LOWELL, Mass. – UMass Lowell Hockey Head Coach Norm Bazin, after guiding the River Hawks to a first-place tie and the playoff number one seed, has been named the recipient of the Bob Kullen Award as the Hockey East Coach of the Year.  The announcement was made Thursday night at the league's Championship Awards Night at the Royal Sonesta Hotel in Cambridge, Mass.
 
"I'm honored and flattered by this award," said Bazin.  "I look at this as a staff award and a team award.  No coach has ever won this award without a great goalie, a strong defensive corps and terrific forwards.  This staff and team has pushed itself to get better each week and to compete at the highest levels of Hockey East." 

It is the third time that Bazin has been honored by Hockey East in six years as the conference coach of the year.  Bazin received the Kullen award in 2012 and 2013.  He was also recognized by the American Hockey Coaches Association with the Spencer Penrose Award in 2013 as the National Coach of the Year.
 
"The coach of the year award is a recognition of the outstanding leadership Norm continues to provide for the hockey program and the University," said UMass Lowell Director of Athletics Dana Skinner.  "It is also an acknowledgement of the exceptional efforts of his staff and student-athletes as they continue to leap over the high bar of excellence that Norm has set."
 
Bazin guided the UMass Lowell hockey club, picked to finish fourth in the pre-season Coaches' Poll, to a first place finish in Hockey East in dramatic fashion.  The River Hawks, sitting in a fifth place tie and ten points behind the league leaders moving into the final month of the regular season, won their final seven games including a season ending sweep of first place Boston College to finish in a three-way tie for the top spot and earn the tournament number one seed.
 
The River Hawks with a 24-10-3 record, 14-7-1 in Hockey East, are ranked in the Top Ten in both national polls.  The 24 wins are the third most in the country and the most by a Hockey East school.  The River Hawks .689 winning percentage is seventh best in the country.  This is the team's sixth consecutive 20-win season the longest such stretch in program history.
 
This is the sixth time that a UMass Lowell Coach has been honored by Hockey East.  In addition to Bazin, Bill Riley Jr. received the award in 1986-87 and Bruce Crowder earned the honor twice, 1993-94 and 1995-96.  No team in Hockey East has seen its coach honored more often and only one active coach, New Hampshire's Dick Umile, has won the award more often than Bazin.
 
UMass Lowell will face Notre Dame Friday, at the TD Garden, in the Hockey East Tournament semifinal.  A win would put the River Hawks in the Championship Game for the fifth consecutive season.  Only one team, Maine 1987-1993, has a longer streak.