UMass Lowell 2020-2021: Down the long hallway

[hawkeytown]

Unbelievable! I agree with UMLFan, it would have been a mosh pit at the garden!

I was curious, does anyone know or have the call at the end by Bob Ellis? I can only imagine how awesome that call was and would love to
hear it.

[UMLFan]

I know they had emailed and said they would be putting up some more videos, but I haven't seen anything yet, and there's nothing new on the Lowell YouTube page.

[Middle Street]

Here you go:
https://goriverhawks.com/watch/?Arch...1&type=Archive

The goal is just after the 4hr 29min mark. Barry Scanlon ruins the call a little with his excitement. I don’t blame him!

[hawkeytown]

Here you go:
https://goriverhawks.com/watch/?Arch...1&type=Archive

The goal is just after the 4hr 29min mark. Barry Scanlon ruins the call a little with his excitement. I don’t blame him!

Thank you!!! Scanlon does it twice, first on the tying goal with Baxter and later with Brown.

You are right, I don’t blame him - LOL.

one of the best comebacks I have ever seen in sports.

[boblav1]

I thought Berglund was done for the year?

That's what I heard. Not sure about Sodergren.

[Middle Street]

That's what I heard. Not sure about Sodergren.

Yes, Berglund’s season is over, he had knee surgery.
https://twitter.com/scanlon65/status...880248329?s=21

[boblav1]

Barry Scanlon
@Scanlon65
UMass Lowell has won three playoff games to advance to the Hockey East title game vs. UMass Amherst, but head coach Norm Bazin said, "We know we've accomplished nothing."

There's not much else to say. Go Lowell.

[boblav1]

Here's the lineup. Go Lowell.

[J.D.]

https://twitter.com/JessRMyers/statu...049991169?s=19

This guy is pretty good. That's not to say Norm will have any interest this time around. Just that CC might be checking in again.

[brassbonanza]

https://twitter.com/JessRMyers/statu...049991169?s=19

This guy is pretty good. That's not to say Norm will have any interest this time around. Just that CC might be checking in again.

Why in the world would Norm leave Lowell, his alma mater, for Colorado College? That job is a black hole.

Tough to see Norm leaving UML for any job other than the NHL.

[J.D.]

The link is he was an assistant there before. That's why he was mentioned last time around. The previous coach, Scott Owen's, had good teams. I didn't say he would be interested, just that CC will probably check in again.

[UMLFan]

The link is he was an assistant there before. That's why he was mentioned last time around. The previous coach, Scott Owen's, had good teams. I didn't say he would be interested, just that CC will probably check in again.

I can see checking in (doing their due diligence), but unless Bazin feels like he's missing something here (money/facilities/support), I do agree with brassbonanza. Why leave your alma mater to coach at a school you were an assistant? I would think that the alma mater part would be more important to him.

[UMLFan]

Anyway ... another season done and dusted. Disappointing is the key word. The easy excuse: couldn't ever seem to get into the right playing shape till too late due to multiple quarantines.

But ice wise ... goaltending never really stood out for Lowell this year. Lots of questions going into next season.

1. Did Welsch do enough in the last 5.5 periods (starting the third at BC till the end of the UMass game) to make the claim to be next year's #1?
2. Will Neaton be back, or will he look to transfer (with another netminder scheduled to come in this year, or will Harper be pushed to 2022)?
3. Of the three that played time (Levesque, Sodergren, Baxter), will any of the seniors want to return for another season?
4. If the answer to #3 is yes, will that affect an incoming freshman?
5. Does the rest of the team return? With the transfer portal being opened up this year, I think people are expecting a good amount of turnover in rosters (in all NCAA sports).
6. If Brown/Berglund/Lee can take the next step in their progression, does that do enough (along with #1 above) to give Lowell home ice for next year?
7. Who will be the incoming freshman? Will any of them have the ability to jump right into the fray?
8. We've gotten spoiled recently by the goaltending, but with none of the three hitting a 90% save rate ... there's a reason #1 is #1 above. But in the games I watched, I did see a lot of defensive breakdowns from a team, I expected to be much better on that side of the puck. Considering we brought back everyone on the blueline and even added a draft pick, I was a bit disappointed in that. They need to be more solid next season. Can Blackmun/McDonald/Sawchuk/Barton be the senior leaders needed on that back line, and help out the goalies more?

There are more questions, but for now ... I'm going to leave it at that.

Some good highlights to take out of this season (the Tournament run, that BC game). Some terrible lowlights (the choke job at UNH).

But at the end of the day, another season that ended too early.

[bottomdweller]

Anyway ... another season done and dusted. Disappointing is the key word. The easy excuse: couldn't ever seem to get into the right playing shape till too late due to multiple quarantines.

But ice wise ... goaltending never really stood out for Lowell this year. Lots of questions going into next season.

1. Did Welsch do enough in the last 5.5 periods (starting the third at BC till the end of the UMass game) to make the claim to be next year's #1?
2. Will Neaton be back, or will he look to transfer (with another netminder scheduled to come in this year, or will Harper be pushed to 2022)?
3. Of the three that played time (Levesque, Sodergren, Baxter), will any of the seniors want to return for another season?
4. If the answer to #3 is yes, will that affect an incoming freshman?
5. Does the rest of the team return? With the transfer portal being opened up this year, I think people are expecting a good amount of turnover in rosters (in all NCAA sports).
6. If Brown/Berglund/Lee can take the next step in their progression, does that do enough (along with #1 above) to give Lowell home ice for next year?
7. Who will be the incoming freshman? Will any of them have the ability to jump right into the fray?
8. We've gotten spoiled recently by the goaltending, but with none of the three hitting a 90% save rate ... there's a reason #1 is #1 above. But in the games I watched, I did see a lot of defensive breakdowns from a team, I expected to be much better on that side of the puck. Considering we brought back everyone on the blueline and even added a draft pick, I was a bit disappointed in that. They need to be more solid next season. Can Blackmun/McDonald/Sawchuk/Barton be the senior leaders needed on that back line, and help out the goalies more?

There are more questions, but for now ... I'm going to leave it at that.

Some good highlights to take out of this season (the Tournament run, that BC game). Some terrible lowlights (the choke job at UNH).

But at the end of the day, another season that ended too early.

I think if you look at how the team played down the stretch there's a lot of reason for optimism next year. They were playing week in and week out and were starting to gel. Those two losses to UNH probably kept Lowell out of the tournament. I do think you have Welsch and Savory as your 1-2 combo next year, and I expect Savory to be better than he was this year. This year, especially for him was a whirlwind. I think Neaton would probably look to go somewhere he can get ice time.

Of the incoming freshmen who were thought to come in next year, what are we looking at in terms of perceived talent level? Are any of them strong offensively? Because this team desperately needs some help putting the puck in the net on a consistent basis.

[UMLFan]

Of the incoming freshmen who were thought to come in next year, what are we looking at in terms of perceived talent level? Are any of them strong offensively? Because this team desperately needs some help putting the puck in the net on a consistent basis.

I've noted the lack of "firepower" in the recruiting thread. There's potential there (especially Scout Truman), but the question is when will some of these guys come in. The only forward that has to come in this season is Owen Cole, who put up really good numbers in a very offensive league (CCHL) and has a 1-5-6 (5 games) so far in the AJHL season.

None of the other commits are all that high in the stat leader categories of their respective leagues. Potential guys that might enroll in the fall: Owen Fowler (27 GP, 9-4-13), Scout Truman (35, 5-14-19), Matt Crasa (42, 10-11-21) are all in the USHL. Roc Truman has 2 assists in 7 games in the AJHL and Justin Dauphinais hasn't played this season.