Middle Street
Well-known member
I've noticed Tuesday night games often have surprising results. Remember Q nearly losing to Maine last week?
That AIC road game coming up on the Tuesday following the BU series is one to watch out for.
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UMass Lowell 2015-2016 Season Thread
- Thread starter UMLFan
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I've noticed Tuesday night games often have surprising results. Remember Q nearly losing to Maine last week?
That AIC road game coming up on the Tuesday following the BU series is one to watch out for.
Patman
Rodent of Unusual Size
Re: UMass Lowell 2015-2016 Season Thread
that'll be a real "head check" type of game.
that'll be a real "head check" type of game.
Re: UMass Lowell 2015-2016 Season Thread
The same thing can be said for the ASU games this weekend. The Hawks need to come to play and take care of business.
The same thing can be said for the ASU games this weekend. The Hawks need to come to play and take care of business.
RHawkobserver
New member
Re: UMass Lowell 2015-2016 Season Thread
Overall a very good win for the Hawks on Saturday. The compete level, urgency in their game and willingness to engage in battles in all 3 zones was something we haven't seen in a very long time with this team. Coach Bazin takes a politically correct approach and always seems to say that each game has the same importance. You wouldn't expect him to say that this was a "must-win" game because in the event of a loss , what does this do for your team's confidence and can they recover. However, anyone who has coached at a high level knows that there are "barometers" throughout the season and this game was very important and one of these to determine the resolve of your team coming off a Friday loss to a top HE team and your urgency and response in the Sat game provides confidence that you can compete with the top teams moving forward into the playoffs. This was a big game from this aspect even though you won't hear that from the coaches.
The defensive structure was very good for Lowell. Anytime you can limit a top ten team to less than 10 shots in each period and less than 30 shots/game you have done a good job in team defence and should give yourself an opportunity to win. Lowell did not allow many second chance opportunities for PC and for the most part had good net front coverage. The neutral zone play 5 on 5 was much better and the changes made with the forwards moving and not posting up and the defence utilizing the centre of the ice created more passing lanes, speed and options on the attack.It was good to see this change as we hadn't seen any adjustments for a long period of time and a number of games. Even though PC got 1 power play goal, the penalty kill was very aggressive and active and did not allow them to get set up or create much on the power play.
Lowell's power play did struggle and as has been mentioned this started with their entries. You saw a well coached Providence team as they made adjustment on their pk where they basically did not contest the puck on the break out but stacked their blue line waiting for the Lowell attack knowing that they would carry and not dump the puck. The pp entry was vey predictable with the first unit making a lateral pass and entering on the right side and the second unit making the drop pass and entering on the left side. PC would just overload on the Lowell player carrying the puck and force a turnover as he had no options and no puck support. The problem was that due to the where they were making the pass late in the neutral zone, the only player with any speed was the puck carrier and the rest were frozen. Even if they had dumped the puck, they had no players in motion for puck retrieval. I a quite surprised that we didn't seen an in-game adjustment made by the coaching staff on this. Further , the first pp unit struggled with quick puck movement and and the pressure that PC placed on them. The second unit, obviously was new to the pp and also struggled with gaining possession and control. It obviously needs some more reps in practice but should get better. Coach Bazin always speaks of the specialty team battles and this team needs to shore up the PP and get to 23-25% to be effective. I will be surprised if they continue with this break-out this weekend.
In my opinion there was still too many turnovers and soft plays at the offensive blue line where Lowell had opportunities to get the puck deep when they didn't have numbers.Many times we still saw players trying to stickhandle in outnumbered situations or high risk passes that were intercepted.Puck management and support in the offensive zone still needs to be better as too many times we saw forwards with the puck by themselves with no support or passing options. Finally I would like to see some process to their forecheck where pucks are dumped to specific areas of the ice where they create outnumbered situations for puck retrieval and recovery. We really haven't seen this from this team all year and as such they did get beat on the d to d pass on the break out on a number of occasions.
For the most part there was some positive points to build on and the team should have confidence from Sat win. Based on what I have seen the last couple of years is a tendency for Lowell to be inconsistent in their play against some of the weaker teams on their schedule and allow bad habits to come into their game. This weekend they need to ensure this doesn't happen and need to start putting strong games together back to back.It will be interesting to see how the coaching staff views this weekends games in terms of whether they give some opportunity to players that haven;t seen much time or attempt to solidify their line-up and lines/ def pairings/ specialty teams as they head into the last month of the season.
