SCOUTING THE RIVER HAWKS:  UMass Lowell, with a 19-9-3 / 11-7-1 record, after defeating a pair of Hockey East opponents last weekend, is ranked 6th in both the USCHO and  the USA Hockey Magazine polls.  The team was picked for a fourth place finish in the Hockey East Coaches' Pre-Season Poll and currently sits in a fourth place tie with Notre Dame.  Joe Gambardella leads the team in scoring with 40 points.  Nineteen players have scored goals, five are in double digits.  C.J. Smith tops the list with 16; Gambardella has 13, John Edwardh and Jake Kamrass have an even dozen and defenseman Dylan Zink has added ten.  Freshman goalie Tyler Wall has started 24 of the team's 31 games and carries a 2.20 GAA and a .914 save percentage into tonight's contest.

SCOUTING THE MINUTEMEN:  Massachusetts has a 5-24-2 / 2-16-1 record following a 3-0 Tuesday night loss to Merrimack.   The Minutemen were picked to finish 11th in the Hockey East Coaches' pre-season poll.  Eighteen different players have scored goals.  Steven Iacobellis and Griff Jeszka lead the team in goals with seven.  Iacobellis also leads the team in assists (10) and points (17).  Ryan Wischow has started 22 of the team's 31 games between the pipes.   He has a 3.20 goals against average and a .899 save percentage.  Alex Wakaluk has started the two most recent games and has a 3.24 GAA and a .902 save percentage.

ALL-TIME SERIES VS. UMASS:  This will be third meeting between the two teams this season and the 79th meeting between the two schools in a series that dates back to 1968.  UMass Lowell won the first two meetings this year and leads the series 46-25-7.  The River Hawks have won 15 of the last 17 (15-1-1) over the last five-plus seasons.  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.

SO FAR THIS YEAR:  UMass Lowell defeated Massachusetts, 4-2, at the Tsongas Center a week ago and 2-1 in a non-conference match up at the Mullins Center on January 14th.  River Hawks goals in the series have come from six different players.

A WIN WOULD:  If UMass Lowell wins tonight it would move the River Hawks into no worse than fourth place tie in Hockey East.  It would also be the program's 583rd win as a Division I program, putting the program four-games over the .500 mark.  A win would give the River Hawks a sweep of the season series with Massachusetts and would be the team's 20th win of the year. 

BIG ICE:  Tonight will be the eleventh time this season UMass Lowell has played on a larger than standard sheet of ice.  The River Hawks are 8-2-0 on the larger surfaces including a win at the 200 x 95 Mullins Center.  UML is 3-0-0 on the 200 x 100 Olympic sheet and 4-2-0 on surfaces that are 200 x 90. 
 

PLUS-77:  UMass Lowell Head Coach Norm Bazin is 77 games over .500 behind the River Hawk bench in five-plus seasons and that has moved the program above the .500 mark for the first time in the school's 34-year Division I history.  UMass Lowell is 582-579-109 since beginning Division I play in 1983-84.  Bazin has a record of 143-66-21 at the reins in Lowell.

20 Win Seasons:  The River Hawks, currently with 19 wins, is bidding for its sixth consecutive 20-win season, something that has never happened in the program's history.  The five straight 20-win seasons puts UMass Lowell in an exclusive club.  Only six schools in the country have more twenty or more in each of the last five seasons.  Joining the River Hawks are Minnesota, Boston College, Denver, Quinnipiac and North Dakota.

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 clinched the 2017 Cup winning the first two of the three-game series.  They have now won the cup the last six years and 17 times in 23 years.  The first game of the three, this year, was a "non-conference" game and did not count in the Hockey East standings.  Tonight's contest at the Mullins Center, like last week's in Lowell, are league contests.

LAST WEEKEND:  UMass Lowell picked up four points with a couple of Hockey East wins last weekend.  The River Hawks defeated BU, 3-2 last Friday night, in come-from-behind fashion.  The River Hawks found themselves down 2-1 in the second period.  Ryan Lohin tied the game before the period was over and Kenney Hausinger scored the winner on a power play in the third period.  UMass Lowell followed that up with a 4-2 win, Saturday night, against Massachusetts.  Joe Gambardella and Connor Wilson scored third period goals to break a 2-2 tie.  Goalie Tyler Wall made 37 saves in picking up his 17th and 18th wins of the year.

