Hockey Set To Open Postseason Hosting Best-Of-Three Series Vs. Vermont

University of Massachusetts Hockey Game Notes
Games 35-36 (37 if neccessary)	#8 Seed Massachusetts Minutemen (15-17-2, 9-13-2 HEA) vs. #9 Seed Vermont Catamounts (9-18-7, 6-12-6 HEA)
Dates \| Times	Thursday March 1, 2018 / Friday March 2, 2018 / Sunday March 4, 2018 (if necessary) \| 7 p.m. / 7 p.m. / 3 p.m.
Location	Amherst, Mass. - Mullins Center (8,373)
Series History	Vermont leads 43-21-8
Live Statistics	Sidearm
Watch Live	HockeyEastOnline.TV ($)
Listen (Radio)	WHMP AM 1400/1240 FM 96.9/107.5
Listen (Online)	WHMP Streaming Player \| TuneIn App (mobile devices)
Game Notes	Massachusetts \| Vermont
Team Records	Massachusetts \| Vermont
Twitter	@UMassHockey \| @UMassAthletics \| @UVMmhockey
Instagram	UMass Hockey \| UMass Athletics
Tickets	Friday \| Saturday \| Sunday
Game Promotions	None

Quick Hits: UMass Blanks No. 7 Providence On Senior Night, 1-0
- Freshman Matt Murray's record-breaking fourth shutout of the season helped UMass knock off No. 7 Providence, 1-0 on Senior Night at the Mullins Center last Saturday.
With the win, the Minutemen improved to 15-17-2 overall and ended the regular season at 9-13-2 in Hockey East to wrap up the No. 8 seed in the Hockey East Tournament.
- The only tally of the night came early in the first period. Sophomore Niko Hildenbrand caught an outlet pass from redshirt sophomore Josh Couturier and brought it hard to the net where freshman Austin Albrecht was on the doorstep to put it away 4:57 into the stanza. It marked Albrecht's second goal in consecutive games and his third of the season.
- It proved to be all the offense UMass needed as Murray stopped all 31 shots he faced in net for the Minutemen to log his school record fourth shutout of the year, breaking the previous single season mark set by Jonathan Quick in 2006-07 and Markus Helanen in 2000-01. Hayden Hawkey had 21 saves for the Friars.
-nUMass held Providence to a 0-for-4 night on the power play and went 0-for-2 with the man advantage. The Friars out-shot UMass 31-22 on the evening, while the Minutemen won 32 of 58 (55.2%) faceoffs, led by freshmen Jake Gaudet (13-for-12, 61.9%) and George Mika (7-for-11, 63.6%).

UMass In The Hockey East Tournament
- As the No. 8 seed, UMass is hosting a playoff series for the first time since 2007, squaring off against No. 9 seed Vermont at the Mullins Center in a best-of-three Hockey East Opening Round matchup this Thursday, March 1 (7 p.m.), Friday, March 2 (7 p.m.), and Sunday, March 4 (3 p.m.), if necessary.
- UMass is 4-0 all-time in postseason games at the Mullins Center, with 3-2 and 5-2 wins as the No. 4 seed, hosting No. 5 seed Maine in 2007 and 6-3 and 3-1 victories as the No. 3 seed, hosting No. 6 seed UMass Lowell in 2004.
- The Minutemen are 2-7 all-time in the opening round with a 10-33 overall record in the Hockey East Tournament. UMass last won a postseason series in 2007, vs. Maine, in the Hockey East Quarterfinals.

