Friday, November 1st at Vermont (7:05pm)
(Gutterson Fieldhouse; Burlington, Vt.)
Watch | Listen Live | Live Stats | Tickets | Game Notes (PDF) | 90 Seconds with Norm
Follow on Twitter: @RiverHawkNation @RiverHawkHockey 

Commercial Radio: River Hawk Network: 980AM WCAP
Talent: Bob Ellis (Play by Play); Jim Connelly (Analyst)

Non-Commercial Radio: WUML 91.5 FM
Talent: Connor Capozzi (Play by Play); Tim Casagrande (Analyst)

Saturday, November 2nd at Vermont (7:05pm)
(Gutterson Fieldhouse; Burlington, Vt.)
Watch | Listen Live | Live Stats | Tickets
Follow on Twitter: @RiverHawkNation @RiverHawkHockey 

Commercial Radio: River Hawk Network: 980AM WCAP
Talent: Bob Ellis (Play by Play); Jim Connelly (Analyst)

Non-Commercial Radio: WUML 91.5 FM
Talent: Connor Capozzi (Play by Play); Tim Casagrande (Analyst)
 

SCOUTING THE RIVER HAWKS:  UMass Lowell is 4-2-2 after earning three out of four points in two overtime games in their first weekend of Hockey East league play.  The team is ranked 17th in the current USCHO Poll.  The River Hawks were picked for a sixth place finish in both the Hockey East Coaches' and the Media Pre-Season polls.  The River Hawks finished the 2018-19 season with a 19-13-5/12-7-5 record.  UMass Lowell returns 58.9 percent of its offense and four of its top seven scorers.  Ten players have scored goals this season, Kenny Hausinger leads the team with four.  Andre Lee, Matt Brown and Carl Berglund has three goals and Lucas Condotta and Zach Kaiser have two each.  Hausinger and Brown lead the team with nine points.  Four of the River Hawks top five scorers are freshmen.  Goalie Tyler Wall has started seven of the team's eight games with a 1.52 goals against average and a .947 save percentage.  He appeared in 22 of the team's 37-games a year ago and posted a 2.09 goals against average and a .921 save percentage.  Wall authored four of his eight career shutouts during the campaign.

SCOUTING THE CATAMOUNTS:  Vermont is 1-3-0 / 0-1-0 after losing games against Maine and Quinnipiac last weekend.  The Catamounts were picked to finish tenth in both the Coaches' Pre-Season Polls and the Media Pre-Season Poll.  Six of Vermont top 2018-19 scorers have returned.  Four different players have scored goals, but the Catamounts have scored just five goals in four games.  Joey Cipollone leads the team with two goals and three points.  Senior goalie Stefanos Lekkas has started all four of the team's games and 56 games in a row.  He carries a 2.28 goals against average and a .935 save percentage into tonight's contest.

ALL-TIME SERIES vs. VERMONT:  This is the 56th meeting between the two schools in a series that dates back to 1972.  UMass Lowell leads the all-time series, 30-17-8.  UMass Lowell took five out of six points, winning twice in Lowell before the two teams played to a tie in Burlington, last year.  The River Hawks took two of three games from Vermont the year before, but the Catamounts did end a ten game winless streak in the process.  Since Vermont joined Hockey East for the 2005-06 season, UMass Lowell has held a 25-11-8 edge in play.  Twenty-five of the 44 games have been decided by one goal or less.  The River Hawks have won five of six Hockey East tournament meetings between the two and have eliminated Vermont from the post season on three occasions.

LAST YEAR vs. VERMONT:  UMass Lowell swept a weekend series, at home in January, from Vermont before the two teams battled to a 2-2 tie to end the regular season.  The River Hawks won the games in Lowell, 6-5 and 2-0, getting goals from six different players the first night and a 25-save shutout from Tyler Wall the second.   In the season finale UMass Lowell twice battled from a goal down to tie the game, but never led.  Sam Knoblauch and Colin O'Neill are the only players on the UML roster who found the back of the net against the Cats a year ago.

