The River Hawks are hoping to rebound in the 2016-17 season and avenge their loss in the Hockey East Championship game. (Courtesy of UMass Lowell Athletics)
Andrew Sciascia
Connector Staff
A cold fall air has slowly begun to spin throughout Lowell by the banks of the Merrimack River. The students and residents of the city know that can only mean one thing. October is here and River Hawks hockey is coming down the pike.
This Friday and Saturday, Oct. 7 and 8, the UMass Lowell men’s ice hockey team will begin its 19 full season at the Tsongas Center with a home-and-home against the University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs.
This will be sixth season in Head Coach Norm Bazin’s tenure with the River Hawks. Coach Bazin entered UMass Lowell for the 2011-12 season tasked with righting the ship for a team that had gone 5-25-4 the previous season and came dead last in the Hockey East Division. Just that season Coach Bazin proved himself, taking a young team and giving them a new, more aggressive style of hockey to play.
The new scheme led the team to a second place finish in the conference, a spot in the Hockey East Tournament (where the team was defeated in the first round) and a 24-13-1 record. Under a new coach, the team went on to establish itself as a fierce competitor on a regional and national level.
In the seasons that followed, the River Hawks won a Hockey East regular season-title and two Hockey East Championships. The team would also find itself in the NCAA Frozen Four where it lost to Yale in the semi-finals.
This fall the River Hawks are coming out of a big season, taking fourth in Hockey East with a 26-10-5 total season record, and a crushing defeat at the hands of the Northeastern University Huskies in the Hockey East Championship.
The composition of the team this year looks to be significantly different. The team lost several key veterans this offseason. Kevin Boyle, the starting goaltender, has graduated. Forward Adam Chapie, who was a team leader for assists, will also not return this year.
Several key players will, however, return this season. Among these will be senior forward Joe Gambardella, who had the second most goals (14) and assists (16) last season, and forward C.J. Smith, who lead the team in goals (16) and assists (19). With these two star players returning this year the team should be able to see a strong offensive output built around them.
The 2016-17 season presents a challenging schedule for the River Hawks, with the bulk of Hockey East Conference play coming in November and early 2017 with frequent home-and-homes against some of the best teams in the nation, similar to last season’s schedule.
With the leadership of Coach Bazin, who has worked wonders with several young River Hawks, a strong defensive effort and the goaltending situation decided for the season, UMass Lowell fans can expect another great season out of their team. The team very well could avenge last year’s defeat and win the Hockey East Championship in 2017.
