"There should be a lot more urgency in everybody's game; it's just a great time of the year."
"You'd like to think so, we hope so, because there's only one way to get it that's to be in the playoffs and be in the thick of things. I think a lot of those guys in the locker room have had those great experiences of playing under pressure and making the hard play at the right time… and when a team does that it pays dividends."
I'd like to think that whoever moves on paid the price, that's not to say the other four didn't, but certainly the ones that advance paid the price at a higher level.
"To us it's making a hard play to advance a zone, getting to the net, getting inside positioning, taking the puck to the net and making hard plays. There's only one way to score in the playoffs and that's to get into the hard areas and the net front is a hard area."
"There are a couple of very difficult decisions for this upcoming weekend because some of the young guys have proven themselves in some hard weekends. We went through four weekends with a full lineup and that's a lot. Those guys ate up valuable minutes and performed valiantly in their time in those spots. It's going to be difficult but that's what's good about a team, you have depth… and it case it goes to game three you're going to need all of it."
"I know they are anxious to play playoff hockey and so am I. If you could play today, we'd play today. It's time for games, it's time for games, practices are great, but it's time to play hockey and I wish it was four out of seven to be honest with you."
"It's a little bit different, seasons are on the line and there's a trophy at the end of it. You just try to play if the way you have the whole year."
"Every moment's a learning experience, we've got some guys in the locker room who have been around for a little bit and we try to pass a lot of that knowledge on to the younger guys that this might be new for but, at the same time, everybody's played playoff hockey before and everybody knows what they've got to do to get themselves ready to go."
"Maybe a little bit, but I think a lot of guys thrive on that. You get a little bit more jazzed up for things, you're excited; there's no better timer in hockey than the playoffs."
"You've got to be confident, you've got to believe in yourself otherwise you are going to be a step behind. That belief just comes from the preparation and the hard work that we've put in. It's not something that just comes about this weekend, we've been coming since August, it's a long process."
"Absolutely, we like where we are at as a team. It's been a long process, we're excited for it; it's a good time to be playing hockey."
SCOUTING THE RIVER HAWKS: UMass Lowell comes into tonight's game as the No. 8 ranked team in both national polls and the Pairwise Rankings. The River Hawks own a 6-2-2 record in their last 10 games. Senior forward
Joseph Pendenza (Wilmington, Mass.) is the team's leading scorer with 24 points (12g,12a) in 34 games. Senior
Doug Carr (Hanover, Mass.) and sophomore
Connor Hellebuyck (Commerce, Mich.) have split time in the River Hawks net this season, starting in 12 and 22 games, respectively. Hellebuyck leads the team with 13 wins, but Carr owns a 75% winning percentage, which ranks tied for sixth among Division I netminders. Carr has only one loss in his last 10 starts for the River Hawks. Hellebuyck leads the nation in save percentage at .939 and Carr is third best at .936. Hellebuyck has started 10 of the last 12 games for the River Hawks.
THE LAST TIME OUT: The River Hawks fell to Vermont, 3-2, at Gutterson Fieldhouse in Burlington Vermont on Saturday, March 1st.
Derek Arnold and
A.J. White scored goals for the River Hawks. Sophomore
Connor Hellebuyck notched 25 saves in his 45th career start in the UMass Lowell net.
RIVER HAWKS IN THE HOCKEY EAST TOURNAMENT: The River Hawks own a 31-41-3 all-time record in the Hockey East tournament a 24-25-2 in the Hockey East quarterfinal round. UMass Lowell won all four games in the tournament in March of 2013 en route to its first Hockey East tournament title in school history. The River Hawks are 2-0 all-time vs. Vermont in the tournament, both wins came in quarterfinal play in Burlington in 2009. UMass Lowell owns a 5-3 all-time record at Tsongas Center in the Hockey East quarterfinals. It marks the third straight season the River Hawks have hosted the quarterfinals, after a nine-year hosting drought in Lowell. Head Coach
Norm Bazin owns a 5-2 all-time record in the Hockey East tournament. UMass Lowell owns a 6-6 all-time record in the tournament as the No. 2 seed in the field.
RIVER HAWK 20-WIN SEASONS: The River Hawks registered their third consecutive 20-win season for the first time in their Division I history on February 14 vs. UMass. It marked the 16th 20-win season in program history and the 11th at the Div. I level.
DID YOU KNOW?: The River Hawks currently own a 11-game home win streak (8-0-3), their last lost at the Tsongas Center came on Nov. 9 vs. Northeastern.
Chris Maniccia (St. Catharines, Ont.) leads the league in faceoff percentage at 62.0%.
