I'm sorry for posting this so late, but what follows is an article from
the Lowell (MA) Sun that was printed last Friday, the day before the
first-ever UMass-Lowell v. UMass-Amherst game.  [Just to make sure
EVERYBODY knows, Lowell won, 6-1 :-)  ]
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Rivalry in the making?
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Behind-the-scenes feud culminates in opening game
 
These two schools haven't played each other in hockey in more than 15
years, but
they're already feuding like old neighbors.
 
Bruce Crowder, for one, hopes they keep feuding like the Hatfields and
McCoys,
because every sports fan loves somebody to hate.
 
"I think this rivalry will be great one," predicted the UMass-Lowell
hockey
coach as he prepared his River Hawks for tomorrow night's Hockey East
opener
against UMass-Amherst at the Tully Forum.
 
The seeds of rivalry between these two state universities began a couple
of
years ago when UMass-Amherst announces it would revive its varsity hockey
program, which had been dormant since 1979.  A rumor was floated that,
rather
than start from scratch and spend a few painful winters building up the
program,
UMass-Amherst would simply snatch away UMass-Lowell's team, which had a
long
and proud history.
 
[This rumor totally bummed me out at the time, but it's interesting to
note that Lowell's team was AWFUL at this time!  - Steve]
 
Naturally UMass-Lowell officials put up a fuss, and UMass-Amherst
officials
backed down, claiming at was all a joke.
 
Next, while plans were under way to create the Governors' Cup Tournament
to be
played by New England's five state Division I hockey teams as a regional
answer to Boston's wildly popular Beanpot Tournament, UMass-Amherst didn't
want to rotate on a biannual basis with UMass-Lowell and finally declared
it wasn't interested in participating at all if the Minutemen couldn't
play every year.  [Can anyone (Mike?) confirm this?  This is news to me.
- Steve]
 
Then UMass-Amherst insisted on playing the first game between the two
state
schools at the fabulous 8389-seat Mullin Center in Amherst.  UMass-Lowell
stood on tradition and insisted on playing the first game at the
30-year-old.
3200-seat Tully Forum.
 
Finally, UMass-Amherst told Hockey East that it wanted to be known as
UMass in
all league publicity releases.  The league refused and will refer to the
school as UMass-Amherst, although the Minutemen's uniforms, as well as
other varsity uniforms at the school, will say simply UMass.
 
Tomorrow night all the behind-the-scenes bickering will finally spill out
onto
the ice for the first time, and UMass-Lowell is planning a gala
celebration.
 
Gov. William Weld will drop the first puck, and UMass-Lowell's new River
Hawk
mascot will be "hatched" at center ice.
 
UMass-Lowell has lacked a genuine rival since leaving Division II more
than a
decade ago.  By the time the River Hawk's old Division II arch-rival,
Merrimack College, joined Division I and Hockey East, that rivalry had
cooled.
 
Crowder thinks a rivalry between UMass-Lowell and UMass-Amherst can be
just as
exciting as the one between Boston College and Boston University, or
Michigan
and Michigan State.
 
"I hope so," he said, "I look at Michigan and Michigan State and they hate
each other."
 
In fact, after host Michigan State lost to UMass-Lowell in the opening
round of the NCAA Western Regional last spring, many Spartan fans came
back the next day simply to cheer Lake Superior State on against Michigan.
 
"But for it to really become a rivalry, both sides have to believe it
really
exists," Crowder cautioned. "And you can't have one team blowing the other
out
all the time, or it won't be much of a rivalry."
 
The River Hawks figure to have the upper-hand, at least initially.  They
are
coming off back-to-back 20-win seasons and an NCAA Tournament appearance,
although they're in a mild rebuilding phase this winter.  The Minutemen,
only in their second season since the program was revived, are comprised
entirely of freshmen and sophomores.  [Obviously, we know that statement's
NOT true.  -
Steve]  The are coming off a 20-9 season but only went 1-6 against
Division I
clubs, beating Army.  The were outscored 43-12 by Division I teams.
 
 
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Steve Weisfeldt                                   Go River Hawks!!!!!!!!
Univ. of Lowell (now UMASS-Lowell)  1986, 1988
[log in to unmask]                          1-0-0  (1-0-0)
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