SCOUTING THE RIVER HAWKS: UMass Lowell, with a 20-9-3 / 12-7-1 record, after defeating Massachusetts last Saturday, is ranked 5th in the USCHO poll and 7th the USA Hockey Magazine poll. The team was picked for a fourth place finish in the Hockey East Coaches' Pre-Season Poll and currently sits in a fourth place. Joe Gambardella leads the team in scoring with 42 points. Nineteen players have scored goals, five are in double digits. C.J. Smith tops the list with 17; Gambardella and John Edwardh have 14, Jake Kamrass has an even dozen and defenseman Dylan Zink has added ten. Freshman goalie Tyler Wall has started 25 of the team's 32 games and carries a 2.19 GAA and a .914 save percentage into tonight's contest.
SCOUTING THE EAGLES: Boston College has a 18-12-4 / 13-4-3 record following a consecutive home ties with Vermont. The Eagles are ranked 13th in the USA Hockey Magazine Poll and 14th in the USCHO Poll. BC was picked to finish sixth in the Hockey East Coaches' pre-season poll and currently reside in first place going into the final weekend of the regular season. Eighteen different players have scored goals. Austin Cangelosi leads the team in goals with 16.  Matthew Gaudreau tops the points chart with 30. Joseph Woll has started 28 of the team's 34 games between the pipes.  He has a 2.59 goals against average and a .915 save percentage.Â
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. BC: This is the 109th meeting between the two teams in a series that dates back to 1978. Boston College leads the all-time series 63-36-9 and has a 5-3-2 edge in the last ten. The two teams have met once in the NCAA Tournament with BC winning, 4-3. They have not met in the Hockey East Tournament since 2001.
A YEAR AGO: UMass Lowell and Boston College split the regular season series each winning 3-1 at home on the final weekend of the regular season. Â
LAST WEEKEND: UMass Lowell defeated Massachusetts, 5-2, at the Mullins Center. C.J. Smith led the offense with a goal and three assists. John Edwardh had two goals and an assist. The power play went three-for-four. Goalie Tyler Wall made 23 saves in picking up his 19th win of the year. The River Hawks won the Alumni Cup and swept the season series from UMass 3-0-0.
A WIN WOULD: If UMass Lowell wins tonight it would move the River Hawks into a second place tie in the Hockey East standings with Boston University. It would also be the program's 584th win as a Division I program, putting the program five-games over the .500 mark for the first time ever.
Â
ON THE NATIONAL STAGE: UMass Lowell has been nationally ranked, in either the USCHO or USAHockey Magazine poll, for 110 consecutive weeks. The stretch began when UMass Lowell appeared at #20 in the USCHO Poll on January 7, 2013. Of those 110 weeks more than half, 77, have been spent in the top ten.
LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION: UMass Lowell and Boston College have played each other in nine different buildings, matching the greatest number of venues for the River Hawks against any one opponent. UMass Lowell and BC have faced off at Tully Forum (Billerica, MA), McHugh Forum (Chestnut Hill, Mass.), Providence Civic Center (Providence, R.I.) Matthews Arena (Boston, MA), Walter Brown Arena (Boston, Mass.), Conte Forum (Chestnut Hill, Mass.) Tsongas Arena/Center (Lowell, MA), Fleet Center/TD Garden (Boston, MA) and the DCU Center (Worcester, Mass.) UMass Lowell has also played Maine and New Hampshire in nine different buildings.
PLUS-78: UMass Lowell Head Coach Norm Bazin is 78 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 583-579-109 since beginning Division I play in 1983-84. Bazin has a record of 144-66-21 at the reins in Lowell.
Â
20 WINS AGAIN: For the first time in the program's history UMass Lowell has won 20-games in a season for six consecutive years. The five straight 20-win seasons put 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. Minnesota and Denver have also won at least twenty games this season.
SIX YEARS AMONG THE ELITE: UMass Lowell has the fifth most wins in the country over the last five-plus seasons. Since Norm Bazin took over the coaching responsibilities for the 2011-12 season the River hawks have won 144 games. Their .669 winning percentage is the third best in the country trailing only Boston College and Quinnipiac.
AMONG THE NATIONAL LEADERS: Joe Gambardella is among the top scorers in the nation. Gambardella is tenth with 42 points (15g, 27a). His 27 assists are also tenth in the nation. Gambardella is sixth in scoring among Hockey East players and C.J. Smith is 11th in the country and seventh among Hockey East players with 40 points (17g, 23a). Defenseman Dylan Zink is fourth among the nation's defensemen and second in Hockey East with 29 points (10g, 19a). His ten goals from the back line is second the country. Mattias Göransson is the top scoring freshman defenseman in Hockey East and is fourth in the nation with 20 points (5g, 15a). Michael Kapla and Zink with 24 and 19 assists respectively rank third and 11th among the nation's defensemen and second and fourth among Hockey East defensemen.Â
119 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 44 goals and 75 assists in 141 games. Gambardella currently ranks 11th among DI players and 27th all-time. Gambardella has 33 points (11g, 22a) in his last 25 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.Â
114 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 114 points on 50-goals and 64-assists in just 111 games. Smith is the 44th player in program history to reach the milestone and the 24th in the Division I era. He ranks 30th all-time and 13th among Division I players at UMass Lowell. He has seven-goals and 20-points in his last 13 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.