MILESTONE WATCH:
Name (Stat)
Derek Arnold (147 Career Games Played)
Josh Holmstrom (147 Career Games Played)
Zack Kamrass (102 Career Games Played)
Scott Wilson (102 Career Games Played)
Terrence Wallin (101 Career Games Played)
Derek Arnold (95 Career Points)
Scott Wilson (90 Career Points)
Joseph Pendenza (47 Career Goals)
Connor Hellebuyck (45 Career Starts)
RIVER HAWKS STREAKS/TRENDS:
#13
Adam Chapie
Seven points in last eight games (3g,4a)
#18
A.J. White
Six points in last six games (2g,4a)
#4
Joe Houk
Three points in last five games (2g,1a)
SCOUTING THE CATAMOUNTS: Vermont (19-12-3, 10-10-0 HEA) enters the weekend as the No. 7 seed in the tournament after defeating UMass by a 2-1 score in the Hockey East first-round playoff last Friday night at Gutterson Fieldhouse. Senior forward Chris McCarthy leads the team in scoring with 40 points (16g,24a) in 34 games. Mike Santaguida and Brody Hoffman have split time in the Catamounts net this year. Hoffman has started the last five games games for Vermont (4-0-1 record, 1.38 GAA, .944 save%), while Santaguida got the nod in the previous five contests. Hoffman owns a 9-5-1 record with a 1.95 GAA and a .928 save percentage in 15 starts for the Catamounts. Vermont is winless in its last five games in the Hockey East tournament with the 'Cats last victories coming in the 2010 Hockey East quarterfinals at New Hampshire.
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. VERMONT: The River Hawks lead the all-time series with Vermont, 18-15-6, in 39 all-time meetings. UMass Lowell owns a 5-1-1 record in the last seven meetings against Vermont and have outscored them, 23-14, during that time. Eight of the last 18 games the teams have played have gone to overtime with UMass Lowell owning a 2-1-5 record in those contests. UMass Lowell split the season series with UVM two weekends ago in Burlington. Vermont won the last meeting by a 3-2 score on March 1 in the regular season finale, while the River Hawks won the first meeting of the season series the night before with a 1-0 overtime win on a goal by
Joe Houk with 15 seconds remaining in regulation. This is the fourth time in tournament history that UMass Lowell's first playoff opponent will be a team that they ended the regular season against (1984-85 vs. UNH: UML wins regular season finale at home, splits QF at UNH, wins mini-game to advance; 1993-94: MC: UML wins regular season file, sweeps QF series at home; 2011-12: PC: UML sweeps home and home to end regular season, loses QF series at home 2 games to 1). Coach Bazin owns a 5-2-1 record in eight career games vs. the Catamounts.
Scott Wilson is the active leading scorer vs. Vermont with 10 points (5g,5a) and a +2 rating in eight contests.
HOUK COMES UP IN BIG SPOTS: Senior defenseman
Joe Houk (Richboro, Pa.) has scored four goals this season for the River Hawks, including three that have been game-winning goals. He scored with 0.1 seconds left in the 3-2 regulation win vs. UMass on Feb. 14 and then scored two weekends later with 15 seconds left in overtime in the 1-0 win at Vermont on March 1st.
THE HELLEBUYCK STOPS HERE: Sophomore goaltender
Connor Hellebuyck (Commerce, Mich.) has started 22 games this season and has tallied a 13-7-2 record. Hellebuyck has amassed a 1.86 GAA and a .939 save percentage. His save percentage ranks first nationally and his GAA is fifth among Div. I netminders. His four shutouts are tied for fifth nationally. He has allowed two goals or fewer in 14 of his 22 starts this year and he has amassed 30+ saves 11 times this season. In his career, he has amassed 33 career wins in 45 starts (75.6% win pct.) and has only 10 losses with 10 shutouts to his credit (1.58 GAA, .946 save%). He recorded his 10th career shutout on Feb. 28 at Vermont, which tied a school record, which was held by Carter Hutton (2006-10).
PENDENZA REACHES CENTURY MARK: Senior forward
Joseph Pendenza recorded his 100th in his UMass Lowell career on Saturday, January 25 vs. Providence at the Tsongas Center. He has recorded 104 points (47g,57a) in 145 career games (0.72 ppg). He became the 42nd player in the history of the program to accomplish the feat with the last players being
Riley Wetmore (111 pts.) in 2012-13 in 152 career games. Pendenza has scored a point in 19 of 34 games this year for the River Hawks. He has four multi-point games to his credit this year. UMass Lowell owns a 8-2-1 record when Pendenza scores a goal.
