Caught in the Net

Tripp or Izzy? Tripp or Izzy?

God, I'm a mess.

All summer, I couldn't sleep or eat. Hockey on the brain. A moral dilemma to flex the minds of Kant, Hobbes, Nietzsche and the rest of those boys.

Which is: Which super soph deserves to bear the lion's share of the netminding action for the Crimson?

Is Aaron (Izzy) Israel the one? Is Tripp Tracy the man? Or is last-year's platoon still the best way out?

With the Crimson's season-opening exhibition against the University of New Brunswick on tap tonight at 7 p.m. (can it be so soon?), I still don't know. Izzy was drafted a couple of rounds higher in the NHL entry draft, so the pros might be a little higher on him. But because most scouts knew they were each going to stay in Cambridge, that's not a fair call.

You want big game wins? Tripp won the Beanpot finale over Boston University; Izzy took down ECAC preseason-favorite RPI during the regular season. Big game losses? Tripp lost in the NCAAs to Northern Michigan; Izzy went down to Brown in the ECACs.

Numbers don't lie, do they? Tripp had the higher overall save percentage and goals-against average, but Izzy wasn't too far behind, and he did have the single-game save high (37; against Dartmouth).

Let's compare them to baseball closers. Tripp is a lot like Rob Dibble: great stuff, feisty competitor, but gives you ulcers behind the bench with his wild, erratic style.

(I was at practice Thursday--they were working the power play drills, and on one rush Tripp came 15 feet out of the net in cutting off the shooter's angle before scampering back to the crease to guard against a rebound. It was practice, but that didn't keep me from instinctively reaching for the Maalox.)

Izzy strikes me as the Duane Ward of this All-Star pairing: fundamentally sound, gets the job done, no flair to him. When he gets beat it's because his stuff isn't as good as the other guy, not because he ever beats himself.

Panache vs. Poise? Always a tough call...I still can't figure it out. Maybe I should ask the honcho calling all the shots between the pipes, Coach Ronn Tomassoni.

"Well, what you'll see this weekend [against New Brunswick] is all three of them getting a period, the third being [junior] Steve Hermsdorf."

OK, soooo...

"But as I've told the boys, right now it looks as though Tripp and Aaron are definitely the 'number ones,' with Steve being a talented kid who can give us depth."

So the platoon is in, is it?

"But I don't think that anyone should assume that it will be an automatic rotation. I think we're very fortunate in that we do have two very talented goaltenders, and if they do continue to play up to their abilities, then you can expect to see a rotation of sorts.

"But if I feel that one is slipping, or if one is just proven to be that much better, then you may wind up seeing that one guy vs. the other two guys. Again, time will only tell."

So does the worm turn. I can momentarily, at least, rest easy, knowing that my dilemma rests in the very competent hands of Ronn Tomassoni--he won't pull the trigger on either one of them until he's absolutely sure in his decision.

And if the "Tripp 'n Izzy" tandem should ever collectively falter?

Well, hey, there's always Hermsy.

Injury Report: With seven days remaining until the Crimson's regular-season opener at Brown, there are several bumps and bruises affecting the team's progress.

Sophomore forward Jason Karmanos will miss tonight's exhibition with a bum leg, and is day-to-day. Senior Chris Baird will step up to center his line, with Ian Kennish moving in to join Brian Farrell on the wing.

Sophomore defenseman Geb Marrett broke his thumb early during the preseason workouts; he's still in a cast, and no word yet is available on when he might return.

And big freshman winger Ethan Philpott is coming off a separated shoulder suffered in his first day of practice; his first day back was Thursday, and although he will play tonight, in Tomassoni's words "he's a little behind."