SCOUTING THE RIVER HAWKS: UMass Lowell is 3-3-0/0-2-0 after a weekend sweep of Clarkson and St. Lawrence in the North Country of New York State. The club is ranked 17th in the USCHO Poll. The River Hawks, coming off a 27-11-3 season, were picked for a second place finish in the Hockey East Coaches' Pre-Season Poll. UMass Lowell lost four of its top five scorers but returns John Edwardh who scored 19-goals and 39-points. Kenny Hausinger and Ryan Lohin lead the team in scoring with eight points. Hausinger has a team leading five goals while Lohin has a team best eight assists. Ten different players have scored goals, five have more than one. Sophomore goalie Tyler Wall played in 37 games a year ago. His 2.06 goals against average is the best among returning Hockey East goalies and his .918 save percentage ranks second among returners. Christoffer Hernberg has started the last three games and has a 0.86 goals against average and a .971 save percentage.
SCOUTING THE HUSKIES: Northeastern is 2-2-1/0-0-0 after dropping a pair of weekend games to Quinnipiac. The Huskies were picked for a fifth place finish in the Hockey East Coaches' Preseason Poll. They are 20th in the USCHO poll. Northeastern returns three of its top five scorers from a year ago. Dylan Sikura leads the team with six-goals and 12--points. Cayden Primeau and Ryan Ruck have shared the goal tending responsibilities. Ruck has a 2.90 goals against average and a .912 save percentage, but Primeau has played in one more game. Primeau carries a 2.97 GAA and a .850 Sv.%.
ABOUT LAST WEEKEND: UMass Lowell swept through the North Country of New York State defeating Clarkson, 3-1, the first night and St. Lawrence, 5-0, the second. Kenny Hausinger led the offense with three-goals and five-points; Ryan Lohin had five assists. Chris Hernberg backstopped the River Hawks to both wins knocking aside 58 of 59 shots. His second night shutout was the first of his career. It was the River Hawks eighth trip to both Clarkson and St. Lawrence and the third time that they have come away with a sweep.
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. NORTHEASTERN: This is the 115th meeting between the two schools in a series that dates back to 1983. UMass Lowell leads the series 60-44-10, but the more recent meetings have been a nearly even split. The last ten meetings show the two teams at 4-4-2 and they split their two games a year ago, each winning in the other's building. The two met in the 2016 Hockey East Championship Game. Northeastern won that match up, 3-2, but UMass Lowell does hold an edge in HEA Tournament play 10-5-0. The two teams met in one of the first NCAA regular season games played outside the United States. UML won that match up in the opening game of the Friendship Four Tournament in Belfast, Northern Ireland in November of 2015.
BAZIN VS. MADIGAN: Both coaches, Norm Bazin and NU's Jim Madigan came on board for the 2011-12 season and since that time the River Hawks hold a 7-5-3 edge in the series. Madigan has a 99-98-28 record since taking over the reins at Northeastern, Bazin is 154-71-21 at UMass Lowell during that period of time.
LAST YEAR VERSUS NORTHEASTERN: UMass Lowell and Northeastern split the two game regular season series between the two. Each team coming from behind on their opponent's home ice. Northeastern defeated UMass Lowell, 4-3 on January 27, 2017, as Dylan Sikura scored three goals in the final eight-minutes of the hockey game. The River Hawks won in the Matthews Arena, February 3rd, 6-4 after trailing 3-1 in the second period. Six different players scored goals for UMass Lowell.
BONUS HOCKEY?: When UMass Lowell and Northeastern meet 60-minuites is often not enough time to decide matters. Seven of the last 16 games between the two teams have gone to overtime. UMass Lowell holds a 3-1-3 edge in those OT games, and 10-3-10 overtime advantage all-time in long history between the two.
LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION: UMass Lowell and Northeastern have faced one another on eight different ice surfaces. The two have battled at the Tsongas Center, Matthews Arena, Tully Forum (Billerica, Mass.), Fenway Park, Thompson Arena (Hanover, N.H.), Boston Garden, TD Garden and the SSE Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 2015.
A WIN TONIGHT WOULD...: ...make it four in a row for the first time this season and push UMass Lowell over the .500 mark. The River Hawks had opened the season by dropping three in a row for the first time since the 1999-2000 season.
WHO'S NEXT: UMass Lowell and Northeastern will meet Saturday night at the Matthews Arena at 7:00 p.m. Next weekend Maine will visit the Tsongas Center for the only two games between the two teams this season. Maine leads the all-time series 79-37-6, but the River Hawks have a 7-2-1 edge in the last ten. The two teams split the season series a year ago.
