MEN'S HOCKEY NOTEBOOK
14th-ranked Vermont returns to Burlington this weekend to host Hockey East rival New Hampshire on Friday (Feb. 10) and Saturday (Feb. 11) at 7:05 p.m. Live video is available via CatamounTV.com, and pre-game radio coverage begins at 6:30 p.m. each night on WVMT 620-AM and UVMathletics.com/Listen with Alastair Ingram on the call. 

A limited number of tickets are still available by logging on to UVMathletics.com/Tickets or by calling 802-656-4410. On Friday night, UVM will be giving out TD Bank winter hats to the first 200 fans who arrive at Gutterson Fieldhouse.

RELATED LINKS
Video | Audio | Live Stats | Tickets
CatamounTV Preview | Coaches Show

SKATING STRIDES AGAINST CANCER | Pink Jersey Auction
The second game of the series on Saturday night is the annual Hockey East Skating Strides Against Cancer game presented by Otter Creek Awnings and Vermont Custom Closets at Gutterson Fieldhouse. The Catamounts will wear special pink jerseys, which are currently being auctioned off at UVMathletics.com/auctions. Bids will close on Monday (Feb. 13) at 7 p.m. and all proceeds will go to the UVM Cancer Center. All fans are encouraged to wear pink. 

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COACHES SHOW START TIME
The weekly Handy Toyota Coaches Show airs early tonight at 6:10 p.m. on WVMT 620-AM before UVM women's basketball coverage from UNH begins at 6:40 p.m. Show guests include both head coach Kevin Sneddon and rookie defenseman Matt O'Donnell.

PLAYOFF PICTURE
Sixth place Vermont enters the weekend three points clear of eighth place UNH in the Hockey East standings, and only two points separate Vermont from third place Providence with six games remaining. The top four teams in the league standings earn first round byes, and seeds 5-8 host best-of-three first round series. UVM has posted a 6-3-1 record in its last 10 games and is currently 14th in the Pairwise rankings, which determine the 16-team field for the NCAA Tournament.

SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
New Hampshire has lost five games in a row and rides a seven-game winless streak (0-5-2) into the weekend series. The Wildcats lost 6-4 at home to Boston College last Friday and then dropped an 8-2 final at UMass Lowell on Saturday. Senior Tyler Kelleher leads the nation in assists (31) and is tied for second nationally in points (47), while rookie Patrick Grasso leads all NCAA freshmen in goals (17).

UNH's power play ranks eighth nationally at 22.9 percent. Junior goalie Danny Tirone has started 26 of the team's 28 games in net with a 11-11-4 record, 2.74 goals against average, .913 save percentage, and a pair of shutouts. UNH graduate Dick Umile is in his 27th year as the head coach of the Wildcats and is 18 wins shy of 600 in his NCAA career.

SERIES HISTORY
Friday marks the 109th all-time meeting in the series, which dates all the way back to the Catamounts' first season as a varsity program in 1963. Vermont has faced New Hampshire more often than any other school, with St. Lawrence ranking second at 94 all-time meetings. UVM has just one loss in its last eight meetings against UNH, holding an overall record of 5-1-2 in that span. The Catamounts posted a 2-0-1 record in three matchups last season, including a non-league win on Jan. 2, 2016 at Gutterson.

WHO'S NEXT
UVM travels to face the seventh-ranked Boston College Eagles next weekend in a two-game Hockey East series at Conte Forum on Friday, Feb. 17 and Saturday, Feb. 18 at 7 p.m.

Handy Toyota is the presenting sponsor of the 2016-17 men's hockey season