Overall a very good win for the Hawks on Saturday. The compete level, urgency in their game and willingness to engage in battles in all 3 zones was something we haven't seen in a very long time with this team. Coach Bazin takes a politically correct approach and always seems to say that each game has the same importance. You wouldn't expect him to say that this was a "must-win" game because in the event of a loss , what does this do for your team's confidence and can they recover. However, anyone who has coached at a high level knows that there are "barometers" throughout the season and this game was very important and one of these to determine the resolve of your team coming off a Friday loss to a top HE team and your urgency and response in the Sat game provides confidence that you can compete with the top teams moving forward into the playoffs. This was a big game from this aspect even though you won't hear that from the coaches.
The defensive structure was very good for Lowell. Anytime you can limit a top ten team to less than 10 shots in each period and less than 30 shots/game you have done a good job in team defence and should give yourself an opportunity to win. Lowell did not allow many second chance opportunities for PC and for the most part had good net front coverage. The neutral zone play 5 on 5 was much better and the changes made with the forwards moving and not posting up and the defence utilizing the centre of the ice created more passing lanes, speed and options on the attack.It was good to see this change as we hadn't seen any adjustments for a long period of time and a number of games. Even though PC got 1 power play goal, the penalty kill was very aggressive and active and did not allow them to get set up or create much on the power play.
Lowell's power play did struggle and as has been mentioned this started with their entries. You saw a well coached Providence team as they made adjustment on their pk where they basically did not contest the puck on the break out but stacked their blue line waiting for the Lowell attack knowing that they would carry and not dump the puck. The pp entry was vey predictable with the first unit making a lateral pass and entering on the right side and the second unit making the drop pass and entering on the left side. PC would just overload on the Lowell player carrying the puck and force a turnover as he had no options and no puck support. The problem was that due to the where they were making the pass late in the neutral zone, the only player with any speed was the puck carrier and the rest were frozen. Even if they had dumped the puck, they had no players in motion for puck retrieval. I a quite surprised that we didn't seen an in-game adjustment made by the coaching staff on this. Further , the first pp unit struggled with quick puck movement and and the pressure that PC placed on them. The second unit, obviously was new to the pp and also struggled with gaining possession and control. It obviously needs some more reps in practice but should get better. Coach Bazin always speaks of the specialty team battles and this team needs to shore up the PP and get to 23-25% to be effective. I will be surprised if they continue with this break-out this weekend.
In my opinion there was still too many turnovers and soft plays at the offensive blue line where Lowell had opportunities to get the puck deep when they didn't have numbers.Many times we still saw players trying to stickhandle in outnumbered situations or high risk passes that were intercepted.Puck management and support in the offensive zone still needs to be better as too many times we saw forwards with the puck by themselves with no support or passing options. Finally I would like to see some process to their forecheck where pucks are dumped to specific areas of the ice where they create outnumbered situations for puck retrieval and recovery. We really haven't seen this from this team all year and as such they did get beat on the d to d pass on the break out on a number of occasions.
For the most part there was some positive points to build on and the team should have confidence from Sat win. Based on what I have seen the last couple of years is a tendency for Lowell to be inconsistent in their play against some of the weaker teams on their schedule and allow bad habits to come into their game. This weekend they need to ensure this doesn't happen and need to start putting strong games together back to back.It will be interesting to see how the coaching staff views this weekends games in terms of whether they give some opportunity to players that haven;t seen much time or attempt to solidify their line-up and lines/ def pairings/ specialty teams as they head into the last month of the season.
Re: UMass Lowell 2015-2016 Season Thread
ASU Coach Powers On Facing UMass Lowell and Merrimack
"It’s our final NCAA road trip of the season, so we plan on going up there and giving two very good teams everything we’ve got and look to end the Division I part of our schedule on a high note.”
http://www.thesundevils.com//ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=30300&ATCLID=210668001
ASU Coach Powers On Facing UMass Lowell and Merrimack
"It’s our final NCAA road trip of the season, so we plan on going up there and giving two very good teams everything we’ve got and look to end the Division I part of our schedule on a high note.”
http://www.thesundevils.com//ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=30300&ATCLID=210668001
Patman
Rodent of Unusual Size
Re: UMass Lowell 2015-2016 Season Thread
3 games in 3 nights... you have to wonder if they will vary their lineup a lot. Maybe gun for a win on the first night and then the "see what I've got" exhibition approach for games 2 (us) and 3 (Merrimack)
3 games in 3 nights... you have to wonder if they will vary their lineup a lot. Maybe gun for a win on the first night and then the "see what I've got" exhibition approach for games 2 (us) and 3 (Merrimack)
Middle Street
Well-known member
Re: UMass Lowell 2015-2016 Season Thread
Just an FYI, someone asked the athletic department's Facebook account if tonight's game will be televised. They responded saying it was only available via the paid stream, but also revealed that the regular season finale against BC will be televised on NESN.
