UMass Lowell’s early season results are showing that the River Hawks are ready to get back to a familiar place during the Norm Bazin era.
After winning the Turkey Leg Classic last weekend over Rensselaer and Penn State, the River Hawks stand at 9-3-4 overall. UML is 4-1-3 in league play Entering this weekend’s key home-and-home Hockey East series against Providence.
While there is still over half a season to play, it looks like Bazin’s team is ready to get back to the TD Garden for the Hockey East Tournament and NCAA Tournament after two disappointing seasons that didn’t result in either.
In addition to the win over Penn State, UMass Lowell’s 2019-20 resume includes wins at top-ranked and two-time defending national champion Minnesota Duluth and at Providence.
'Next man up'
As has been the case for much of Bazin’s tenure at Lowell, the team seems to persevere through injuries and keep the train rolling no matter who is out of the lineup. That was the case last Saturday night as UML defeated the Nittany Lions, a team ranked in the top 10, despite missing two of their best blue liners.
“We had the next man up mindset. The guys that filled in did a great job for us. We have a lot of young guys contributing like they are veterans,” said senior goaltender Tyler Wall.
Chase Blackmun is certainly one of the team’s top defensemen, but he stepped up in a major way with Jon McDonald and Seth Barton out of the lineup. Blackmun, a swift-skating sophomore, has three goals and six assists following his game-winning goal in overtime against PSU.
“He was a big part of that and Anthony Baxter was a big part of that. Those guys led the way. (Blackmun) is very good on the power play,” said Bazin.
“As a whole ‘D’ core, we wanted to step up and play for each other,” Blackmun added.
A 'Wall' in net
Blackmun’s overtime heroics almost didn’t happen, if it weren’t for a highlight reel save made by Wall, who stopped 67 of 69 shots on the weekend en route to being named the Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week.
“He came down low and tried to bring it to the net. I tried to stick my stick out to poke check it. I missed, but I was able to get into the splits and stop it,” said Wall.
Wall, from Leamington, Ontario, has a .947 save percentage, which ranks fourth nationally and first in Hockey East.
“Wall has been great all year long. He’s been our backbone. He’s been doing great. We’re just trying to help him out, but he keeps us in games,” complimented Blackmun.
Wall, a sixth round pick of the New York Rangers in the 2016 NHL Draft, was quick to deflect the praise and credit the defense in front of him.
“The whole ‘D’ core has been communicating a lot better. We’re playing as a one-man unit. It doesn’t just come from me being in a zone,” said Wall.
Wall had an interesting answer when asked about what part of his game he worked on the most over the summer. While most players often say they spent extra time in the gym or worked on a physical element of the game, he said he worked on his eyesight.
“I know that sounds weird, but I tried some natural vision therapy. That translates on the ice because I can find the puck way easier and see pucks through traffic better,” said Wall, who had a career .910 save percentage entering the season.
Bazin expressed particular affection for Wall returning to Lowell for a fourth season. After a rough sophomore campaign, Wall rebounded as a junior and has taken his game to the next level this season.
“Tyler has only been iffy his sophomore year. Freshman year, he won a championship. Last year he was stellar, but we had another guy (Christoffer Hernberg) who was also stellar for us,” Bazin began.
“He’s carrying the ball as a senior. That’s what is nice about guys coming back for their senior season. They actually dominate the level before they move on. I give him a lot of credit. He’s been very consistent for us,” continued Bazin, who scored more points as a senior at UML than he did in his first three seasons combined during his playing days.
Not playing like rookies
In Saturday’s 3-2 overtime victory, freshman Andre Lee had a goal and an assist. The 6-foot-5 winger used his size and length to protect the puck as he came in on net before waiting out the goaltender and sliding the puck into the net.
A seventh round pick of the Los Angeles Kings, Lee has had an up-and-down first year. He scored three goals in his first four games, but hadn’t lit the lamp since until Saturday.
The Karlstad, Sweden, native also took a costly penalty late in the game that resulted in a PSU goal that forced overtime.
“It will take me a little while to get over that penalty. He’ll learn from that. He scored a great goal. I’m happy for him because he’s been pushing. As a youngster you learn from the good and bad,” said Bazin.
Overall, Lee looked the part of a potential late round steal for the Kings, who drafted him out of the Sioux Falls Stampede in the USHL.
Lee is the team’s fourth leading scorer. Two of his classmates, Matt Brown and Carl Berglund, lead the River Hawks in points with 17 and 15, respectively, in 16 games played. Their production might come as a surprise to some, but not Bazin.
“A lot of us these guys are 20 when they walk in. They’ve played a lot of junior and are ready to help us,” he remarked.
The freshman class could be the best in program history. Three of them, including Lee, Berglund and Weymouth, Mass., native Brian Chambers, won a USHL Clark Cup Championship with Sioux Falls last year.
“We have a great freshman class. We all do our jobs and contribute individually to lead to team success,” said Blackmun.
“Whether it’s the defense holding down the fort or Brown and Berglund putting pucks in the net in key moments, it’s nice to see our freshmen play a big factor in our team’s success. They’ve been incredible for us,” Wall concurred.
Wall, his teammates, and the coaching staff appear eager to prove early wins over top 10 teams are more the norm than disappointing weekends against Colgate and UConn.
“It’s time people stop underestimating our Lowell team. We play a solid, hard hitting style. I don’t think we should be the underdogs in any of our games going forward,” said Wall.
