MEN'S HOCKEY NOTEBOOK
Vermont men's hockey will ring in the New Year as they travel to face No. 15 Providence (2-3-1) at Schneider Arena on Friday (1 p.m.) and Saturday (7 p.m.). Both games will be broadcast live on NESN. Fans outside of New England will be able to watch for free on SportsLive. As always, the voice of the Catamounts, Michael Lehr, will broadcast the action live on WVMT (FM 96.3 / AM 620).
 
RELATED LINKS:
Watch (Outside of New England) | Listen | Live Stats | Game Notes (.pdf) | Weekly Press Conference
 
NEW YEAR'S DAY HISTORY
Friday afternoon will be the second time in program history the Catamounts play on New Year's Day. Vermont faced Ohio State on January 1, 2011 in the Catamount Cup. The Catamounts fell 3-1 in that contest. Friday will be sixth time for the Friars playing on New Year's, Providence is 0-5-0 in those games. The last time PC played on January 1 was a 5-2 loss to Brown in the Mayor's Cup in 2012.
 
CATAMOUNTS & FRIARS FACEOFF AT WORLD JUNIORS TONIGHT
Tonight, in the final game of the preliminary round of the 2021 World Junior Championships from Edmonton it will have a Hockey East flavor as the United States faces Sweden. Coach Woodcroft is working remotely as an assistant coach for Sweden while the USA has four Friars in various capacities. Friars Head Coach Nate Leaman is leading the US while Director of Hockey Operations Theresa Feaster is serving as Video Coach. PC first-year Brett Berard (3 GP, 3 Pts) and sophomore Patrick Moynihan (3 GP, 2 Pts) are competing in their first-ever World Juniors.

The USA/Sweden matchup will be broadcast live on the NHL Network or TSN at 9:30 p.m. (ET)
 
A GREEN AND GOLD DEBUT TO REMEMBER
Graduate transfer Tristan Mullin made his Catamount debut last Saturday against No. 15 Northeastern and made an immediate impact. He started the game and scored on the power play for Vermont. His first career goal for UVM was also his 50th career point.
 
SCOUTING THE FRIARS
The Friars are 2-3-1 this season after dropping a 2-0 decision at UConn Monday afternoon. The Huskies Tomas Vomacka, a Nashville Predators draft pick, made 37 saves for his second career shutout. The Friars have been shutout three times in six games this season.
 
The Friars have played two home games this season, with distinctly different results – on December 5 they were shutout 9-0 by Boston College and on December 20 they shutout Northeastern 5-0 at Schneider Arena.
 
Tyce Thompson, a New Jersey Devils draft pick, leads the team in scoring with two goals and four assists for six points. Senior forward Greg Printz leads the Friars with three goals. Sophomore goaltender and Minnesota State transfer Jaxson Stauber has started each of the last four games for Providence. He has posted a 1.73 goals-against average and a .933 save percentage. Both stats are currently fourth best in Hockey East.
                                                      
SERIES HISTORY
Vermont narrowly leads the all-time series with Providence 28-27-10. The Catamounts are also 13-12-7 against the Friars on the road. Over the last 10 meetings with PC the Catamounts are 3-4-3. In their last meeting on February 15, 2020 the Friars defeated UVM 3-2 at Gutterson Fieldhouse. In that last meeting senior forward Bryce Misley led the Catamounts with two assists.
 
LUCAS NAMED SOPHOMORE CAPTAIN OF THE CATAMOUNTS
Defenseman Andrew Lucas is the 62nd captain in program history. He is also just the fourth sophomore captain in program history. Lucas joins Marshall Stevenson '66, Jaime Sifers '06 and H.T. Lenz '14 as sophomore captains of the Green & Gold. He skated in all 34 games last season as a freshman and led the team in scoring with 15 points.
 
DOVAR YOUNGEST PLAYER IN COLLEGE HOCKEY
2019-20 CCHL Rookie of the Year Dovar Tinling is the youngest player in college hockey at the age of 17. The next closest players are Michigan's Owen Power and Matty Beniers who are 18 and one month. At 17 he is the youngest Canadian NCAA player since Jonathan Toews and Simon Danis-Pepin dressed for North Dakota and Maine, respectively, in 2005-06.
 
In October Dovar was named to NHL Central Scouting's Preliminary Players to Watch List for the 2021 NHL Draft. He is currently ranked as a second or third round candidate.
 
WOODCROFT NAMED ASSISTANT COACH WITH TEAM SWEDEN AT 2021 WJC
Todd Woodcroft has been named an assistant coach with the 2021 Sweden National Junior Team. In his role as assistant coach, Coach Woodcroft will help the team remotely, working specifically on pre-scouting the opponents and post-scouting all of Sweden's games.
 
HOW TO WATCH THE CATAMOUNTS ON NESN & SPORTSLIVE
Want to follow the Catamounts at home and on the road? Visit our How to Watch the Catamounts page - http://go.uvm.edu/how2 for details on how to watch Hockey East action on NESN and SportsLive.
 
BE A PART OF THE CROWD AT THE GUT THIS YEAR
Miss being in the stands at Gutterson Fieldhouse this season? You can still be a part of the action by purchasing a cutout version of yourself or pet to be displayed the entire season. For more information visit go.uvm.edu/cutouts.
 
Handy Toyota is the presenting sponsor of the 2020-21 men's hockey season