SCOUTING THE RIVER HAWKS:  UMass Lowell, with a 14-5-3 / 7-3-1 record after defeating New Hampshire, 2-1, is ranked 6th in both the USA Hockey Magazine and the USCHO polls.  The team was picked for a fourth place finish in the Hockey East Coaches' Pre-Season Poll.  The River Hawk roster shows nine new faces including six forwards, one defensemen and two goalies.  Joe Gambardella leads the team in scoring with 33 points.  Seventeen players have scored goals, three are in double digits.  C.J. Smith tops the list with 13; Gambardella has eleven goals and John Edwardh has added ten.  The four goalies, including two freshmen, entered this season with a combined 99-minutes of collegiate experience.  All four have played with Tyler Wall getting the most time.  He has a 1.95 GAA and a .927 save percentage.

SCOUTING THE MINUTEMEN:  Massachusetts has a 5-15-2 / 2-8-1 record following a 5-3 loss to Boston University on the opening weekend of Frozen Fenway, January 8th.  The Minutemen were picked to finish 11th in the Hockey East Coaches' pre-season poll.  Sixteen different players have scored goals; Griff Jeszka leads the pack with six.  Steven Iacobellis and Austin Plevy top the points chart with 13.  Ryan Wischow has started 17 of the team's 22 games between the pipes.   He has a 2.86 goals against average and a .905 save percentage.    

ALL-TIME SERIES VS. UMASS:  This is the 77th meeting between the two schools in a series that dates back to 1968.  UMass Lowell leads the series 44-25-7 and has won 13 of the last 15 (13-1-1) over the last five seasons.  Massachusetts won the first three meetings between the two teams by a combined 36-5 count.  The River Hawks did not get their first win the series until 1974, a 5-1 win.  The two teams have met once in the Hockey East Tournament with the Minutemen sweeping that series two-games to none.

ALUMNI CUP:  The Alumni Cup is awarded to the winner of the three-game season series between Massachusetts and UMass Lowell, the only Division I hockey programs in the University of Massachusetts State System.  The River Hawks have won the cup the last five years and 16 times in 22 years.  This first game of the three game season series is a "non-conference" game and will not count in the Hockey East standings.  The two remaining games, February 11th at the Tsongas Center and the 18th in Amherst, are league contests.

CUP HISTORY:  The Alumni Cup competition began in the 1994-95 season when, after a year as an independent, Massachusetts joined UMass Lowell as a member of Hockey East.  The River Hawks won the cup the first two years with the Minutemen winning the trophy for the first time during the 1996-97 season.  UMass Lowell has twice won the cup five straight times; Massachusetts has twice won the cup in consecutive years.

BIG ICE:  The visit to the Mullins Center puts UMass Lowell back on a larger than standard ice sheet for the eighth times this season.  The River Hawks swept the series on the Olympic Sheet at the Broadmoor World Arena, won a single game at UNH's Whittemore Center and are 3-1-0 on 200 x 90 surfaces.  Since Norm Bazin took over the coaching responsibilities the River Hawks have a record of 34-9-5 on larger than the standard 200 x 85 ice sheets including a record of 11-2-1 on an Olympic sheet and a 18-6-3 record on the 200 x 90 sheet. 

A YEAR AGO:  UMass Lowell swept the three game season series from Massachusetts a year ago winning 4-1, 5-0 and 4-2.  Nine different players accounted for the 13 goals.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN, AGAIN:  Tonight's game at the Mullins Center is the sixth straight and the final stop on the longest road trip of the year for the River Hawks.  The stretch is the longest in a couple of years.  The River Hawks died have a stretch of seven away from the Tsongas during the 2014-15 season UMass Lowell has won the first games in this stretch.  The team went 5-2-0 in '14-15.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN:  UMass Lowell is 9-3-1 away from the Tsongas Center this season.  Their .731 winning percentage is fifth best in the country and the best in Hockey East. The team has been a strong team on the road during the last five-plus seasons.  Since Norm Bazin took over behind the bench the River Hawks are 51-29-8, .625, as the visiting team and 72-38-9, .643, including neutral site games.

ROAD WARRIOR:  Joe Gambardella is second in the nation in scoring on the road.  Twenty-three (6g, 17a) of his 33 points have come in 13 games away from the Tsongas Center.

