SCOUTING THE RIVER HAWKS: UMass Lowell is 16-12-0/10-8-0 after Tuesday night's 4-0 shutout of American International. The River Hawks have won 12 of their last 18 games and nine of their last 12 Hockey East games. The River Hawks are 9-5-0 at the Tsongas Center and 7-7-0 on the road. UMass Lowell, currently sitting in sixth place, was picked for a second place finish in the Hockey East Coaches' Pre-Season Poll. Ryan Lohin leads the team with 23-points (8g, 15a). He is 11th in scoring among Hockey East players. Kenny Hausinger tops the goals scored list with ten. Twenty different players have scored goals, 16 have three or more. Christoffer Hernberg has started in 18 games and has a 2.06 GAA and a .921 save percentage. Tyler Wall has won three of his last four starts.
SCOUTING THE EAGLES: Boston College is 13-12-3/13-6-0 after Monday's 3-0 loss to Northeastern in the Beanpot opener. BC holds the top spot in the Hockey East standings with Northeastern a point back in second. The Eagles are winless (0-6-3) in non-conference action. Boston College was pegged to finish fourth according to the Hockey East Coaches' Pre-Season Poll. Fourteen players have scored goals and all have at least three. Sophomore Julius Mattila lead the team in scoring with 20-points. Graham McPhee leads the team with 11-goals. Joseph Woll has started 22 of the team's 28 games in nets. He's got a 2.75 Goals Against Average and an .901 save percentage.
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. BC: This is the 114th meeting between the two teams in a series that dates back to 1978. Boston College leads the all-time series 64-40-9. UMass Lowell has won five of the last six and holds a 6-3-1 edge in the last ten. They have met nine times in the Hockey East Tournament with BC winning five. UMass Lowell defeated Boston College in the Tournament Championship Game a year ago, 4-3. They have met once in the NCAA Tournament with BC winning, 4-3.
THIS YEAR VERSUS BC: UMass Lowell split a pair of games just two weeks ago with Boston College, each winning at home. UMass Lowell won the opener when Chris Schutz broke a 2-2 third period tie with a shot from the right wing just 66-seconds after Graham McPhee's second goal of the game had tied the score. Tyler Wall made 25 saves to pick up his third win of the season. BC, the second night, built a 5-0 lead by the middle of the second period and went on to a 5-2 victory.
LAST YEAR VS. BC: UMass Lowell swept the regular season-ending two-game series from the Eagles, 4-2 and 3-1, and then defeated Boston College in the Hockey East Tournament Championship Game, 4-3. C.J. Smith, Chris Forney, John Edwardh and Joe Gambardella scored goals in that one.
PLAYOFFS VERSUS BC: UMass Lowell and Boston College have met seven times in the Hockey East Tournament for a total of nine games. Only one meeting was in the Final. That was last year and the River Hawks finished on top, 4-3. UMass Lowell has advanced only once in the preliminary rounds. That was in 1988 when UMass Lowell won a two-game total goals series, 8-5.
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 Hockey East 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. UMass Lowell has played Clarkson in ten different buildings.
BACK-TO-BACK: This is the 14th of 16 regular season weekends during which the River Hawks will play back-to-back games. The River Hawks have four sweeps to their credit, seven splits and also have been swept twice. UML is 10-3-0 on the first night, 5-8-0 on the second. A year ago the River Hawks were 11-6-1/11-5-2. UMass Lowell authored seven sweeps and were swept just twice.
STAND ALONE: UMass Lowell has played just two stand-alone games this season. The River Hawks defeated AIC, 4-0, Tuesday after losing to Bentley earlier in the season 3-2 in overtime.
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 75-28-6 (.709) in non-conference games since the 2011-12 season. The River Hawks are 5-4-0 this season playing out of conference.
A WIN TONIGHT WOULD...: Move the team five games over the .500 mark for the first time this season. With a win UMass Lowell could move into a fourth place tie in the Hockey East standings. It would also be the 205th win in Norm Bazin's coaching career.
WHO'S NEXT: UMass Lowell stays on the road Saturday night and travels to Amherst to face the University of Massachusetts. The River Hawks defeated the Minutemen earlier this season, 8-3, and have the all-time advantage 47-25-7. The River Hawks are 17-1-1 in the last 19 games between the two.
