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It may be the biggest stage on which the hockey River Hawks have ever skated, but at practice it's business as usual.
 
UMass Lowell (28-10-2), Yale (20-12-3), Quinnipiac (29-7-5) and St. Cloud State (25-15-1) will gather in Pittsburgh, Pa. at the end of this week to determine college hockey supremacy for the 2012-13 season.
 
A very limited number of All-Session Tickets to the Frozen Four are still available through the Tsongas Center Box Office. These All-Session tickets cost $200 and are only available via in-person purchase or by phone (978-934-5738) on a first-come, first-served basis.
 
The Division of Student Affairs is sponsoring a student bus trip to the Frozen Four in Pittsburgh. Sign up with payment (and valid ID) is taking place at McGauvran 220 (South Campus SIC), on a first-come, first-served basis.
 
The student bus trip includes one All-Session Ticket to the Frozen Four (good for Thursday and Saturday games) and one seat on the bus and up to two nights at the Residence Inn (four students per room) for $150.  Two coach buses will depart from campus at midnight, 12:00AM on Thursday morning headed for Pittsburgh. The bus will return to the Lowell campus after the UMass Lowell run is complete.
 
“You have four excellent hockey teams,” says UMass Lowell Hockey Coach Norm Bazin.  “It is who is going to execute their game plan best that will come out a winner.”
 
UMass Lowell and Yale University face off, Thursday, April 11 (4:30pm), in the first Frozen Four National Championship semifinal.  Top ranked Quinnipiac and St. Cloud State meet in the second semifinal (8:00pm.)
 
There are four teams that will take to the Consol Energy Center ice, but the coach is only concerned with one; his hockey club.
 
“It's about us executing, making a crucial play at a tough time in the game,” says Bazin.  “It's about scoring last and it's about enjoying the experience.”
 
For the coaching staff and the team, the approach never changes. 
 
“I think we need to play a team game,” says senior captain Riley Wetmore (Swanton, Vt.), “stick to what has been working all year and getting pucks out of the defensive zone and sacrificing our body, just believing in the system and in the process.”
 
The talk about play in the defensive zone is not new; it's been repeated all year long.
 
“When guys realize that good things happen from the D Zone on out it's a tremendous development in your team,” says Bazin.  “”It's exciting for a coach because the 'buy-in factor' comes at different times for different people.  Some guys are still growing, maturing.”
 
The River Hawks have been outstanding in the defensive zone showing a goals against average of 2.00 for the season and the post season has been even better.  UMass Lowell has allowed just five goals in six post season (Hockey East and NCAA regional) games.
 
Three of the River Hawks six post season games have been decided by one goal, two more by just two goals.
 
“Being able to close out games like that, really speaks a lot about our team and our team defense,” says junior defenseman Chad Ruhwedel (San Diego Calif.)  “We take great pride in it; it's really key for us.”
 
UMass Lowell freshman goalie Connor Hellebuyck (Commerce, Mich.) has been a key.  He has won 20 of 22 starts and carries a nation's best 1.31 goals against average and a .953 save percentage, also tops in the country.
 
Hellebuyck deflects credit preferring to point to his teammates. “I think it's hard work.  We outwork our opponent.  Hard work beats talent.”
 
Depth has been a key as well.  Twenty different players have scored goals, five are in double digits.
 
“Look at our games, very few times was the same lineup intact,” says Bazin.  “A lot of different guys have had a role and have played a strong part in our success.  I'm proud of that fact.”
 
None of the Frozen Four schools has ever won a hockey national championship, only Yale has ever been to the Frozen Four. 
 
UMass Lowell has been close in past years; three times the team battled in the Regional Final, but came up short.  This year was different, The River Hawks, after winning the Hockey East Regular Season and Tournament Championships, marched through the regional defeating perennial powers Wisconsin, 6-1, and New Hampshire, 2-0, in the Regional Final.
 
UMass Lowell and Yale have met only eleven times and have not faced one another since the late 1990s.  The River Hawks lead the all time series 8-3-0.
 
River Hawk Coach Norm Bazin played on UMass Lowell teams that went 3-0-0 against Yale, including an 8-2 win during his senior season. 
 
The two teams have not met since 1999.  UMass Lowell won that final meeting, 2-1, at the Ingalls Rink in New Haven, Ct.
 
Statistics may provide a comparative insight into these two teams. 
 
UMass Lowell averaged 3.02 goals per game, Yale; 2.86.  The numbers also give the River Hawks an edge defensively, allowing just 2.00 goals per game, third best in the country, compared to the Bulldogs, 2.69.
 
Yale's power play was ranked tenth best in the country, converting of 21.1% of their man-advantage opportunities.  UMass Lowell was further down the list, 32^nd, with a 16.6% success rate.
 
Penalty killing finds the River Hawks showing an 85.7% success rate, 10^th best in the country.  Yale comes at number 26, 83.5%
 
The UMass Lowell hockey club has drawn strong fan support through the post season, but that cannot be defined with stats.
 
“It's been a huge factor,” says Bazin.  “When you go to the Boston garden and you see a sea of blue, you go Manchester, it's basically their home rink, and you see just as many UMass Lowell fans as UNH fans it can throw you over the edge.  It makes a difference, it give you a special feeling and that's what these kids need.”