STAND ALONE GAMES:  This is just the third "stand alone" game UMass Lowell has played this year and the third in a row.  The River Hawks won the first two, defeating RPI, 5-1 and UNH, 2-1.   A year ago the club played only four "stand alone" game during the season and won all four.  

BACK-TO-BACK: UMass Lowell has played back to back games ten times this season.  The River Hawks are 6-3-1 on the first night and 6-2-2 the second. They have three weekend sweeps (Colorado College, Merrimack, Colgate/Dartmouth) to their credit.    A year ago UMass Lowell played 18 two-game weekend series and the results were similar night to night.  The River Hawks were 10-5-3 on the first night of back-to-back games and 11-5-2 in the second game.  The River Hawks had five weekend sweeps.

LAST TIME OUT:  UMass Lowell defeated New Hampshire, January 6th in Durham, N.H., 2-1.  John Edwardh and Jake Kamrass had first period goals.  Goalie Tyler Wall made 33 saves to pick up his 13th win of the season.

TWO GOALS IS ENOUGH: When UMass Lowell defeated UNH 2-1 on January 6th, it was the first time this season the River Hawks have won a game when scoring fewer than three goals.  A year ago the River Hawks were 5-7-4 when scoring two goals or less.

PLUS-76:  UMass Lowell Head Coach Norm Bazin is 76 games over .500 behind the River Hawk bench in five-plus seasons and that has moved the program over the .500 mark for the first time in the school's 34-year Division I history.  UMass Lowell is 577-575-109 since beginning Division I play in 1983-84.  Bazin has a record of 138-62-21 at the reins in Lowell.

ON THE NATIONAL STAGE:  UMass Lowell has been nationally ranked, in either the USCHO or USAHockey Magazine poll, for 104 consecutive weeks.  The stretch began when UMass Lowell appeared at #20 in the USCHO Poll on January 7, 2013.  Of those 104 weeks more than half, 71, have been spent in the top ten.

A NATION'S BEST: SIX IN A ROW:  UMass Lowell has won six in a row, their longest winning streak of the season and the longest current winning streak in the country.  During that six game stretch the team has averaged 4.33 goals per game while allowing less than two (1.67) per game.  Twelve different players have scored goals with Dylan Zink topping the chart with five-goals.  Jope Gambardella has four goals and a team best 11-points.  The power play has been clicking at a 41.2% rate and the PK Unit has a 90.9% success rate.  Tyler Wall is 5-0-0 between the pipes with a 1.34 goals against average and a .952 save percentage.

FOOTBALL POWERS TAKE NOTE: Since Norm Bazin arrived UMass Lowell is 37-17-6 against schools that play football in the Football Bowl Subdivision.  Those schools include:  Arizona State (2-0-0), Boston College (4-7-2), Connecticut (3-5-1), Massachusetts (12-1-1), Miami (1-0-0), Michigan (1-1-0), Michigan State (2-0-0), Notre Dame (8-2-2), Penn State (3-1-0) and Wisconsin (1-0-0).

RED LIGHT DISTRICT:  UMass Lowell is second in the nation in goals scored with 78.  That is just four-goals back of Union, the national leader.  The River Hawks are averaging 3.55-goals per game, ninth best in the country.  Three players, C.J. Smith (13), Joe Gambardella (11) and John Edwardh (10), have ten or more goals. 

WHEN ALL THINGS ARE EVEN: UMass Lowell is the eighth highest scoring team in the nation and third in Hockey East when playing at even strength.  The River Hawks have scored 50 of their 78-goals this season at even strength, an average of 2.27 even strength goals per game.

PUTTING THE "POWER" BACK IN POWER PLAY: UMass Lowell's power play appears to be getting back on track.  The River Hawks have gone 8-for-20 (40.0%) over its last seven games.  That was after a 0-for-19 stretch.  Despite that roller coaster the power play is among the best in the country.  The River Hawks have scored 25 goals in 100 man advantage opportunities for a 25.0% success rate, the third best in the country and number one in Hockey East.  Ten different players have scored with the man advantage; Joe Gambardella leads the team with six PPGs.  C.J. Smith has five, Jake Kamrass has four power play markers.  Mattias Göransson has three PP goals.  Michael Kapla has eight power play assists; Gambardella and defensemen Dylan Zink have seven. 

