games with much anticipation. Was the Prime Link for real or was it the Skidmore game? We'll all have our own answers by Saturday night................but remember it is a long season. How many other Norwich fans are down here in Florida with me watching the stream?
NU56
Old Member
Maybe the Oldest

I watched the impressive win from Pasco County on the West Coast! We had a slow start in the 1st and 3rd (or maybe it was just UMB putting on the pressure), but the Cadets pulled it together and I am quite happy with what I am seeing from the freshman so far this year. In particular, the hustle of Lewis, Jackson, Williams and Dillinger are making a difference on the team. The guys need to keep up the good work because Babson is coming in to Kreitzberg tomorrow with a HUGE chip on their shoulders after losing to St. Mike's!

Ostepchuk was awesome again, think he was screened on the two that went in.

[KRBFLINT03]

I watched the impressive win from Pasco County on the West Coast! We had a slow start in the 1st and 3rd (or maybe it was just UMB putting on the pressure), but the Cadets pulled it together and I am quite happy with what I am seeing from the freshman so far this year. In particular, the hustle of Lewis, Jackson, Williams and Dillinger are making a difference on the team. The guys need to keep up the good work because Babson is coming in to Kreitzberg tomorrow with a HUGE chip on their shoulders after losing to St. Mike's!

Ostepchuk was awesome again, think he was screened on the two that went in.

Ostepchuk is a stud. With him, we've always got a chance. Not a bad deal that our "#2" could be a #1 too.

[peddler]

Re: Norwich 2016-17 Season Thread: ISO first NEHC title

Revenge for our lack of a 2016 banner hanging from the rafters! I finally see flashes of brilliance from this team. Challenges still exist in the areas of passing (just how many times in one game can the Cadets pass the puck BEHIND their teammate?), giving up the puck on power plays, and coming out in the beginning of a period slow (1st and 3rd as stated previously). I can't tell from our seats whether the goalie is screened or not, but I thought Ostepchuk was superb tonight, keeping them in it when UMB was trying to come back hard. Watching this one, and hearing that Babson lost to SMC had me wondering what alternate reality I had slipped into. Can't really complain about what looked like a much more potent offense than I'd yet seen this year.

[jamesdelino]

Re: Norwich 2016-17 Season Thread: ISO first NEHC title

The team really seems to be hitting its stride right now! Freshman players and Salvucci especially are stepping up their game. Like the previous post said, there is still room for improvement with passing, but with an 8-1-1 start it's hard to complain too much... although I admit I saw shades of the Skidmore game when UMB cut it to 4-2, then hit the post soon after. There also seemed to be a lot more energy from the fans tonight. Hopefully that continues. After all, what else is going on in Northfield on a Friday evening?

In other news, when was the last time Middlebury started 0-5??

[PuckVoice]

Re: Norwich 2016-17 Season Thread: ISO first NEHC title

Crowd was okay ... not up to the good old days but a signicant improvement. Lots of standing room folks including biggest corps representation of the season.
Two points though ...
1) It was a late arriving crowd! Back in my UVM days I used to get on Ivy League crowds which would filter in through the first period ... never thought I would see it at Norwich. May be it has something to do with the AWFUL parking situation.
2) The rail standing room crowd was solid .. . The problem if there was
one was season ticket holders. I have t o ask if you have season tix and don't show up for this weekend why have them at all?

[802Hockey]

Re: Norwich 2016-17 Season Thread: ISO first NEHC title

My Dad has had season tickets for years but we always prefer to stand as we can see the whole ice and tend to get pretty into the game. We always try to tell anyone we talk to that doesn't have seats to go grab them but we will always stand as we've been watching Norwich play that way since long before we had season tickets.

Cadets looked great tonight. Really liking how the freshman are coming along, particularly adding that spark..Salvucci is a beast. Thought Paul Russell had a fantastic game tonight as well. Big O in the net!! That's what a goalie can do. Nice breakaway by UMB that could have easily made it 2-1 in the 2nd, Ostepchuk came up with an even better save and it couldn't have been even 20 seconds later we get a gift right in front of the net and put it away 3-0. Gotta love that swing!

Still room for improvement but I'm not complaining after that game!

[NUProf]

Re: Norwich 2016-17 Season Thread: ISO first NEHC title

My question is, what has changed? When I arrived at Norwich in 2008, the Corps came out in strong numbers for games in Kreitzberg. The number of Corps students on the roster was similar (small!). Since then, Corps attendance has steadily declined. Why?

I think a part of it is a lack of athletes with leadership positions within the Corps. My understanding is that, in the old days, many athletes held leadership positions within the Corps. That, with some exceptions, is not the case anymore. We can debate the merit of the "bad cadets" argument, but my experience tells me that the Corps administration makes it so difficult for athletes to hold these positions that many athletes just don't feel that it's worth it.

All I can say is from my long memory and the tales I was told by oldtimers when I arrived. This is nothing new. It comes and it goes. In some eras, the corps has been athlete friendly and in other eras not so much. Norwich has a long tradition of recycling the same issues every ten years or so.

A few years ago before I retired, there was a concerted effort to get the Corps to attend hockey games and they came out in droves. The band (or at least a subset of it) would show up for some games. It created a lot of excitement, and I think at the time there were maybe one or two Corps kids on the team. Didn't matter the noise and hubbub created a lot of excitement. I remember a couple of times we had to shoo Cadets out of our seats in Section 22 because they got there early and figured they could take any unoccupied seat.

[NU Pastime]

I like all the talk how there's still room for improvement. If this team is this good now, think what they can become!

And there's a precedent for this already this season. In the Middlebury game the power play couldn't really get anything going, it was sloppy, and they gave up multiple shorthanded, odd-man rushes. In the two games since then, the power play has looked much more controlled and disciplined.

A few years ago before I retired, there was a concerted effort to get the Corps to attend hockey games and they came out in droves. The band (or at least a subset of it) would show up for some games. It created a lot of excitement, and I think at the time there were maybe one or two Corps kids on the team. Didn't matter the noise and hubbub created a lot of excitement. I remember a couple of times we had to shoo Cadets out of our seats in Section 22 because they got there early and figured they could take any unoccupied seat.

We would bring the drum line down for club games, and you're right, it really added a lot to the atmosphere. It just feels like a great college atmosphere when there's pep band there. I wonder if they'd be welcomed at a varsity game?