ELEVEN! GOALS:  When UMass Lowell and Vermont combined for eleven goals in UMass Lowell's 6-5 win on January 18th of last season, it was the highest scoring game between the two teams in more than three-decades and it was the highest scoring one-goal game ever played by the two-teams.  The last time the two teams combined for more than 11 goals was on February 21, 1984 when UMass Lowell defeated Vermont 9-4.

WORKING OVERTIME AGAINST VERMONT:  When these two teams meet, overtime is a distinct possibility.  Twelve of the last 34 games (35.3%) between UMass Lowell and Vermont have required extra time.  Fourteen of the 55 games (25.5%), all-time, between the two have gone into overtime.  Vermont has won three in OT, UMass Lowell has won three and eight have gone into the books as a tie.

ONE-GOAL GAMES:  Twenty-six of the 55 games (47.3%) played between the two teams have been decided by one-goal or less.  Lowell has won ten, Vermont has won eight, eight have ended as a tie.  UMass Lowell has played six one-goal games this year, Vermont two.

1-0:  UMass Lowell and Vermont have played four 1-0 games since 2008.  Vermont won the first of those 1-0 games, UML won the remaining three including one in overtime on a Joe Houk goal with 15-seconds remaining on the clock.

AT THE GUT:  UMass Lowell has been no stranger to the Gutterson Fieldhouse or to success in the building.  The River Hawks are 15-11-5 all-time at The Gut including an 12-9-5 record against Vermont.  They are 3-2-0 when the facility is a neutral site.   Norm Bazin led teams are 9-4-1 in the building.

BIG ICE:  The Norm Bazin led River Hawks have played well on "Big Ice."  The River Hawks are 43-19-6 on ice sheets larger than the standard/NHL 200 x 85 during Bazin's nearly eight years behind the bench.  They are 13-4-1 on the Olympic, 200 x 100 and 24-13-4 on ice sheets measuring 200 x 90 such as the Gutterson Fieldhouse and BU's Agganis Arena.  This is the team's first game on a larger than standard ice surface this season.

ABOUT LAST WEEKEND:  UMass Lowell picked up a tie and a win in the opening weekend of Hockey East conference play.  The River Hawks came from three goals down to earn a point with a 3-3 tie with Boston University on Friday night and then grabbed an overtime win, 3-2, the next night in Providence.  Seth Barton got the game tying goal Friday night, Carl Berglund netted the game winner 24 hours later.

A RED LIGHT AT THE END OF THE OT TUNNEL:  The long wait is over.  UMass Lowell finally won an overtime game when it defeated Providence 3-2 with a goal from Carl Berglund at the 4:20 mark of overtime.  The win ended a streak of 13 overtime games (0-6-7) without a win.  It had been 645-days since the River Hawks defeated Vermont 3-2 in overtime, on a Connor Wilson goal, January 19, 2018.  The hockey club had been held off the score sheet from some 78-minutes and 22-seconds of overtime hockey.

GROUNDHOG DAY:  Saturday night's 3-2 overtime win in Providence was the fourth consecutive game that required more than 60-minutes to complete.  It is just the first time in program history that UMass Lowell has played four consecutive overtime games.  They had played three in a row on three occasions, but not in the last nine years.  This string of extra time hockey games includes a 4-3 loss and a scoreless tie against Colgate, a 3-3 final against BU and the 3-2 win against the Friars.  The River Hawks have never played five consecuitve OT games.

BONUS TIME - NO BONUS: Overtime has not been kind to UMass Lowell over the last three seasons.  The River Hawks are 2-10-10 in their last 22 overtime games (0-2-5 last season) dating back to the start of the 2016-17 season.  The two wins have come against Vermont in January, 2018 and Providence last Saturday.  Saturday's win ended a 13 game (0-6-7) overtime winless stretch.  Their longest winless OT streak is 18 games running from January 21, 2006 through January 11, 2008.  UMass Lowell is 1-0-2 in its last three overtime games.