PENALTY KILLING: UMass Lowell Penalty Kill Unit has stepped it up big time.  After struggling early in the season with a man in the box, the PK unit has killed 48 of 51 (94.1%) over the last 12-games.  It had been a bit of a roller coaster before that, twice this season the River Hawks have given up three PPGs in a game.  

A WALL IN FRONT OF THE NET:  Another honor for UMass Lowell freshman goaltender Tyler Wall.  He was named the Hockey East Rookie of the Week on January 9th after stopping 65 of 67 shots in two road victories in the previous week.  He had 32 saves in a 5-1 win at RPI and followed that up with 33 saves in a 2-1 win at UNH.  Wall was honored twice this year by the conference as the Defensive Player of the Week.  He was honored November 7th after a sweep of Vermont and on October 17th after UMass Lowell swept Colorado College. 

COLLECTING HONORS: UMass Lowell center Joe Gambardella is grabbing some recognition.  He was named the MVP of the Ledyard Bank Classic in Hanover and named the Warrior Hockey East Player of the Week on January 2nd.  Gambardella had two goals, including a game-winner and five assists during the weekend.

Mr. CONSISTENT: UMass Lowell center Joe Gambardella has been nothing if not consistent this season.  He has scored points in all but four of the River Hawks 22-games.  UMass Lowell is 9-0-1 when Gambardella scores a goal and 14-2-2 when he has a point in the game.  He has nine multi-point games.

JOE DECEMBER: UMass Lowell center Joe Gambardella had a terrific month of December.  He scored three-goals and had nine assists in six games during the month.  His 12 points in December led Hockey East and was tied for fourth nationally. His 9 assists were second most in the month among Div. I players and most among HEA players.

110 POINTS AND COUNTING: UMass Lowell senior center Joe Gambardella joined the century club with an assist on C.J. Smith's third period goal in the River Hawks December 9th win against Merrimack.  It was the 100th point of Gambardella's career and the center iceman followed that up with the opening goal the next night and has added three-goals and six assists in the four games since the break.  He has 40 goals and 70 assists in 131 games.  Gambardella is the 43rd player in program history to reach the milestone and the 23rd in the Division I era.  He currently ranks 17th among DI players and 34th all-time.  Gambardella has 19 points (6g, 13a) in his last 14 games.  The last River Hawk to reach 100 points was Joe Pendenza who achieved the mark during the 2013-14 season and ended his career with 110. 

100 POINTS AND COUNTING: UMass Lowell junior forward C.J. Smith reached the 100 point milestone Friday January 6th with an assist on Jake Kamrass' game winner at UNH.  Smith has 100 points on 46-goals and 54-assists in just 101 games.  Smith is the 44th player in program history to reach the milestone and the 24th in the Division I era.  He has three-goals and seven-points in his last four games.

100 X TWO:  This is the first time since 2006 that UMass Lowell has had two 100-point scorers skating at the same time.  The last time was in the last game of the 2005-06 season.  Andrew Martin scored a goal in the second period to earn his 100th point.  Elias Godoy, who assisted on the goal, had reached the milestone earlier in the year and finished his career with 121 points.

CAREER LEADERS:  UMass Lowell center Joe Gambardella, with 110 points, is tenth in career scoring among active players.   His 70-assists places him 8th on the active career list.   Defenseman Michael Kapla is third among active defensemen in scoring with 78-points and second in assists with 63.  With 28 goals Dylan Zink is second among active defenseman in career goals.

IRON MAN:  UMass Lowell senior defenseman Michael Kapla has played in 142 consecutive games, the most of any active player in college hockey.  Kapla has never missed a game in his collegiate career.

100 GAMES CLUB:  Junior defenseman Tyler Mueller will become the sixth member of the 2016-17 River Hawks to play in at least 100 career games when he skates tonight at the Mullins Center.  Michael Kapla (142), Joe Gambardella (131), Dylan Zink (124), Evan Campbell (116) and C.J. Smith (101) have all surpassed the century mark.  This is the fourth consecutive season in which the UMass Lowell roster has included at least six players with more than 100 games experience.

