UML loses Sawchuk for season; faces BU Fri-sat.
Umass Lowell faces BU this weekend
Umass Lowell sophomore defenseman Nolan Sawchuk sustained a scary injury during a 6-4 victory over Merrimack on Saturday.
No penalty was called on the play, but Sawchuk suffered a broken vertebrae in his back on a hit from behind during the first period at the Tsongas Center.
UML head coach Norm Bazin confirmed Wednesday that Sawchuk will miss the rest of the season.
“He’s one of our best defensive defensemen. We’ll miss him,” Bazin said. “We’re just so fortunate that it wasn’t more serious.”
Bazin refused to speculate on Sawchuk’s hockey future entering next season.
UML’S coaches joined Sawchuk at Lowell General Hospital following the win over Merrimack.
“We anticipate a full recovery, but it was a long Saturday night,” Bazin said.
Bazin won his 200th game Saturday and the River Hawks have moved up to 12th in the nation. An injury of this magnitude, however, puts everything into perspective, Bazin said.
Bazin said he was very grateful that Sawchuk is able to walk. He will be able to attend classes, though not carry his books. Sawchuk, a native of Burnsville,
Minn., had two assists in 22 games this season.
He has been told to limit his movement over the next eight weeks.
Scouting BU
UML will play at BU on Friday (7:30 p.m.) and then host the Terriers on Saturday (6 p.m., NESN).
UML (13- 6-4, 7-3-3) enters the weekend with 17 points in Hockey East. That’s good for fourth place, but the River Hawks are just two points out of first. BU (8-8-5, 5-4-4) sits in sixth place.
“We’re expecting a great weekend of hockey. It’s going to be a classic Hockey East matchup,” Bazin said.
Bazin said the River Hawks have relied too heavily in recent
games on senior goaltender Tyler Wall (13-4-4, 1.96 goals against average).
“We have to manage pucks a little bit better. We’ve got to get back to a level of consistency,” Bazin said. “That’s number one in my book. Playing a full 60 (minutes), we’ve got to get back to it. My focus is on our team getting back to real strong habits and playing a full 60.”
The Terriers are led by David Farrance, who leads Division 1 defensemen with 11 goals.
Farrance (11-15-26), Patrick Harper (9-15-24) and freshman Trevor Zegras (6-14-20) are BU’S top offensive threats. Zegras was the ninth overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft by Anaheim and led the United States in scoring at the World Junior Championships.
Sam Tucker (7-5-5, 2.79 goals against average) has seen the majority of time in BU’S net.
UML and BU tied 3-3 on
Oct. 25 during a clash at the Tsongas Center. UML rallied from a 3-0 deficit to earn the hard-fought point.
Incredibly for a team ranked 12th in the country, UML continues to be led in scoring by three freshmen. No other team in the country is led in scoring by two rookies, never mind three.
The leaders are Matt Brown (5-15-20), Carl Berglund (10-9-19) and Andre Lee (7-11-18).
On the NHL’S radar
Two players with UML ties are listed on the NHL Central Scouting midterm rankings. Recruit Ben Meehan, a defenseman for Cedar Rapids of the USHL, is ranked No. 102 among North American skaters. Berglund is ranked No. 207.