MEN'S HOCKEY NOTEBOOK
The Vermont men's hockey team returns home this weekend as they begin their final three-game home stand of the regular season. UVM will face the defending national champion and tenth-ranked Minutemen at 7 p.m. Friday and 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Both games will air for free on CollegeSportsLive. The voice of the Catamounts, Adam LaFleur, will broadcast the action live on WVMT (FM 96.3 / AM 620).
Friday's contest will also air as a part of "Hockey Night in Vermont" in a new partnership with WCAX. The game will be available on WYCI in the Burlington area. WYCI is available on the following channels Comcast – 712, Burlington Telecom - 284, Dish Network - 34, DirecTV 40, and Spectrum – 706/1230.
RELATED LINKS
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CatamounTV Preview: Coach Woodcroft | Lagunov
RALLY AROUND MENTAL HEALTH GAME FRIDAY
Tomorrow is our Rally Around Mental Health Game presented by Inspired Closets. Donations to directly support UVM student-athlete mental health can be made here -
https://securelb.imodules.com/s/1690/19/interior.aspx?sid=1690&gid=2&pgid=1457&cid=2905.
SATURDAY NIGHT TIME CHANGE, PRESENTED BY DUNKIN'
With Saturday's women's hockey quarterfinal set for noon the men's contest has been shifted from a 7 p.m. start to 7:30 p.m. Saturday's action is presented by Dunkin'. Fans are encouraged to visit Dunkin' at the student entrance of Gutterson Fieldhouse for giveaways.
Saturday night is also Poster Night presented by UVM Print and Mail. Signed team posters will be available for fans following the game.
LAGUNOV LEADING YOUNG GROUP
Philip Lagunov, a graduate forward and 2021 National Champion with UMass, has led UVM's young group of forwards this season. He leads UVM in scoring with seven goals and eights assists for 14 points. Five of Lagunov's seven goals have come in Hockey East play.
In 129 games with the Minutemen Lagunov posted 16 goals and 22 assists. He scored shorthanded in the national title game last April for the Minutemen in their 5-0 win over St. Cloud State.
IT ALL STARTS AT THE DOT
Vermont is 10th in the NCAA and fourth in Hockey East winning 53.1% of their faceoffs. First year
Simon Jellus has won 57.6% of his draws and graduate transfer
Philip Lagunov has won 53.5% of his draws, winning 303 this season. Lagunov's 303 wins place him tied for 25th in the NCAA this season.
DISCIPLINE A PRIORITY
The Catamounts are the most disciplined team in college hockey this season. Their 227 penalty minutes are the fewest in the NCAA this season. In 15 games this season UVM has committed six minutes or less of penalties, including eight of its last 10 games. On December 30 against RPI the Catamounts didn't commit any infractions. It was their first game without a penalty taken in over 20 years.
SCOUTING THE MINUTEMEN
Senior
Bobby Trivigno currently is the Hockey East leader with 27 points and is the league leader in points per-game with 1.35. He's also first in the league in goals with 13 for UMass. The 2020-21 First Team All-American has one goal and five assists in seven career games against the Catamounts.
The Minutemen split a home-and-home series with No. 20 UConn last weekend. UMass defeated the Huskies 2-1 on the road Friday night before falling 4-2 at home. UMass enters the weekend tied for first place in Hockey East with 40 points, the same amount as UMass Lowell.
SERIES HISTORY
The Catamounts lead the all-time series with UMass 46-29-8. However, the Minutemen have won a program record eight straight against the Catamounts. Vermont's last win in the series was on March 2, 2018 in the Hockey East Opening Round. The Catamounts defeated UMass 4-3 12 seconds into overtime of game two of the series with
Cory Thomas' first career collegiate goal.
MÄÄTTÄ AND MÜNZENBERGER EXCEL AT THE 2022 WORLD JUNIORS
Vermont first years Joel Määttä (Finland) and Luca Münzenberger (Germany) represented the Catamounts well at the 2022 World Junior Championships before they were canceled.
In two games Määttä had a goal and two assists for Finland including the game-winner on December 26 against Germany and his UVM teammate Münzenberger. He averaged 15:18 of ice-time for the 2-0-0 Finns. Määttä was third in the tournament in faceoff percentage winning 74.2 percent of his draws. He won 23 of the 31 faceoffs he took.
Münzenberger had the only goal for the Germans in their matchup with the Finns and was named the Player of the Game for Germany on December 26. He was fourth amongst all skaters in the tournament averaging 23:31 minutes per game during the Germans two contests, which included overtime against Czechia. Münzenberger had an assist in the Germans 2-1 OT win over Czechia.
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. 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.
Handy Toyota is the presenting sponsor of the 2021-22 men's hockey season