A GOALIE STARTS THE OFFENSE:  When UMass Lowell goalie Tyler Wall picked up an assist on Kenny Hausinger's game winning goal at Rensselaer it was the first point for a River Hawk goalie in more than five years.  The last goalie to earn a spot on the scoring sheet was Doug Carr when he picked up an assist on Chad Ruhwedel's game winning goal at Maine on November 12, 2011.  For the record Wall is 1,299th in scoring among active players.

BY THE CLOSEST OF MARGINS: Friday night's 2-1 win at UNH was the second time this year that UMass Lowell has won a game decided by one-goal or less.  The River Hawks are 2-2-3 in such games.  A year ago UMass Lowell was 10-6-5 in one-goal games and is 42-26-21 in one-goal games since the 2011-12 season.

THREE IS THE MAGIC NUMBER: When UMass Lowell scores three or more goals in a game it is 13-1-1 and 115-35-6, .753, in the last five-plus seasons.  When scoring two goals or less in a game the River Hawks are 1-4-2 this season and 23-47-15, .398, since 2011-12.

PROVIDING A HELPING HAND:  UMass Lowell defenseman Michael Kapla had four assists in New Year's Eve's Ledyard Bank Classic Championship Game; a 7-4 win against Dartmouth.  He became the first River Hawk defenseman to pick up four points in a game in six years.  The last to do so was Jeremy Dehner who had one goal and three assists in a 5-4 win against Merrimack, January 22, 2010.

NON-CONFERENCE, NO PROBLEM:  UMass Lowell has more than held its own in non-conference play over the last five-plus years.  The River Hawks are 7-2-2 in non-conference games this season and 44-14-5 (.738) against schools from other conferences since the 2011-12 season.  UMass Lowell shows wins against Colorado College, St. Lawrence, Omaha, Colgate, Dartmouth and RPI this season and a pair of ties against Minnesota Duluth.  A year ago UMass Lowell was 9-3-1 against non-conference opponents.  The River Hawks are 86-59-10 all-time against teams currently in the ECAC and 15-7-3 since the '11-'12 season. 

AMONG THE NATIONAL LEADERS:  Joe Gambardella ranks in the top 10 in scoring nationally.  Gambardella is sixth with 33 points (11g, 22a).  His 22 assists are third in the nation.  Gambardella is third among Hockey East players and C.J. Smith is 15th in the country and seventh among Hockey East players with 26 points (13g, 13a).  Defenseman Dylan Zink is second among Hockey East Defensemen and third in the nation with 21 points (7g, 14a).  His seven goals are tops among HEA Dmen. Mattias Göransson is the top scoring freshman defenseman in Hockey East and is fifth in the nation with 13 points (4g, 9a).  Michael Kapla's 15 assists is fourth best among the nation's defensemen and second in Hockey East.  Tyler Wall is the winningest freshman netminder in the country with 13 wins.

PROTECTING THE NET:  UMass Lowell goalie Tyler Wall is among the best in the nation and Hockey East at keeping the puck out of the net.  Wall ranks second in the league in both goals against average (1.95) and save percentage .927.  He is seventh in the nation in GAA and 10th in  save percentage.

GETTING OFFENSE FROM THE DEFENSE: UMass Lowell has the fourth highest scoring defense corps in the country.  The River Hawks blue liners have combined for 15-goals and 65 points.  Those numbers are also the best in HEA.

BLASTS FROM THE BLUE LINE:  With two goals during the Ledyard Bank Championship Game against Dartmouth, Dylan Zink moved into a tie for the top spot among UMass Lowell Division I defensemen with 28 career goals.  He is tied with Maury Edwards and is just one of four D I Dmen with 25 career goals.  His two goal game moved him ahead of Tim Foley and Mike Nicholishen, each had 27.

Mr. CLUTCH: Dylan Zink has proven to be Mr. Clutch during the last three seasons.  19 of his 28 goals (67.9%) have either tied the score or given the River Hawks the lead. Zink, who twice gave UMass Lowell the lead in the Ledyard Bank Championship Game including the game winner, led UMass Lowell with eight "clutch" goals during the 2015-16 season.  Four of his seven goals this season are defined as "clutch."