WEEKLY/MONTHLY AWARDS:
Evan Campbell:
Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Week   Feb. 17
Doug Carr:
Defensive Player of the Week   Jan. 6, Feb. 24
Connor Hellebuyck:
Player of the Week   Nov. 25
Defensive Player of the Week   Oct. 28, Feb. 3
Goaltender of the Month   November
Walter Brown Award Finalist   Feb. 3
Mike Richter Award Nominee   Feb. 28
Zack Kamrass:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
Defensive Player of the Week   Nov. 4, Dec. 31
Hockey East Team of the Week:
Oct. 28, Nov. 4, Nov. 25, Jan. 6
HOCKEY EAST RECENT RESULTS/UPCOMING SCHEDULE:
Friday, March 7
at Vermont 2, Massachusetts 1
Saturday, March 8
at Notre Dame 3, Boston University 2
at Maine 2, Merrimack 0
Friday, March 14
Northeastern at New Hampshire (7pm)
Maine at Providence (7pm)
Notre Dame at Boston College (7pm)
Saturday, March 15
Notre Dame at Boston College (4pm, NESN)
Northeastern at New Hampshire (7pm)
Maine at Providence (7pm)
Sunday, March 16 (if necessary)
Northeastern at New Hampshire (4:30pm)
Maine at Providence (4:30pm)
Notre Dame at Boston College (4:30pm)
HEAD COACH NORM BAZIN: Norm Bazin is in his third season at UMass Lowell. He has compiled a 73-33-7 record (.677) in 113 games in two plus seasons for the River Hawks. He owns a 111-64-14 mark (.624) in his career collegiate coaching record, which includes three seasons spent at Hamilton College. He recorded his 100th career coaching victory on Nov. 23 vs. Notre Dame at the Tsongas Center. Bazin is a two-time Hockey East Coach of the Year honoree and was named the 2013 Spencer Penrose Award Winner given annually by the American Hockey Coaches Association to the Division I Coach of the Year.
RIVER HAWK SENIORS FROM MASSACHUSETTS: The River Hawks have four players on their roster that call Massachusetts home all of whom are seniors, including: forward
Derek Arnold (Foxboro), goaltender
Doug Carr (Hanover), defenseman
Daniel Furlong (Malden) and forward
Joseph Pendenza (Wilmington).
THIS DATE IN UMASS LOWELL HOCKEY HISTORY:
March 14
1980: The freshmen-laden Chiefs fail to defend their national championship when Mankato State avenges its loss in the championship game of the previous winter by routing ULowell 7-1 in the semifinals of the NCAA Division II Tournament in Elmira, N.Y. It is the only year in a span of four years that the Chiefs do not win the national title.
1981: Center Chuck Sage's second goal of the game at 7:53 of the third period snaps a 4-4 deadlock and lifts ULowell to a 5-4 win over Plattsburgh State and its second NCAA Division II crown in three years in North Andover, Mass. The win is the 16th for the Chiefs, who are in the midst of a national-record 36-game winning streak. It is also the 200th victory in Lowell's hockey history.
1986: Top-seeded Boston College throttles seventh-seeded ULowell 5-2 in the Hockey East Tournament semifinals at the Providence Civic Center.
1993: Junior center Mike Murray scores his 20th goal of the season – the 50th of his career and his 100th career point -- as fourth-seeded UMass Lowell and fifth-seeded Providence skate to a 3-3 tie in the second game of the two-game, total-goals series in the first round of the Hockey East Tournament at the Tully Forum. The River Hawks win the series 10-7 on total goals and advance to the Lamoriello Trophy semifinals for the first time in five years. Murray joins Shane Henry and Dan O'Connell as 20-goal scorers, the first time in eight years a Lowell team has had three 20-goal scorers.
2009: Sophomore center Scott Campbell scores two goals and assists on a third, sparking unranked UMass Lowell to a 4-2 triumph and a two-game sweep of seventh-ranked Vermont in a Hockey East Tournament quarterfinal series in Burlington, Vt. The sweep enables the River Hawks to return to the tournament semifinals in Boston for the first time in seven years.
2013: Sophomore forward
Scott Wilson scores two goals sparking UMass Lowell to a 4-2 win over Maine in the opening game of the best-of-three Hockey East Quarterfinal series at the Tsongas Center. Joe Pendenza got the game winner and
Josh Holmstrom added an insurance goal on the power play.Â
Connor Hellebuyck made 24 saves in the win. It is only UMass Lowell's second ever post season win against Maine.
Â
March 15
1980: ULowell gets a small measure of revenge by outgunning arch-rival Merrimack 8-7 in the consolation game of the NCAA Division II Tournament in Elmira, N.Y. The Warriors had blanked the Chiefs 4-0 in the ECAC title game a week earlier. Freshman center Mike Carr wins the ECAC Division II scoring title with 38 goals and 33 assists for 71 points. Brian Doyle finishes his college career with a 75-21-2 record, the only goalie in Lowell history to win 75 games.
