Tuesday, January 3rd at Rensselaer (7pm)
(Houston Field House; Troy, N.Y.)
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Game Notes
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Commercial Radio:
River Hawk Network: (WCAP 980AM)/UMass Lowell Game Day App
Talent: Bob Ellis (Play by Play); Jim Connelly (Analyst)
 
SCOUTING THE RIVER HAWKS:  UMass Lowell, with a 12-5-3 / 6-3-1 record after defeating Dartmouth, 7-4, to win the Ledyard Bank Classic in Hanover, N.H. 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 defenseman and two goalies.  Joe Gambardella leads the team in scoring with 31 points.  C.J. Smith tops the goal scoring list with 13; Gambardella has ten goals.  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 2.07 GAA and a .919 save percentage.
 
SCOUTING THE ENGINEERS:  Rensselaer has a 3-17-1 / 1-10-0 record in ECAC play following a 5-1 loss to Harvard on Friday.  The Engineers were picked to finish eighth in the ECAC Coaches' pre-season poll and in the Media Poll.  Twelve different players have scored goals, three have five or more; Riley Bourbonnais leads the pack with nine goals and 15-points. Chase Perry and Cam Hackett have split the goaltending responsibilities.  Hackett has a 3.67 goals against average and a .901 save percentage.  Perry, who has started 12 of 21 contests show a 3.86 GAA and an .894 save percentage.  
 
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. RENSSELAER:  This is the 24th meeting between the two schools in a series that dates back to 1982.  UMass Lowell leads the series 12-10-1.  The River Hawks have won the last two meetings and six of the last eight.
 
A YEAR AGO:  UMass Lowell defeated Rensselaer, 3-0, in the 2015-16 season opener at the Tsongas Center.  A.J. White, Evan Campbell and Adam Chapie scored goals for the River Hawks in that one.  White and Chapie have since graduated.  Also gone is goalie Kevin Boyle who made 27 saves in picking up the win and the first of a school record seven shutouts during the season. The win was Coach Norm Bazin's 100th at UMass Lowell.
 
PROVIDING A HELPING HAND:  UMass Lowell defenseman Michael Kapla had four assists in last Saturday'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.
 
LAST WEEKEND:  UMass Lowell won the Ledyard Bank Classic, hosted by Dartmouth in Hanover, N.H., defeating Colgate, 3-2, and Dartmouth, 7-4, in the Championship Game.  Senior Joe Gambardella was named the Tournament MVP after scoring two goals and adding five assists in the two games.  Dylan Zink was named to the All-Tournament team after scoring two goals in the finale.  Goalie Tyler Wall picked up the wins in both games.
 
ON THE NATIONAL STAGE:  UMass Lowell has been nationally ranked, in either the USCHO or USAHockey Magazine poll, for 102 consecutive weeks.  The stretch began when UMass Lowell appeared at #20 in the USCHO Poll on January 7, 2013.  Of those 102 weeks more than half, 69, have been spent in the top ten.
 
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.  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 20-games.  UMass Lowell is 8-0-1 when Gambardella scores a goal and 12-2-2 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.
 
TOURNAMENTS IN HANOVER:  This is the fourth time that UMass Lowell has competed in a holiday tournament in the Thompson Arena in Hanover, N.H.  It was the first time the River Hawks have taken home the trophy.  The River Hawks lost to Dartmouth and Northeastern in the 1996-97 Auld Lang Syne Tournament.  In the 2002-03 edition UMass Lowell defeated Vermont but fell to Dartmouth in the Championship Game.  In the 2009-10 Ledyard Bank Classic the River Hawks defeated Holy Cross but lost to Northeastern.
 
IN-SEASON TOURNAMENTS:  UMass Lowell has enjoyed a good deal of success in in-season tournaments in recent years.  The River Hawks have appeared in the Championship Game, now, in seven straight tournaments winning five.  They took the trophy at the Toyota UConn Holiday Classic, the Frozen Holiday Classic, the Mariucci Classic, the Friendship Four Tournament and this year's Ledyard Bank Classic.  During that time UMass Lowell has had a 12-1-1 record in tournament play and also won a shootout.
 