A WIN WOULD:  If UMass Lowell wins tonight it will extend the River Hawks winning streak to a nation's best seven and eight straight without a loss.  It would give UMass Lowell a 1-0 edge in the 2016-17 Alumni Cup Series.  It would, also, be the program's 578th as a Division I program, putting the program three games above the .500 mark for the first time in 34 years.

PUNCHING THE CLOCK: Through 22 games, UMass Lowell has played from behind for just 190:37 and only in portions of seven games.  UMass Lowell has held the lead for 766:24 of the 1,335-minutes of hockey the team has played this season.

Multi-GOAL GAMES:  UMass Lowell forward C.J. Smith has five multi-goal games this season.  That number places Smith atop the national leader board in multi-goal games.  Smith had two goal games against Colorado College, Clarkson, Vermont, Notre Dame and Dartmouth.  Smith has twelve multi-goal games in his career.

GOOD CHEMISTRY:  The UMass Lowell line of C.J. Smith, Joe Gambardella and John Edwardh has been red hot.  The line has played together in twenty-one of the River Hawks' twenty-two games this season accounting for 34-goals and 78 points.  That's 43.6% of the River Hawks goals and 37.5% of the team's total offensive output.  They have been held off the score sheet just once.  Since being united for the final regular season game a year ago the trio has 44-goals and 100 points in 28 games.

HOT SHOT JUNIOR:  UMass Lowell forward C.J. Smith leads all juniors playing college hockey in career scoring with 46-goals and 100-points.  Brady Ferguson, playing at Robert Morris is second with 95 points.  Ferguson is also second in goals with 38.    Smith's 54 assists finds him just three behind Anders Bjork of Notre Dame and Ferguson.

HITTING THE TARGET:  UMass Lowell center Joe Gambardella, with 11 goals on just 44 shots on goal, has scored on 25.0% of his shots.  His shooting percentage is the best in Hockey East and the country.  John Edwardh is second among River Hawk players with ten goals on 45 shots, a 22.2% success rate.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES: One year can make a big difference and it has for a couple of UMass Lowell forwards.  At the Holiday break, 18-games, John Edwardh has a career high seven-goals and 16-points.  At the 18-game mark a year ago, Edwardh had just one-assist.  He finished the year four-goals and 13-points.  Jake Kamrass also has established career highs with six-goals and 12-points.  He finished the 2015-16 season with five-goals and ten-points and at the 18-game mark he was still looking for his first point of the season.

FOUR GOALIES: The River Hawks have used four goalies this season for the first time as a Division I program.  Sean Cleary, Christoffer Hernberg Garrett Metcalf and Tyler Wall have all seen action between the pipes in the first ten weeks of the season.  The last time Lowell used four different goaltenders in the same season was 1982-83 when Dana Demole played in 29 games, Kip Manseau, Mike Luitgaarden, and Dave Short all played in at least three. The team also used four goaltenders during the 1976-77 season and used five during the 1979-80 season.

WHO's NEXT?: UMass Lowell faces Providence next weekend in a home-and-home series.  It will be the first time the two teams have met since waging a marathon battle at the TD Garden last march.  UMass Lowell won that triple overtime Hockey East Tournament semifinal battle, 2-1, on an A.J. White goal.  It was the longest game in UMass Lowell history lasting 112:27.  Providence leads the all-time series 54-47-11.  The two teams have split the last ten, 5-5-0.  The teams will play in Lowell on Friday night, Saturday they square off in the Ocean State.  The Friday game will be the first in the Tsongas Center in six weeks.

CIRCLE OF DOMINANCE: UMass Lowell has dominated in the faceoff circle this season winning 760 of 1,407 puck drops.  The .540 faceoff winning percentage is the seventh best in the nation and third in Hockey East.  Joe Gambardella leads the team winning 239 of 403, .593. Gambo ranks sixth in Hockey East.  Evan Campbell (170 of 316, .538) and Ryan Lohin (148 of 276, .536) are also above the .500 mark.  Nick Master (163 of 331, .492) is just under the break-even point. 

THE LEADERSHIP: Senior defenseman Michael Kapla has been chosen to wear the "C", as Captain, on the front of his jersey.  The River Hawk leadership team also includes Alternate Captains senior center Joe Gambardella and junior defenseman Tyler Mueller.