1985: Right wing John Shumski scores a point for the 10th straight game, but fifth-seeded ULowell loses 6-5 to top-seeded Boston College in the Hockey East Tournament semifinals at the Providence Civic Center. Shumski had four goals and nine assists for 13 points during his streak, which ends in the consolation game the next day.
1986: Sophomore center Jon Morris reaches the 25-goal plateau for the second year in a row and passes out three assists for a four-point night as ULowell beats Providence 8-5 in the consolation game of the Hockey East Tournament at the Providence Civic Center. Jim Newhouse scores his 20th goal in the win.
1987: Second-seeded ULowell squanders a 4-2 lead with just over four minutes to play and loses 5-4 to third-seeded Maine in the semifinals of the Hockey East Tournament in front of 6,569 fans at Boston Garden. The loss costs the 22-12-2 Chiefs a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
1996: Third-seeded Maine upsets second-seeded UMass Lowell 5-2 in the Hockey East Tournament semifinals at the FleetCenter in Boston. Center Jeff Daw picks up his 50th point of the season in the loss, making him the third member of the team to reach that plateau.
1997: UMass Lowell and Boston College skate to a 2-2 deadlock in the consolation game of the Hockey East Tournament at the FleetCenter in Boston.
1998: Marty Fillion stops 43 of 44 shots, and fifth-seeded UMass Lowell whips fourth-seeded Northeastern 5-1 at Matthews Arena in Boston, winning the best-of-three series 2-1 in the first round of the Hockey East Tournament. The River Hawks advance to the semifinals for the sixth straight year.
2002: Fourth-seeded UMass Lowell is edged 4-3 by top-seeded New Hampshire in the Hockey East Tournament semifinals at the FleetCenter in Boston.
2008: Sophomore Carter Hutton stops 41 shots, and sophomore Paul Worthington scores a goal and sets up two others in the first period as UMass Lowell stuns 14th-ranked Boston University 4-1 at the Agganis Arena to even up their best-of-three Hockey East Tournament quarterfinal series at one win apiece.
2013: Junior right wing
Derek Arnold scores 1:50 into overtime as UMass Lowell eliminates Maine two-games-to-none in the best-of-three Hockey East Quarterfinal series at the Tsongas Center.Â
Michael Fallon also had a goal.Â
Connor Hellebuyck made 18 saves in the win. It is the first time that UMass Lowell's has ever defeated Maine in a playoff series. Next stop: the Garden.
March 16
1979: ULowell, making its first appearance in the NCAA Division II Tournament, thrashes the University of Illinois-Chicago Circle 10-6 in the semifinals in North Andover, Mass. Sophomore center Craig MacTavish scores three goals for the Chiefs. The victory was the 15th straight for the surging Chiefs. The Chiefs beat Mankato State the next night to win the first of their three national championships.
1985: ULowell loses to Boston University 6-4 in the consolation game of the Hockey East Tournament at the Providence Civic Center. It is the 25th loss of the season for the Chiefs, who had never before lost more than 16 games.
1996: Senior right wing Brendan Concannon notches his 100th career point with a goal, but Boston University thrashes UMass Lowell 7-3 in the consolation game of the Hockey East Tournament at the FleetCenter in Boston.
2001: Fifth-seeded UMass Lowell is whacked 5-1 by top-seeded Boston College in the Hockey East semifinals at the FleetCenter in Boston.
2009: UMass Lowell, with a 19-15-2 record, is ranked 19th in the U.S. College Hockey Online poll.
HEAD COACH NORM BAZIN IN THE MEDIA: Coach Bazin and select players are available to the media every Wednesday at 4:30pm post-practice at the Tsongas Center and are available for one-on-one phone interviews as well. Please contact
Pete Souris for more information. Listen to Coach Bazin every Thursday night at 5:30pm on ESPN NH Radio (900AM).
RIVER HAWKS ON TELEVISION: The River Hawks are scheduled to appear 14 times on television in the regular-season. Here is a listing of the remaining games the team is scheduled to appear. For WBIN-TV games visit http://wbintv.com/channel-guide.html.
RIVER HAWKS ON THE RADIO: The River Hawks can be heard every week throughout the season on ESPN NH Radio (900AM) with
Bob Ellis (PxP) and Jimmy Connelly (Color Analyst). The game is accessible via the ESPN Radio app (http://espn.go.com/mobile/products/products?id=7451658). UMass Lowell home games are also available on the student radio station, WUML (91.5 FM) with Zack Tretheway (PxP) and James Shirton (Color Analyst).
