2014 NCAA MEN'S ICE HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIP
NORTHEAST REGIONAL • DCU CENTER • WORCESTER, MASS.
UMASS LOWELL PRE-TOURNAMENT PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES
MARCH 28, 2014
Head Coach Norm Bazin, Sophomore Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, Senior Forward Joseph Pendenza
On the team's success this season:
Hellebuyck: “I think we have a great group of guys in the locker room right now, and we really came together like a family… We all have each other's backs and we all hold each other accountable and trust each other.”
On the team's development from his freshman year until now:
Pendenza: “It's a huge thing, not just with the hockey program, but the school in general is going through major uplifts. A lot of new buildings, new dormitories going on, more kids are starting to live on campus. Hockey wise, the work that has been done to the Tsongas Center is amazing. Just the program my freshman year, we won five games and now we're three straight NCAA tournaments right now, so it's a huge thing and it's an honor to be a part of that. My class can't be any happier right now. Coach has always told us to leave a legacy and we're just doing our best right now to leave something positive for the program for the guys to follow up with once we get out of here.”
On the secret to Connor Hellebuyck's success and the trust the team has in him:
Pendenza: “The secret to Connor's success I'd have to say is that he's confident in himself but he's very hard working. He'd definitely one of the hardest working guys on the team. He's always out there after practice, sharpening up on the little things and keeping his form better, and always working on the ice and in the weight room. I can't say enough about his work ethic, he's always doing the little things, always trying hard. If he lets up a goal, he immediately wants to know why it happened and how he can fix that so it doesn't happen again.”
On playing in Massachusetts:
Pendenza: “It's going to be a huge benefit for us. Actually, these three straight trips we've been pretty local and we've been able to have busses come down from campus, and I think we're going to be having a couple more come down, and we'll have season ticket holders driving to the games. We have a great fan base. They travel with us wherever we go. We went to Pittsburgh last year and they travelled there…too, so it's a huge advantage for us to be this close and we have to use it to our advantage.”
On carrying over momentum from the Hockey East Tournament:
Hellebuyck: “We keep our confidence going and we keep rolling as a team doing the little things. But on that note, we put the win behind us and we focus on the next game. This weekend is going to be just as big as last weekend, so every game here on out takes a team effort.”
Pendenza: “College hockey is kind of a different animal. You win a big championship, a conference championship, you still have to go play some more hockey, so it's a little bit different. Whereas in juniors, you win that championship, your season's done at that point.”
On playing Minnesota State a few years ago:
Pendenza: “It was out first two games with Coach Bazin. We didn't really know what to expect going into that weekend with a new coaching staff, new system. We were really just going out there, just trying to work as hard as we could. And we weren't worried about getting a win or two wins. We were just worried about going out there and working hard and trying to get back the Lowell identity at that point. We felt like we strayed away from that and we wanted to get back to being a Lowell team and working hard and just playing blue-collar hockey.”
On the parallel between the two previous Division II programs now clashing as conference champions:
Bazin: “I guess as a coach you don't look at the history so much as you do the opponent. There are certainly some comparisons between the two programs, both Division II roots coming into Division I and trying to make an impact. I think both teams have a similar style and I can speak more to that because I've had the luxury of pre-scouting here a little bit this week. They play an up-tempo style. They're an aggressive team. They're very much a puck pursuit team. It should be a very interesting game tomorrow because I think both teams are similar from those aspects.”
In regards to Connor Hellebuyck and Hobey Baker Award:
Bazin: “First and foremost, we thought he was a good goaltender or else we wouldn't have recruited him. We hope that every single goaltender we recruit is this good. The statistics are very strong. Obviously when you break the shutout record in two years when it's taken most guys four, you've had a stellar career already. He's probably surpassed expectations of how fast he's gotten there. We do feel his best hockey is ahead of him. He's been very strong for us. Doug Carr has been a combination goaltender this year and has done an exception job in his 12 starts also. So both goalies have done a great job for us. In terms of his overall impact, I think individual accolades aren't really talked about too much in the locker room. We're very much a team. We're very much about team awards, and because of the team awards I think come individual accolades. We haven't discussed the Hobey Baker thing. It might be a goal of his when he comes back next year.”
