MEN'S HOCKEY NOTEBOOK
On the Catamounts, final weekend of the 2022-23 regular season campaign they will travel to face New Hampshire Thursday night and No. 16 Merrimack Saturday night. Both contests will air on ESPN+. The voice of the Catamounts, Adam LaFleur, will broadcast all the action from the Handy Toyota Broadcast Booth on WVMT (FM 96.3 / AM 620). As always, the games will also be available on the Varsity Network App.
 
RELATED LINKS
Listen Live on the Varsity Network App
Thursday at UNH: Live Stats | ESPN+
Saturday at Merrimack: Live Stats | ESPN+
International Streaming ($)
 
PLAYOFF PICTURE
Entering the weekend, the playoff push is on in Hockey East. Next Wednesday Vermont will travel to face the six-seed in the Hockey East Opening Round. UConn, UMass Lowell, Providence and Maine could all be UVM's opponent depending on how the weekend shakes out. Merrimack remains in the hunt for the Regular Season title. The Warriors currently sit in second place one point behind Boston University.  
 
WALTHER LEADING THE WAY FOR VERMONT
Sophomore forward and Nashville Predators draft pick Isak Walther leads the team in scoring this season with seven goals and 10 assists for 17 points. In Vermont's last 10 games Walther has four goals and three assists for seven points.
 
CATAMOUNTS ARE FAST STARTERS
Vermont's best period this season has been the opening 20. The Catamounts are outscoring its opponents 23-17 in the first period. UVM has scored first in 13 of their games this season.
 
SCOUTING UNH
The Wildcats enter their matchup with Vermont having picked up points in six of their last seven league games. In their last game, they lost 6-1 at UConn but before that they were 4-0-2, with two shootout wins over Maine Feb. 17-18. Like Vermont with home ice in the Opening Round out of reach they'll be looking to gain momentum heading in the postseason.
 
First year forward Cy LeClerc is second in Hockey East in rookie scoring with 13 goals. Although after scoring five goals in seven games in January LeClerc has been held off the scoresheet in the Wildcats last five games. He didn't register at point at Gutterson Fieldhouse November 11-12.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Thursday marks the 125th meeting between Vermont and New Hampshire. UNH holds an 83-30-11 record in the series, bolstered by a 32-4-0 record to begin the series. Under Coach Woodcroft the Catamounts are 3-1-1 against the Wildcats. The series dates back to UVM's first varsity season. Vermont played New Hampshire in its third-ever game, losing 6-3 in Durham.
 
SCOUTING MERRIMACK
The Warriors have won four straight games after impressive sweeps of then No. 5 Boston University and then No. 20 UMass Lowell. Last Saturday the Warriors topped Lowell 2-0 in front of the largest crowd in Lawler Rink history at 3,058 fans. Entering the weekend Merrimack is on the bubble for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. Northeastern and Merrimack sit tied at 17th in the Pairwise.
 
Junior forward Alex Jefferies was named Hockey East Co-Player of the Week on Monday. Jefferies had a goal and two assists in Merrimack's sweep of the River Hawks. With a goal and an assist on Feb. 25 he became the first Warriors player to reach 40 points since Stephane Da Costa during the 2010-11 campaign.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Vermont holds a 20-22-8 all-time record against Merrimack. In a scheduling quirk last season, the two teams played three times in seven days. Merrimack won 4-1 at the Gut on Sunday, February 13 and then claimed two home games 3-2 the following weekend. Last season the Warriors outscored UVM 6-1 in the third period. The two teams each picked up a win at the Gut in January. Merrimack defeated UVM 4-2 on Jan. 27 and fell 2-1 in overtime in game two. Robbie Stucker scored in overtime to deliver two points for Vermont on Jan. 28.
 
SIZE MATTERS
The Catamounts as a team have an average height of 6'1.6" which makes them the tallest team in college hockey. Boston University (6'0.9") is the only other team in Hockey East in the top-10. Vermont is also fourth in the NCAA in average weight at 191.0 pounds.
 
DRAFT CAPITAL
The Catamounts enter the new season with six NHL Draft picks on the roster. Robbie Stucker (Columbus, 2017 7th Rd.), Andrei Buyalsky (Colorado, 2021 3rd Rd.), Luca Munzenberger (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 added 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.
 
NEW SEASON, NEW JERSEYS
This season the Vermont men's and women's hockey teams are wearing new jerseys by Gemini Athletic Wear. Replica versions of the new men's road green jerseys are available now through the UVM Bookstore - https://go.uvm.edu/newgreen.
 
Handy Toyota is the presenting sponsor of the 2022-23 men's hockey season