LOWELL — UMass-Lowell got its first Hockey East win of the season last Saturday when they defeated Boston University 7-1 in Lowell. The win was the first one in conference for first year head coach Norm Bazin.
This season, it is Bazin’s task to try and turn around a Riverhawks team which won only five games last year and missed the playoffs.
Although the team is 3-3-0 overall and has made some strides forward, Bazin acknowledged there is still plenty to work on.
“It’s a work in progress,” Bazin said. “The guys’ work ethic has been tremendous, I’ve liked their battle level and their attention to detail has been strong most nights. We still need to find a better level of consistency, and certainly have better starts if we’re going to continue to give ourselves an opportunity to win more games.”
One of the biggest things Bazin has tried to change early on with his new system is puck possession. He recognized that in previous years it might not have been emphasized as much, but he wants his team to hold on to the puck.
“We want to possess the puck as much as possible all night long,” Bazin said. “If I had to pick one thing that has changed, that we’re trying to emphasize weekly, its that we want to have the puck most of the night. In order to do that, you have to be very strong and tough to play against, and be able to possess it and protect it.”
Coaching for his alma mater, Bazin also spoke about getting contributions from all of his players whether they are rookies or veterans. Scott Wilson and Terrance Wallin are two freshmen who have come in and made an impact, scoring six and five points, respectively, in the team’s first six games. Wilson was even named Rookie of the Week by the conference.
“If you look at our lineup, you’ll realize that most of our team is comprised of the freshman and sophomore class,” Bazin said. “It’s key to get contributions from some of the younger guys simply because you’re not going to go very far relying on just a couple juniors and a couple seniors to score all the goals. It’s been a big piece of our puzzle and we need to have those contributions from both those boys and maybe a couple more freshmen.”
Bazin’s veterans have also been contributing. The Riverhawks’ have seen solid production from early on from the likes of senior David Vallorani, sophomore Derek Arnold, and junior Riley Wetmore.
As for Vallorani, Bazin said he has been impressed with what he’s seen so far from the senior.
“I feel that he’s been a catalyst for us and generating chances,” Bazin said. “He would probably venture to tell you he’d like to execute on more of those chances, however, a coach can never be mad when somebody’s generating the chances, it’s just a matter of time before they convert.”
Though there wasn’t much expected from this team (they were picked 9th in the preseason coaches poll), Bazin was adamant that the team is striving to accomplish something this season. There’s no doubt this team is young, but anytime you show you can knock off a team like BU, you’ll get noticed.
“The seniors have been battle tested,” Bazin said. “They’ve gone through some adversity and they’re pretty resilient. We made it a point of having an emphasis on our club that we want to play for this year and see where we can go this year.
“We’re playing so those guys can leave some type of legacy behind them and have a great season so it’s exciting to see their progress, and I’m very pleased so far with their execution.”
The upcoming weekend presents a tough series for the Riverhawks as they’ll travel up to Orono to take on Maine in a weekend series and Bazin expects the Black Bears to be ready.
“We’re expecting a very hungry Maine club coming off two tough losses on the road,” Bazin said. “We’re expecting a firestorm, especially the first 10 minutes of the first night. I have too much respect for the Maine organization and Tim Whitehead to think that we’re going to get anything less than their best especially on Friday, and it should be a very exciting college atmosphere.”
While there are still plenty of games left to be played, this weekend should serve as a good test to see how much progress Bazin has inspired so far in Lowell.
