MEN'S HOCKEY NOTEBOOK
The Vermont (5-7-1) men's hockey team is back in action following exams as they travel to Long Island (6-12-1) in a non-conference weekend series. The teams will faceoff at 7 p.m. Saturday night and 2 p.m. Sunday afternoon from the New York Islanders practice facility the Northwell Health Ice Center. Both contests will air live on SNY and ESPN+. As always, the games will also be broadcast live on WVMT with the voice of the Catamounts Adam Lafleur in the Handy Toyota Broadcast Booth.
RELATED LINKS
CatamounTV Weekly Press Conference: Wiedler
Watch Live: ESPN+ - Friday | Saturday
Listen Live: WVMT
Live Stats
MALINSKI NAMED HEA DEFENDER OF THE WEEK
First year defenseman
Jack Malinski was named Hockey East Defender of the Week of Monday by the league office. Malinksi had a goal and an assist in UVM's 4-1 win over Union last Saturday. He was also named the game's first star. Malinski is the first Catamount first year named Hockey East Defender of the Week since Stefanos Lekkas '20 in 2017.
UNION A WEEKEND OF FIRSTS
Last weekend as the Catamounts hosted Union at the Gut four skaters picked up their first career goals. Luca Münzenberger and
Ralfs Bergmanis scored on Friday for UVM, then on Sunday
Daniel Sambuco and
Jack Malinski matched their feat.
BLUE LINE CHIPPING IN ON THE SCOREBOARD
In Vermont's last two games six of their eight goals have come from their defenseman. Graduate transfer Jérémie Bucheler is tied for the team lead in scoring with eight points, matching a career-high in a single season.
G CARRYING THE CATAMOUNTS
Senior goaltender
Gabe Carriere has played every minute (781:40) for the Catamounts this season. His save percentage of .919 is tied for 15th best in the NCAA. His 2.46 goals-against average is 26th best in the country.
JELLUS TEAM LEADER IN GOALS
Junior forward
Simon Jellus leads the Catamounts in scoring this season with five goals. He picked up the game-winner in UVM's season-opening win at St. Lawrence on Oct. 13. He also leads the squad with two game-tying goals.
COACHING A GAME FOR THE YOUNG
This weekend's matchup features two of the youngest Division I coaches in NCAA men's hockey. LIU's Head Coach Brett Riley is the youngest coach in the country at age 31 while Caoch Wiedler is the fourth youngest at 37. Riley was named the inaugural head coach of LIU in May of 2020.
SCOUTING THE SHARKS
The Sharks are 6-12-1 this season but hold a 2-2-0 record at home from the Northwell Health Ice Center. AIC defeated the Sharks on their home ice 5-2 on November 24, it is their only opponent in-common with the Catamounts. Last weekend LIU fell 4-2 at #4 Quinnipiac and 5-3 at Yale.
Sophomore forward and Montreal native Isaiah Fox leads the team in scoring with seven goals and 13 assists for 20 points. Fox posted his second career hat trick against Yale on December 10 in the Sharks last contest. Classmate Josh Zary has the team lead in goals with nine.
SHARKS AGAINST HOCKEY EAST
Saturday will be the first-ever matchup between the Catamounts and Sharks. Collectively LIU is 0-10-1 against members of Hockey East, although three of those losses have come in overtime. LIU tied #19 UMass Lowell 3-3 on November 3, 2021.
MOSER HEADING BACK TO THE 2024 WORLD JUNIORS
Following the two-game set at LIU Associate Head Coach
Scott Moser will be heading to the 2024 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship in Gothenburg, Sweden. He will be reprising his role with Slovakia as an Assistant Coach. With the Slovaks, he runs the forwards & power play like at UVM.
He has coached Slovakia at the last four World Juniors. At the 2023 World Juniors in Nova Scotia the Slovaks finished second in the tournament with a power play clicking at 45%. Over the last few seasons with the Slovak program Moser has coached over 20 NHL draft picks, including five first rounders, and first & second overall picks Juraj Slafkovsky and Simon Nemec.
DRAFT CAPITAL
The Catamounts enter the new season with six NHL Draft picks on the roster.
Eli Barnett (San Jose, 2022 7th Rd.),
Andrei Buyalsky (Colorado, 2021 3rd Rd.), Luca Münzenberger (Edmonton, 2021 3rd Rd.),
Isak Walther (Nashville, 2019 6th Rd.),
Timofei Spitserov (San Jose, 2020 7th Rd.) and Joel Määttä (Edmonton, 2022 7th Rd.) are sure to bring NHL attention to the program this season.
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. There are eight student-athletes from Ontario alone, including five newcomers this year.
Handy Toyota is the presenting sponsor of the UVM men's hockey program
