UMass Lowell head hockey coach Norm Bazin is part of France’s coaching staff for the 2025 IIHF World Championship. The tournament will be hosted in Stockholm, Sweden and Herning, Denmark.
It begins Friday and concludes May 25.
Bazin will serve as an assistant coach for the squad, while former River Hawk and two-time captain Yorick Treille (Class of 2002) will lead the team as head coach for the first time, after spending several years as an assistant coach. In addition to coaching alongside Treille, Bazin will coach with former River Hawk Guillaume LeClerc, who played two seasons for UML from 2016-18.
“It’s an honor to receive the invitation to work at the World Championships,” said Bazin. “I am looking forward to assisting the staff as we progress through the round robin tournament.”
The tournament will begin Friday, as 16 teams will be divided into Groups A and B and compete in a preliminary round robin round. The top four teams of each group advance to the quarterfinals that will be played cross-over. The first-place team in each preliminary group will play the fourth-place team of the opposing group, while the second-place team plays the third-place team of the opposing group (1A-2B, 2A-3B, 1B-4A, 2B-3A).
In the semifinals, the top-ranked team will play against the lowest-ranked semifinalist, while the second-ranked will play the third-ranked. The two winners will play for a gold medal, while the two losing semifinalists will fight for a bronze.
France will kick off its tournament on Saturday against Latvia as part of Group A.