BACK-TO-BACK: This is the fourth of 16 weekends during which UMass Lowell will play back-to-back games. The River Hawks have one sweep to their credit, a split and also were swept once this season. UMass Lowell is 1-2-0 on the first night, 2-1-0 on the second. A year ago the River Hawks went back-to-back 18 times. The River Hawks were 11-6-1 on the first night and 11-5-2 on the second. UMass Lowell authored seven sweeps and were swept just twice.
HOME SWEET HOME: UMass Lowell is 73-28-12 (a .699 winning percentage) at the Tsongas Center since Norm Bazin took over behind the bench for the 2011-12 season. The last time the River Hawks has a losing record at home was 2010-11 when the home team went 4-12-0.
WHEN RANKED TEAMS VISIT: UMass Lowell is unbeaten, at the Tsongas Center, in their last 17 games (12-0-5) against nationally ranked teams. The streak is their longest since the USCHO poll began in 1997. Tonight's opponent, Northeastern, currently holds the number 20 spot in the USCHO poll. Their last home loss to a ranked team on Feb. 6, 2015, when they were beaten by third ranked BU, 5-2. The River Hawks opened the 2016-17 season with two ties against fifth ranked Minnesota Duluth, knocked off no. 12 St. Lawrence Oct. 21, 5-2, swept Vermont 3-1 and 4-2 Nov. 4/5th, defeated BU Feb 10th and BC Feb 23rd.
ON THE ROAD: UMass Lowell is 81-41-10, a 652 winning percentage when playing away from the Tsongas Center in the six-plus years that Norm Bazin had led the program. The River Hawks are 57-31-9, .634, as the road team and 24-10-1, .700, in games played at a neutral site.
ROAD WARRIORS: UMass Lowell forwards Ryan Lohin and Kenny Hausinger appear to be comfortable on foreign ice. Four of Hausinger's five goals and six of his eight-points have come on the road. Six of Lohin's eight-points (all assists) have come on the road.
ON THE NATIONAL STAGE: UMass Lowell has been nationally ranked, in either the USCHO or the USAHockey Magazine poll, for 120 consecutive weeks. The stretch began when UMass Lowell appeared at #20 in the USCHO Poll on January 7, 2013. Of those 120 weeks, more than two-thirds, 83, have been spent in the top ten.
NATIONAL LEADERS: UMass Lowell goalie Christoffer Hernberg lead the nation in goals against average, 0.86, and save percentage, .971. Hernberg has started three and appeared in four of the River Hawks six games this season. Forward Ryan Lohin is tied, with UConn's Johnny Austin, atop the nation's leader board in assists with eight. Lohin did not pick up his 8th assist a year ago until his 19th game.
HERNBERG SPARKLES: It was 40 games between starts for goalie Christoffer Hernberg, but the junior has turned in a trio of terrific starts. He picked up his second collegiate victory in UMass Lowell's 5-2 win against Omaha and followed that up with a pair of wins last weekend against Clarkson and St. Lawrence. He stopped 58 of 59 shots during the weekend including 27 saves in his first career shutout, a 5-0 win at St. Lawrence. The wins were the first for Hernberg since January 29, 2016 when he beat Arizona State 4-1 making 19 saves.
HOCKEY EAST HONORS: Goalie Christoffer Hernberg has been honored as the Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week. The honor comes after back to back wins against Clarkson and St. Lawrence. He allowed just one goal on 59 shots.
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES: Forward Kenny Hausinger has gotten off to a quick start scoring five goals in the River Hawks first six games. He also has three assists for eight-points. That is far ahead of the pace he set last year. Through his first six games his totals showed just a single goal and zero assists. Hausinger did not score his fifth goal of the 2016-17 season until his 21st game January 20th against Providence.
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES-Part II: Forward Ryan Lohin has picked up eight-assists in just six games this season. A year ago Lohin picked up his eighth assist of the season on December 30th against Colgate, his 19th game of the year.
SEEN IT ALL AND COUNTING: UMass Lowell Head Athletic Trainer Artie Poitras is the longest serving hockey athletic trainer with one team and the second longest serving in the country. Poitras has been on the bench, in his role as athletic trainer, for 37 years since starting his UMass Lowell career in 1981. He has been witness to a National Championship, three Hockey East Tournament Titles and ten NCAA Tournament visits. The athletic trainer has worked 1,352 games including 1,285 Division I games. He has missed only one game. Poitras is working on a consecutive games streak that has now reached 876.
GETTING OFF TO A GOOD START: UMass Lowell has scored first in five of its six games this season. That has not always translated into a win. The River Hawks have only won three of those five games.