<img src="http://s10.postimg.org/mnqtm7q55/1_29_2016_10_47_03_AM.jpg">
Just an FYI, someone asked the athletic department's Facebook account if tonight's game will be televised. They responded saying it was only available via the paid stream, but also revealed that the regular season finale against BC will be televised on NESN.
<img src="http://s10.postimg.org/mnqtm7q55/1_29_2016_10_47_03_AM.jpg">
Re: UMass Lowell 2015-2016 Season Thread
Seems like NESN has televised fewer Hockey East games this year in general. Anyone else notice that?
Seems like NESN has televised fewer Hockey East games this year in general. Anyone else notice that?
Middle Street
Well-known member
Re: UMass Lowell 2015-2016 Season Thread
I don't think he was injured. I'm pretty sure he was sitting behind the glass right away after getting pulled. What was strange is the backup goalies for ASU didn't sit with the team on the bench, they sat behind the door along the boards to the visitor's locker room. So since he immediately skated in that direction, I thought he might have been hurt at first too.
I don't think he was injured. I'm pretty sure he was sitting behind the glass right away after getting pulled. What was strange is the backup goalies for ASU didn't sit with the team on the bench, they sat behind the door along the boards to the visitor's locker room. So since he immediately skated in that direction, I thought he might have been hurt at first too.
Re: UMass Lowell 2015-2016 Season Thread
Yes, the fans near me and I also found this strange. I don't recall any other team doing this. I sit behind the UML bench so couldn't really tell if they had extra bench staff and so didn't have enough room for them or something else.
Probably a Power's thing. He's a goalie legend in his own mind.
riverchief1
Well-known member
Re: UMass Lowell 2015-2016 Season Thread
Could be a bench space thing but odd. Maybe we should see if they're comfortable tonight, bring them some refreshments, popcorn, drinks, etc. Maybe a game program? Jasmine could see if they want to do smile of the game or maybe trivia?
Could be a bench space thing but odd. Maybe we should see if they're comfortable tonight, bring them some refreshments, popcorn, drinks, etc. Maybe a game program? Jasmine could see if they want to do smile of the game or maybe trivia?
UML Puck Hawk
New member
Re: UMass Lowell 2015-2016 Season Thread
Shots 8-0 6 minutes in. This feels right
Shots 8-0 6 minutes in. This feels right
Middle Street
Well-known member
Until it was 16-0 and ASU scored on their first shot...
Glad they got a couple through.
Edit: I wouldn't be surprised if Boyle had fallen asleep.
UML Puck Hawk
New member
Re: UMass Lowell 2015-2016 Season Thread
Would be a bit worried if they didn't. ASUs goalie very much keeping them in the game.
Would be a bit worried if they didn't. ASUs goalie very much keeping them in the game.
UML Puck Hawk
New member
Re: UMass Lowell 2015-2016 Season Thread
So CJ Smith on track to hit 100 points by late January next year. Good wins this weekend, this is what they need to do against teams like this. Next weekend is big if we want to be in the hunt for the regular season championship
Also AIC game is actually big for the Robert Morris comparison in the Pairwise. If we lose that game they will flip that comparison (only common op between the two teams, and we have the loss. Besides UConn RMU is the only team we have a losing H2H record against, thus the only teams who can win a comp)
So CJ Smith on track to hit 100 points by late January next year. Good wins this weekend, this is what they need to do against teams like this. Next weekend is big if we want to be in the hunt for the regular season championship
Also AIC game is actually big for the Robert Morris comparison in the Pairwise. If we lose that game they will flip that comparison (only common op between the two teams, and we have the loss. Besides UConn RMU is the only team we have a losing H2H record against, thus the only teams who can win a comp)
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UML Puck Hawk
New member
Re: UMass Lowell 2015-2016 Season Thread
Highlights. Not 100% sure they fit all 8 tallies into the video.
Highlights. Not 100% sure they fit all 8 tallies into the video.
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