MEN'S HOCKEY NOTEBOOK
The Vermont (13-18-3) men's hockey team will begin its postseason run Wednesday night in the Hockey East Opening Round as they travel to face the eight-seed UConn (14-18-2) at 7 p.m. from the Toscano Family Forum. Fans can stream the action live on ESPN+. As always, the game will also be broadcast live on WVMT with the voice of the Catamounts Adam Lafleur in the Handy Toyota Broadcast Booth.
 
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PATH TO THE GARDEN
The 2024 Hockey East Tournament will culminate with the semifinals and championship from TD Garden March 22-23 in downtown Boston. The winner of Wednesday's UConn/UVM matchup will travel to face #1 Boston College (7:30 p.m.), #2 Boston University (4 p.m.) or #3 Maine (7 p.m.) in the Hockey East Quarterfinals pending the results of all three opening round matchups (tournament re-seeds for each round).
 
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. Overall Richards leads the team in scoring with ten goals and 11 assists for 21 points, all three categories are career-highs for the Detroit Lakes, Minnesota native. Richards is the first Catamount to reach the 20-point plateau since Max Kaufman had 21 points in the 2018-19 campaign.
 
BUCHELER LEADING THE BACKLINE
Graduate defenseman and Northeastern transfer Jérémie Bucheler has six goals and 11 assists for 17 points. The 17 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 nine 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 17 points (9 Gl, 10 Ast) are tied for second-best on the team.
 
SCOUTING THE HUSKIES
Since February 1 the Huskies are 3-6-0 in Hockey East action and have been outscored 31-15 in those matchups. In their final game of the regular season they topped the Catamounts 5-1 at home to clinch the eight-seed and final home slot in the opening round.
 
Matthew Wood leads the Catamounts in scoring with 13 goals and 11 assists for 24 points. In his last three games Wood has five goals and an assist. In three games against the Catamounts this season he has four goals and an assist. The Huskies are just 6-11-0 this season at home, their last two league home wins before topping Vermont last week came in two 2-0 shutouts over UMass Lowell (Dec. 1) and Maine (Jan. 13).
 
SERIES HISTORY
Vermont leads the overall series 26-14-1 with UConn, although the Huskies have won five of the last six contests. The Catamounts first-ever win against a team currently in Hockey East came against the Huskies. On December 27, 1963, in their inaugural campaign Vermont defeated the Huskies 11-2.
 
Vermont's last win at UConn came on March 4, 2022 in a 5-3 win at the XL Center. Will Zapernick and Joel Määttä each had a goal and an assist in that contest. It was Määttä's first career multi-point game.
 
The teams have met once before in the Hockey East Tournament, during the 2016 Opening Round hosted at the XL Center in downtown Hartford. Vermont won game one 4-3 and game two 2-1 to sweep what was then a best-of-three series. Current Assistant Coach Brendan Bradley had an assist in the Catamounts sweep.
 
CATAMOUNTS IN THE HEA OPENING ROUND
Vermont is 9-5 all-time in Hockey East's first round, with a 5-1 record at Gutterson Fieldhouse and a 4-4 record on the road. The format has shifted from one-game to a best-of-three series and back to a single-game, the Catamounts have made eight appearances total in the Opening Round advancing five times to the Quarterfinals. Last season as the 11-seed the Catamounts defeated the six-seed Maine 4-2 to advance to the Quarterfinals for the first time since 2017. Isak Walther notched the game-winner for UVM on the power play with 6:05 to play in the third period. UVM Captain Will Zapernick chipped in two assists in the upset effort and Gabe Carriere earned his first career postseason win with 28 saves.
 
CATAMOUNTS LIKE TO GET AHEAD
10 of the Catamounts 13 wins this season have come when they have scored first. Vermont is 9-1-0 this season when leading after the first period and 12-1-0 when leading after the second period.
 
INTERIM TAG DROPPED, COACH WIEDLER SIGNS 4-YEAR EXTENSION
Two weeks ago, UVM Athletics announced a four-year extension for Head Coach Steve Wiedler. Wiedler took over the program on an interim basis on July 18, 2023 and has led the Catamounts this season to a 13-16-3 record including four wins over ranked opponents and a current Pairwise ranking of 27th in the country. The Catamounts are on pace for their best-offensive season since 2016-17.
 
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