Re: UML Recruiting, Building for 2018 and on
Lowell Sun article about the new commit, also listing a few of the players coming in.
Korencik, Lee, Berglund, Chambers, Brown and Neaton all named. There's 6, and Barry's article says 9 in total. I would assume Kaiser, Schulting and Wells as the other three.
Is anyone else having trouble with the link? I get a page that says "This site is not secure". I copied the article below.
River Hawks land a top Slovakian defenseman
Barry Scanlon
LOWELL — The UMass Lowell hockey program has landed a commitment from a promising player who hails from Slovakia.
Marek Korencik, a 6-foot-3, 201-pound defenseman, visited campus a couple of weeks ago and will play for the 2019-20 River Hawks.
Korencik, who has played the last four seasons in Sweden, represented Slovakia at the World Junior Championships this past winter in Victoria, British Columbia.
In Slovakia's opener, he scored the lone goal in his country's 2-1 loss to the United States. He scored late in the second period after jumping into the rush and sending a wrist shot into the cage.
"It was a good experience for him," Bazin said. "He didn't look out of place. It's a tough tournament."
Korencik is believed to be the first UMass Lowell player or recruit to play in a World Junior Championship since Ron Hainsey skated for the United States in 2001.
"He's had an opportunity to represent his country a few times," Bazin said. "He's a responsible two-way defenseman. He makes a good first pass and he defends fairly well."
Bazin said Korencik is also adept at jumping into the play offensively.
The 19-year-old played for Lulea in Sweden's top junior league this past season. He scored six goals and 20 points in 42 regular-season games, then picked up an assist in three playoff games.
"He's really, really mature," Bazin said.
He was named a team captain this past season, a rare occurence for a foreign-born player.
"That's pretty special," Bazin said.
Bazin and his staff began looking for a defenseman for next season when sophomore Croix Evingson announced after the season he was transferring.
Korencik joins a talented incoming freshman class.
Three forwards, Andre Lee, Carl Berglund and Brian Chambers, led Sioux Falls to a three-game sweep of Chicago for the United States Hockey League title. Goaltender Logan Neaton guided Prince George to the championship game of the Royal Bank Cup, Canada's national Junior A hockey championship, with a sparkling performance.
And forward Matt Brown scored 30 regular-season goals in the USHL and was named a second-team league all-star. Brown led the USHL in shorthanded goals with seven. In total, nine new River Hawks are headed to the Tsongas Center.
As for Korencik, the future River Hawk was mighty impressed by a visit to a famous Lowell landmark, the Owl Diner, during his recent stop in Lowell.
Barry Scanlon: @BarryScanlonSun on Twitter