UMass Lowell 2025-2026: Youth will be served

[cinnamoroll]

congrats Connor Hellebuyck on olympic gold. he was spectacular in the gold medal game, a big reason that they got to OT. this highlight reel save and that final save on the tournaments leading goal scorer... all star stuff.

 

[Lowell2001]

"We are generating a lot of shots, but most come from the outside and don't pose a real threat. In my opinion, the problem isn't with the goaltenders, but rather with the offense, which lacked efficiency last weekend."

Google Translate of the above post

They were both very atrocious. Let's not pretend that 8 goals against on 20 shots is the offense's fault.

 

[UMLFan]

At this point, I don't know how anyone can defend a 12-31-5 record at home the last three seasons.

 

[BC/HE]

congrats Connor Hellebuyck on olympic gold. he was spectacular in the gold medal game, a big reason that they got to OT. this highlight reel save and that final save on the tournaments leading goal scorer... all star stuff.

For all the complaints from Canadian fans, the only real complaint should be that Hellebuyck deserved the MVP of the tournament, with an over 95% save percentage 1.18 GAA (6 total goals in 5 games). Giving the MVP to a McDavid with 2G,11A is not as impressive. The wrong Connor got it. Canada may have still finished with a medal without McDavid, the USA would not have been in this game without Hellebuyck.

 

[cinnamoroll]

For all the complaints from Canadian fans, the only real complaint should be that Hellebuyck deserved the MVP of the tournament, with an over 95% save percentage 1.18 GAA (6 total goals in 5 games). Giving the MVP to a McDavid with 2G,11A is not as impressive. The wrong Connor got it. Canada may have still finished with a medal without McDavid, the USA would not have been in this game without Hellebuyck.

don't disagree, at least he was given best goalie. biggest keys to victory were the pk and Hellebuyck, and they say a goalie is your most important penalty killer.

it's a reverse of last years 4 nations final... one team is dominant for at least 40 minutes and has the better overtime chances, but one goalie made that crucial save where the other didn't. it's even obvious without checking save percentage, because he had an assist on the game winner- Jack Hughes from Zack Werenski and Connor Hellebuyck. there were some hockey fans starting to make a stink about him not showing up in big games, this should stop that train.

hellebuyck made a lot of new fans this week, UML gets to point to him with pride. though i did see a few Northeastern fans speculating that the Riverhawks sacrificed all their goaltending powers this weekend to Italy and thanking them...

 

[Lowell2001]

Growing up in the area and playing hockey, my dad started taking me to UML games in the early 2010s right before the Hellebuyck era. I will never forget being in the Garden and watching his performance against BU in the 2013 HE championship, and watching yesterday's game was like traveling back in time and reliving all those memories. They're also a big reason why I chose to attend the university and will always support the program. Now we need Coutts and Chen to allocate some of the budget for a Helly statue right in front of the steps to the Tsongas!

 

[boblav1]

At this point, I don't know how anyone can defend a 12-31-5 record at home the last three seasons.

I knew the home record hasn't been good but seeing the numbers is a bit of a surprise on how bad it's actually been. Down to 2 games left in the regular season with a 12-20-0 record. This will be the second 20 loss season in three years.

 

[UMLFan]

I knew the home record hasn't been good but seeing the numbers is a bit of a surprise on how bad it's actually been. Down to 2 games left in the regular season with a 12-20-0 record. This will be the second 20 loss season in three years.

It's weird with college sports. If this was a professional team, I'd be furious that the coach is still here. Being college, and being Lowell, I know they don't have the money or "name" to be able to compete for the NCAA Championship each and every year, so I guess I'm more forgiving. But I still want to see a light at the end of the tunnel, and looking at this team, seeing who's currently committed ... I see a dearth of overall talent. There are pieces, but that's all there are, and that's a bad sign.

 

[Sparkee]

Hellybuck got a Presidents Medal Of Freedom from Trump. Got standing ovation during State Of The Union Address tonight. Quite an honor. Congratulations to Lowell program, Hellybuck representing you well.

 

[UMLFan]

From CHN's notes, Jay Ahearn needs 2 points to reach 100 in his collegiate career.

 

[UMLFan]

Two games to go in the regular season (at Merrimack Thursday, Senior Night v BU on Saturday. Currently 3 points up on last place Vermont, who hosts Maine for their final game. We are also one point behind UNH for 9th, and they have two left first away at 3rd place UConn and then hosting 4th UMass.

Honestly, I'm just ready to end this season. The last weekend of hockey was an epic fail.

 

[ScottK]

Two games to go in the regular season (at Merrimack Thursday, Senior Night v BU on Saturday. Currently 3 points up on last place Vermont, who hosts Maine for their final game. We are also one point behind UNH for 9th, and they have two left first away at 3rd place UConn and then hosting 4th UMass.

Honestly, I'm just ready to end this season. The last weekend of hockey was an epic fail.

Lowell can finish anywhere from 8th through 10th. Vermont can only tie Lowell, but Lowell owns the tiebreaker, so the Catamounts will finish in last place. Their most likely finish is either 9th or 10th, and most likely opponent in the 1st round will be either Merrimack or Northeastern. There are two outlier scenarios where those are not the case:

Scenario 1:
Lowell beats both Merrimack and BU in regulation, and UNH takes no more than 4 points from UConn/UMass. In this case, Lowell finishes 8th and hosts Merrimack next Wednesday.

Scenario 2:
Lowell beats both Merrimack and BU in regulation, and UNH beats both UConn/UMass in regulation. In this case, Lowell finishes 9th, but heads to Durham next Wednesday.

 

[Will]

Lowell can finish anywhere from 8th through 10th. Vermont can only tie Lowell, but Lowell owns the tiebreaker, so the Catamounts will finish in last place. Their most likely finish is either 9th or 10th, and most likely opponent in the 1st round will be either Merrimack or Northeastern. There are two outlier scenarios where those are not the case:

Scenario 1:
Lowell beats both Merrimack and BU in regulation, and UNH takes no more than 4 points from UConn/UMass. In this case, Lowell finishes 8th and hosts Merrimack next Wednesday.

Scenario 2:
Lowell beats both Merrimack and BU in regulation, and UNH beats both UConn/UMass in regulation. In this case, Lowell finishes 9th, but heads to Durham next Wednesday.

If I understand the tiebreakers correctly, if UML gets 6 points and UNH gets 5 points, we would then end up in a three-way tie with UNH and MC all at 31 points, and wouldn't UML still be 8th and MC 9th based on tiebreaking procedures? All teams would have 9 regulation Hockey East wins, but UML would win based on "Best regulation winning percentage against other teams currently included in the tie" (UML: 2/3 against MC, 1/2 against UNH, MC: 2/3 against UNH, 1/3 against UML, UNH: 1/3 against MC, 1/2 against UML)?