STINGY STARTS: UMass Lowell has allowed only two first period goals in six games this season. Only two teams in the country have allowed fewer goals and they face one of those teams tonight. Northeastern has allowed only one first period goal in five games. The other team to allow only one first period goal this season is North Dakota.
NON-CONFERENCE, NO PROBLEM: UMass Lowell has more than held its own in non-conference play over the last six-plus years. UMass Lowell is 73-25-6 (.731) in non-conference games since the 2011-12 season. The River Hawks are 19-7-3 against ECAC teams since Norm Bazin took over behind the River Hawk bench.
51ST SEASON OF UMASS LOWELL HOCKEY: This is the 51st season of hockey at UMass Lowell. The program began with the 1967-68 season. That first team went 7-7-1. After winning three Division II National Championships the program moved to Division I as an Independent for the 1983-84 season and joined Hockey East for its inaugural season of 1984-85. The River Hawks are 853-704-116 all time with a winning percentage of .544 and 593-584-109 record (.504) as a Division I program.
A CALL FROM THE HALL: Former UMass Lowell center iceman Jeff Daw has been inducted into the UMass Lowell Athletic Hall of Fame. The ceremonies took place on the evening of October 12 as part of the Rise UP celebration. Daw played four seasons for the River Hawks (1992-96), recording 141 points (68g,73a) in 157 career games. His 157 games played ranks third all-time in school history, while his 68 goals rank third and his 141 points are fifth among Division I players. He ranks 15th all-time in both categories. His teams won 88 games in four years, the most for a UMass Lowell Division I class at the time, and made two NCAA Tournament appearances. Daw also served two seasons as team captain (94-95, 95-96). He recorded 26 of his 34 clutch goals over his final two seasons of play.
BY THE CLOSEST OF MARGINS: UMass Lowell is 45-31-21 in one-goal games since the 2011-12 season. Also, during that time period the River Hawks are 12-9-21 in games decided in overtime.
PROTECTING THE LEAD: Since Norm Bazin took over the coaching reins at UMass Lowell, the River Hawks are 118-5-9 when leading after two-periods. They are also 28-17-9 when the score is tied after two periods. The River Hawks were 22-1-2 when leading after two periods a year ago.
THREE IS THE MAGIC NUMBER: When UMass Lowell scores three or more goals in a game it is 130-18-6, .864 during the last six-plus years. The River Hawks were 25-3-1 a year ago. When scoring two goals or less in a game the River Hawks are 25-51-15, .357, since 2011-12.
CLUTCH AND IMPORTANT GOALS: John Edwardh continues to perform in the clutch. Both of his goals this season are defined as "clutch" either tying the score or giving the River Hawks the lead. He led UMass Lowell in clutch goals last season with 13. Twelve of Edwardh's 19-goals gave UML the lead; another tied the score meaning that 68.4% of his goals were scored in clutch situations. Kenny Hausinger, Connor Wilson and Jake Kamrass, also, have two clutch goals this season.
VISITING THE NORTHERN FRONTIER: UMass Lowell has travelled to the North Country of New York State to play both Clarkson and St. Lawrence eight times in its hockey history and this year swept the two games for only the third time ever. The River Hawks are 4-4-0 at St. Lawrence and 6-3-0 at Clarkson. They now have three sweeps to their credit and they have been swept twice. UMass Lowell last swept the North Country teams in 2001 and were last swept in 1999.
AN IMPRESSIVE DEBUT: Freshman defenseman Croix Evingson made his collegiate debut a memorable one. The Anchorage, Alaska native scored on a breakaway after stepping out of the penalty box to give UMass Lowell a 3-0 lead in last Saturday's game against Omaha. The goal proved to be the eventual game winner in a 5-2 victory. Evingson also picked up an assist on the River Hawks first goal.
MAKING THE LIST: UMass Lowell goalie Tyler Wall is one of 20 netminders named to the Mike Richter Award Watch List. The announcement was made by the Herb Brooks Foundation. The award is given the nation's most outstanding goalie. Former River Hawk Connor Hellebuyck won the inaugural award in 2014.
The NHL and UML: Six former River Hawks have earned spots on National Hockey League opening night rosters. One, defenseman Chad Ruhwedel, is currently with the defending Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins. Forward Scott Wilson is now with the Detroit Red Wings. Christian Folin is manning the back line for Los Angeles. Defenseman Ron Hainsey has taken his game to Toronto. Goalies Connor Hellebuyck and Carter Hutton are protecting the nets for Winnipeg and St. Louis respectively.
