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UMass Lowell 2024-2025 Season: Expectations are.....Expectations

Disappointing attendance, but those that didn't come, missed a damn good game. Already matched last year's win total at home (which really isn't something to be proud of). 11 goals through three games has been nice to see. Homecoming tonight should see a better crowd, and hopefully another win. These freshmen just seem a higher level than we've seen for a few years.
 
UMLFan said:
Disappointing attendance, but those that didn't come, missed a damn good game. Already matched last year's win total at home (which really isn't something to be proud of). 11 goals through three games has been nice to see. Homecoming tonight should see a better crowd, and hopefully another win. These freshmen just seem a higher level than we've seen for a few years.
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Agree about the attendance, I expected more. The team looked good again. They'll need another solid effort if they hope to get the sweep. I wonder if we'll see Beni Halasz tonight in net.

Ice Hockey | UMass Lowell vs Colgate Highlights (10.18.24, Game 1) (youtube.com)

Head Coach Norm Bazin Postgame vs Colgate (Game 1, 10.18.24) (youtube.com)
 
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Before we get too excited....

Last year 3-1 through 4 games
This year 3-1 through 4 games

Last year 13-8 goal differential through 4 games
This year 13-8 goal differential through 4 games

Last year 130-98 shot differential through 4 games
This year 138-97 shot differential through 4 games

Biggest change from last year is special teams

Last year PP 4-16, PK 9-12 through 4 games
This year PP 6-13, PK 13-13 through 4 games.

The power play is 6-for-9 in the past 3 games , and 2 of the 3 that didn't convert were the end of 5-minute majors where they did convert earlier in the power play. Yes, there are a lot of positive signs thus far compared to last year, but let's see what happens when the sample size isn't so small.
 
I can't remember the last time I've seen 3 straight games that Lowell has had a 5 minute power play. Also don't remember the last time I've seen 5 minute major cross checks. It'd be nice to see Lowell win their first HE game against a Merrimack team that can't seem to find the back of the net.
 
After going 0-3 against Merrimack two seasons ago, they were one of the only schools we actually had a winning record against last season.
 
Tonight's line up.

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1
 
At 4-1-0, this is Lowell's best start through 5 games since a 4-1-0 start in the 2001-02 season. They started 4-1-0 in 1992-93, and 4-0-1 in 1993-94. They also started 3-0-2 in 1995-96, 2015-16, and 2016-17.
 
So far, so good right? Norm seems to have assembled a team with a different collective dynamic. They seem to have come full circle in being confident in the D core and are finally able to get some offense going. Excited to see how they continue to gel as a team!
 
I love what I've seen so far. I'm tempering my expectations because the schedule hasn't been too difficult yet. Even Duluth was 1-4 going into this weekend before sweeping Stonehill.

The speed of the team and the powerplay are much improved.

Chris Delaney has been a big surprise. He could be another CJ Smith.
 
We've had 12 different goal scorers in the 1st 5 games. We only had 7 different goal scorers in the 1st 5 games last season. This was one of the things that was part of the the success with Norm's teams in the past - spread out scoring. By the middle of last season, opponents knew that the only players who could score on a regular basis for Lowell were Cole and Truman, and focused on stopping them. So far, that's not the case this season, and it's just one of the many things that has changed from last year.
 
So far, and it's early, this team has been fun to watch. Even their only loss, they were entertaining. Bazin is playing more of the freshmen (I feel) than we've seen in the past. It's either that or the frosh are stepping up quicker than some in the past. A single game road trip to Holy Cross next weekend will actually tell me a lot about where this team is. It's not that HC is good, but I think most of us on this board have been around long enough to see this team fail when things are actually going well. Yes, the BU series is looming, but don't blow this game at HC first.
 
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UMLFan said:
So far, and it's early, this team has been fun to watch. Even their only loss, they were entertaining. Bazin is'playing more of the freshmen (I feel) than we've seen in the past. It's either that or the frosh are stepping up quicker than some in the past. A single game road trip to Holy Cross next weekend will actually tell me a lot about where this team is. It's not that HC is good, but I think most of us on this board have been around long enough to see this team fail when things are actually going well. Yes, the BU series is looming, but don't blow this game at HC first.
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Agree, just take care of business Friday night. For the folks that can't make it to Worcester, NESN Plus is broadcasting the game at 7:00 pm.
 
Considering how bad our offense was the last almost two months last year, seeing us score 3 in one minute was ... amazing. 5-1 is much better than I think anyone expected.
 
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