When you talk to UMass Lowell coach Norm Bazin, you hear the word "fortunate," "fortune" and "lucky" quite a bit.
From anyone else, it might seem disingenuous. After all, luck has very little to do with hockey, really. At its core, success in the sport is all about hard work, skill and discipline.
But Bazin has more than earned the right to use those words after surviving a car accident in 2003 that nearly killed him and put him in a medically induced coma for eight days.
"When you go through something like that, and people have gone through it in different ways, you gain an appreciation and you don’t take anything for granted," he said, when asked how his life has been changed by the experience. "I was very, very fortunate to come out of it the way I did and, from my perspective, it sure puts the results in hockey in perspective.
"Everybody wants to win every single game, that’s why we’re competitive, that’s why we’re coaches. But there is a lot more to life than just that single game. And you have to look at the big picture. So, it’s given me probably a deeper appreciation for the bigger picture, so I’m very fortunate again to have come through that and I like to think I have a more mature perspective than most."
Bazin didn't want to go into details about the physical toll the accident has taken.
"It’s no different than when you’ve had a long sports career, there’s going to be aches and pains and there’s going to be different residual effects. But nothing really worth talking about so from that standpoint, I’m very lucky," said Bazin, 49.
Born in Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes, Manitoba, Bazin left home at 15 to play at the prestigious Athol Murray College of Notre Dame school in Wilcox, Saskatchewan. From there, he came to UMass Lowell on a scholarship, playing four seasons as a left winger, capped by a senior year in which he scored 20 goals (with 15 assists) in 39 games.
A one-year stint in the minors followed, spurring his decision to become a coach, which he did by joining UMass Lowell as an assistant to Tim Whitehead (now coaching Kimball Union in New England prep school hockey), in 1997-98. He moved to Colorado College as an assistant in 2000-01, leaving for Hamilton College in 2008-09 for his first head-coaching gig.
After three seasons at the NESCAC school, capped by a national championship in this third and final year, he moved to UMass Lowell as head coach for 2011-12 to take over from the fired Blaise MacDonald, and has been there ever since. So far, his coaching career at UMass Lowell has been highlighted by Hockey East regular-season and tournament titles in 2013 and in 2017, a Hockey East tournament title in 2014 and five annual coaching awards.
This season, his River Hawks finished third in Hockey East with a 12-7-5 record (18-10-6 overall), and will face Boston University (10-9-5 conference, 13-13-8 overall) in the Hockey East quarterfinals starting Friday at a fan-free Tsongas Center. UMass Lowell went 0-1-2 against the Terriers this season.
"They’re a very good team," Bazin said. "I’m not sure who I’d want to face in Hockey East, the parity is so strong, and I don’t say that lightly. I think it’s the most even the league’s ever been. They’re another good team and their top point-getter is a defenseman (David Farrance), so he’s all over the ice at times, so we’re going to have to be aware of him and play our own game. And I think if we do that, we can bring good things."
As for the season, a third-place finish in the tough conference is no small accomplishment, especially for a team that was relatively inexperienced at the start.
"We came in with a little bit younger team than we’re used to: We’ve got 12 sophomores and 9 freshmen, and getting some of those guys acclimated in the first two or three months is important," he said. "I think they’ve been making improvements throughout the season, so that’s promising for not only the here and now but the future, also."
Getting scoring from up and down the lineup has been the key to Bazin.
"We built our game around a balanced attack, around great goaltending," he said. "We’re fortunate, knock on wood, to have very strong goaltending and we’ve been fortunate to have some great goalies here in the last couple of years with (Connor) Hellebuyck, Doug Carr, Kevin Boyle, so this is no exception, Tyler Wall has had an outstanding season. We’ve got 12 different guys with game-winning goals, we’ve got 11 guys with power play goals and I would describe it as a very balanced attack.
"The guys are 5-3-2 in their last 10 games, so I think we’re trending in the right direction. But as we both know, the regular season is over, so now it’s a new season and you’ve got a whole bunch of new guys trying to make an impression here in the second season."