HOCKEY EAST WIN #1: UMass Lowell picked up its first Hockey East conference win of the season October 26th with a 3-2 overtime win at Providence.  It was the team's second conference game and it puts the River Hawks ahead of pace the last two seasons.   A year ago that first league win came in game number three against Maine and the year before it was game five when the River Hawks put a "1" in the win column.  That was the longest conference opening winless streak since Norm Bazin took over behind the River Hawk bench in 2011-12.

WEEKLY HONORS: UMass Lowell goalie Tyler Wall was named the Hockey East Defensive Player of the week, October 28.  The netminder stopped 73 of 78 shots (.936 SV%) tied Boston University and defeated number 7 Providence. He tied a career high with 40-saves in the overtime win at Providence.  It is the second time that Wall has been honored as the Defensive Player of the Week.  The first such honor was on October 14.

BACK IN THE NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT:  UMass Lowell is back in the polls, again.  The River Hawks, after "receiving votes" last week, appeared at the number 17 slot this week in the USCHO Poll.  They were placed 18th two weeks ago.  The team closed out the 2018-19 season earning a spot in the USCHO poll in each of the final eleven weeks of the season and finished the year at number 19.  After missing from the polls for 28 weeks UMass Lowell reappeared among the top-twenty on January 21, 2019.  The River Hawks are no stranger to the polls, the team had been nationally ranked for 116 consecutive polls between January 7, 2013 and October 23, 2017.

FACING THE BEST:  UMass Lowell has responded to the challenge winning two out of three games against top-ten teams in the USCHO and USA Hockey Magazine polls.  All of those games have been on the road.  The River Hawks split a two-game series at number one Minnesota Duluth and were winners at number seven ranked Providence.

ANOTHER BRICK IN THE WALL:  When UMass Lowell and Colgate battled to a 0-0 tie, October 19, it was the eighth shutout of Tyler Wall's career.  He is tied for fourth on the school's career shutout list with Cam McCormick and Christoffer Hernberg.  The all-time leader is Connor Hellebuyck who blanked opponents 12 times.  Carter Hutton and Kevin Boyle are second with ten.

HANGING WINS ON THE WALL:  The victory at Providence was Tyler Wall's 44th win and the goalie is moving up in the program record book.  Wall is third among UMass Lowell Division I goalies in wins with 44.  Dwayne Roloson tops the list with 51, Marty Fillion is second with 50.

THE GREAT WALL:  UMass Lowell goalie Tyler Wall is among the nation's leaders in goals against average and save percentage.  Wall has a 1.52 GAA.  That's number eight in the country and fourth among Hockey East goalies.  His .947 save percentage ranks is fourth in the country and second in Hockey East.

A WIN TONIGHT WOULD...  ...make it two in a row and would move the River Hawks into at least a share of first place in Hockey East.

NEXT WEEKEND:  The River Hawks return to the Tsongas Center for a pair of Hockey East games against Maine.  The Black Bears have dominated the series and hold an 81-39-6 edge all-time and 16-11-1 at the Tsongas Center, but UMass Lowell has won seven of the last ten.

IN THE CLUTCH:  River Hawk freshman Carl Berglund has stepped up in the clutch.  A "clutch goal" is defined as a goal that either ties the score or gives the team the lead in a hockey game.  Berglund leads the team with three clutch goals, all have given the team the lead.  Matt Brown is second with two, each of which tied the score.

OFFENSE FROM THE DEFENSE:  When Chase Blackmun and Seth Barton scored goals last night against Boston University last Friday night it was the first goals for River Hawk blueliners this season.  Barton also had an assist.  The defense this season has just ten-points (2g, 8a).

