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

UMLFan said:
I'm glad they eventually started to figure out how to play hockey on Saturday night, because being outshot at one point 22-4 at home is utterly embarrassing. I didn't see the Truman hit, so have no comment on that. Rough weekend. I can see though why Maine is in first place, great defense and fantastic goalie ... they remind me of Lowell when Bazin originally took over, you're just going to have a ridiculously hard time scoring on them. When you only give up four goals (not including the EN) and still get swept in a weekend, that's rough.
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The Truman hit was on Nobes behing Maine's net at 14:22 if you watch the rerun on ESPN+. It had nothing to do with the scrum around the Lowell goal, that is why it was confusing. The broadcast guys were talking to the wrong infraction. Truman basically hit Nobes in the head and not anyother part of the body and got his arm up as well. So IMO it was a good call.
 
Sparkee said:
The Truman hit was on Nobes behing Maine's net at 14:22 if you watch the rerun on ESPN+. It had nothing to do with the scrum around the Lowell goal, that is why it was confusing. The broadcast guys were talking to the wrong infraction. Truman basically hit Nobes in the head and not anyother part of the body and got his arm up as well. So IMO it was a good call.
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Yeah, I know the ref announced that it was 90 seconds before play stopped, but that doesn't help when you're watching it in the stadium. Thanks for the clarification.

I'm a bit surprised we only fell one spot in the USCHO poll. Hopefully a "get-right" game this weekend and then another tough weekend with Providence after that.
 
UMLFan said:
I'm a bit surprised we only fell one spot in the USCHO poll. Hopefully a "get-right" game this weekend and then another tough weekend with Providence after that.
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They better come to play against Stonehill. The Skyhawks are currently 7-19 with wins against Merrimack (2x), St Lawrence, Army, LSSU, and Lindenwood (2x). The Hawks can't afford to sleepwalk through this game.
 
Hard to believe but the riverhawks have another losing record at home this season. Tonight is dangerous for NCAA hopes. Let’s hope they are motivated after getting swept.
 
UMLFan said:
Another bland performance against a team that they should beat. The list keeps going on... Sacred Heart, AIC, etc etc etc. The players change, but the attitude that we only have to show up, doesn't.
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Agree, where's the intensity? You let a team hang around, and you get burned. Up 2-1 going into the 3rd period and they got outshot 12-3 the rest of the way. Did they expect to sit back and protect a one goal lead? Did they even touch the puck in overtime? The next 3 (PC, @PC, @BC) don't look promising, I hope I'm wrong.

Congrats to Stonehill on the win. They worked hard and never gave up.

Highlights.
https://youtu.be/gbhm1KxjHlU
 
UMLFan said:
Another bland performance against a team that they should beat. The list keeps going on... Sacred Heart, AIC, etc etc etc. The players change, but the attitude that we only have to show up, doesn't.
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This loss was disappointing. The team had zero energy the entire night and is now 0-3 in this four-game home stretch. When are the fire Norm chants going to start?
 
I can’t imagine fire Norm chants ever happening, and they have had a better than expected season so I highly doubt he would get let go at this point. He’s trending towards being a Kevin Sneddon though, riding the coat tails of a surprise Frozen Four early in his tenure. Did they overachieve early because the freshman hadn’t yet learned his “system”. Does the team have some type of deep rooted party culture that causes them to perform worse at home? Is conditioning a problem?

I might be overreacting, but that game last night might be the one that has me not renew my tickets. It’s tough to watch and that’s what they have been at home the past few seasons.
 
I'm not going to overreact here, and if I wasn't ready to call for Norm's firing last year, there's no chance I'm going to do that now. I do think we're regressing to the mean in regards to offense, our numbers were way better than anyone could have expected to start the season, but now 4 goals in the last 3 games is reminiscent of last year's offensive doldrums.

