MEN'S HOCKEY NOTEBOOK
Vermont will officially begin the 2024-25 campaign Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m. as they host McGill in their TD Bank Home Opener from Gutterson Fieldhouse. The action will be streamed live on ESPN+ with Brian McLaughlin on the call. The first 250 fans will receive a co-branded TD Bank and UVM t-shirt. Saturday's contest will also be broadcast live on WVMT with the voice of the Catamounts Adam Lafleur in the Handy Toyota Broadcast Booth. 
 
RELATED LINKS
Live Stats | Live Video: ESPN+ 
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VERMONT HOCKEY MEDIA DAY
Earlier this week the Catamounts hosted their annual media day at Gutterson Fieldhouse presented by Little Caesars. Watch the multimedia coverage from CatamounTV below.
1-on-1 with Coach Wiedler       
1-on-1 Dawson Good
 
CATAMOUNTS LEADERSHIP GROUP
Vermont men's hockey head coach Steve Wiedler announced his team's leadership group for the 2024-25 campaign, Will Zapernick and Joel Määttä will serve as captains while Jens Richards will be an alternate.
 
Zapernick will serve as a team captain for the second straight season for the Catamounts. Last season he skated in all 35 games for Vermont registering three goals and nine assists for 12 points. He led the Catamounts with 37 blocked shots and was third on the team with 66 shots on goal.
  
After two seasons as an alternate captain Määttä will don a C this year, becoming the 65th player in program history to do so. Määttä skated in 26 games last season putting up four goals and nine points. In the last ten games of the season, he had three goals and three assists for the Catamounts.
 
Last season Richards let the team in scoring with a team-high 10 goals and 21 points. He skated in all 24 Hockey East contests for Vermont posting nine goals and 17 points in league action.
 
SCOUTING THE REDBIRDS
McGill's 149th season of hockey is underway with a record of 5-3-0. On Friday night in North Bay, Ontario McGill topped Nipissing 3-1 in their OUA opener. Zachary Gallant, a 2017 third round draft pick of the Detroit Red Wings, leads the Redbirds in scoring this season with four goals and eight assists for 12 points.
 
Last season these two teams met at the Gut for the first time since 1978. The Catamounts earned a 4-0 shutout win with two goals from Joel Määttä. McGill won the only previous meeting in program history taking a 3-2 decision on December 30, 1978. Since 2010 the Catamounts are 6-4-0 against Canadian University teams.
 
ALWAYS READY TO GO
Among players returning this season to Catamount Country, two players played in all 35 games during the 2023-24 season Will Zapernick and Timofei Spitserov.
 
For news and updates about the Vermont men's hockey program, follow @UVMmhockey on Instagram, X, and Facebook, and visit UVMathletics.com.
 
Handy Toyota is the presenting sponsor of the UVM men's hockey program