MEN'S HOCKEY NOTEBOOK
The Vermont men's hockey team returns to Hockey East action this weekend as they travel to face No. 16 Northeastern and No. 17 Providence on back-to-back nights. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. on both nights and both games will be broadcast live on NESN. The voice of the Catamounts, Adam LaFleur, will also broadcast the action live on WVMT (FM 96.3 / AM 620).
 
RELATED LINKS
Friday: Listen Live | Live Stats | Live Video (Outside New England)
Saturday: Listen Live | Live Stats | Live Video (Outside New England)
CatamounTV Preview: Coach Woodcroft | Lemay
 
CARTER LONG'S CAREER NIGHT
Senior defenseman Carter Long had the first two-goal game of his career last Friday in the Catamounts 2-0 win over Alaska. Long notched his second career game-winning goal against the Nanooks and also blocked five shots.
 
CATAMOUNTS BRING THEIR A GAME ON NESN
The Catamounts have been featured on NESN or NESN+ four times this season and have maintained a 3-1-0 record in those games. Most recently UVM defeated Boston University 2-1 in overtime on January 21. After this weekend's two games UVM's last scheduled appearance on NESN will be Saturday, February 19 at Merrimack.
 
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 six goals and seven assists for 13 points.
 
IT ALL STARTS AT THE DOT
Vermont is 10th in the NCAA and third in Hockey East winning 53.5% of their faceoffs. First year Simon Jellus has won 60.5% of his draws and graduate transfer Philip Lagunov has won 52.8% of his draws, winning 239 this season. Lagunov's 239 wins place him tied for 33rd in the NCAA this season.
 
FAST STARTS KEY FOR THE CATAMOUNTS
Vermont has scored 17 of its 36 goals this season in the first period. It is also the Catamounts best period defensively, they are averaging just 8.9 shots against in the opening twenty minutes of the contest.
 
DISCIPLINE A PRIORITY
The Catamounts are one of the most disciplined teams in college hockey this season. Their 185 penalty minutes is fourth fewest in the NCAA this season. In 11 games this season UVM has committed six minutes or less of penalties, including each of its last four 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 HUSKIES
The Huskies have lost three straight contests, all to ranked teams, since defeating Vermont 4-0 on January 18. Northeastern lost 2-1 at UMass on January 21 before losing at home to UMass 6-0 on January 22 and then dropping a 2-1 game to UMass Lowell last Friday.
Northeastern will be playing its second game without goaltender Devon Levi Friday, the NCAA co-leader in shutouts with nine, was selected by Canada for the 2022 Winter Olympics.
 
Junior forward Aidan McDonough leads the team in scoring with 16 goals and seven assists for 23 points in 24 games this season. His 16 goals are second in Hockey East and tied for sixth in the NCAA. Three of his goals have been game-winners.
 
The Catamounts lead the all-time series with Northeastern 34-31-8. Vermont is 17-26-1 on the road against the Huskies. UVM has hosted the last five games in the series Vermont's last game at Matthews Arena was February 16, 2019.
 
SCOUTING THE FRIARS
The Friars will travel to face UConn on Friday night. Providence completed a 2-3-1 month of January last Sunday falling 5-2 at Boston University. But the Friars earned a big 2-1 win over No. 10 UMass in Amherst last Friday.
 
The Providence power play is ranked third in the NCAA clicking at 27.9 percent. In the teams two meetings earlier this season Providence scored four power play goals in eight opportunities. The Friars swept the weekend series at Gutterson Fieldhouse winning the first game 4-3 and second tilt 2-0. Ray Vitolins, Philip Lagunov and Simon Jellus all scored for the Catamounts in the first period of the weekend series against PC. Jaxson Stauber shutout Vermont over the final five periods of the series.
 
Providence leads the all-time series between the two teams at 30-28-11. UVM is 13-13-8 on the road against the Friars. Saturday will be the 70th all-time meeting between the two teams.
 
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