MEN'S HOCKEY NOTEBOOK
The Vermont (11-12-3) men's hockey team continues Hockey East play this weekend as they host Merrimack (11-17-1) in a two-game set at Gutterson Fieldhouse. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. on Friday and 7:30 p.m. Saturday night. Friday and Saturday's contests will air live on ESPN+ with Rob Ryan on the call. 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. 
 
VERMONT NIGHT FRIDAY PRESENTED BY VERMONT FEDERAL CREDIT UNION
The Catamounts will be wearing special edition beige and green 802 jerseys that will be auctioned off following the game. In addition, several of our Vermont based partners will have special giveaways.

• Vermont National Country Club will be tabling and raffling off a free golf foursome
• Cabot will be distributing free cheese at the entrances
• Lake Champlain Chocolates will be tabling and giving away chocolate and 250 shirts
• Skida will be sponsoring a luck row giveaway where 10 fans will receive a flannel bandana.

RELATED LINKS
Buy Tickets
802 Jersey Auction (closes Feb. 23)
CatamounTV Weekly Press Conference: Coach Wiedler | Määttä
Watch Live on ESPN+: Friday | Saturday
International Broadcast ($)
Listen Live: WVMT
Live Stats
 
RICK MARCOTTE CENTRAL SCHOOL CARE CLOSET DONATIONS
Fans are encouraged on Friday night to donate pre-packaged snacks, dry cereal, and canned goods to the Rick Marcotte Central School Care Closet. The donation drop-off location will be inside the rink under Section 24. In addition, Friday's 50/50 raffle will benefit the Rick Marcotte Central School Care Closet.
 
TEAM IMPACT NIGHT PRESENTED BY INSPIRED CLOSETS
Saturday's contest will be Team IMPACT Night presented by Inspired Closets. Programming throughout the game will highlight the various partnerships UVM Athletics has through Team IMPACT.
 
CRUCIAL STRETCH AHEAD IN THE STANDINGS
Vermont has eight games left in the regular season beginning this weekend. They are currently tied with Northeastern in eighth place with 20 points, although the Catamounts do have one game in-hand. Merrimack sits in 10th place currently five points behind Northeastern and Vermont.
 
The top-five teams in Hockey East receive a bye to the quarterfinals on Saturday, March 16. Seeds six through eight will host seeds seven through 10 in the Hockey East Opening Round on Wednesday, March 13.
 
RICHARDS HAVING HIMSELF A YEAR IN 2024
Since returning from injury on January 6 the Catamounts sophomore forward Jens Richards has been on a scoring tear. He's currently in the midst of a career-best nine game point streak. Over the last nine games he has posted five goals and five assists for 10 points. Overall Richards leads the team in scoring with nine goals and eight assists for 17 points, all three categories are career-highs for the Detroit Lakes, Minnesota native.
 
BUCHELER LEADING THE BACKLINE
Graduate defenseman and Northeastern transfer Jérémie Bucheler has six goals and 10 assists for 16 points. The 16 points have set a new career-high for Bucheler in a single season.
 
MIOTTO FILLING UP THE NET WHEN IT MATTERS
Graduate forward Ryan Miotto is second on the team with eight goals this season. He also has a team-high three game-winning goals. He posted the game-winner against UMass (12/1), Union (12/9) and St. Thomas (12/29) all in home games. Vermont is 5-2-0 in games he scores in this season. His 12 points (8 Gl, 4 Ast) are third-best on the team.
 
SCOUTING THE WARRIORS
Merrimack enters the weekend with some momentum after snapping a seven-game losing streak last weekend with a 3-1 win over UNH. Dating back to mid-November the Warriors are 2-12-1 in their last 15 Hockey East contests. Although two of the Warriors four Hockey East wins this season have come on the road, in a 4-1 decision at Northeastern and a 6-3 win at UConn.
 
Junior forward Matt Copponi leads the Warriors in scoring this season with seven goals and 23 assists. His 23 assists this season are tied for 13th in the NCAA. Throughout the season the Warriors have split their goaltending duties between Hugo Ollas (5-8-0, 2.75 GAA, .907 Sv %) and Zachary Borgiel (6-9-1, 3.26 GAA, .890 Sv %), during a typical weekend each of them will start one contest.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Vermont holds a 20-23-8 all-time record against Merrimack, including a 13-10-3 mark at Gutterson Fieldhouse. Last season the Warriors won two of the three contests against Vermont. In January at the Gut, Merrimack topped the Cats 4-2 on Jan. 27 before UVM won the next night 2-1 with a Robbie Stucker '23 overtime winner. In their final game of the regular season Merrimack topped the Catamounts 4-1.
 
Last season against the Warriors Andrei Buyalskly and Will Zapernick each had three points to lead the team. Isak Walther led way for Vermont scoring two goals against Merrimack. Gabe Carriere had one start against the Warriors on Jan. 27, in that contest he gave up four goals on 21 shots. The Catamounts senior goaltender is 0-3-0 against Merrimack in his career.
 
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