SCOUTING THE RIVER HAWKS: UMass Lowell, with a 26-10-3 / 14-7-1 record, after winning its third Hockey East Tournament Championship in five years, is ranked 4th in both the USCHO and the USA Hockey Magazine poll. The River Hawks are the number two seed in the Northeast Region. The team exceeded expectations. It was picked for a fourth place finish in the Hockey East Coaches' Pre-Season Poll and finished the Hockey East season in a three-way tie for first place and earned the number one playoff seed based on the tie-breaker system. Joe Gambardella leads the team in scoring with 51 points, C.J. Smith has 50. Nineteen players have scored goals, six are in double digits. Smith tops the list with 22. Freshman goalie Tyler Wall has started 32 of the team's 39 games and carries a 2.10 GAA and a .917 save percentage into this afternoon's contest.
SCOUTING THE BIG RED: Cornell with a 21-8-5 / 13-4-5 record is the third seed in the Northeast Regional. The Big Red earned an at large bid after losing to Harvard in the ECAC Tournament Championship Game. Cornell was picked to finish sixth in the ECAC Coaches' pre-season poll and fifth by the ECAC Media. They finished third, three points behind regular season co-champs Harvard and Union. Twenty-one different players have scored goals, three have reached double figures. Mitch Vanderlaan tops the chart with 15. Mitch Gillam has started all but one of the team's 34 games. He brings a 2.17 goals against average and a .921 save percentage into the NCAA Regional.
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. CORNELL: These two teams have only met once ever in the sport of ice hockey. That lone meeting was at the Florida College Classic in 2007. UMass Lowell won that game, 3-2, and went on to win the tournament.
RIVER HAWKS IN THE TOURNAMENT: This is UMass Lowell's 13th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and their eighth trip to the Tournament as a Division I program. The River Hawks have made one appearance in the Frozen Four. That was in 2013 when they were eliminated by eventual National Champion Yale. Since the Regional Format was established, UMass Lowell has won all six regional semifinal games that it has played, but the club is 1-5-0 in the regional final. The ULowell Chiefs did win three Division II National Championships (1979, 1981, 1982) in a four year period. The team is 7-7-1 in Division I Tournament play and 18-10-1 overall.
A YEAR AGO: UMass Lowell defeated Yale, 3-2, in overtime in the NCAA East Regional semifinal. Joe Gambardella scored the game tying goal in the third period and then added the winner 1:37 into the first overtime period. The River Hawks season ended the next day when they lost to Quinnipiac, 4-1, in the Regional Final.
PLAYING IN MANCHESTER: UMass Lowell has never lost a game played in Manchester, N.H. The River Hawks defeated Wisconsin, 6-1, and New Hampshire, 2-0, at the Verizon Wireless Center in the 2013 Northeast Regional. They also beat UNH at the JFK Coliseum during both the 1994-95 and 1995-96 season. UMass Lowell has also won the last eight games the team has played in the State of New Hampshire. Their last Granite State loss came in November of 2012.
THE TOURNAMENT NORM: Since Norm Bazin took over behind the bench, UMass Lowell is 24-11-0 in the post season, including both the NCAA and Hockey East Tournament play. Bazin is 5-4-0 in the NCAA Tournament and 19-7-0 in the HEA Tournament. The River Hawks won the Hockey East Tournament in 2013, 2014 and 2017 and reached the NCAA Frozen Four in 2013.
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 have also earned a spot in the tournament five times.
PLAYOFF PRODUCERS: Joe Gambardella, C.J. Smith and John Edwardh have been point-a-game players in the post-season. Combining the Hockey East playoffs and NCAA tournament games Gambardella has ten goals and 20-points in 21 post season games. Smith has 18-points (9g, 9a) in 16 games and Edwardh has added five goals and 15-points in 16 post-season games.
JOE GAMBARDELLA WINS WALTER BROWN AWARD: UMass Lowell senior forward Joe Gambardella has been named the recipient of the 65th Walter Brown Award, presented annually to the best American-born college hockey player in New England. Gambardella is the first River Hawk to win the Walter Brown Award, the nation's oldest nationally-recognized college hockey honor. Gambardella is the team's scoring leader with 18 goals and 33 assists for 51 points. His seven game-winning goals tied him for first place in the nation in that category. He also received the Len Ceglarski Sportsmanship Award from Hockey East for the second consecutive year.
