UMass Lowell 2026-2027: Is this the new Norm?

[Will]

A rumored extension for Norm was signed but still has not been publicly announced, from what I can tell. At the very least, John Kennedy still speaks very highly of him, saying "Norm, whom I've known for more than 15 years, is simply a fantastic coach, who continues to build winning teams year after year at Lowell", but three straight years of being in the bottom half of the league, including a last-place finish, can't be completely ignored. What seems to be a common theme these days is a lack of scoring, and graduating Bentley and Ahearn from last year doesn't help on that front. The transfer portal, as it is for most schools, was another offseason factor, and while there were some seemingly solid pickups, including another veteran goaltender, losing the Buttazzoni brothers and Lee Parks will hurt, too. There will be an opportunity for guys to step up; we'll see who can take it and run with it.

Exhibition on Friday night, 7:05 pm against Concordia. No tickets required.

Let's go Lowell.

 

[UMLFan]

Thanks for setting this up.

My expectations for this year are ... low. I don't see who is actually going to score goals. I'm worried we'll be back to the 2 GPG offense we saw a couple of years ago.

 

[gambo5]

We're domed to status of bottom dwellers

 

[hawkeytown]

https://www.bizjournals.com/boston/news/2026/09/29/umass-seeks-developer-for-new-hotel-and-ice-rink.html

 

[ScottK]

A few notes from the Blue/White intrasquad scrimmage last Saturday:

Blue beat White 5-2, shots were 22-17.

4 total power plays, 2 for each, none of them looked particularly great.

Voronin was extremely noticeable right from the start. Did score a power play goal.
Wellenreiter scored twice on Cole Moore, once from the top of the circle.
Nemec had a nice short-side goal on Elliott.
Thomas Stewart had a goal.
Lonsdale converted a breakaway for a goal on Elliott
McGraw had an empty-netter from his own faceoff circle that landed dead-center of the net.

Moore stopped 14 of 16 shots, Goich 1of 1, Elliott 17 out of 21.

4 total shots in the 5-minute overtime.

5-round shootout - Elliott stopped all 5, Delaney, Sisson and Wellenreiter scored on Moore.

Tough to take too much away, as they really weren't hitting, but the defense looked really good. Goaltending was just OK. Each goalie had their moments, but also some iffy ones. Several odd-man rushes and breakaways, only 1 goal on them - same as it ever was.

 

[boblav1]

Colleges: UML to host Concordia in exhibition hockey game Friday

The UMass Lowell hockey team is taking Friday’s exhibition game against a Canadian university quite seriously.

www.lowellsun.com

 

[gambo5]

A few notes from the Blue/White intrasquad scrimmage last Saturday:

Blue beat White 5-2, shots were 22-17.

4 total power plays, 2 for each, none of them looked particularly great.

Voronin was extremely noticeable right from the start. Did score a power play goal.
Wellenreiter scored twice on Cole Moore, once from the top of the circle.
Nemec had a nice short-side goal on Elliott.
Thomas Stewart had a goal.
Lonsdale converted a breakaway for a goal on Elliott
McGraw had an empty-netter from his own faceoff circle that landed dead-center of the net.

Moore stopped 14 of 16 shots, Goich 1of 1, Elliott 17 out of 21.

4 total shots in the 5-minute overtime.

5-round shootout - Elliott stopped all 5, Delaney, Sisson and Wellenreiter scored on Moore.

Tough to take too much away, as they really weren't hitting, but the defense looked really good. Goaltending was just OK. Each goalie had their moments, but also some iffy ones. Several odd-man rushes and breakaways, only 1 goal on them - same as it ever was.

Home team got the w