Interesting weekend coming up as Lowell and PC are tied in the HE standing, same number of goals scored (30 each in 11 games), but PC has allowed 4 more goals than Lowell has. PC has always been tough for Bazin's teams to play against. I don't have the full record (I'm sure Scott does), but we're 2-6 since the 2019/2020 season, with our last series win against them being the 2018/2019 season. They swept us all three games last year. The two freshmen missing isn't helping as both Nemec and Buttazzoni have been fantastic for us and I have no idea when either will be back.
 
Middle Street said:
I can’t imagine fire Norm chants ever happening, and they have had a better than expected season so I highly doubt he would get let go at this point. He’s trending towards being a Kevin Sneddon though, riding the coat tails of a surprise Frozen Four early in his tenure. Did they overachieve early because the freshman hadn’t yet learned his “system”. Does the team have some type of deep rooted party culture that causes them to perform worse at home? Is conditioning a problem?

I might be overreacting, but that game last night might be the one that has me not renew my tickets. It’s tough to watch and that’s what they have been at home the past few seasons.
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I'm on the younger side so pretty active on social media and based on a lot of the posts I see from players I don't think your "deep rooted party culture" suspicion is too far off. We'll see what the rest of the season brings, most teams in HE seem to be trending upward while Lowell stalls. Unless the rest of this year and the next two are absolute disasters I don't believe there will be a change until his contract ends in 2027.
 
UMLFan said:
I do think we're regressing to the mean in regards to offense, our numbers were way better than anyone could have expected to start the season, but now 4 goals in the last 3 games is reminiscent of last year's offensive doldrums.
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Special teams was a big reason for the great start, and also a big reason why they are sputtering now. Fix that, and things *should* improve.

The power play started the season 11-for-24 (45.8%). Since then, they are 4-for-37 (10.8%).
The penalty kill started the season 13-for-13 (100%). Since then, they are 34-for-47 (72.3%).

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UMLFan said:
PC has always been tough for Bazin's teams to play against. I don't have the full record (I'm sure Scott does), but we're 2-6 since the 2019/2020 season, with our last series win against them being the 2018/2019 season. They swept us all three games last year.
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13-21-0 against PC under Norm - 7-11-0 at Tsongas, 4-10-0 at Schneider, 2-0-0 at the Garden.

Lowell took the season series in 2011-12, 2012-13, 2019-20, and 2022-23 (on a tiebreaker).
 
ScottK said:
Special teams was a big reason for the great start, and also a big reason why they are sputtering now. Fix that, and things *should* improve.

The power play started the season 11-for-24 (45.8%). Since then, they are 4-for-37 (10.8%).
The penalty kill started the season 13-for-13 (100%). Since then, they are 34-for-47 (72.3%).

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13-21-0 against PC under Norm - 7-11-0 at Tsongas, 4-10-0 at Schneider, 2-0-0 at the Garden.

Lowell took the season series in 2011-12, 2012-13, 2019-20, and 2022-23 (on a tiebreaker).
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Thanks Scott. Always good to know that at my old age, I'm still remembering things. :)

As per the Sun article today, still no news on Nemec or Buttazzoni.
 
Good shootout win last night for the Hawks. Good to see some timely penalty killing, as it was desperately needed. The frustrating part for the players and coaches has to be once again, our own mistakes were why we gave up goals. We couldn't get the puck out of the zone repeatedly, and that is a killer. We need to do better on that. Good to see Delaney get a goal as well.
 
UMLFan said:
Stellar defensive performance and a good (albeit weak) goal to win it with 10.1 seconds left. Huge 5 points on the weekend for Lowell.
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Very well played series and game tonight. Exciting moments and great goaltending. The poke check by the Providence goalie on the Lowell guy in alone at the end was ultra aggressive and he pulled it off. But in the end he gave up a softie that should have been a routine save for a goalie of his caliber. Doesn’t take anything away from Lowell, sometimes just putting it on net late can cause things to happen. Congrats. With Maine off this weekend it is nice to be just a fan of hockey east in general and Lowell and Providence didn’t disappoint!
 
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