0-0:  When UMass Lowell and Colgate battled to a scoreless tie it was the first time in more than a dozen years and just the fourth time in UMass Lowell's hockey history that a game has ended with neither team scoring a goal.  UMass Lowell's Tyler Wall finished with 25 saves, Colgate goalie Mitch Benson stopped 35 shots.  The first scoreless tie was played on December 2, 2000 as Cam McCormick and Ty Conklin matched one another save for save.  UMass Lowell and Brown battled to a scoreless tie on January 18, 2005. Chris Davidson and Peter Vetri manned the River Hawk nets and Adam D'Alba kept the puck out of the Brown cage.  The most recent 0-0 tie came on February 2, 2007 when Nevin Hamilton and BU's John Curry were the dueling goalies.  Note:  That was Hamilton's first shutout, his first win came the next day, 2-1, against BU.

0-0, KINDA:  The day after UMass Lowell and Colgate battled to a scoreless tie another UMass Lowell goalie was involved in a scoreless tie, well kind of.  Former River Hawk goalie Connor Hellebuyck and the Winnipeg Jets battled Edmonton to a 0-0 score through three-periods and an overtime.  Hellebuyck's Jets were a shootout, 1-0, winner.  Both goalies were credited with a shutout.

AMONG THE LEADERS: It may be early but, Kenny Hausinger is among the nation's leading scorers.  His nine points places him eighth in the country, five-points off the national lead.  Hausinger has scored points in five of the team's eight games.

AMONG THE LEADERS II: A couple of River Hawk freshman have gotten off to a good start on the scoring charts.  Matt Brown with nine points is tied for first among the nation's freshmen in scoring, he is second in assists with six.  Andre Lee, Carl Berglund and Brown, with three goals apiece, are tied atop the Hockey East Rookie goal scoring charts and are third in the nation among freshmen goal scorers.

ROOKIE SHOOTING STAR: Matt Brown had a terrific first month of his collegiate career.  He has nine points (3g,6a) with a +3 rating and 30 shots on goal in the 4-2-2 month for the River Hawks. His three goals, six assists, nine points lead all Hockey East rookies in the month of October. His 30 shots on goal leads the nation. Brown scored at least a point in five of the team's eight contests in the month with three multi-point efforts.

TIME IS ON OUR SIDE, YES IT IS:  UMass Lowell has played seven hockey games and has only trailed for 85:05 of a total of 494-minutes and 29-seconds of hockey.  The River Hawks have skated with the lead for 161:08 or 32.6% of the time.  The two teams have been tied for 235:00 or 47.5% of the time.

THE FIRST 5:  UMass Lowell has scored a goal in the first five minutes of play in four of their first eight games this season.  They did it in victories against Alabama Huntsville twice and Minnesota Duluth, but lost last Saturday night after taking a 1-0 lead at the 4:40 mark of the first period against Colgate.  Seven of the River Hawks 21 goals this season have come in the first five-minutes of a period.

HOME SWEET HOME: UMass Lowell has won two of five with a couple of ties at the Tsongas Center this season and is 92-44-17 (a .657 winning percentage) at the Tsongas Center since Norm Bazin took over behind the bench for the 2011-12 season.  In 2018-19 the River Hawks were 8-8-3 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.

ON THE ROAD, AGAIN: UMass Lowell is 98-58-11, a .620 winning percentage when playing away from the Tsongas Center in the eight-plus years that Norm Bazin has led the program.  That .620 winning percentage is the second best in the nation during that period.  The River Hawks are 74-47-10, .603, as the road team and 24-11-1, .681, in games played at a neutral site.  UMass Lowell was 11-5-2, a .667 winning percentage, when playing away from the Tsongas Center last season.

BACK-TO-BACK:  UMass Lowell has sixteen "back-to-back" weekend series this season.  This is the fifth.  The team is 2-1-1 on the first night and 2-1-1 on the second.  A year ago the River Hawks were 9-6-1 on the first night and 8-5-3 on the second.  They had four weekend sweeps.  The sweeps came against UConn, Colgate, Vermont and BC/UMass.  The River Hawks were swept just once (Providence.)

