Friday, January 6th at New Hampshire (6pm)
(Whittemore Center; Durham, N.H.)
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Television: ASN (Channel Finder), NESN (Channel Finder), TSN GO
Talent: Tom Caron (Play by Play); Billy Jaffe (Analyst)

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 13-5-3 / 6-3-1 record after defeating Rensselaer, 5-1, 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 32 points.  C.J. Smith tops the goal scoring list with 13; Gambardella has eleven 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 2.00 GAA and a .923 save percentage.
 
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS:  New Hampshire has a 9-7-2 / 5-1-1 record following a 6-4 win in a non-conference game against Maine on Dec. 30th.  The Wildcats were picked to finish tenth in the Hockey East Coaches' pre-season poll.  Fifteen different players have scored goals, three are in double digits.  Tyler Kelleher leads the pack with 14 goals and 35-points. Those 35 points leads Hockey east and is second in the country.  Daniel Tirone started 16 of the Cats 18 games between the pipes.   He has a 2.49 goals against average and a .915 save percentage.    
 
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. NEW HAMPSHIRE:  This is the 114th meeting between the two schools in a series that dates back to 1983.  New Hampshire leads the series 59-39-15, but the River Hawks have won seven of the last eight, including four by shutout.    The first ever meeting between the two clubs, Dec. 6, 1983, ended in a 3-3 tie when Danny Craig's second goal of the game knotted the score with nine-seconds left in the third period.  The two teams have met in the Hockey East Tournament in seven different seasons with UMass Lowell holding a 6-5-0 edge.  The River Hawks have also won the lone NCAA tournament game played between the two.
 
LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION:  These two teams have played each other in nine different buildings, matching the greatest number of venues for UMass Lowell against any one opponent.  UMass Lowell and UNH have faced off at Tully Forum (Billerica, MA), Snively Arena (Durham, NH), Boston Garden (Boston, MA), JFK Coliseum (Manchester, NH), Alfond Arena (Orono, ME), Whittemore Center (Durham, NH), Tsongas Arena (Lowell, MA), FleetCenter/TD Garden (Boston, MA) and the Verizon Wireless Arena (Manchester, NH.)  UMass Lowell has also played Maine and Boston College in nine different buildings.
 
BIG ICE:  The visit to the Whittemore Center puts UMass Lowell back on a larger than standard ice sheet for the seventh times this season.  The River Hawks swept the series on the Olympic Sheet at the Broadmoor World Arena 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 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. 
 
A YEAR AGO:  UMass Lowell and UNH split the season series a year ago, each winning in the other team's building.  Ryan Collins scored the only goal as the River Hawks took a 1-0 decision in the Whittemore Center.  Dan Tirone made 43 saves in the 3-2 UNH win in Lowell.
 
LAST TIME OUT:  UMass Lowell defeated Rensselaer, Tuesday night in Troy, N.Y., 5-1.  Nick Master and Jake Kamrass had a goal and an assist as five different players found the back of the net.  Goalie Tyler Wall made 32 saves to pick up his 12th win of the season.
 
PLUS-75:  UMass Lowell Head Coach Norm Bazin is 75 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 576-575-109 since beginning Division I play in 1983-84.  Bazin has a record of 137-62-21 at the reins in Lowell.
 
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.
 
RED LIGHT DISTRICT:  UMass Lowell is second in the nation in goals scored with 76.  That is just two-goals back of Union, the national leader.  The River Hawks are averaging 3.62-goals per game, seventh best in the country. 
 
FIVE IN A ROW:  UMass Lowell has won five in a row, their longest winning streak of the season.  During that five game stretch the team has averaged 4.80 goals per game while allowing less than two per game.  Twelve different players have scored goals with Joe Gambardella topping the chart with four-goals and ten-points.  The power play has been clicking at a 43.8% rate and the PK Unit has a 90.0% success rate.  Tyler Wall is 4-0-0 between the pipes with a 1.43 goals against average and a .946 save percentage.
 
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 46 of 49 and 55 of 60 (91.7%) over the last 13-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 8-for-19 (42.1%) over its last six 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 99 man advantage opportunities for a 25.3% 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. 
 
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.
 
FOUR STRAIGHT and COUNTING: It has been a while since a UMass Lowell player has scored goals in five straight games, Joe Gambardella is close.  The senior has scored goals in four straight games (versus Merrimack, Colgate, Dartmouth and RPI.)  The last River Hawk to score in five straight was Mark Pandolfo who scored six goals in a five game stretch from Dec. 5 through the 28th in 2003.
 
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 21-games.  UMass Lowell is 9-0-1 when Gambardella scores a goal and 13-2-2 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.
 
IRON MAN:  UMass Lowell senior defenseman Michael Kapla has played in 141 consecutive games, the most of any active player in college hockey.  Kapla has never missed a game in his collegiate career.
 
109 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 five assists in the three games since the break.  He has 40 goals and 69 assists in 130 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 18 points (6g, 12a) in his last 13 games.  The last River Hawk to reach 100 points was Joe Pendenza who achieved the mark during the 2013-14 season. 
 
