The Worst Seasons in the Past 25 Years Part 28: Massachusetts Lowell
Welcome to the Worst Season in the Past 25 Years, a series in which r/CollegeHockey reviews the worst season for all 60 Division I teams over the summer to alleviate the crushing boredom known as the off-season and take a horrific tour down memory lane.
If you are interested in writing an entry for your team, please let me know via PM. I’ll be posting entries on weekdays at approximately at 6 pm Eastern time and will be going in alphabetical order. If an entry is not posted at that time, assume that “real life” has gotten in the way and that I am not able to post. If I am aware in advance that I will not post at 6 pm on a particular day, I will announce it in prior posts as a heads up.
And now.../r/CollegeHockey presents the Massachusetts Lowell River Hawks, courtesy of u/LantisEscudo!
The University of Massachusetts-Lowell River Hawks (formerly the University of Lowell Chiefs, and for a short time the Lowell Technical Institute Terriers) were a DII power in the early 80’s, winning three national championships in four years (1979, 1981, 1982) before making the jump to DI in 1983, where they’ve had decent success in recent years under head coach Norm Bazin, with three Hockey East titles, five national tournament appearances, and one trip to the Frozen Four (2013). But the early 2000’s were a dark time for the team, twice (2001 and 2007) almost having the team eliminated by the UMass system, a charge led by trustee Stephen Tocco. The darkest season was just before dawn:
2010-2011 record: 5-25-4 (4-21-2, 10th and last in Hockey East)
Wins: Providence, Vermont, @Merrimack, Bentley, Providence
Losses: @Maine, Northeastern, BU, @BU, @BC, UNH, Merrimack, @Merrimack, Minnesota State-Mankato (x2), UNH, @Amworst, @Princeton (x2), @UNH, @Northeastern, Amworst, @Amworst, @BC, BC, @BU, Northeastern, Maine (x2), @Vermont Draws: @Niagara, @RIT, @Providence, @Vermont
Biggest Beatdown: 2-8 at Maine
Blaise MacDonald’s final season as head coach opened with a 3-0 exhibition win over St. Francis Xavier, but the season proper began on a poor note, getting shellacked 8-2 in Maine. Freshman goalie Doug Carr allowed four goals in the first period before getting the hook to start the second.
The next weekend was a non-conference swing through Western New York, with a pair of ties against Niagara and RIT. Freshman goalie Marc Boulanger would get his only non-loss result of the season against RIT (he finished 0-11-1 for the year and only played one more season after this one, going 1-0-0 in 4 games for UML in 2011-12). Next came an overtime win and a loss against Providence at home before closing out October by getting swept in a home-and-home series against BU.
November opened with a Tuesday loss at BC, then a split weekend at home beating Vermont 3-1 and falling 2-1 to UNH. The Vermont game would prove to be the last win or tie for more than two months as the River Hawks then dropped a program-record 13 in a row before beating Merrimack 6-4 on the road on January 21st. Along the way, losses came in a home-and-home with Merrimack, a home pair to Minnesota State-Mankato, UNH to open both December (at home) and January (in Durham), Amworst three times (twice at Mullins) to give up the Alumni Cup, a road sweep to Princeton to close out the year, and once at Northeastern. Over those 13 games, the River Hawks were outscored 57-21, including a pair of 5-goal losses to Mankato and Princeton, but were only shut out once (UNH).
The Hawks followed up their third win of the year by immediately dropping a 5-3 game the next night at BC, but rallied for an 8-5 Tuesday win over Bentley. Goalie TJ Massie earned his only win of the year in his second and final appearance for UML (and final appearance ever; he hung up his skates after the season).
The good vibes couldn’t hold, and the Hawks dropped their next five, four of them at home. One loss came to each of the Boston schools (BC and Northeastern at home, BU on the road), followed by a combined 7-0 2-game shutout at home to Maine.
The team righted the ship somewhat to finish out the season strong, though, getting a draw in Providence before waxing the Friars 7-2 at home. The positive weekend was followed up by almost winning a 4-4 tie at Vermont, where the Catamounts scored with 46 seconds remaining in regulation to send the game to its scoreless overtime.
The season ended on an appropriately low note in a 4-2 loss in Burlington. Jason DeLuca would score the final goal of the season for the River Hawks in the second period at 3-2.
Head Coach Blaise MacDonald stepped down less than a week later, on March 11, after 10 years as head coach, going 150-178-44 over that stretch. The hiring of current head coach Norm Bazin was announced April 21, and his run of success has already been listed at the top of this post.
For the year, junior David Vallorani led the team in scoring with 31 points (12G, 19A) and sophomore Riley Wetmore led the team in goals with 14 (16A, 30P). In goal, Doug Carr led the team with a 3.63 GAA and .896 save percentage, going 4-13-3, Marc Boulanger went 0-11-1 on 3.96 and .889, and TJ Massie went 1-1-0 on 4.59 and .839.
Following the season, seniors Maury Edwards and Scott Campbell went pro. Edwards spent the next few years in the AHL and ECHL (mostly the ECHL) before jumping to Europe and the German league in 2013-14, where he still plays for the Straubing Tigers. Campbell also earned AHL and ECHL time before he went to Europe as well, where he currently plays with Riessersee SC of the DEL-2. Freshman D Chad Ruhwedel would play two more years for UML before signing with the Buffalo Sabres in 2012-13, and hoisted the Stanley Cup as a member of the Penguins in 2016-17.
For Week 6 of this series, we will look at the worst seasons in recent memory for the following school: Mercyhurst. Once again, if you are interested in doing the entry for your favorite school, shoot me a PM. Your school, name, and date will be added at the end of each post to serve as a reminder. So far, the following people have inquired about a spot:
| School | Username | Tentative Date |
|---|---|---|
| Northeastern | u/therevengeance | 8/2 |
| Penn State | u/saucysalesman | 8/8 |
| RPI | u/Nicholas1227 | 8/16 |
| Union | u/azurearmor | 8/22 |
| Vermont | u/LocksTheFox | 8/23 |
Finally, a shoutout to u/saucysalesman who inspired the idea of this series for doing one for football over at r/cfb. Additionally, thanks to r/CollegeBasketball for the idea of the sub-par MS Paint logos for each school.
Previous Entries in the Worst Seasons Series:
Once again, many thanks to u/LantisEscudo for the UMass Lowell entry!
Posted Jul 13, 2017, 10:02 PM UTC