ON THE NATIONAL STAGE: UMass Lowell has been nationally ranked, in either the USCHO or the USAHockey Magazine poll, for 114 consecutive weeks. The stretch began when UMass Lowell appeared at #20 in the USCHO Poll on January 7, 2013. Of those 114 weeks more than two-thirds, 81, have been spent in the top ten.
ON A ROLL: UMass Lowell has won eleven of its last twelve games, a .917 winning percentage, dating back to February 3rd. Only Harvard (12-0-0) has a better record during that period. During the 12 game stretch the River hawks have averaged 4.50 goals per game while surrendering just 2.00. The power play has produced at a rate of 31.1% (14-for45) and the PK unit shows an 86% success rate.
A WIN TODAY WOULD: If UMass Lowell wins today the River Hawks will move into the Northeast Region Championship Game against the winner of the Minnesota/Notre Dame semifinal game. It would be the seventh time the River Hawks have been one win away from the Frozen Four. It would also be the program's 590th win as a Division I program, putting the program ten-games over the .500 mark for the first time in school history.
LAST WEEKEND: UMass Lowell won the Hockey East Tournament Championship defeating Boston College, 4-3, in the finale. C.J. Smith led the attack with a goal and two assists. He was named the Tournament MVP. Linemates Joe Gambardella and John Edwardh, each, contributed a goal and an assist and Chris Forney added a goal. UMass Lowell earned the spot in the Championship Game with a 5-1 win against Notre Dame in the semifinal. Freshman Ryan Lohin had a goal and two-assists to spark the offense. Five different players scored goals. Goalie Tyler Wall kicked out 57 of 61 shots to pick up the two wins during the weekend.
THE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: UMass Lowell has now appeared in seven Hockey East Tournament Championship Games winning three. They have appeared in five straight, 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.
TOURNAMENT SCORING: C.J. Smith's goal in last Saturday's Hockey East Championship Game was his ninth in Hockey East Tournament play. That moves Smith to the top of the goal scoring chart. Jon Morris and Chris Bell each had eight.
ROAD WARRIOR: Joe Gambardella is second in the nation, and first in Hockey East, in scoring on the road. Thirty-two (10g, 22a) of his 49 points have come in 21 games away from home. His 22 road assists are the most in the country.
AT HOME AWAY FROM HOME: UMass Lowell is 15-5-1 away from the Tsongas Center this season. Their .738 winning percentage is second best in the country and the best in Hockey East. Their 15-wins away from the Tsongas Center is the most in the country. The team has been a strong team on the road during the last nearly six seasons. Since Norm Bazin took over behind the bench the River Hawks are 56-31-8, .625, as the visiting team and 78-40-9, .650, including neutral site games. That .650 winning percentage over the last six years in the best in the nation.
NEUTRAL SITES: UMass Lowell's 23 wins at neutral sites is 2nd only to BC's 29 over the last six years and their .712 winning percentage at neutral sites (23-9-1), is 2nd only to Union (22-6-0, .786). The River Hawks have won all three neutral site games they have played this year in winning both the Ledyard bank Tournament at Dartmouth and the Hockey East Tournament at the TD Garden.
COACH OF THE YEAR: 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. 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. 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.
ALL STARS: Seniors Joe Gambardella, Michael Kapla and Dylan Zink were named Second-Team Hockey East All-Stars at the league's annual championship awards banquet on Thursday night. It marks the fourth time in team history the River Hawks have had three All-Star honorees in the same season in the history of the league, which also occurred in 1987, 1994 and 2013. Gambardella has posted a career year for the River Hawks with a career-best 51 points (18g, 33a). Kapla ranked seventh in league play among Hockey East defensemen with 16 points (2g,14a) and his 14 assists was fifth-best among conference blueliners. Zink's 23 points (6g,17a) in league games led all HEA defensemen and his six goals in conference games was tied for most in Hockey East. His 17 assists were second most among league blueliners.
150 WINS: UMass Lowell Coach Norm Bazin has been behind the River Hawk bench for 150 wins. His next win will move him into sole possession of second place ahead of Blaise MacDonald on the UMass Lowell coaching list. 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.
PLUS-83: UMass Lowell Head Coach Norm Bazin is 83 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 589-580-109 since beginning Division I play in 1983-84. Bazin has a record of 150-67-21 at the reins in Lowell.
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 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 has the fourth most wins in the country over a nearly six year stretch. Since the 2011-12 season the River Hawks have won 150 games. Their .674 winning percentage is the third best in the country trailing only Boston College and Quinnipiac.