IN SEASON TOURNAMENT SCORING: Four River Hawks averaged at least a point a game in holiday tournament action during their careers.  Defenseman Dylan Zink has nine-goals and 13-points in ten games.  Among the nine goals are three game winners and Zink also scored the shootout difference maker at the Friendship Four Tournament in Belfast a year ago.  C.J. Smith has eight-goals and 14-points in ten tournament games.  Joe Gambardella has four-goals and 16-points in eleven tournament games.  Michael Kapla has 14 assists in twelve tournament games.
 
BY THE CLOSEST OF MARGINS: Friday night's 3-2 win was the first time this year that UMass Lowell has won a game decided by one-goal or less.  The River Hawks are 1-2-3 in such games.  A year ago UMass Lowell was 10-6-5 in one-goal games and is 41-26-21 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 12-1-1 and 114-35-6, .753, in the last five-plus seasons.  When scoring two goals or less in a game the River Hawks are 0-4-2 this season and 22-47-15, .398, since 2011-12.
 
108 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 added two-goals and five assists last weekend in the Ledyard Bank Classic.  He has 39 goals and 69 assists in 129 games.  Gambardella is the 44th player in program history to reach the milestone and the 23rd in the Division I era.  He currently ranks 18th among DI players and 35th all-time.  Gambardella has 17 points (5g, 12a) in his last twelve games.  The last River Hawk to reach 100 points was Joe Pendenza who achieved the mark during the 2013-14 season. 
 
98 POINTS AND COUNTING: UMass Lowell junior forward C.J. Smith could be the next River Hawk to reach the 100 point milestone.  Smith has 98 points on 46-goals and 52-assists in just 98 games.  Smith had three goals and an assist in the Ledyard Bank Classic Championship Game on Saturday.
 
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 6-2-2 in non-conference games this season and 43-14-5 (.734) against schools from other conferences since the 2011-12 season.  UMass Lowell shows wins against Colorado College, St. Lawrence, Omaha, Colgate and Dartmouth 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 seventh with 31 points (10g, 21a).  His 21 assists lead the nation.  Gambardella is fourth among Hockey East players and C.J. Smith is 17th in the country and seventh among Hockey East players with 24 points (13g, 11a).  Defenseman Dylan Zink is second among Hockey East Defensemen and third in the nation with 19 points (7g, 12a).  His seven goals are tops among HEA Dmen. Mattias Göransson is the top scoring freshman defenseman in Hockey East and is sixth in the nation with 12 points (4g, 8a).  Michael Kapla's 14 assists is sixth best among the nation's defensemen and second in Hockey East.
 
GETTING OFFENSE FROM THE DEFENSE: UMass Lowell has the sixth highest scoring defense corps in the country.  The River Hawks blue liners have combined for 15-goals and 60 points.  Those numbers are also the second best in HEA.
 
AT THE BREAK: UMass Lowell went into the winter break with ten wins.  It is the eighth time in their 34-year Division I history that the River Hawks have reached double digits before the break.  They've reached ten wins at the break in five of the last six years.  Twice the River Hawks have accumulated an even dozen wins before the break.  That was in both 1986-87 (12-2-1) and 2001-02 (12-2-0).  In all seven previous cases where UMass Lowell reached double digits before the break the team went on to win a minimum of 20 games in the season.
 
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.
 
A WIN WOULD:  If UMass Lowell wins tonight it will extend the River Hawks winning streak to five.  It would be the program's 576th as a Division I program, putting the program above the .500 mark for the first time in 34 years.
 
THREE-GOAL THIRD PERIOD:  When UMass Lowell scored three-goals in the third period, Dec. 9, it was the first time the team had done that in nearly a year.  The last time UMass Lowell had a three-goal third period was on January 30, 2016 when they defeated Arizona State, 8-1.
 
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.
 