WALL OF HONOR:  Goaltender Tyler Wall was tabbed as Hockey East Rookie of the Week.  Wall stopped 37 of 41 shots (.902 sv%) in wins against No. 3 Boston University and Massachusetts over the weekend. He made 21 saves on Friday vs. BU, which included 15 third-period stops and followed that up with a 16-save effort against the Minutemen on Saturday night.  It marks the second time this season that Wall has been honored as Hockey East's Rookie of the Week. He has posted a 18-8-1 record in his freshman season with a 2.20 GAA and .914 save percentage. He needs two wins to tie Connor Hellebuyck's rookie team record of 20 wins in 2012-2013.

ON THE NATIONAL STAGE:  UMass Lowell has been nationally ranked, in either the USCHO or USAHockey Magazine poll, for 109 consecutive weeks.  The stretch began when UMass Lowell appeared at #20 in the USCHO Poll on January 7, 2013.  Of those 109 weeks more than half, 76, have been spent in the top ten.

AMONG THE NATIONAL LEADERS:  Joe Gambardella is among the top scorers in the nation.  Gambardella is ninth with 40 points (14g, 26a).  His 26 assists are also ninth in the nation.  Gambardella is fifth in scoring among Hockey East players and C.J. Smith is 13th in the country and seventh among Hockey East players with 36 points (16g, 20a).  Defenseman Dylan Zink is third among the nation's Defensemen with 28 points (10g, 18a).  His ten goals from the back line is second the country.  Mattias Göransson is the top scoring freshman defenseman in Hockey East and is third in the nation with 20 points (5g, 15a).  Michael Kapla and Zink with 23 and 18 assists respectively rank third and ninth among the nation's defensemen and second and fourth among Hockey East defensemen. 

117 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.  He, now, has 43 goals and 74 assists in 140 games.  Gambardella currently ranks 11th among DI players and 28th all-time.  Gambardella has 31 points (10g, 21a) in his last 24 games.  The last River Hawk prior to Gambardella to reach 100 points was Joe Pendenza who achieved the mark during the 2013-14 season and ended his career with 110. 
 

110 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 now has 110 points on 49-goals and 61-assists in just 110 games.  Smith is the 44th player in program history to reach the milestone and the 24th in the Division I era.  He ranks 35th all-time and 18th among Division I players at UMass Lowell.  He has six-goals and 16-points in his last 12 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.

49 GOALS AND COUNTING: Forward C.J. Smith has 49 goals in his career.  His next goal will make him the 28th player to reach 50 and the 13th to do so during the Division I era.  He would also be just the fourth to do so in the last 15 years.

40 POINTS..!:  Joe Gambardella is the first River Hawk to score 40 points in a season since Elias Godoy totaled 41 during the 2003-04 season.  Greg Bullock holds the school's Division I record with 65 points during the 1994-95 season.

TWO WITH 40..?:  Joe Gambardella may not be the only River Hawk with 40 points or more when the season ends.  C.J. Smith has 36 points with three games remaining in the regular season.  The last time UMass Lowell had two 40-point scorers in the same season was 1995-96.  That year the River Hawks had five lead by Brendan Concannon with 62 points.

71 ASSISTS AND COUNTING: UMass Lowell defenseman Michael Kapla has 71 assists in his collegiate career.  Kapla is closing in on the school's record for a Division I defenseman.  Mike Nicholishen (1994-98) holds the record with 72.

IRON MAN:  UMass Lowell senior defenseman Michael Kapla has played in 151 consecutive games, the most of any active player.  Kapla has never missed a game in his collegiate career.  He is seven games short of equaling the UMass Lowell record for games played held by Christian Sbrocca (158-games, 1992-96) and just two games short of matching the record for defensemen held by Jake Suter (153).

BLASTS FROM THE BLUE LINE:  Dylan Zink, with 31 goals in his collegiate career, is the top goal scoring defenseman in UMass Lowell's Division I history.  He moved into the top spot with a third period power play goal, January 20th, against Providence.  The goal was his 29th moving him past Maury Edwards and to the top of the list.  He has added two more in his last four games.

