MEN'S HOCKEY NOTEBOOK
The Vermont (2-9-1, 1-4-1) men's hockey team wraps up its four-game road trip this weekend as they travel to Orono to face Maine (1-10-2, 1-7-1) in Hockey East action. Friday night's action is set for 7 p.m. and will be broadcast on NESN+. Saturday the teams will do it again at 7 p.m. with the broadcast airing live for free on CollegeSportsLive. The voice of the Catamounts, Adam LaFleur, will broadcast the action both nights live on WVMT (FM 96.3 / AM 620).
 
Friday's contest will also be available on CollegeSportsLive outside of New England and the NESN+ broadcast territory.

RELATED LINKS
CatamounTV Weekly Press Conference: Coach Woodcroft | Lucas
Friday: Live Stats | Live Video (outside New England)
Saturday: Live Stats | Live Video
 
LUCAS NAMED HOCKEY EAST DEFENDER OF THE WEEK
Junior captain Andrew Lucas was named the Hockey East Defender of the Week on Monday. Lucas dished out three assists for Vermont in a split weekend against ECAC Hockey foes Yale and Dartmouth. He set up two goals in a span of 1:57 on Sunday at Dartmouth as the Catamounts earned its first regulation road win of the season. He also led a Vermont defensive effort that blocked 11 shots Sunday and was four-for-four on the penalty kill.
 
CHEMISTRY BUILDING BETWEEN LEMAY AND ZAPERNICK
Over the Catamounts last few games a clear chemistry has developed between UVM forwards William Zapernick and William Lemay. The duo has combined for three goals and four assists in UVM's last two games. Zapernick notched his first career game-winning goal for UVM 23 seconds into the second period Sunday at Dartmouth.
 
IT ALL STARTS AT THE DOT
Vermont is seventh in the NCAA and second in Hockey East winning 53.9% of their faceoffs. First year Simon Jellus has won 64.4% of his draws and sophomore forward Ray Vitolins has won 63.6%.
 
TWO DISCIPLINED TEAMS FACING OFF THIS WEEKEND
Vermont and Maine are two of the least penalized teams in the country this season. The Black Bears have taken just 78 minutes of penalties over 13 games, an average of just six minutes, the equivalent of three minors, per contest. UVM has taken the seventh fewest amount of PIM in the country at 102 minutes.
 
MOSER TO COACH WITH SLOVAKIA AT 2022 WORLD JUNIORS
Vermont men's hockey assistant coach Scott Moser will serve in the same capacity with the 2022 Slovakia National Junior Team at the 2022 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship later this month. The 2022 championship will run December 26 through January 5 in Edmonton and Red Deer, Alberta. All the tournament games will air live on the NHL Network in the United States.
 
Moser will serve under Head Coach Ivan Fenes. In Group B, Slovakia will compete with the United States, Russia, Sweden and Switzerland. The Slovaks open the tournament on December 26 against the United States at 9:30 p.m. (ET). The top-four teams in each group advance to the quarterfinals on Sunday, January 2.
 
SCOUTING THE BLACK BEARS
In his first season, new Head Coach Ben Barr has the Black Bears 1-10-2 to open the campaign. Six of Maine's losses have come against ranked opponents this year and four of their defeats were in one-goal contests. Last Saturday Maine dropped a single game in Portland Maine 2-0 to No. 15 UMass Lowell.
 
Senior Jakub Sirota and first year David Breazale, both defensemen, lead the team in scoring this season with seven points. Grant Herbert and Donavan Villeneuve-Houle have both scored a team-high four goals this season.
 
SERIES HISTORY
The all-time series between Vermont and Maine is tied at 29-29-8. The Catamounts are 12-12-4 on the road against the Black Bears. Last season the two teams split at Gutterson Fieldhouse. Todd Woodcroft earned his first collegiate win in a 5-4 decision on January 8 and the Black Bears won the next night 4-3.
 
DRAFT CAPITAL
The Catamounts enter the new season with five NHL Draft picks on the roster. It is the first time in the 2000s UVM has had more than three players drafted on the roster at one time. Robbie Stucker (Columbus, 2017 7th Rd.), Andrei Buyalsky (Colorado, 2021 3rd Rd.), Luca Mu¨nzenberger (Edmonton, 2021 3rd Rd.), Isak Walther (Nashville, 2019 6th Rd.) and Timofei Spitserov (San Jose, 2020 7th Rd.) are sure to bring NHL attention to the program this season.
 
NEW FACES AT THE GUT
Second year Head Coach Todd Woodcroft will field a significantly different team this year in Catamount Country. 14 Catamounts are eligible to make their debut for Vermont tomorrow night. UVM's newcomers include 10 first years, two juniors, one senior and a grad transfer.
 
GUT HOCKEY GOES INTERNATIONAL
The Vermont roster is comprised of student-athletes from nine different countries. There is at least one player from Finland, Latvia, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, Germany, Kazakhstan, Canada and the United States. UVM features five players from Ontario the most of any province or state. Vermont's eight players from outside North America is tied for the second most of any Division I program with Lake Superior State. Only Alaska has more with 14.
 
WOODCROFT HEADED TO 2022 OLYMPICS WITH SWEDEN
Vermont Head Coach Todd Woodcroft has been named an assistant coach with the Swedish national men's team for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China. The men's ice hockey competition at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games is slated for February 9-20, 2022. Games will be played at the National Indoor Stadium and the Wukesong Sports Centre in Beijing. 
 
This past season he served as an assistant coach remotely with the 2021 Sweden national junior team at the IIHF World Junior Championships hosted in Edmonton, Alberta.
 
DEE PT GREAT DIAPER DUMP NEXT SATURDAY AT THE GUT
During UVM's final home game of 2021 as we host UMass Lowell at 7 p.m. on Saturday, December 11 we will be collecting diapers for the 2021 Dee PT Great Diaper Dump in support of VT Kids. Please consider donating diapers to help local families.
 
Handy Toyota is the presenting sponsor of the 2021-22 men's hockey season