NEXT WEEKEND: UMass Lowell will face Providence for the first time this season. The two teams will play and home-and-home series starting Friday Night in the Ocean State. Providence leads the all-time series 56-47-11.
28 GAMES/16 WINS: The River Hawks have 16 wins through their first 28 games. That matches their win total at 28 games a year ago. But there is a difference. UMass Lowell is 16-12-0, a year ago they had just beaten Northeastern to end a four game losing streak and were 16-9-3. They had played 16 Hockey East games and were 8-7-1 compared with this year's 10-8-0 record.
THE ROAD AHEAD: There are six games remaining on the UMass Lowell regular season schedule. Two of their remaining four opponents have records of .500 or better. Combined their winning opponents (Boston College and Providence) are 30-21-7 while the other two (UMass and Merrimack) are just 20-33-5.
ON THE ROAD: UMass Lowell is 85-48-9, a .630 winning percentage when playing away from the Tsongas Center in the six-plus years that Norm Bazin had led the program. That .630 winning percentage is the second best in the nation during that period. The River Hawks are 61-37-8, .613, as the road team and 24-11-1, .681, in games played at a neutral site. UML has won seven of fourteen road games this season.
ROAD WARRIORS: UMass Lowell forwards Ryan Lohin and Kenny Hausinger appear to be comfortable on foreign ice. Eight of Hausinger's nine goals and 14 of his 18-points have come on the road. He is second in Hockey East in goals on the road and is 11th in points away from home. 12 of Lohin's 23 points have come on the road. Lohin is 16th among Hockey East players in points on the road.
HOME SWEET HOME: UMass Lowell is 82-32-12 (a .698 winning percentage) at the Tsongas Center since Norm Bazin took over behind the bench for the 2011-12 season. This year the River Hawks are 9-5-0 on home ice. The last time the River Hawks had a losing record at home was 2010-11 when the home team went 4-12-0.
HOME COOKING: UMass Lowell forward John Edwardh has scored seven of his nine goals and eleven of his 18 points at the Tsongas Center this season. Defenseman Tommy Panico has scored 12 (3g, 9a) of his 17 points at home. Defenseman Chris Forney has four of his five goals and 11 of 17 points at home. Forward Ryan Dmowski has five-goals and 13 of his 17 points at home.
A CAREER YEAR: UMass Lowell senior Defenseman Tommy Panico and junior forward Ryan Dmowski are having career years. Panico, with five-goals and 12-assists, has put up career best numbers in both categories. His previous personal bests were three-goals as a junior and ten-assists as a sophomore. Dmowski has career highs in assists (10) and points (17). His seven goals is one shy of last year's number.
FRESHMEN SHALL LEAD: UMass Lowell freshmen Anthony Baxter and Charlie Levesque lead the team in plus/minus numbers. Baxter, a defenseman, is a team best +13. Levesque ranks second on the River Hawk roster at +10.
MORE THAN ONE: Six different UMass Lowell players have had multi-goal games this season. Tommy Panico, Ryan Dmowski, Kenny Hausinger, Jake Kamrass, John Edwardh and Ryan Lohin have each found the back on the net twice in a game. Hausinger and Lohin have done it twice.
OFFENSE FROM DEFENSE: UMass Lowell leads Hockey East with 77 points from the defense. UML is third in country in points from the defense. The River Hawk defense has contributed 20 goals and 57-assists. The 20 goals is second in Hockey East trailing Boston University by just three-goals. Seven different Dmen have scored goals, four, Tommy Panico, Tyler Mueller, Mattias Goransson and Chris Forney have two or more. Panico and Forney lead River Hawk defensemen with five-goals and 17-points. Mueller has four goals and 15-points.
POWERING UP: UMass Lowell defensemen Chris Forney and Tommy Panico have combined for 23 power play points. Forney leads UMass Lowell and is sixth in Hockey East in power play points with 13 and a team leading four PP goals. Panico has added a PP goal and nine PP assists.