25 POINTS FROM THE BLUE LINE:  Only 11 defensemen in the country have 25 points or more and UMass Lowell has two of them.  Dylan Zink, with 10-goals and 28 points leads the blue line corps; Michael Kapla has added two-goals and 23 assists for 25 points.  The last UML defenseman to reach the 30-point mark was Ron Hainsey who finished with ten-goals and 36-points during the 2000-01 season.

TRIPLE DOUBLE:  Dylan Zink has put together three straight double-digit goal-scoring seasons.  He is the only active defensemen in college hockey who can make that claim.  Zink is second among college defensemen with 31 career goals.  St. Lawrence Gavin Bayruether tops the list with 34.

CAREER LEADERS:  UMass Lowell center Joe Gambardella, with 117 points, is 10th in career scoring among active college players.   His 74-assists also places him 10th on the active career list.   Defenseman Michael Kapla is third among active defensemen in the country and first in Hockey East in scoring with 87-points and second in assists with 71.  With 31 goals Dylan Zink is second among active defenseman in career goals and the leader among Hockey East Defensemen.

PROTECTING THE NET:  UMass Lowell goalie Tyler Wall is among the best in the Hockey East at keeping the puck out of the net.  Wall ranks fifth in the league in goals against average (2.20) and eighth in save percentage .914.

WHO'S NEXT?: There is just one week remaining in the regular season and UMass Lowell has a pair of games remaining against Boston College.  The two will meet Thursday at the Conte Forum and then Friday at the Tsongas Center.

HOBEY BAKER AWARD NOMINEES:  Forwards Joe Gambardella and C.J. Smith have been nominated for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award.  Online fan voting, the first phase of the selection process, has now commenced for the most prestigious individual award in college hockey. Gambardella leads the team in scoring with 40 points and 26 assists in 31 contests for the River Hawks. His 40 points rank fifth among Hockey East scorers and his 26 assists are sixth best among league players. He has registered a point in 23 of 31 games this season.  Smith ranks second on UMass Lowell roster with 36 points and his 16 goals are a team best, skating in all 31 games so far this season. His 16 goals rank tied for tenth among conference players. Smith has five multi-goal games included a hat trick on Dec. 31st at Dartmouth.

LEGEND OF COLLEGE HOCKEY:  Former UMass Lowell Head Coach Bill Riley Jr. has been honored by the Hobey Baker Memorial Award Foundation as its 2017 Legend of College Hockey.  Often referred to as the Godfather of UMass Lowell hockey, Riley took over a fledgling program in 1969, built it into an NCAA Division II national power and ultimately, moved Lowell into Division I hockey as a charter member of Hockey East in 1984 and an NCAA Tournament participant in 1988.  His overall record was 363-270-22, making him the winningest coach in program history.

WALTER BROWN AWARD NOMINEES:  Forwards Joe Gambardella and C.J. Smith and defenseman Dylan Zink have been named semifinalists for the 65th Walter Brown Award, presented annually to the best American-born college hockey player in New England.  Gambardella, Smith and Zink have been key members of a River Hawk team which has scored the third most goals in the country.  The trio has fueled a power play unit that is the second most potent in the country finding the back of the net at a 27.3% clip (39-for-143).  The semifinalists represent 13 different teams.  UMass Lowell is one of four schools with three players on the semifinal list.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES: One year can make a big difference and it has for a couple of UMass Lowell forwards.  Through 31 games, John Edwardh has a career high 12-goals and 25-points.  At the 31-game mark a year ago, Edwardh had just five-assists.  He finished the year four-goals and 13-points.  Jake Kamrass also has established career highs with 12-goals and 19-points.  He finished the 2015-16 season with five-goals and ten-points but, at the 31-game mark he had just four-goals and seven points.

STAND ALONE GAMES:  UMass Lowell has played three "stand alone" games this year and has won all three.  They defeated RPI, 5-1, UNH, 2-1 and Massachusetts, 2-1.   A year ago the club played only four "stand alone" games and won all four.  

BACK-TO-BACK: UMass Lowell has played back-to-back games on 14 weekends this season.  The River Hawks are 7-6-1 on the first night and 7-4-2 the second. They have five weekend sweeps (Colorado College, Merrimack, Colgate/Dartmouth, Northeastern/UNH, BU/UMass) to their credit.  They have been swept twice (Providence, NU/BU).  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.