BY THE CLOSEST OF MARGINS: UMass Lowell is 57-45-28, .546, in one-goal games since the 2011-12 season.  The team is 2-2-2 this season and was 4-7-5 last year and 10-13-5 over the last two years in one-goal games.

THREE IS THE MAGIC NUMBER: When UMass Lowell scores three or more goals in a game it is 159-24-9, .852 during the last eight-plus years.  The River Hawks were 13-3-2 last season and 53-10-3, .826 over the last three seasons.  When scoring two goals or less in a game the River Hawks are 29-76-19, .310, since 2011-12.

PROTECTING THE LEAD: Since Norm Bazin took over the coaching reins at UMass Lowell, the River Hawks are 146-9-9 when leading after two-periods.  They are also 33-20-13 when the score is tied after two periods.  The River Hawks were 16-2-0 when leading after two periods during the 2018-19 season and 50-5-2 during the last three seasons.  The River Hawks were also 2-0-3, a year ago, when tied after two periods.

THE WORST LEAD IN HOCKEY?:  Not when Lowell is involved. Since Norm Bazin became head coach, when Lowell has a 2-goal lead at any point in a game, they are 156-10-4, 75-4-3 at the Tsongas Center. Last season, they were 17-3-0, 7-1-0 at Tsongas. When Lowell trails by 2 goals at any point in a game, they are 5-66-7, 2-30-4 at Tsongas. Last year, they were 0-7-2, 0-6-2 at Tsongas.

HOCKEY EAST OPENERS:  Last Friday night's game opened The River Hawks Hockey East season.  UMass Lowell is now 16-14-6 in Hockey East openers and 14-17-5 in Hockey East home openers.  A year ago UMass Lowell opened the conference season with a 4-1 loss to Northeastern and dropped their first two Hockey East games before going on to a 12-7-5 record and a fourth place finish in conference play.

THE 2020 SENIOR CLASS: The three-member UMass Lowell senior class has accumulated a record of 67-45-10, a .590 winning percentage.  The class ranks third in Hockey East in both wins and winning percentage.  The class which includes forwards Kenny Hausinger and Colin O'Neill and goalie Tyler Wall has won one HEA regular season title, a tournament championship, earned home ice for the Hockey East playoffs three times and made one trip to the NCAA Tournament. four in-season tournaments and made two appearances in the NCAA tournament.  The class ranks seventh in wins and in winning percentage, among UML teams.  The 2016 senior class tops the list with 100 victories.

JUST THREE: The UMass Lowell senior class is one of the smallest in the country.  The River Hawks are one of nine teams with just three seniors, no school has a smaller senior class.

THE LEADERSHIP:  The UMass Lowell leadership includes six Alternate Captains, but no Captain.  Seniors Kenny Hausinger, Colin O'Neill and Tyler Wall along with juniors Charlie Levesque, Connor Sodergren and Anthony Baxter all have an "A" on the front of their jerseys.  Wall is the first goalie to wear either an "A" or a "C" on the uniform since Dwayne Roloson during the 1993-94 season.

THE CENTURY CLUB: Only two members of the UMass Lowell roster have played more than 100 games in their collegiate careers.  Colin O'Neill (116) and Kenny Hausinger (113) joined the Century Club late last season.  Tyler Wall (78), Charlie Levesque (78) and Connor Sodergren (78) are next on the list.  A year ago UMass Lowell had seven players on the roster with more than 100 games played in their collegiate careers. 

94 GAMES:  UMass Lowell forward Colin O'Neill has skated in 94 consecutive games. That is the longest active consecutive games streak on the River Hawk roster.  O'Neill's streak began February 4, 2017, his freshman season, in an 8-2 win against UNH.  Connor Sodergren is second on the consecutive games list with 59, Kenny Hausinger has appeared in 55 in a row.  Michael Kapla is the River Hawk record holder with 161 consecutive games played. 