The NHL and UML-Part II: Three current River Hawks have been drafted by National Hockey League teams. Forward Ryan Lohin and goalie Tyler Wall were selected in the 2016 draft. Wall was grabbed by the New York Rangers on the sixth round and Lohin by Tampa Bay in the seventh round. Freshman defenseman Croix Evingson was chosen by Winnipeg in the seventh round of the 2017 draft.
20 WINS AGAIN: UMass Lowell has won 20-games in a season for six consecutive years, the most in program history. The six straight puts UMass Lowell in an exclusive club. Only six schools in the country have more twenty or more in each of the last six seasons. Joining the River Hawks are Minnesota, Boston College, Denver, Quinnipiac and North Dakota. It is also the fourth time in six years that UMass Lowell has won at least 25 games in a season.
SIX YEARS AMONG THE ELITE: UMass Lowell entered the season with the fourth most wins in the country over a six-year stretch. Since the 2011-12 season, the River Hawks have won 151 games. Their .673 winning percentage is the third best in the country trailing only Boston College and Quinnipiac. North Dakota with 157 wins tops the "wins" list, but their .669 winning percentage drops them down to fourth on the list.
NCAA TOURNAMENT: UMass Lowell is one of only four teams in the country to go to the NCAA Tournament at least five times in the last six years. North Dakota and Denver have made six visits while Minnesota has also made five visits.
THE HOCKEY EAST TOURNAMENT: UMass Lowell has earned a spot in the Hockey East Tournament in 29 of the league's first 33 years making to the semifinals in 18 of those seasons. The River Hawks have a record of 41-44-3 in tournament play and have grabbed three tournament titles.
MAKING A RUN AT SIX: UMass Lowell is bidding to go to the Hockey East Championship Game for a sixth consecutive season. The River Hawks have appeared in five straight, winning three. Only one team, the University of Maine, has a longer streak of Championship Game appearances. Maine played in the finale seven straight years ending in 1993. The River Hawks have grabbed the title in 2013, 2014 and 2017.
154 WINS: UMass Lowell Coach Norm Bazin has been behind the River Hawk bench for 154 wins. With a record of 154-71-21, Bazin is second on the River Hawk All-Time coaching list and tops the list for wins at the Division I level. His 151st win moved Bazin ahead of Blaise MacDonald. MacDonald compiled a record of 150-178-42 during his ten years behind the UML bench. Bill Riley tops the coaching win list with a 363-270-22 record. Bazin's .669 winning percentage is the best in the programs history.
PLUS-83: UMass Lowell Head Coach Norm Bazin is 83 games over .500 behind the River Hawk bench in six-plus seasons and that has moved the program above the .500 mark for the first time in the school's 35-year Division I history. UMass Lowell is 593-584-109 since beginning Division I play in 1983-84. Bazin is 154-71-21 in Lowell.
THE SENIOR CLASS: The six-member UMass Lowell senior class has accumulated a record of 76-36-14, a .659 winning percentage. The class ranks second in Hockey East in wins and third in winning percentage. Only Providence, 78 wins, has more victories during the previous three years. The 76-wins places the UMass Lowell senior class sixth in the nation in wins. The class which includes forwards Ryan Collins, John Edwardh, and Jake Kamrass and defensemen Chris Forney, Tyler Mueller and Tommy Panico has won one Hockey East regular season title, a tournament championship, four in-season tournaments and made two appearances in the NCAA tournament. The class has a shot at matching or surpassing the 2016 senior class which is the winningest in the school's Division I history with an even 100 wins.
ATTENDANCE LEADERS: UMass Lowell led Hockey East in average attendance, a year ago, drawing 5,542 per game. It was the second consecutive year that the River Hawks topped the leader board. The club closed out the 2016-17 regular season with crowds of 6,000 or better in each of its last six home games. Prior to this stretch UMass Lowell had never had more than three-consecutive home games with crowds of more than six-thousand. The River Hawks averaged nearly 900 more people than its nearest competitor. UMass Lowell is leading Hockey east in attendance this season drawing an average of 5,374 per game through first three home contests.
100 GAMES CLUB: Three members of the UMass Lowell hockey team have played at least 100 games in their collegiate careers. Tyler Mueller (123), John Edwardh (106) and Chris Forney (105) have all reached the century mark. Mueller is tenth in the country among active players in games played and number one in Hockey East. Tommy Panico with 87 games played is next on the list.
THE LEADERSHIP: Senior defenseman Tyler Mueller has been chosen to wear the "C", as Captain, on the front of his jersey. The River Hawk leadership team also includes Alternate Captains defenseman Chris Forney and forwards John Edwardh, Ryan Lohin and Connor Wilson.