THREE GAMES TO GO:  Including tonight's contest, UMass Lowell has three games remaining in the regular season and the road may not be an easy one.  Two of the games are against teams with a .500 or better record.  River Hawk opponents have a combined .463 winning percentage.  UMass Lowell has one game remaining with UMass and two with Boston College. 

FILLING THE SEATS:  UMass Lowell leads Hockey East in average home attendance drawing more than 5,600 per game during the 2016-17 season.  Through 14 home games the River Hawks have drawn 79,773 fans, an average of 5,698 per game.  UMass Lowell topped Hockey East in both total home attendance and average home attendance during the 2015-16 season.  The River Hawks drew more than 100,000 fans for the second consecutive season and only the second time in the program's history.  The 19 games played at the Tsongas Center attracted 106,256 people, an average of 5,592 per game. The River Hawks ranked eighth in the nation in average home attendance filling the Tsongas Center to 93.2% of capacity.

ON THE SCORE SHEET:  Through his first 12 college games Nick Marin had been held off the score sheet.  That changed in game 13, vs. UNH last Saturday.  Marin had a goal and two assists.

ON THE ROAD:  UMass Lowell is 11-5-1 away from the Tsongas Center this season.  Their .676 winning percentage is sixth best in the country and the best in Hockey East. Their eleven wins away from the Tsongas Center is the most in the country.  That does include a six game road swing during which UMass Lowell was undefeated.  They won games at Merrimack, Dartmouth, RPI, New Hampshire and Massachusetts.  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 53-31-8, .620, as the visiting team and 74-40-9, .638, including neutral site games.

ROAD WARRIOR:  Joe Gambardella is fifth in the nation, and second in Hockey East, in scoring on the road.  Twenty-four (6g, 18a) of his 40 points have come in 16 games away from the Tsongas Center.  His 18 road assists leads the nation.

A GOOD START:  UMass Lowell has outscored its opponents 41-21 in the first period this season.  That's a scoring margin of plus-20 in the period and that figure is the second best in the country and tops the charts in Hockey East.

HOME AGAIN:  UMass Lowell will return home for the season finale February 24th.  It will also be just the sixth home game since the mid-Winter break.  Earlier this season UMass Lowell had a stretch of 42 days between home games.

HOME COOKING:  There is nothing like home cooking for several of the UMass Lowell River Hawks.  Defenseman Dylan Zink has scored 18 of his 28 points and 13 of his 18 assists in just 14 home games.  Zink is number one in the country in home scoring among defensemen.  Joe Gambardella (8g, 8a, 16pts.)  and C.J. Smith (6g, 11a, 17pts) are averaging more than a point a game at home.    

WHEN RANKED TEAMS VISIT: Including last Saturday night's 3-2 win against No. 3 Boston University, Mass Lowell is unbeaten, at the Tsongas Center, in their last 16 games (11-0-5) against nationally ranked teams.  The streak is their longest since the USCHO poll began in 1997. 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 this season with two ties against fifth ranked Minnesota Duluth, knocked off no. 12 St. Lawrence Oct. 21, 5-2 and swept Vermont 3-1 and 4-2 Nov. 4/5th.

RED LIGHT DISTRICT:  UMass Lowell is third in the nation in goals scored with 111.  That is just five-goals back of Ohio State and Union, the national leaders.  UML is averaging 3.58-goals per game, 8th best in the country.  C.J. Smith (15), Joe Gambardella (13), John Edwardh (12), Jake Kamrass (12) and Dylan Zink (10) have ten or more goals. 

WHEN ALL THINGS ARE EVEN: UMass Lowell is the 9th highest scoring team in the nation and fourth in Hockey East when playing at even strength.  The River Hawks have scored 69 of their 111-goals this season at even strength, an average of 2.23 even strength goals per game ranking them tenth in the country.

PUTTING THE "POWER" IN POWER PLAY: UMass Lowell's power play is hot.  The River Hawks have gone 22-for-63 (34.9%) over its last 16 games.  That was after a 0-for-19 stretch.  The power play is among the best in the country.  The River Hawks have scored 39 goals in 143 man advantage opportunities for a 27.3% success rate, the second best in the country and number one in Hockey East.  Twelve different players have scored with the man advantage; Joe Gambardella and C.J. Smith lead the team with seven PPGs.  Jake Kamrass have five power play markers.  Mattias Göransson has four PP goals.  Michael Kapla has 14 PP assists and Dylan Zink and C.J. Smith have added ten. 