CEGLARSKI AWARD: UMass Lowell Senior forward and alternate captain Joe Gambardella was named the recipient of the Len Ceglarski Individual Sportsmanship Award for the second consecutive season. The award is voted on by the league's 12 head coaches. Gambardella has played in all 39 games for the River Hawks this season and has posted a career-high 51 points. He has been whistled for only 11 penalties all season for 22 minutes. His 19 plus/minus rating is also tied for the team lead.
RED LIGHT DISTRICT: UMass Lowell is third in the nation in goals scored with 144. UML is averaging 3.69-goals per game, sixth best in the country. C.J. Smith (22), Joe Gambardella (18), John Edwardh (18), Jake Kamrass (13), Dylan Zink (10) and Ryan Lohin (10) have ten or more goals. The 144 goals is the most the team has scored in a single season since scoring 200 in the 1995-96 season.
WHEN ALL THINGS ARE EVEN: UMass Lowell is averaging 2.41 goals per game at even strength. That is sixth best in the country and the best in Hockey East. The River Hawks have scored 94 of their 144-goals this season at even strength.
IT'S BEEN A WHILE: When C.J. Smith scored two goals March 12 in the River Hawks 8-2 win against UNH, he became the first UMass Lowell player to score 20-goals in a season since Ben Walter scored 26 during the 2004-05 season. Smith has added two more goals since that time.
PUTTING THE "POWER" IN POWER PLAY: The River Hawk power play is one of the best in the country. The River Hawks have scored 46 goals in 170 man advantage opportunities for a 27.1% success rate, the third best in the country and number two in Hockey East. Thirteen different players have scored with the man advantage; C.J. Smith leads the team with eight PPGs. Joe Gambardella has seven and Jake Kamrass and John Edwardh have five. Michael Kapla has 14 PP assists and Dylan Zink has 13 and Smith have added twelve.
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 twelve multi PP goal games.
PENALTY KILLING: UMass Lowell Penalty Kill Unit has been on a bit of a roller coaster ride. The unit has gone 34-for-36 (94.4%) over its last ten 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 154-for-180, 85.6%, for the season.
STRETCH RUN: UMass Lowell finished out the Hockey East regular season by winning its final seven games all in February. The finishing run moved the River Hawks from a fifth place tie ten points behind league leading Boston College and into a three way tie for first place and the number one seed in the Hockey East Tournament. During the month the River Hawks outscored their opponents 33 (4.71) to 14 (2.00). The Power Play hit at a 37.9% rate (11-for-29). Joe Gambardella led the team with six goals and C.J. Smith topped the scoring list with 13 points.
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 98-42-18 and a .694 winning percentage. Only Boston College (98) has matched the River Hawks in wins. The senior class, with the third most wins in the Division I era, has a shot at the school record set by the 2016 seniors who accumulated 100 wins over a four year period.
PROTECTING THE NET: UMass Lowell goalie Tyler Wall ranks among the best in Hockey East at keeping the puck out of the net. Wall is second in the league with a 2.10 goals against average and is fourth in save percentage .917. His .729 winning percentage is the best in the league.
WINS ON THE WALL: With 25 wins to his credit UMass Lowell goalie Tyler Wall has broken the school record for wins by a Division I freshman goalie. Connor Hellebuyck set the record with 20 wins during his freshman campaign, the 2012-13 season. The 25-wins is the most by a freshman goalie in the country.
AMONG THE NATIONAL LEADERS: Joe Gambardella is among the top scorers in the nation. Gambardella is 10th with 51 points (18g, 33a). His 33 assists is eighth in the nation. Gambardella is fifth in scoring among Hockey East players and C.J. Smith is 11th in the country and sixth among Hockey East players with 50 points (22g, 28a). Defenseman Dylan Zink is second in the nation and Hockey East among defensemen with 35 points (10g, 25a). His ten goals from the back line is second the country. Mattias Göransson is the highest scoring freshman defenseman in Hockey East and is fourth in the nation with 23 points (5g, 18a). Michael Kapla and Zink with 26 and 25 assists respectively rank fifth and seventh among the nation's defensemen and second and fourth among Hockey East defensemen.
GAME-WINNING JOE: Joe Gambardella has seven game winning goals this season, the most in the country, and 13 in his career. He is tied with Kory Falite for the most game winners during the school's Division I era.