50 GOALS AND COUNTING: Forward C.J. Smith scored the 50th goal of his collegiate career last Saturday against Massachusetts. He is the 28th player to reach 50 and the 13th to do so during the Division I era. He is just the fourth to do so in the last 15 years. Smith is one of just a dozen players in the country with 50 or more career goals and he is the only non-senior in the group.
40 POINTS..!: Joe Gambardella, earlier this season, became 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..?: For the first time since the 1995-96 season UMass Lowell has two players with 40 or more points in a single season. Joe Gambardella leads the team with 42-points and linemate C.J. Smith reached the 40-point marker when he scored a goal and added three assists in the River Hawks 5-2 win at Massachusetts last Saturday. The last time UMass Lowell had two 40-point scorers in the same season was 1995-96. That year the River Hawks had five led by Brendan Concannon with 62 points.
72 ASSISTS AND COUNTING: UMass Lowell defenseman Michael Kapla has 72 assists in his collegiate career. That 72 equals the school's record for a Division I defenseman. Kapla has now matched Mike Nicholishen (1994-98) who set the record at 72.
IRON MAN: UMass Lowell senior defenseman Michael Kapla has played in 152 consecutive games, the most of any active player. Kapla has never missed a game in his collegiate career. He is six games short of equaling the UMass Lowell record for games played held by Christian Sbrocca (158-games, 1992-96) and just one game 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 five games.
25 POINTS FROM THE BLUE LINE: Only 14 defensemen in the country have 25 points or more and UMass Lowell has two of them. Dylan Zink, with 10-goals and 29 points leads the blue line corps; Michael Kapla has added two-goals and 24 assists for 26 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.
20 POINT FRESHMAN D: Freshman defenseman Mattias Göransson has 20-points (5g, 15a), the most by a UML freshman defenseman since Christian Folin had 21 points (6g, 15a) during the 2012-13 season.  Göransson is also just four points shy of tying the school's Division I record for points for a first year blue liner, 24, set by Ed Hodson in 1983-84 and equaled by Ed Campbell in 1993-94.
Â
CAREER LEADERS: UMass Lowell center Joe Gambardella, with 119 points, is tenth in career scoring among active college players.  His 75-assists also places him ninth on the active career list.  Defenseman Michael Kapla is third among active defensemen in the country and first in Hockey East in scoring with 88-points and second in assists with 72. 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 fourth in the league in goals against average (2.19) and eighth in save percentage .914.
Â
WINS ON THE WALL: With 19 wins to his credit UMass Lowell goalie Tyler Wall is one win short of tying the school record for wins by a freshman goalie. Connor Hellebuyck set the record with 20 wins during his freshman campaign, the 2012-13 season.
Â
WHO'S NEXT?: This is the final weekend of the regular season. When and who the River Hawks play next is still to be determined. One thing that is known is that the River Hawks next game will be 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 42 points and 27 assists in 32 contests for the River Hawks. His 42 points rank sixth among Hockey East scorers and his 27 assists are also sixth best among league players. Smith ranks second on UMass Lowell roster with 40 points and his 17 goals are a team best, skating in all 32 games so far this season. His 17 goals rank tied for eighth 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 sixth 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 28.6% clip (42-for-147). 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 32 games, John Edwardh has a career high 14-goals and 28-points. At the 32-game mark a year ago, Edwardh had just one-goal and 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 32-game mark he had just four-goals and seven points.
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.
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 ROAD: UMass Lowell is 12-5-1 away from the Tsongas Center this season. Their .694 winning percentage is sixth best in the country and the best in Hockey East. Their twelve wins away from the Tsongas Center is the second 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 54-31-8, .624, as the visiting team and 75-40-9, .641, including neutral site games.
ROAD WARRIOR: Joe Gambardella is fifth in the nation, and first in Hockey East, in scoring on the road. Twenty-six (7g, 19a) of his 42 points have come in 18 games away from the Tsongas Center. His 19 road assists leads the nation.
A GOOD START: UMass Lowell has outscored its opponents 42-21 in the first period this season. That's a scoring margin of plus-21 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, Friday night, 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 29 points and 13 of his 19 assists in just 14 home games. Zink is second 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.   Â
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.
Â
RED LIGHT DISTRICT: UMass Lowell is sixth in the nation in goals scored with 116. That is just eight-goals back of Union, the national leader. UML is averaging 3.62-goals per game, 8th best in the country. C.J. Smith (17), Joe Gambardella (15), John Edwardh (14), Jake Kamrass (12) and Dylan Zink (10) have ten or more goals.Â
WHEN ALL THINGS ARE EVEN: UMass Lowell is the 10th highest scoring team in the nation and fourth in Hockey East when playing at even strength. The River Hawks have scored 71 of their 116-goals this season at even strength, an average of 2.22 even strength goals per game ranking them 12th in the country.