99 POINTS AND COUNTING: UMass Lowell junior forward C.J. Smith could be the next River Hawk to reach the 100 point milestone.  Smith has 99 points on 46-goals and 53-assists in just 100 games.  Smith had three goals and an assist in the Ledyard Bank Classic Championship Game on Saturday and added an assist Tuesday at RPI.
 
DID YOU KNOW...?:  The last time UMass Lowell had two 100 point career scorers in the same season 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 109 points, is ninth in career scoring among active players.   His 69-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.
 
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 1,288th in scoring among active players.
 
100 GAMES CLUB:  UMass Lowell junior forward C.J. Smith became the fifth member of the team to have played in 100 games when he skated January 3rd against Rensselaer.  Smith enters tonight's game with 46 goals and 99 points in 100 games.  Michael Kapla (141), Joe Gambardella (130), Dylan Zink (123) and Evan Campbell (115) have all surpassed the century mark.  Tyler Mueller (98) is closing in on the milestone.   
 
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 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 0-4-2 this season and 22-47-15, .398, since 2011-12.
 
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.
 
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.
 
ROAD WARRIOR:  Joe Gambardella is second in the nation in scoring on the road.  Twenty-two ( 6g, 16a) of his 32 points have come in 12 games away from the Tsongas Center.
 
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 32 points (11g, 21a).  His 21 assists lead the nation.  Gambardella is third among Hockey East players and C.J. Smith is 14th in the country and seventh among Hockey East players with 25 points (13g, 12a).  Defenseman Dylan Zink is tied for the top spot among Hockey East Defensemen and second in the nation with 20 points (7g, 13a).  His seven goals are tops among HEA Dmen. Mattias Göransson is the top scoring freshman defenseman in Hockey East and is fourth in the nation with 13 points (4g, 9a).  Michael Kapla's 14 assists is third best among the nation's defensemen and second in Hockey East.  Tyler Wall is the winningest freshman netminder in the country with 12 wins.
 
GETTING OFFENSE FROM THE DEFENSE: UMass Lowell has the second highest scoring defense corps in the country.  The River Hawks blue liners have combined for 15-goals and 63 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."
 
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 six.  It would be the program's 577th as a Division I program, putting the program two games 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, against Merrimack, 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.
 
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.
 
PUNCHING THE CLOCK: Through 21 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 710:40 of the 1,275-minutes of hockey the team has played this 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.
 
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 third in the league in both goals against average (2.00) and save percentage .923.  He is seventh in the nation in GAA and 13th in  save percentage.
 
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 of the River Hawks' twenty-one games this season accounting for 33-goals and 75 points.  That's 43.4% of the River Hawks goals and 36.9% 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 43-goals and 97 points in 27 games.
 
HOT SHOT JUNIOR:  UMass Lowell forward C.J. Smith leads all juniors playing college hockey in career scoring with 46-goals and 99-points.  Brady Ferguson, playing at Robert Morris is second with 94 points.  T.J. Moore of Holy Cross is second in goals with 37.  Smith's 53 assists finds him just four behind Anders Bjork of Notre Dame.
 
HITTING THE TARGET:  UMass Lowell center Joe Gambardella, with 11 goals on just 41 shots on goal, has scored on 26.8% of his shots.  His shooting percentage is the best in Hockey East and the country.  John Edwardh is second among River Hawk players with nine goals on 44 shots, a 20.5% success rate.
 
ON THE ROAD AGAIN:  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.
 
WHO's NEXT: UMass Lowell faces Massachusetts in a non-conference game Saturday, January 14, in Amherst.  The River Hawks and minutemen play three times during the season to decide the Alumni Cup.  UMass Lowell leads the all-time series 44-25-7, and has won the Alumni Cup 16 times in 22 seasons.
 
CIRCLE OF DOMINANCE: UMass Lowell has dominated in the faceoff circle this season winning 743 of 1,371 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 237 of 395, .600. Gambardella ranks fifth in Hockey East among centermen who have taken at least 100 draws.  Evan Campbell (165 of 305, .541) and Ryan Lohin (141 of 265, .532) are also above the .500 mark.  Nick Master (160 of 326, .491) 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.
 
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.
 
SUCCESS IS THE NORM: Norm Bazin is in his sixth season at UMass Lowell with a 137-62-21 record (.671) in 220 games. He owns a 175-93-28 mark (.639) in 296 games now in his ninth season as a collegiate head coach, including three seasons at Hamilton College. Bazin is the sixth head coach in program history and the fifth Div. I boss (Riley, Crowder, Whitehead, MacDonald). He recorded his 100th career coaching victory on Nov. 23, 2013 vs. Notre Dame at the Tsongas Center and his 100th behind the River Hawk bench on October 9, 2015. He is also the fastest to the 100 win mark in school history. His first UMass Lowell win came against Minnesota State, 4-2, on October 14, 2011. Bazin is a two-time Hockey East Coach of the Year 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. Bazin has led the River Hawks to four NCAA tournament appearances, back-to-back Hockey East Tournament Championships (2013, 2014) and one Frozen Four appearance (2013).