128 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 47 goals and 81 assists in 148 games. Gambardella currently ranks 9th among DI players and 22nd all-time. Gambardella has 15 points (7g, 8a) in his last 13 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.
50-POINT SEASON: Joe Gambardella, with 51-points this season, and C.J. Smith, with 50, are the first River Hawks to record 50-points in a season since 1995-96. Three players reached that milestone that season. Brendan Concannon topped the list with 62-points. 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.
124 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 124-points on 55-goals and 69-assists in just 118 games. Smith is the 44th player in program history to reach the milestone and the 24th in the Division I era. He ranks 25th all-time and 10th among Division I players at UMass Lowell. He has seven-goals and 18-points in his last ten 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.
120 x TWO: The last time UMass Lowell had two active players with 120 or more points was during the 1995-96 season. They were Christian Sbrocca (171) and Jeff Daw (141).
55 GOALS AND COUNTING: Forward C.J. Smith scored the 50th goal of his collegiate career February 18 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 15 players in the country with 50 or more career goals and he is the only non-senior in the group.
HOT SHOT JUNIOR: UMass Lowell forward C.J. Smith leads all juniors playing college hockey in career scoring with 55-goals and 124-points. Brady Ferguson, playing at Robert Morris is second with 118 points. Ferguson is second in goals with 48. Smith's 67 assists finds him one behind Ferguson.
GOOD CHEMISTRY: The UMass Lowell line of C.J. Smith, Joe Gambardella and John Edwardh has been hot. The line has played together in 37 of the River Hawks' 39 games this season accounting for 57-goals and 136 points. That's 39.6% of the River Hawks goals and 35.5% of the team's total offensive output. They have been held off the score sheet just twice. The trio is the second highest scoring of those playing in the NCAA Tournament. Since being united for the final regular season game a year ago the trio has 67-goals and 158 points in 44 games and average of 3.6-points per game.
74 ASSISTS AND COUNTING: UMass Lowell defenseman Michael Kapla has 74 assists in his collegiate career. That number breaks the school's record for a Division I defenseman. The old record was held by Mike Nicholishen (1994-98) at 72.
IRON MAN: UMass Lowell senior defenseman Michael Kapla has never missed a game in his collegiate career. He has played in 159 consecutive games. No River Hawks has ever played in more in a row or total. Last Saturday night's game against Boston College was his 159th, breaking the school record held by Christian Sbrocca (1992-96).
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 since that time.
25 POINTS FROM THE BLUE LINE: Only 17 defensemen in the country have 29 points or more and UMass Lowell is the only team with two. Dylan Zink, with 10-goals and 35 points leads the blue line corps; Michael Kapla has added three-goals and 26 assists for 29 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 35.
23 POINT FRESHMAN D: Freshman defenseman Mattias Göransson has 23-points (5g, 18a), the most by a UML freshman defenseman since Ed Campbell had 24 points (8g, 16a) during the 1993-94 season. Göransson is also just one point 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 then equaled by Ed Campbell in 1993-94.
CAREER LEADERS: UMass Lowell center Joe Gambardella, with 128 points, is 9th in career scoring among active college players. His 81-assists places him ninth on the active career list. Defenseman Michael Kapla is fourth among active defensemen in the country and first in Hockey East in scoring with 91-points and second in the nation with 74 assists. With 31 goals Dylan Zink is second among active defenseman in career goals and the leader among Hockey East Defensemen.
HITTING THE TARGET: UMass Lowell forward Joe Gambardella, with 18 goals on 78 shots, has scored on 23.1% of his shots. His shooting percentage is the second best in Hockey East. John Edwardh, with 18 goals on just 82 shots, has scored on 22.0% of his shots is second among River Hawks and third in the league.
CIRCLE OF DOMINANCE: UMass Lowell has dominated in the faceoff circle this season winning 1,345 of 2,493 puck drops. The .540 faceoff winning percentage is the sixth best in the nation and second in Hockey East. Joe Gambardella leads the team winning 403 of 719, .561. Gambo ranks eighth in Hockey East. Evan Campbell (252 of 453, .556), Nick Master (297 of 554, .537) and Ryan Lohin (297 of 572, .519) are all over the .500 mark.
PROTECTING THE LEAD: UMass Lowell is 21-1-2 when leading after two periods of play. They were 16-1-2 a year ago and since Norm Bazin took over the coaching reins at UMass Lowell, the River Hawks are 114-5-9 when leading after two-periods. They are also 28-16-9 when the score is tied after two periods.