PUTTING THE "POWER" IN POWER PLAY: UMass Lowell's power play is hot. The River Hawks have gone 25-for-67 (37.3%) over its last 17 games. That was after a 0-for-19 stretch. The power play is among the best in the country. The River Hawks have scored 42 goals in 147 man advantage opportunities for a 28.6% success rate, the second best in the country and number one in Hockey East. Twelve different players have scored with the man advantage; C.J. Smith leads the team with eight PPGs. Joe Gambardella has seven and Jake Kamrass has five. Mattias Göransson leads the blueliners with four PP goals. Michael Kapla has 14 PP assists and Dylan Zink and Smith have added eleven.Â
PENALTY KILLING: UMass Lowell Penalty Kill Unit has been on a bit of a roller coaster ride. The unit has gone ten-for-ten over its last three games after allowing eight goals in its previous 24 man down situations. And 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 130-for-154, 84.4%, for the season.
POWER PLAY TRIFECTA: Seven times this season UMass Lowell has scored three power play goals in a game. That happened most recently in the River Hawks 5-2 win against UMass February 18. Previously UMass Lowell found the back of the net three times with the man-advantage against Minnesota Duluth, Colorado College, Vermont, Dartmouth, Northeastern and UNH. Prior to this season, 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 eleven multi PP goal games.
PUNCHING THE CLOCK: Through 32 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 1,040:31 of the 1,935-minutes of hockey the team has played this season.
Â
100 Games CLUB: Six members of the UMass Lowell roster have played at least 100 collegiate games. Michael Kapla (152), Joe Gambardella (141), Dylan Zink (134), Evan Campbell (124), C.J. Smith (111) and Tyler Mueller (109) have all surpassed the century mark. This is the fourth consecutive season in which the roster has included at least six players with more than 100 games experience.
Mr. CONSISTENT: UMass Lowell center Joe Gambardella has been nothing if not consistent this season. He has scored points in all but eight of the River Hawks 32-games. UMass Lowell is 13-0-1 when Gambardella scores a goal and 18-4-2 when he has a point in the game. He has twelve multi-point games.
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 22-goals and 100-points. The River Hawk D corps also leads the country in power play points with 53 on 10-goals and 43 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."
Â
CLUTCH AND IMPORTANT GOALS - 2017: John Edwardh leads UMass Lowell in clutch goals this season with eight. "Clutch" goals are defined as those that either tie the score or give the team a lead. Seven of Edwardh's 14 goals have given UML the lead, another has tied the score meaning that 57.1% of his goals have been scored in clutch situations. He's also given the River Hawks a two-goal lead three times. C.J. Smith is second with seven "clutch" goals.  Â
Â
BY THE CLOSEST OF MARGINS:  UMass Lowell is 4-5-3 in one-goal games this season. A year ago UMass Lowell was 10-6-5 in one-goal games and is 44-29-21 in one-goal games since the 2011-12 season. Also, during that time period the River Hawks are 12-8-21 in games decided in overtime.
THREE IS THE MAGIC NUMBER: When UMass Lowell scores three or more goals in a game it is 18-3-1 and 120-17-6, .860, in the last five-plus seasons. When the River Hawks keep their opponents under three goals, the team is 17-0-2. 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.
GOOD CHEMISTRY: The UMass Lowell line of C.J. Smith, Joe Gambardella and John Edwardh has been hot. The line has played together in 30 of the River Hawks' 32 games this season accounting for 45-goals and 108 points. That's 38.8% of the River Hawks goals and 35.0% 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 55-goals and 130 points in 37 games.
HOT SHOT JUNIOR: UMass Lowell forward C.J. Smith leads all juniors playing college hockey in career scoring with 50-goals and 114-points. Brady Ferguson, playing at Robert Morris is second with 107 points. Ferguson is second in goals with 42. Smith's 64 assists finds him just one behind Ferguson.
HITTING THE TARGET: UMass Lowell forward Joe Gambardella, with 15 goals on 58 shots, has scored on 25.9% of his shots. His shooting percentage is the best in Hockey East. John Edwardh, with 14 goals on just 67 shots, has scored on 20.9% of his shots is second among River Hawks and fourth in the league.
CIRCLE OF DOMINANCE: UMass Lowell has dominated in the faceoff circle this season winning 1,129 of 2,076 puck drops. The .544 faceoff winning percentage is the sixth best in the nation and third in Hockey East. Joe Gambardella leads the team winning 339 of 596, .569. Gambo ranks sixth in Hockey East. Evan Campbell (240 of 432, .556), Ryan Lohin (238 of 450, .529) and Nick Master (237 of 453, .523) are all over the .500 mark.Â
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 92-42-18 and a .665 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.
SUCCESS IS THE NORM: Norm Bazin is in his sixth season at UMass Lowell with a 144-66-21 record (.669) in 231 games. He owns a 182-97-28 mark (.638) in 307 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).Â
Â