THE DEFENSE LEADS THE WAY: The River Hawk defense had a big offensive night in UMass Lowell's December 10th 5-1 win at Merrimack.  The blue line crew accounted for three goals and ten points.  Chris Forney, Dylan Zink and Tommy Panico scored goals.  Michael Kapla, Mattias Goransson and Forney each had a pair of assists.  The defense has combined for 14 points in its last four games.
 
THE WAIT IS OVER:  Junior defenseman Tommy Panico scored his first collegiate goal December 10th at Merrimack.  The goal, which was shorthanded, came in Panico's 70th game.  The Wall, N.J. native has 15 career points.
 
Mr. CLUTCH: Dylan Zink has proven to be Mr. Clutch during the last three seasons.  Nineteen 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."
 
THIRD JERSEY:  UMass Lowell unveiled a third or "alternate" December 9th in a 4-1 victory against Merrimack.  It was the first time the team has ever won a game wearing an alternate uniform.  The River Hawks had worn a graphite grey jersey once in each of the two previous seasons and had worn a throwback "Chiefs" jersey twice in 2007.  They had lost all four games.  The new jersey is based on the uniform worn by the Lowell Tech teams of the early 1970s.  The sweaters featured the name "Lowell" and a number on the front.  The player's name and number appear on the back.  It is the first time that the "Lowell" name has stood alone on the front of the jersey since the 2006-07 season.  The 50th anniversary logo is shown on each shoulder.  The jerseys will be auctioned off at the end of the season.    
 
PUNCHING THE CLOCK: Through twenty 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 659:08 of the 1,215-minutes of hockey the team has played this season.
 
BACK-TO-BACK: UMass Lowell is playing back to back games for the tenth time 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. The club played only four "stand alone" game during the season and won all four.  
 
METCALF DEBUT: Freshman Goalie Garrett Metcalf made his collegiate debut Saturday, December 3rd, at UConn.  The Salt Lake City, Utah native made 34 saves as the River Hawks and Huskies battled to a 2-2 tie.  Metcalf followed that up with 28 saves and his first collegiate win, 5-1 versus Merrimack December 10.
 
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.
 
PROTECTING THE NET:  UMass Lowell goalie Tyler Wall is among the best in Hockey East at keeping the puck out of the net.  Wall ranks third in the league in goals against average (2.07) and fourth in save percentage .918.  He is in the top dozen in the country in both categories among goalies who have played in at least half of their team's games.
 
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 nineteen of the River Hawks' twenty games this season accounting for 31-goals and 72 points.  That's 43.7% of the River Hawks goals and 37.2% 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 41-goals and 94 points in 26 games.
 
HOT SHOT JUNIOR:  UMass Lowell forward C.J. Smith leads all juniors playing college hockey in career scoring with 46-goals and 98-points.  Mike Szmatula, playing at Minnesota is second with 85 points.  T.J. Moore of Holy Cross is second in goals with 37.  Smith's 52 assists finds him just four behind Anders Bjork of Notre Dame.
 
HITTING THE TARGET:  UMass Lowell center Joe Gambardella, with ten goals on just 39 shots on goal, has scored on 25.6% of his shots.  His shooting percentage is the best in Hockey East.  A year ago Gambardella had five goals on 42 shots through 20 games, a shooting percentage of 11.9%.  John Edwardh is second among River Hawk players with eight goals on 41 shots, a 19.5% success rate.
 
LOHIN BEHOLD:  UMass Lowell freshman center Ryan Lohin is heating it up around the net.  After picking up just three assists in his first eight games, Lohin has eight points (3g, 5a) in his last 12-games.

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 43 of 46 and 52 of 57 (91.2%) 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. 
 
PUTTING THE "POWER" BACK IN POWER PLAY: UMass Lowell's power play appears to be getting back on track.  The River Hawks have gone 6-for-15 over its last five 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 23 goals in 95 man advantage opportunities for a 24.2% success rate, the fifth best in the country and number one in Hockey East.  Nine different players have scored with the man advantage; C.J. Smith and Joe Gambardella each have five, Jake Kamrass has four power play markers.  Mattias Göransson has three PP goals.  Gambardella and defensemen Dylan Zink and Michael Kapla have seven PP assists. 
 
