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Amid a four-game winning streak Vermont (7-8-3, 3-4-2 HEA) returns to Gutterson Fieldhouse Saturday evening as they host St. Lawrence (5-11-1, 1-4-1 ECAC) at 6 p.m. for Rally's Birthday and Youth Day presented by Healthy Living. There will be pizza, cupcakes, face painting, giveaways and more! Fans 12 and under receive a free GA ticket at the box office beginning at 4:45 p.m. Fans looking to purchase tickets can do so at go.uvm.edu/rallybday.
The match up will be broadcast live on ESPN+ with Rob Ryan on the call. The game will also be broadcast on WVMT with the voice of the Catamounts Adam LaFleur in the Handy Toyota Broadcast Booth.
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STRAND NAMED HEA AND NATIONAL ROOKIE OF THE MONTH FOR DECEMBER
- Strand is the first men's player at Vermont to receive a monthly honor from the Hockey Commissioner's Association.
- No rookie in the country had more points in December than Strand, who recorded a point in each of the Catamount's six games.
- He racked up four goals and three assists to help Vermont end 2024 on a four-game winning streak.
- He also led all first-year players nationally with two power-play goals and his 31 faceoff wins were seventh among NCAA rookies and first among his classmates in Hockey East.
FIRST YEARS PRODUCING EARLY ON FOR UVM
- Two of the top three scorers for the Catamounts are first years.
- Max Strand leads the team in scoring with 16 points on five goals and a team high 11 assists. Colin Kessler isn't far behind, producing 14 points on a team-high six goals and eight assists.
- Strand has recorded a point in seven straight games, tallying four goals and four assists. Strand hasn't gone longer than two games this season without recording a point or more.
SPECIAL TEAMS HELPING LEAD WAY
- The Catamounts are ranked third in Hockey East, 11th in the NCAA with an 87.5% penalty kill this season.
- Vermont has scored 12 powerplay goals in the last 13 games.
- In their last four games Vermont has scored five power play goals.
- The Catamounts power play is ranked 18th in the NCAA converting 22.8% of the time. They have the fifth best man advantage in Hockey East.
MANGBO SHUTTING THE DOOR
- Sophomore goaltender Axel Mangbo is one of two goalies (Jacob Fowler – BC) with two shutouts in league play this season.
- He shutout UMass on Nov. 9 (26 saves) and UConn on Nov. 2 (30 saves).
- He was named HEA Defensive Player of the Week on Nov. 4 and HEA Co-Goaltender of the Week on Nov. 11.
- He made a career-high 38 saves in the Catamounts win over No. 20 UMass on Nov. 24.
- Mangbo has started six of the Catamounts last seven games.
- In the month of December, he posted a 3-2-0 record with a .916 save percentage and 1.83 goals-against average.
OFFENSIVE SURGE
- The Catamounts have scored 24 goals in their last five games, going 4-1-0 over that stretch.
- Against LIU and Union, the Catamounts scored a season-high nine goals in the respective weekend series.
- Vermont's 7-4 win on Dec. 7 over the Sharks was the first time the Catamount's scored seven goals in a single game since the 2016-17 season when UVM defeated Bently on December 30, 2016, winning by a score of 7-1.
- The Catamounts have scored four goals in the first period twice over that stretch – Dec. 29 at Army and Dec. 13 at Union.
MOSER BACK AT 2025 WORLD JUNIORS IN OTTAWA
- Associate Head Coach Scott Moser reprised his role as an Assistant Coach with Team Slovakia at the 2025 World Junior Championships hosted in Ottawa.
- It is the fifth straight tournament that Moser has worked with the Slovakians.
- 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.
- Team Slovakia finished sixth overall at the tournament following a 5-3 loss to Finland in the Quarterfinals on Thursday.
PERRIN BACK IN THE GREEN AND GOLD
- With Associate Head Coach Scott Moser away at the World Juniors Vermont's Advisor to the Coaching Staff Eric Perrin '97 has been back in Catamount Country assisting with on-ice instruction and game planning.
- Perrin is the Catamounts all-time leading scorer with 107 goals. He also added 149 assists for 256 points in the green and gold.
- In 1996 he was a First Team All-American and helped the Catamounts advance to their first-ever Frozen Four.
SCOUTING SLU
- SLU is 5-11-1 this season and 1-4-1 in ECAC action. The Skating Saints had their best weekend of the season before the break.
- They topped No. 13 Dartmouth 3-2 on the road with a third period game-winner from Nicholas Beneteau on Dec. 6. It was Beneteau's first career goal.
- The next night they battled Harvard to a scoreless draw behind 26 saves from Mason Kucenski.
- Kucenski has maintained a 5-8-1 record this season with two shutouts and 2.18 goals-against average and a .927 save percentage.
- The Skating Saints leading scorer Tomáš Mazura (1 Gl, 13 Ast) signed a professional contract with BK Mlada Boleslavof of the Czech Extraliga over the break and has left the team.
- Senior forward Greg Lapointe leads the team in goals with seven this season, he is the only SLU player with more than three goals.
- St. Lawrence is the Catamounts second most common rival. Vermont and the Saints have faced each other 96 times over the last 53 years.
- The Catamounts are 46-47-3 all-time against SLU.
- Last year on Oct. 13 the Catamounts opened the regular season with a 3-1 win over St. Lawrence in Head Coach Steve Wiedler's first collegiate win. Simon Jellus scored two goals for Vermont including the game-winner.
CATAMOUNTS LEADERSHIP GROUP
ALWAYS READY TO GO
- Among players returning this season to Catamount Country, two players played in all 35 games during the 2023-24 season, Zapernick and Timofei Spitserov. Zapernick has also played in all 18 contests this season.
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
