MEN'S HOCKEY NOTEBOOK
The Vermont (13-17-3) men's hockey team will close out the regular season with a Saturday matinee as they face #2 Boston University (23-8-2) at 4 p.m. from Agganis Arena. 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.
 
RELATED LINKS
Watch Live on ESPN+
International Broadcast ($)
Listen Live: WVMT
Live Stats
 
CATAMOUNTS TO FACE UCONN IN HEA OPENING ROUND WEDNESDAY
Following UVM's 5-1 defeat at UConn Thursday night the Catamounts are locked in as the nine-seed for the upcoming 2024 Hockey East Tournament. Vermont will return to Storrs on Wednesday, March 13 for a 7 p.m. puck drop with the eight-seed.
 
It will be the second time the Catamounts have faced the Huskies in the Hockey East Opening Round. In March of 2016 Vermont swept a best-of-three series with the Huskies with 2-1 and 4-3 wins at the XL Center in downtown Hartford. Six different goal scorers found the back of the net for UVM.
 
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. Over the last 16 games he has posted six goals and eight assists for 14 points. 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 TERRIERS
Boston University is locked into the two-seed in Hockey East and enters Saturday's contest on a four-game winning streak. On Thursday night, the Terriers topped #10 Providence 4-2 on the road. Boston University has scored five or more goals in three of their last four contests.
 
On Thursday with two goals and an assist first year forward Macklin Celebrini became the first Terrier to record 50 points in a season since Jack Eichel (71 points) and two others all achieved that feat during the 2014-15 season. Against the Catamounts in January he had three goals.
 
Graduate defenseman Cade Webber, who's rights were traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday, set a single-season NCAA record for blocks in a season on Thursday. He blocked seven shots at Schneider Arena for a running total of 114 this year.

SERIES HISTORY
Vermont is 24-60-10 all-time against the Terriers. Boston University has won six straight in the series, Vermont's last win came in January of 2022 as William Lemay notched his first career game-winning goal in overtime to defeat the Terriers 2-1 on Jan. 21. It was the first time in program history UVM defeated Boston University in overtime.
 
In March of 2023 the Terriers ended the Catamounts season in the Hockey East Quarterfinals with a 7-3 win at Agganis Arena. BU scored three goals in the opening 8:49 of the first period to seize control of the contest. Gabe Carriere made 43 saves between the pipes for Vermont, the second-highest total in his career. It was the Catamounts first quarterfinal appearance since 2017.
 
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