IRON MAN:  UMass Lowell senior defenseman Michael Kapla has played in 140 consecutive games, the most of any active player in college hockey.  Kapla has never missed a game in his collegiate career.
 
100 GAMES CLUB:  UMass Lowell senior center Evan Campbell became the fourth member of the team to have played in 100 games when he skated October 15th against Clarkson.  Campbell enters tonight's game with 27 goals and 54 points in 114 games.  Michael Kapla (140), Joe Gambardella (129) and Dylan Zink (122) have all surpassed the century mark.  C.J. Smith (99) and Tyler Mueller (97) are closing in on the milestone.   
 
POWER PLAY TRIFECTA: Four times this season UMass Lowell has scored three power play goals in a game.  That happened most recently in the River Hawks 7-4 win against Dartmouth last Saturday night.  Previously UMass Lowell found the back of the net three times with the man-advantage against Minnesota Duluth, Colorado College and Vermont.  The River Hawks had not done that since hitting for three against Notre Dame in a 3-1 win, November 23, 2013.  In all UMass Lowell has six multi PP goal games.
 
ROAD WARRIORS:  UMass Lowell is 7-3-1 away from the Tsongas Center this season and 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 49-29-8, .616, as the visiting team and 70-38-9, .637, including neutral site games.
 
BIG ICE:  The visit to the Ledyard Bank Classic at the Thompson Arena put UMass Lowell back on a larger than standard ice sheet for the fifth and sixth times this season.  Previously the River Hawks played weekend series at Colorado College (200 x 100) and Notre Dame (200 x 90).  The River Hawks swept the series on the Olympic Sheet at the Broadmoor World Arena, 8-5, 4-0, and followed that with a split of 4-1 games against Notre Dame on the 200 x 90 sheet at the Compton Family Arena.  Since Norm Bazin took over the coaching responsibilities the River Hawks have a record of 33-9-5 on larger than the standard 200 x 85 ice sheets including a record of 10-2-1 on an Olympic sheet and a 18-6-3 record on the 200 x 90 sheet, including this past weekend sweep of Colgate and Dartmouth. 
 
CIRCLE OF DOMINANCE: UMass Lowell has dominated in the faceoff circle during the opening eleven weeks of the season winning 713 of 1,315 puck drops.  The .542 faceoff winning percentage is the fifth best in the nation and third in Hockey East.  Joe Gambardella leads the team winning 230 of 381, .604. Gambardella ranks fifth in Hockey East among centermen who have taken at least 100 draws.  Evan Campbell (157 of 292, .538) and Ryan Lohin (136 of 255, .533) are also above the .500 mark.  Nick Master (153 of 313, .489) 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.
 
WHO's NEXT: UMass Lowell will have just a bit of rest before returning to the ice again.  The River Hawks will play at New Hampshire Friday night.  UNH leads the all-time series 59-39-15, but the River Hawks have won seven of the last eight.
 
WEIGHING IN: UMass Lowell is the eighth biggest team in the nation based on weight.  The River Hawks tip the scales at 193.67 pounds.  Western Michigan at 198.63 pounds is the heaviest team in the country.

Five Countries/16 States:  UMass Lowell's roster reflects a dramatic growth in the points of origin from which people have come to play college hockey.  The roster finds players from five different countries and 16 different states.  Both numbers are the highest in college hockey.  Twenty-one of the River Hawks 30 players were born in the United States, five hail from Canada, two are from Sweden and one each from Finland and France.  Massachusetts and Pennsylvania top the list of states with three players each calling those states home.
 
PROTECTING THE LEAD:  UMass Lowell is 10-0-2 when leading after two periods of play.  They were 16-1-2 a year ago and since Norm Bazin took over the coaching reins at UMass Lowell, the River Hawks are 103-4-9 when leading after two-periods.  They are also 25-13-9 when the score is tied after two periods.