ATTENDANCE LEADERS: UMass Lowell is leading Hockey East in average attendance. The River Hawks are averaging 5,024 per game through first 14 home contests. The River Hawks are the only Hockey East team averaging more than 5,000-fans per game. They are tenth in the nation. UMass Lowell led Hockey East in average attendance, a year ago, drawing 5,542 per game. The club closed out the 2016-17 regular season with crowds of 6,000 or better in each of its last six home games. The River Hawks averaged nearly 900 more people than its nearest competitor.
LAST CHANCE: UMass Lowell has been a strongest third period team in the country this season. The River Hawks have outscored opponents 35-14 in the final 20-minutes, a goal differential of +21. That +21 is the largest in the country. Six of UMass Lowell's last 13 wins have come on third period or OT goals.
BY THE CLOSEST OF MARGINS: UMass Lowell is 51-33-21, .586, in one-goal games since the 2011-12 season. Also, during that time period the River Hawks are 13-11-21 in games decided in overtime.
PROTECTING THE LEAD: Since Norm Bazin took over the coaching reins at UMass Lowell, the River Hawks are 126-5-9 when leading after two-periods. They are also 30-19-9 when the score is tied after two periods. The River Hawks are 11-0-0 when leading after two periods this season and were 22-1-2 when leading after two periods a year ago.
THE CENTURY CLUB: Jake Kamrass became the sixth member of the team to log 100 games or more in his collegiate career when he played January 20th in Vermont. Kamrass (103) joined teammates Tyler Mueller (146), John Edwardh (128), Chris Forney (127), Tommy Panico (107) and Nick Master (105) in the Century Club. Next on the list is Connor Wilson (92).
AMONG THE LEAGUE LEADERS: UMass Lowell goalie Christoffer Hernberg is second among Hockey East goalies in goals against average, 2.06, and third in save percentage, .921. His .722 winning percentage tops the conference. Hernberg has started 18 and appeared in 22 of the River Hawks 28 games this season. Ryan Lohin leads Hockey East and is tied for the national lead with three shorthanded goals
STINGY STARTS: UMass Lowell has allowed only 21 first period goals in 28 games this season, an average 0.75 goals per game. That puts the River Hawks third in Hockey East and 17th in the country.
GETTING OFF TO A GOOD START: UMass Lowell has scored first in less than half of its 28 games this season. That has translated, more times than not, into a win. The River Hawks have won ten of those 13 games.
THREE IS THE MAGIC NUMBER: When UMass Lowell scores three or more goals in a game it is 141-21-6, .857 during the last six-plus years. The River Hawks are 14-4-0, this season, and were 25-3-1 a year ago. When scoring two goals or less in a game the River Hawks are 26-59-15, .335, since 2011-12.
ON TARGET: Kenny Hausinger leads UMass Lowell, Hockey East and the entire country in shooting percentage. He has scored ten goals on just 34 shots on goal, a percentage of 29.4%. Connor Wilson is second on the team and third in the conference with six goals on 25 shots, 24.0%. As a team UMass Lowell scores on 11.5% of its shots. That's the best in the league, but the River Hawks are last in the league in shots on goal averaging 27.07 per game. A year ago UMass Lowell led Hockey East scoring on 12.6% of its shots.
CLUTCH AND IMPORTANT GOALS: Sophomore Ryan Lohin leads the River Hawks in clutch goals. Five of his eight goals are defined as "clutch" either tying the score or giving the UML the lead. Lohin has four tying goals and one that gave UML the lead. Connor Wilson, John Edwardh and Jake Kamrass have four clutch goals. Nick Master, Ryan Dmowski and Chris Forney have three. Edwardh led the team a year ago. Thirteen of his 19-goal came in the clutch.
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 1,374 games including 1,307 Division I games. He has missed only one game. Poitras is working on a consecutive games streak that has now reached 898. He is the only trainer in College Hockey to work games at both Northern Arizona and Arizona State.
THE SENIOR CLASS: The six-member UMass Lowell senior class has accumulated a record of 89-45-14, a .649 winning percentage. The class ranks second in Hockey East in wins and third in winning percentage. Only Providence, 91 wins, has more victories during the period. The class which includes forwards Ryan Collins, John Edwardh, and Jake Kamrass and defensemen Chris Forney, Tyler Mueller and Tommy Panico has won one HEA 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.