FRESH FACES: There are nine new names on the UMass Lowell hockey roster.  The 2019-20 freshman class includes six forwards, two defensemen and one goalie.  The group represents four countries, three states and three Canadian provinces.  Defenseman Marek Korencik has travelled the greatest distance.  His home in Zilina, Slovakia is separated from the UMass Lowell campus by some 4,089 miles.

YOUTH MUST BE SERVED: With a nine-member freshman class, twenty-one of the 28 players on the UMass Lowell roster are underclassmen.  Seventy-five percent of the roster has no more than one year of college hockey experience.  There are nine are freshmen, twelve sophomores, four juniors and three seniors on the roster.  The River Hawks, going into the season, average 27.5-games experience per player.  Last year 19 of 30 players were freshmen or sophomores.  It is the largest group of underclassmen since the 2003-04 season when 25 of 30 players on the roster were underclassmen.  The team also had 21 underclassmen during the 2007-08 season.

UNDERCLASSMEN: The UMass Lowell underclass (9 freshmen and 12 sophomores), at 21, is one of the largest in the country. Only Quinnipiac with 22 has more.  Merrimack also has 21.

DEFENSE:  Over the past eight seasons, UMass Lowell has allowed just 2.27 goals per game and has a .920 save percentage.  Those number are among the best in the country.  Only two teams, (Quinnipiac 2.20 and Cornell 2.22), have a better goals against average and just one, (Denver .922) has a higher save percentage.

DOMINATING THE DOT: UMass Lowell was dominant in the faceoff circle a year ago and has started this season in similar fashion.  The River Hawks have won 282 of 502, 56.2% of the puck drops.  That figure leads Hockey East and is the fourth best in the country.  Lucas Condotta (70 of 110, 63.6%), Charley Levesque (51/84, 60.7%), Kenny Hausinger (18/31, 58.1%), Carl Berglund (60/112, 53.6%) and Colin O'Neil (49/92, 53.3%) lead the way.  A year ago UMass Lowell won 1,179 of 2,240 puck drops, a winning percentage of 52.6%, the best in Hockey East and 54.0% in conference play.  Returners Charley Levesque, Lucas Condotta and Connor Sodergren were all at .515 or better.  Levesque led the team with a .568 percentage.

FIRST NOTCH: Four UMass Lowell freshmen scored their first collegiate goals during the season's first weekend.  Matt Brown (1g, 1a), Zach Kaiser and Andre Lee all scored third-period goals on Saturday, October 5, and freshman Carl Berglund, who had two-assists on Saturday, scored the game's first goal on Sunday, October 6.

MULTI GOAL GAMES: Lucas Condotta became the first River Hawk to record a multi-goal game this season when he scored twice in the River Hawks 3-2 win at Minnesota-Duluth, October 12.  It was also the first multi-goal game of his collegiate career.

RIVER HAWK STRONG AT EVEN STRENGTH: UMass Lowell has outscored their opponents by a significant margin when playing even strength hockey.  The River Hawks have scored 17-goals while allowing just seven while the teams have been playing with five skaters apiece.

PROBLEMS IN THE POWER GRID: The UMass Lowell power play has yet to really get untracked.  The River Hawks broke a string of 14 man-advantage situations without a goal with a third period marker night against Colgate, October 18, and added a power play goal against Providence.  The team is just 3 for 35 on the season.

PK OK: The UMass Lowell penalty killing unit has been sharp.  The River Hawks have successfully killed 28 of 33 man down situations.  With a 84.8% success rate the PK Unit is seventh in Hockey East.  They have killed off 18 of 20 at home.

