MEN'S HOCKEY NOTEBOOK
The Vermont men's hockey opens postseason play tonight as they travel to face No. 20 Providence in the Hockey East Opening Round. The teams will square off from Schneider Arena at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on NESN+ with Kevin Gehl and Carson Duggan on the call. A live streamed simulcast will also be available on CollegeSportsLive. The voice of the Catamounts, Adam LaFleur, will broadcast the action live on WVMT (FM 96.3 / AM 620).
 
RELATED LINKS
Listen Live | Live Video | Live Stats
 
SHUTOUT HOME SEND OFF
Last Tuesday, the Catamounts senior goaltender Tyler Harmon posted a 22-save shutout in his final home game at Gutterson Fieldhouse. UVM defeated the Hockey East Regular Season Champions Northeastern 1-0 in the contest. It was Harmon's first career shutout at home. Harmon followed up Tuesday's performance a 5-3 win at UConn on Saturday. In his last three games Harmon has made 69 saves on 73 shots good for .958 save perecentage.
 
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 eight goals and eight assists for 16 points. Six of Lagunov's eight goals have come in Hockey East play.
 
IT ALL STARTS AT THE DOT
Vermont is 12th in the NCAA and fourth in Hockey East winning 52.1% of their faceoffs. First year Simon Jellus has won 55.5% of his draws and graduate transfer Philip Lagunov has won 52.0% of his draws, winning 343 this season. Lagunov's 343 wins place him 24th in the NCAA this season.
 
DISCIPLINE A PRIORITY
The Catamounts are the third most disciplined team in college hockey this season. Their 263 penalty minutes are the third fewest in the NCAA this season. In 17 games this season UVM has committed six minutes or less of penalties, including ten of its last 14 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 FRIARS
Providence enters the postseason on a three-game Hockey East winning streak. All three of those contests coming at home at Schneider Arena. The Friars are 13-4-1 at home this season. Last Friday the Friars fell 5-4 in an exhibition tilt with the US NTDP U-18 squad. Providence's second leading scorer Nick Poisson is suspended for tonight's contest after getting in a fight in the exhibition contest.
 
Providence's leading scorer is Brett Berard, he has 17 goals and 20 assists for 37 points this season. He has one goal and three assists against the Catamounts this year. He scored twice in PC's last Hockey East contest against Maine. The Friars matched a season-high with three power play goals against the Catamounts on November 19. Special teams will loom large tonight the Friars are five-for-nine on the power play against Vermont this season.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Providence swept the season series with a 4-1 win at Schneider Arena in their last meeting on February 5. It will be the first-ever meeting between the two teams in the Hockey East Tournament The only postseason meeting between the schools came in the 1975 ECAC Quarterfinals as Vermont defeated the Friars 7-5. It was Vermont's first season as a Division I team. The six-seed Friars led the three-seed Vermont 5-2 after two periods but the Catamounts scored five in the third period to take the game at Gutterson Fieldhouse.
 
CATAMOUNTS IN THE HEA OPENING ROUND
From 2014-2018 the Catamounts played in the Hockey East Opening Round five straight years, they advanced four times defeating Maine (2015, 2017), UMass (2014), and UConn (2016). UVM is 8-5 all-time in the opening round and boasts a 3-3 road mark after falling at UMass Lowell 5-3 in the opening round last season.
 
CATAMOUNTS ON WEDNESDAYS
Vermont has played 113 games on Wednesday in program history. UVM's all-time mark on Wednesday is 61-50-2.
 
PLAYING EXTRA TIME
In the postseason, all ties are decided by continuous 20-minute overtime periods. UVM is 8-10 all-time in playoff overtime. Their last extra session win came in a 4-3 win over UMass on March 2, 2018 (Game 2), with Cory Thomas '21 striking 12 seconds in. Their last loss came in the same series with a 3-2 UMass win in Game 1 on March 1, 2018.
 
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