UMass Lowell 2022-2023: Valley Steamroller Edition

[UMLFan]

Good win for the basketball team. They held on at the end, but the key part is that they held on. 10-1 on the season. Three games before they head to league play. St. Francis Brooklyn at home on Saturday at Tsongas sure worries me as a trap game.

Back to hockey ... last game before the break. Getting a win puts them at 10-6-1 prior to the three week break. They'll be at worst 7th in Hockey East when the second half starts, but with games in hand on every team above them except for a shocking Merrimack team that's in second. I'd love to see this offense improve, and soon.

[UMLFan]

Full credit to Merrimack. I didn't think I'd see the day where they'd be 3rd in the Pairwise (yes, it's December). Still pretty awesome for that program. They're fully taking advantage of their play so far this year on the recruiting side as well, as they picked up two more commits this weekend, including their 4th '06. Merrimack now has 24 future commitments. Merrimack.

[Patman]

Additional media. Jomboy, UML v. UMA. Video looks like crap though

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woqJ7GPrbmQ

[UMLFan]

Bearer of bad news here. I think most of us on here knew him, so wanted to pass this along. Tony Patronick passed away a couple of days ago. Huge fan of Lowell hockey. Tough loss of a friend. Condolences to his family.

[boblav1]

Bearer of bad news here. I think most of us on here knew him, so wanted to pass this along. Tony Patronick passed away a couple of days ago. Huge fan of Lowell hockey. Tough loss of a friend. Condolences to his family.

Terrible news, RIP Tony.

[boblav1]

UMass Lowell hockey notebook: New York defenseman commits to program (lowellsun.com)

[Patman]

that was a terrible game to watch and the powerplay looks slower than a slug marathon

[Middle Street]

It was awful. I really don’t understand why Norm schedules teams like this. It does Lowell no good to win and tremendous harm to lose. I thought the team played a lot better tonight than they did against Dartmouth, they just couldn’t finish. Hit at least 3 posts. I can’t go tomorrow night and I am kind of glad.

[boblav1]

(441) Ice Hockey | UMass Lowell vs Alaska Anchorage Highlights (12/30/22) - YouTube

(441) Head Coach Norm Bazin Postgame vs Alaska Anchorage (12/30/22) - YouTube

[Patman]

It was awful. I really don’t understand why Norm schedules teams like this. It does Lowell no good to win and tremendous harm to lose. I thought the team played a lot better tonight than they did against Dartmouth, they just couldn’t finish. Hit at least 3 posts. I can’t go tomorrow night and I am kind of glad.

the reality is this team doesn't have the talent to reliably put away one of the worst teams in the nation. The power play is a testament to their inability to control passes.

[UMLFan]

the reality is this team doesn't have the talent to reliably put away one of the worst teams in the nation. The power play is a testament to their inability to control passes.

And this keeps coming back to recruiting. We have no one we can rely on to find the net. Games played aren't even, but our leading goal scorer is 75th in the NCAAs. Our leading point getter is tied for 124th.

That was an embarrassing loss. They came out for the third like they'd already won.

I'm pretty much guaranteeing they win tonight, but I'm glad I'm not going. That was a shockingly good crowd last night and they gave us almost nothing. Yes, lots of shots. Some were even good chances. But the goals they gave up were utter garbage. And let's be honest, our two were fluky as hell.

I'm pretty disgusted by what's going on at this point. Hopefully 23 will be better.

[boblav1]

And this keeps coming back to recruiting. We have no one we can rely on to find the net. Games played aren't even, but our leading goal scorer is 75th in the NCAAs. Our leading point getter is tied for 124th.

There's not a lot of room for error when your only averaging 2.5 goals per game (44th) while giving up 2.1 (4th). The lack of scoring really puts pressure on the defense to play a near perfect game.

I had to laugh when they played Free Fallin' by Tom Petty as I was walking out of the Tsongas. All as I could think of was the pairwise, down to 20.

[Patman]

20 minutes of pointless hockey. I feel like every play isn't a plan but a random gambit. Yeah yeah, i'm generalizing sports but it feels moreso than usual.

edit: I wouldn't keep harping if I weren't getting very frustrated with what I see.

[Patman]

40 minutes of pointless hockey. I stop blaming the players and start blaming their coach. Why are the players making such terrible plays.

[Patman]

well, "there's always the hockey east tournament"