November 6, 2009

Crimson Come to Town for First League Weekend

The following article appeared in the November 6 issue of the Cornell Daily Sun.

 

By Keenan Weatherford

Forget saving the best for last; face-off time for Cornell hockey fans' favorite game of the season is 7 p.m. Saturday. The No. 5 men's hockey team has a 2009-10 schedule littered with tough games against big-name hockey programs like Boston University and North Dakota, but those will be largely forgotten when Harvard takes the ice at Lynah Rink in the 131st installment of the rivalry.

Every season is a rollercoaster ride, and this one starts with a jolt. The last time Harvard came to town this early in the year was a Nov. 5, 2003, matchup that Cornell won, 2-0. Since then, Harvard holds a 7-4 edge in the series. Last season, Cornell took the game at Lynah, 2-1, behind two goals from Riley Nash. Harvard won its own home game later in the season, 4-2. Both teams won their only game of the season so far; Harvard opened ECAC Hockey play with a 5-3 win over Dartmouth, and Niagara took Cornell to overtime before ultimately falling, 3-2.

The matchup reads like the cast of a stage melodrama. Harvard has a hotshot rookie: Louis Leblanc, a Quebec native taken by the Montreal Canadiens with the 18th overall NHL draft pick. As a foil, Cornell has Riley Nash, the junior center and 21st overall draft pick in 2007 who plays a similar game to Leblanc. Both show good touch and evasiveness with the puck, and they score their goals by playing physical hockey to get good position close to the net.

Complete article can be accessed via the Sun Web site by clicking here.