UMass Lowell 2025-2026: Youth will be served

[Lowell2001]

According to Mike McMahon, forward Justin Gill will be in the lineup for Merrimack tonight. Gill played 35 games for Bridgeport (AHL) and 23 games for Worcester (ECHL) last season.

Well well well.............

 

[Middle Street]

Merrimack finally scored that first goal and never looked back.

 

[boblav1]

Merrimack finally scored that first goal and never looked back.

Yup, the Hawks got totally out played in the 3rd period. They even had a couple of power plays in the 3rd but did nothing with them.

 

[Lowell2001]

Yup, the Hawks got totally out played in the 3rd period. They even had a couple of power plays in the 3rd but did nothing with them.

The last one was definitely the best. Great puck movement and looks. All the others were pretty meh. Hopefully it'll continue to be a point of emphasis and strides will be made.

 

[Lowell2001]

I'd like to see Elliott be the starter until he loses the job. Richard obviously faced a bigger workload but I felt his play was scrambly and he had a tough time tracking the puck at points. He also could've stopped Mac's first and second goals.

 

[cinnamoroll]

I'd like to see Elliott be the starter until he loses the job. Richard obviously faced a bigger workload but I felt his play was scrambly and he had a tough time tracking the puck at points. He also could've stopped Mac's first and second goals.

in agreement here, i liked what i saw from both at times but Elliott's calm helped. I do think the addition of Gill made a significant difference though- he was the guy that made plays connect and that extra layer of cohesion that turned the competent flashes shown last week into dangerous scoring chances.

i think there are people who could step into that sort of role on this roster, but it hasn't fully clicked yet. the systems are there for success, but part of the game plan should include how to get back into those systems if you get caught out of it. that sort of resilience felt lacking.

 

[UMLFan]

So now you can play pro hockey and then revert to college? Who knew?

 

[cinnamoroll]

it’s a veeeery small window. if you get paid roughly no more than $70k you can get probably 2 years of eligibility. there’s maybe 6 of them

think about it this way- if the rule change happened a year earlier, these guys would’ve been freshman last year. people have called it not punishing players for their 20 year old decisions, but reality is this was punishing them for a decision at 14/15. if they still have eligibility left, they’re lucky and i won’t begrudge them that opportunity.

plus Gill played for Bridgeport when he was in the AHL, which was roughly equivalent to a D3 school playing a D1 schedule. they stunk. college is definitely an upgrade

 

[Lowell2001]

in agreement here, i liked what i saw from both at times but Elliott's calm helped. I do think the addition of Gill made a significant difference though- he was the guy that made plays connect and that extra layer of cohesion that turned the competent flashes shown last week into dangerous scoring chances.

i think there are people who could step into that sort of role on this roster, but it hasn't fully clicked yet. the systems are there for success, but part of the game plan should include how to get back into those systems if you get caught out of it. that sort of resilience felt lacking.

100%. You can tell the forwards are still finding their chemistry.

 

[Lowell2001]

it’s a veeeery small window. if you get paid roughly no more than $70k you can get probably 2 years of eligibility. there’s maybe 6 of them

think about it this way- if the rule change happened a year earlier, these guys would’ve been freshman last year. people have called it not punishing players for their 20 year old decisions, but reality is this was punishing them for a decision at 14/15. if they still have eligibility left, they’re lucky and i won’t begrudge them that opportunity.

plus Gill played for Bridgeport when he was in the AHL, which was roughly equivalent to a D3 school playing a D1 schedule. they stunk. college is definitely an upgrade

I think that if teams are using it to gain a competitive advantage then that's something Lowell needs to try to tap into regardless of whether they agree with it or not. The programs who accept and adjust to the changes will be the best positioned for success.