FACING THE CHAMPIONS:  After splitting a pair of games, October 11 and 12, UMass Lowell is 16-14-1 all-time when facing the defending National Champ.  That includes a 10-7-0 record on the road.  All but two of those opponents have been Hockey East schools.  The exceptions are 6-4 win in Grand Rapids against North Dakota, the 1987 NCAA Champ, and last Saturday night's 3-2 win in Duluth.

FACING NUMBER ONE:  Until UMass Lowell's 3-2 win against Minnesota Duluth, October 11, the team had never beaten a team ranked number one in the USCHO Poll.  The USCHO Poll dates back to the 1997-98 season.  UMass Lowell is now 1-18-2 against the top ranked team in the Poll.  The River Hawks have had some success against team placed number one in other polls.  The last win against a number one team was a 4-1 win against Boston College, part of a sweep weekend, in February of 2005. 

NON-CONFERENCE, NO PROBLEM: The River Hawks have more than held their own in non-conference games over the eight-plus years that Norm Bazin has been behind the bench.  UMass Lowell is 86-38-7 (.683) in non-conference games since 2011-12.  The team is 3-2-1 this year and was 6-4-0 a year ago.  Over the past 10-plus years, Lowell has the best non-conference regular season record of any team in Hockey East at 67-27-9 (.694).

TOP 100: In the recently published Hockey News "Top 100 Players to watch in the NCAA in 2019-20" two River Hawks made the cut.  Freshman forward Andre Lee came in at #93 and Sophomore defenseman Seth Barton registered at #98.

ATTENDANCE NUMBERS:  UMass Lowell is third in average attendance among Hockey East schools.  The River Hawks are averaging 3,862 fans per game after five home games.  Boston College leads the conference drawing 6,190 after two home games, Massachusetts is second, four home games into the season, averaging 4,652.  After leading Hockey East in average home attendance for three years, UMass Lowell finished second in total attendance, 87,682, and third in average attendance, 4,615, during the 2018-19 season.  During the last three years an average of 5,339 fans have filled the Tsongas Center nightly to watch UMass Lowell play.

The NHL and UML:  Five former River Hawks were on National Hockey League Opening Night Rosters.  Defensemen Christian Folin (Montreal), Ron Hainsey (Ottawa) and Chad Ruhwedel (Pittsburgh), goaltenders Connor Hellebuyck (Winnipeg) and goaltender Carter Hutton (Buffalo) are the group of five.  Folin, Hellebuyck and Ruhwedel played for Head Coach Norm Bazin.

SIZE MATTERS:  UMass Lowell is one of the tallest and heaviest teams in the country.  The River Hawks measure at an average of six-feet, one-inch, the fourth tallest team in college hockey.  The team tips the scales at an average 192.04-pounds, the sixth heaviest team in the nation.  They are both the tallest and heaviest team in Hockey East.

THE 19th MAN:  College hockey teams, last year for the first time, were allowed to dress 19 skaters.  The NCAA made the change citing a desire to give more student-athletes a playing opportunity.  UML used the rule change to dress a seventh defenseman in all but three of the team's 37 games.  They have dressed an extra defenseman in all eight games this season.

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.  He has worked more games than anyone else in any capacity.  Poitras has been on the bench, in his role as athletic trainer, for 38 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 1,427 games including 1,360 Division I games.  He has missed only one game.  Poitras is working on a consecutive games streak that has now reached 951.  He is the only trainer in College Hockey to work games at both Northern Arizona and Arizona State.

ON THE CAREER WALL:  UMass Lowell goalie Tyler Wall is among the leaders in a couple of career categories.  Wall entered this season sixth in career wins among active collegiate goalies with 40.  He is now fifth with 44.  Penn State's Peyton Jones leads with 62.  Wall is third in shutouts with eight.  The national leader is Minnesota Duluth goalie Hunter Shepard with 16.  Wall, with 44 wins, is third among UMass Lowell Division I goalies.  Dwayne Roloson tops the list with 51.

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