PENALTY KILLING: UMass Lowell Penalty Kill Unit has been on a bit of a roller coaster ride.  The unit shut down BU and UMass last weekend, going eight-for-eight on the kill after allowing eight goals in its previous 24 man down situations.  That's after a stretch of 13 games during which the PK unit killed 53 of 56, (94.6%) opposing power plays.  The PK is 128-for-152, 84.2%, for the season.

POWER PLAY TRIFECTA: Six times this season UMass Lowell has scored three power play goals in a game.  That happened most recently in the River Hawks 8-2 win against UNH February 4.  Previously UMass Lowell found the back of the net three times with the man-advantage against Minnesota Duluth, Colorado College, Vermont, Dartmouth and Northeastern.  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 ten multi PP goal games.

PUNCHING THE CLOCK: Through 31 games, UMass Lowell has played from behind for just 259:54 and only in portions of twelve games.  UMass Lowell has held the lead for 987:28 of the 1,875-minutes of hockey the team has played this season.

GETTING OFFENSE FROM THE DEFENSE: UMass Lowell has the highest scoring defense corps in the country.  The River Hawks blue liners have combined for 22-goals and 97-points.  The River Hawk D corps also leads the country in power play points with 51 on 10-goals and 41 helpers.

Mr. CLUTCH: Dylan Zink has proven to be Mr. Clutch during the last three seasons.  Twenty of his 31 goals (64.5%) 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.  Five of his ten goals this season are "clutch."

THREE IS THE MAGIC NUMBER: When UMass Lowell scores three or more goals in a game it is 17-3-1 and 119-17-6, .857, in the last five-plus seasons.  When the River Hawks keep their opponents under three goals, the team is 16-0-2.  When scoring two goals or less in a game the River Hawks are 2-5-2 this season and 24-48-15, .362, since 2011-12.

Multi-GOAL GAMES:  C.J. Smith has five multi-goal games this season.  That number places Smith third on 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 hot.  The line has played together in 29 of the River Hawks' 31 games this season accounting for 41-goals and 99 points.  That's 36.9% of the River Hawks goals and 33.5% of the team's total offensive output.  They have been held off the score sheet just twice.  Since being united for the final regular season game a year ago the trio has 51-goals and 121 points in 36 games.

HOT SHOT JUNIOR:  UMass Lowell forward C.J. Smith leads all juniors playing college hockey in career scoring with 49-goals and 110-points.  Brady Ferguson, playing at Robert Morris is second with 105 points.  Ferguson is second in goals with 42.  Smith's 61 assists finds him just two behind Ferguson.

HITTING THE TARGET:  UMass Lowell forward Joe Gambardella, with 14 goals on 57 shots, has scored on 24.6% of his shots.  His shooting percentage is the best in Hockey East.  John Edwardh, with 12 goals on just 62 shots, has scored on 19.2% of his shots is second among River Hawks and seventh in the league.

CIRCLE OF DOMINANCE: UMass Lowell has dominated in the faceoff circle this season winning 1,096 of 2,010 puck drops.  The .545 faceoff winning percentage is the fifth best in the nation and third in Hockey East.  Joe Gambardella leads the team winning 332 of 580, .572.  Gambo ranks fifth in Hockey East.  Evan Campbell (240 of 432, .556), Ryan Lohin (224 of 421, .532) and Nick Master (231 of 441, .524) are all over the .500 mark. 

The Senior Class:  This UMass Lowell Senior class is one of three in Hockey East with 90 wins or more.  The four River Hawks seniors have a record of 91-42-18 and a .662 winning percentage.  Only Boston College (95) and Providence (93) have more.  The senior class has a shot at the school record set by the 2016 seniors who accumulated 100 wins over a four year period.

On the Edge of Your Seat:  UMass Lowell is 44-29-21 in games decided by one goal since Norm Bazin became the Head Coach. Also, during that time period the River Hawks are 12-8-21 in games decided in overtime.