BY THE CLOSEST OF MARGINS: UMass Lowell is 5-5-3 in one-goal games this season. A year ago UMass Lowell was 10-6-5 in one-goal games and is 45-29-21 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.
A GOOD START: UMass Lowell has outscored its opponents 53-28 in the first period this season. That's a scoring margin of plus-25 in the period and that figure is the third best in the country and number one in Hockey East.
THREE IS THE MAGIC NUMBER: When UMass Lowell scores three or more goals in a game it is 24-3-1 and 126-17-6, .866, in the last five-plus seasons. When the River Hawks keep their opponents under three goals, the team is 22-0-2. When scoring two goals or less in a game the River Hawks are 2-5-2 this season and 24-50-15, .354, since 2011-12.
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES: One year can make a big difference and it has for a couple of UMass Lowell forwards. Through 39 games, John Edwardh has a career high 18-goals and 37-points. At the 39-game mark a year ago, Edwardh had just four-goals and 12-points. He finished the year four-goals and 13-points. Jake Kamrass also has established career highs with 13-goals and 21-points. At the 39-game mark he had five-goals and ten-points.
BACK-TO-BACK: UMass Lowell has played back-to-back games 17 times this season. The River Hawks were 10-6-1 on the first night and 11-4-2 the second. They have six weekend sweeps to their credit. They have been swept twice (Providence, NU/BU). UMass Lowell also won games two and three of a back-to-back-to-back series. 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.
PUNCHING THE CLOCK: Through 39 games, UMass Lowell has played from behind for just 316:52 and only in portions of fifteen games. UMass Lowell has held the lead for 1,287:33 of the 2,355-minutes of hockey the team has played this season.
100 GAMES CLUB: Six members of the UMass Lowell roster have played at least 100 collegiate games. Michael Kapla (159), Joe Gambardella (148), Dylan Zink (141), Evan Campbell (128), C.J. Smith (118) and Tyler Mueller (117) 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. Two more players, John Edwardh (99) and Chris Forney (98) are approaching the milestone.
MR. CONSISTENT: UMass Lowell center Joe Gambardella has been nothing if not consistent this season. He has scored points in all but ten of the River Hawks 39-games. UMass Lowell is 15-0-1 when Gambardella scores a goal and 23-4-2 when he has a point in the game. He has fifteen 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 27-goals and 119-points. The D corps also leads the country in power play points with 59.
CLUTCH AND IMPORTANT GOALS - 2017: John Edwardh leads UMass Lowell in clutch goals this season with twelve. "Clutch" goals are defined as those that either tie the score or give the team a lead. Eleven of Edwardh's 18-goals have given UML the lead, another has tied the score meaning that 66.7% of his goals have been scored in clutch situations. C.J. Smith is second with eight "clutch" goals.
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 led UMass Lowell with eight "clutch" goals during the 2015-16 season. Five of his ten goals this season are "clutch."
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 wrapped up its regular season non-conference schedule for this season with a 8-2-2 record and 12-3-1 including the post-season. UMass Lowell is 69-23-6 (.732) in non-conference games since the 2011-12 season.
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.
THE NHL and UML: Four River Hawks have been drafted by National Hockey League teams. Senior forward Evan Campbell was drafted by Edmonton on the fifth round in 2013. Goalie Garrett Metcalf was chosen by Anaheim in the sixth round of the 2015 draft. 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.
THE NHL and UML-PART II: Six former River Hawks are playing in the National Hockey League this season, the most of any team in the NCAA Tournament; three are currently with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Defensemen Ron Hainsey and Chad Ruhwedel and forward Scott Wilson are all suiting up for the Pens. Christian Folin is manning the back line for Minnesota. Goalies Connor Hellebuyck and Carter Hutton are protecting the nets for Winnipeg and St. Louis respectively.
SUCCESS IS THE NORM: Norm Bazin is in his sixth season at UMass Lowell with a 150-67-21 record (.674) in 238 games. He owns a 188-98-28 mark (.643) in 314 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 three-time Hockey East Coach of the Year and was named the 2013 Spencer Penrose Award Winner as the Division I Coach of the Year. Bazin has led the River Hawks to five NCAA tournament appearances, three Hockey East Tournament Championships (2013, 2014, 2017) and one Frozen Four appearance (2013).
