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Vermont (10-13-3, 5-8-2 HEA) continues the stretch run in Hockey East as they travel to Lawler Rink for a two-game set against Merrimack (12-15-1, 8-9-1 HEA) this weekend. The teams will faceoff at 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday night and the action will air live on ESPN+. As always it will also be broadcast on WVMT with the voice of the Catamounts Adam LaFleur in the Handy Toyota Broadcast Booth.
 
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SPITSEROV HEATING UP

• Senior forward Timofei Spitserov now leads the Catamounts in scoring with 10 goals this season.
• He has four goals over the last three games for Vermont. Last weekend at UMass Lowell he posted his second career two-goal game in UVM's 5-3 win.
• UVM is 6-0-1 this season when Spitserov scores.

ROAD WARRIORS

• The Catamounts 5-3 road win at No. 9 UMass Lowell last weekend was their seventh road win of the season.
• The seven road wins are the most by UVM since the 2017-18 campaign.

SHOOT TO SCORE

• The Catamounts are shooting at a 11.6% clip this season which is tied for sixth in the NCAA. Only Boston University (12.5%) is scoring on a higher percentage of their shots in Hockey East.
• UVM is averaging 3.15 goals per game which would be their highest output since the 2016-17 campaign.

PAIRWISE OR HOCKEY EAST STANDINGS

• Entering this weekend's action six of the top-11 teams in the Pairwise are from Hockey East.
• Five of the Catamounts remaining seven regular season games will be against the top-ten by the Pairwise (No. 1 Boston College (2x), No. 4 Maine (2x), No. 8 UConn (1x), No. 6 Boston University (1x))
• Vermont is currently 26th in the Pairwise. Five of their 10 wins have come against teams currently ranked in the top-18 of the Pairwise.
• Merrimack enters the weekend 20th in the Pairwise.

JAX HAS A JANUARY TO REMEMBER

• First year defenseman Jax Wismer was the Catamounts' top scorer in the month of January with one goal and eight assists for nine points in seven games.
• He has six assists over Vermont's last five games.

CATAMOUNT FIRST YEARS FEATURED IN HOCKEY EAST MAGAZINE

• Hockey East Graduate Intern Allison Ouellette, a 2024 UVM grad and former intern with the men's hockey program, was recently on campus to interview Head Coach Steve Wiedler, Colin Kessler and Max Strand for the cover story of the third edition of the Hockey East Magazine.
• Read about the Catamounts transformational first year student-athletes at go.uvm.edu/heamag

KESSLER AND STRAND NAMED HOBEY BAKER NOMINEES

• First year forwards Colin Kessler and Max Strand were named as Vermont's nominees for the 2025 Hobey Baker Memorial Award.
• Strand (7 Gl, 13 Ast) leads the team lead in scoring with 20 points this season.
• Strand is the first Vermont rookie to reach 20 points since Alex Esposito during the 2017-18 campaign.
• Kessler is second on the team in scoring with nine goals and 10 assists for 19 points.
• Strand became the first men's player at Vermont to be named National Rookie of the Month in December.
• No rookie in the country had more points in December than Strand, who recorded a point in each of the Catamount's six games.
• Fan voting for the Hobey Baker runs through March 9. Fans can vote for Strand and Kessler once a day at go.uvm.edu/vote25.

SCOUTING THE WARRIORS

• Merrimack enters the weekend's action in sixth place in Hockey East with 25 points in 18 games. The Catamounts trail the Warriors by six points.
• Last weekend the Warriors topped two ranked opponents knocking off No. 8 Boston University 2-1 in overtime before traveling to No. 18 UNH for a 5-4 win Saturday.
• First year forward Hunter Wallace was named Hockey East Rookie of the Week after scoring twice in the Merrimack win, just his third career game, at UNH.
• Sophomore defenseman Zach Bookman was named Hockey East Defender of the Week for the Warriors. He had three assists on the weekend including the primary assist on both game-winning tallies.
• Sophomore goaltender Max Lundgren was the HEA Goaltender of the Week with a .915 save percentage over the weekend.
• Vermont holds a 21-24-8 all-time record against Merrimack, including a 7-13-5 mark on the road.
• Last season the teams split a two-game series at the Gut Feb. 16-17, 2024. Merrimack topped UVM 5-2 on Friday night fueled by four second period goals. The Catamounts responded with a 4-1 win on Saturday with three second period goals of their own.

 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. Zapernick has also played in all 26 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