11/07/2016
Lowell Sun
By Barry Scanlon
UMass Lowell hockey fans owe a tip of the cap to the New York Rangers.
Huh?
If the Rangers didn't use a sixth-round selection, pick No. 174, to select Tyler Wall in last June's National Hockey League draft, it's very likely that Wall would be playing another year of junior hockey and not stopping pucks at an extremely high rate for the River Hawks.
But when the Rangers picked Wall, coach Norm Bazin decided to bring Wall in for the 2016-17 season, giving the River Hawks four goaltenders on their roster, an unusually high number.
River Hawk fans knew they had a strong team returning. The major question mark was in net. All-everything Kevin Boyle was on to the professional ranks after a senior season for the ages.
Sophomore Christoffer Hernberg, with just one start under his belt, was back. So was sophomore Sean Cleary, who didn't see a single minute last season. And Garrett Metcalf was an incoming recruit.
Bazin wasn't worried about the lack of experience between the pipes. He used Connor Hellebuyck as an example. Hellebuyck arrived in Lowell with no fanfare, but left as one of the top netminders in NCAA history.
The River Hawks are off to a 6-2-2 start and a major reason has been the play of Wall. The 6-foot-3, 215-pound native of Leamington, Ont., has been terrific. He's posted a 6-1-1 record to go along with a 1.81 goals against average and .932 save percentage.