UMass Lowell 2021-2022: Which way are we going?

[boblav1]

Not gonna say this weekend was a disaster, but if they end up a couple spots out of the tournament this will be probably be why.

Don't look now, Lowell and Merrimack are tied at #14 in the pairwise.

[ScottK]

Not gonna say this weekend was a disaster, but if they end up a couple spots out of the tournament this will be probably be why.

Nope, if they end up a couple of spots out of the tournament you can blame the tie against Long Island. That will be why.

[Chiefof78]

Been a while since I last posted something on here, so maybe my interest in waning. After all COVID and the thought of wearing a mask inside the Tsongas did leave me to let my season tickets lapse this past year. And after all I could stream all the games via College Sports Live, but the buzz and the excitement are definitely gone.

Tough weekend to endure for sure. Kudos to Merrimack, a much improved team.......but we lost, and lost twice to Merrimack. Really....we are talking Merrimack!!!!! Times change so I'll accept Merrimack's accomplishment despite my diss, but I feel trapped in a time warp of the last few years, as once we fall behind in a game, I know its over as we have no consistent scoring threats other than Lee and his line mates with occasional help from Crasa and his line mates. And the defense does not protect those leads as we did in the glory years, as evidenced by the previous two games against Maine which were closer than they should have been. Granted the COVID protocols impacted the Maine games due to the rust of not playing and granted we were short handed on D against Merrimack because of the Meehan suspension in game 2 of the series, and the Korencik injury which left him unavailable in both, but to me the fault all rests in one simple fact. Recruiting.

The lack of recruiting these last three years has really been the death knell of this program in my view. While I applaud the academic achievement of the assembled teams, which have been second to none, I have been corrupted by the hope of on ice glory as well. Remember the years when we would have 8-10 players with 10+goals? I think we will be hard pressed to maybe have 5 players hitting that mark this year. Sophomore class, other than Engum, Meehan, Welsh and Amstrong-Kinkade and Crasa of this years' Freshman class has left the cupboard bare which manifests itself every game through lack of depth, so I am not holding my breath waiting for a rebound this week.

We need to pick up the game in recruiting!!!!!

[ScottK]

Been a while since I last posted something on here, so maybe my interest in waning. After all COVID and the thought of wearing a mask inside the Tsongas did leave me to let my season tickets lapse this past year. And after all I could stream all the games via College Sports Live, but the buzz and the excitement are definitely gone.

Tough weekend to endure for sure. Kudos to Merrimack, a much improved team.......but we lost, and lost twice to Merrimack. Really....we are talking Merrimack!!!!! Times change so I'll accept Merrimack's accomplishment despite my diss, but I feel trapped in a time warp of the last few years, as once we fall behind in a game, I know its over as we have no consistent scoring threats other than Lee and his line mates with occasional help from Crasa and his line mates. And the defense does not protect those leads as we did in the glory years, as evidenced by the previous two games against Maine which were closer than they should have been. Granted the COVID protocols impacted the Maine games due to the rust of not playing and granted we were short handed on D against Merrimack because of the Meehan suspension in game 2 of the series, and the Korencik injury which left him unavailable in both, but to me the fault all rests in one simple fact. Recruiting.

The lack of recruiting these last three years has really been the death knell of this program in my view. While I applaud the academic achievement of the assembled teams, which have been second to none, I have been corrupted by the hope of on ice glory as well. Remember the years when we would have 8-10 players with 10+goals? I think we will be hard pressed to maybe have 5 players hitting that mark this year. Sophomore class, other than Engum, Meehan, Welsh and Amstrong-Kinkade and Crasa of this years' Freshman class has left the cupboard bare which manifests itself every game through lack of depth, so I am not holding my breath waiting for a rebound this week.

We need to pick up the game in recruiting!!!!!

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Lowell still in 1st place in Hockey East? Seems to me that not everything is going wrong.

[boblav1]

Northeastern Athletics To Welcome Back Spectators On January 24 - Northeastern University Athletics (nuhuskies.com)

[Patman]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Lowell still in 1st place in Hockey East? Seems to me that not everything is going wrong.

NCAA tournaments are more important than league titles. Or did everybody NOT see the shocking improvement in recruiting after those titles.

[ScottK]

NCAA tournaments are more important than league titles. Or did everybody NOT see the shocking improvement in recruiting after those titles.

In 2013, Lowell was #18 in the Pairwise on 2/4, and still #16 as late as 2/18, but made the Frozen Four. Being tied for 14th on January 25 does not mean all hope is lost for making the NCAA's.

[UMLFan]

Sophomore class, other than Engum, Meehan, Welsh and Amstrong-Kinkade

While I've commented repeatedly about recruiting, you just named four of the six sophomores as doing well. Therefore that can't be a bad class. We'll have to wait and see how the freshmen wind up. There's some potential offensive help coming next year, but you never know how that will pan out.

[Middle Street]

Let's not look past Merrimack being red hot right now and having swept Providence College the weekend before. This is a PC team with nine NHL draft picks and a very solid recruit pipeline. Lowell had THREE losses before this past weekend.

I don't think UML has looked great lately, but they are still in a very good position. They do need to give a massive effort this Friday as another 0 point weekend will put them on the outside looking in.

[boblav1]

They do need to give a massive effort this Friday as another 0 point weekend will put them on the outside looking in.

I would imagine the Hawks will be facing the Huskies backup goalie with Levi heading to the Olympics. I was actually impressed with NU's team defense back in November when they played. They really made it tough to get shots through. It should be an interesting weekend.

Games tonight: UConn defeats Merrimack 3-2. BU defeats UMA 6-4 in a wild one. BU led at one point 4-0. BU is on a roll, 8-1-1 in the last 10.

[umlhockey22490]

I would imagine the Hawks will be facing the Huskies backup goalie with Levi heading to the Olympics. I was actually impressed with NU's team defense back in November when they played. They really made it tough to get shots through. It should be an interesting weekend.

Games tonight: UConn defeats Merrimack 3-2. BU defeats UMA 6-4 in a wild one. BU led at one point 4-0. BU is on a roll, 8-1-1 in the last 10.

If i remember seeing, Matt Brown is playing very well recently. Or at least scoring

[boblav1]

If i remember seeing, Matt Brown is playing very well recently. Or at least scoring

Yes, he’s on a 6 game scoring streak with 8 points (4-4-8) during that stretch.

Tough luck for former River Hawk Logan Neaton who's season at Miami is over due to a lower body injury.
https://illegalcurve.com/winnipeg-je...due-to-injury/

[boblav1]

Lowell Sun article. https://www.lowellsun.com/2022/01/27...-lowellsunnews

[boblav1]

Barry Scanlon @Scanlon65
UMass Lowell without top goal scorer Andre Lee and top-four defenseman Marek Korencik for battle at Northeastern. Puck drop in 50 minutes at Matthews Arena.

[boblav1]

It wasn't pretty at times, but the Hawks got it done. The last half of the second period was a real struggle. Congratulations to Stefan Owens on his first goal. I just realized that Isac Jonsson also missed last night's game. Hopefully he and Andre Lee will be back for the game tomorrow. Any word on when Marek Korencik will return?

I watched the game online and was impressed with NU's video quality.