Here's what else Bazin had to say after we posed our five (plus follow-ups) questions to him heading into the playoffs:
1. What is the most important character trait that you look for in a player when recruiting?
For me, it’s, is he a team-first player? And within that description, is he a good teammate? Can we count on him in tough situations? Then comes some of the tangible skills, such as hockey sense, compete level and skating. But first and foremost, I want to find out if this kid is a team-first player because usually those are guys who succeed at UMass Lowell.
And how do you determine a guy is a team-first player?
There’s a lot of factors, I guess. Body language, demeanor, you can tell a lot just by watching a person away from the puck and on the bench, off the ice. There’s a lot of different ways and obviously everybody does due diligence on kids, how they are in the classroom, how they are with other people and how they treat other people. I think all of that goes into, can they be a team-first player?
2. What’s the most valuable lesson you’ve learned after all these years at UMass Lowell (and earlier)?
I’m not sure I would restrict it to UMass Lowell. I’ve been recruiting in four different spots. From my perspective, the longer I’m in this, the more I believe character (is) above all else in recruiting. And if you think you can change a kid when he joins your team, you're wrong. It’s character above all else.
I love the fact that people can tweak a kid to work just a little harder on the backcheck or do this or that, but at some point when they get comfortable, they’re going to go back to who they are. I think all of us have been caught before, possibly recruiting talent over character, and we always come back to saying we should have stuck with our main theme of character above all else.
3. What advice would you give to a player who is considering options for their career? Why pick college hockey over something else?
The way I read that question is basically first and foremost, what should a young man concentrate on in choosing a career down the line? And for me, first and foremost before we go into the path they chose, I think a lot of kids get caught up with the league, with the area, with the style of play a league is known for, I think this whole rush to play at a higher level sometimes is lost because I think kids are just focused on improving every year. And if you do that, you keep in mind that you find a coach who’s going to give you an opportunity to contribute, give you ice time and you’re going to grow your craft.
And there’s no question I feel biased toward college because it allows a young man to mature mentally as much as physically, and it gives them the time to make a great first impression when they do sign their contracts. Because there’s very few opportunities to make a good first impression at the next level, and you better be mentally ready as much as physically ready to make that first impression.
4. What is your aspiration in hockey; what is your long-term goal?
I’m not sure I think that and I’m not trying to dodge the question. Coaching here at my alma mater, I’m very appreciative to have this opportunity, but right now we’re just focused on becoming the best group that we can become so we can reach our ultimate goal of winning a national championship.
From my standpoint, I’m more focused on the here and now. I’ve never thought of x amount of years down the line. We’re fortunate to have a different group here in college every year, and we’re focused on being the best group you can be, especially when you’re starting playoffs.
So, you don’t have pro aspirations or any other aspirations in college?
No, I never said that. I said I don’t think that way, I just concentrate on the here and now and doing a great job, and if something comes along down the line, I’d certainly take a look at it, like anyone else. But for now, from my standpoint, it’s all about the here and now and helping this group be the best that they can be.
5. Who’s the team to beat in Hockey East this year? (You can’t say UMass Lowell.)
I think there’s several good teams, but I really don’t think there’s a clear-cut favorite. It’s up for grabs. I say that, if you look at the standings, you’ll see that the conference winner was four points ahead of the next (team), and maybe three weeks ago there was eight points separating first from eighth. So, I think it’s as tight as it gets.
We finished in third, a point from second, so it’s really up for grabs. So, it’s an exciting time to be a part of the league because I think a lot of programs, a lot of communities are able to really cheer on their team and have a legitimate chance of winning the Lamoriello Cup.
Paul Grant is an editor and a writer for HockeyJournal.com and Seamans Media. He previously oversaw hockey content at ESPN.com and Sporting News. You can connect with him at pgrant@hockeyjournal.com.