Murray's Hockey East Honors
- Freshman goaltender Matt Murray was tabbed the Hockey East Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Week on Jan. 22, marking the first career honor for the St. Albert, Alberta native, and the fourth different Minuteman rookie to earn the award this season as Murray joined previous honorees John Leonard (10/16), Oliver Chau (10/30) and Cale Makar (1/15).
- Murray picked up second shutout of the year on Jan. 19 at the Mullins Center, stopping all 29 shots he faced in a 3-0 win over No. 8/9 Northeastern and was named the game's No. 2 star. It was the first time the Huskies had been shut out this season. Murray made a total of 57 saves over the two games against Northeastern.
- On Feb 12, Murray was honored as the Hockey East Player of the Week after he started all three games in net for the Minutemen in a 2-0-1 week, which included a 5-2 win over Merrimack, a 3-3 tie at Boston University and a 3-0 shutout of UMass Lowell. The St. Albert, Alberta native posted a 1.63 goals-against average and a .952 save percentage, making a total of 99 saves over the three contests.
- Murray totaled 38 saves as the Minutemen came from down two goals to tie the Terriers on the road and followed up the next night with a 30-save shutout over the River Hawks.
- Murray picked up his third different Hockey East weekly award this season on Feb. 26 when he was selected as the Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week.
- Last week Murray helped UMass secure home ice in a postseason series for the first time since 2007 by going 2-0-0 in net with a 1.01 goals-against average and a .965 save percentage over the two starts, making a total of 55 saves. He stopped 24 shots in a 3-2 road victory at UConn last Thursday that snapped a seven-game winning streak for the Huskies.
- Murray followed up with his fourth shutout of the season to set a new UMass single-season record, totaling 31 saves in a 1-0 win over No. 7 Providence and was named the game's No. 1 star. The St. Albert, Alberta native broke the program's shutout record previously set by Jonathan Quick in 2006-07 and Markus Helanen in 2000-01.
- On the year, Murray currently holds a 2.72 goals-against average and a .913 save percentage over 22 games, a total of 1,236 minutes of play.

Makar Honored By Hockey East
- Freshman defenseman Cale Makar was selected as the Pro Ambitions Hockey East Rookie of the Week on Jan. 15, marking the first career award for Makar and the fourth time a member of the Minutemen has received a weekly honor this season.
- Makar brought his hot scoring touch back from his gold medal run with Team Canada at the IIHF World Championship, potting goals in each of his first two games back with the Minutemen to help UMass to a three-point weekend (1-0-1) on the road at Vermont.
- The Calgary, Alberta, native logged three points on two goals and an assist over the two games and was +2 with four blocks and a team-high 12 shots on goal.
- Makar opened game one against the Catamounts, a 2-2 tie, with his second tally of the season, which was his first career power-play goal. He followed up with his second career multi-point game in the Saturday matchup with two more special teams' points, assisting the game-opening shorthanded goal for the Minutemen and scoring a shorthanded empty net goal to put UMass up by two in the closing minutes of the 6-3 win.
- Makar was tabbed the No. 2 star of the game in the victory over UVM and is currently fifth in scoring for the Minutemen on the season with 18 points (4g, 14a) in 29 games and a is second on the team with a +8 rating.

Medal Collectors
- Freshman defenseman Cale Makar became the second Minuteman in program history to win gold at the IIHF World Junior Championship when Team Canada defeated Sweden, 3-1 in the Gold Medal Game on Jan. 5 in Buffalo, New York. The Calgary, Alberta native joined former UMass forward Stephen Werner (2002-06), who won a Gold Medal with Team USA in 2004.
- Makar finished the tournament with three goals and five assists for eight points and was +5 over seven games. He led all defensemen in scoring at the World Junior Championship and was the lone Canadian player to be named to the World Junior Media All-Star team. Following Canada's semifinal win over the Czech Republic, Makar was tabbed one of Team Canada's three Players of the Tournament, as voted by Canada's coaching staff, as well.
- UMass equipment manager Josh Penn also took home a medal from the WJC has he was on staff with Team USA, which earned bronze in the tournament.

Going Streaking
- With a pair of assists on the power play at #19 Union on Dec. 10, freshman Mitchell Chaffee capped a seven-game point streak, the longest streak for a member of the Minutemen since the 2014-15 season.
- During the seven-game stretch, Chaffee posted nine (4g, 3a) of his 14 points on the season and a +8 rating. It also included a three-game goal scoring streak (Nov. 24 to Dec. 1).
- Chaffee's game-tying tally at Boston University on Feb. 9 marked his 12^th goal of the year, matching the most by a UMass freshman since Michael Pereira in 2010-11 and ties the third-most goals by a freshman in the program's Hockey East Era, trailing only Stephen Werner (16 in 2002-03) and PJ Fenton (13 in 2004-05).
- Chaffee is currently third on the team in scoring with 21 points through 34 games on a team-high 12 goals to go along with nine assists. He ranks ninth in Hockey East in freshman scoring (21 points). He is tied for fifth nationally in goals among freshmen.
- Niko Hildenbrand's assist at Maine on Jan. 16 capped five-game point streak for the sophomore, a career best. Seventy six percent of his points this season have come in the 2018 calendar year (5g, 8a in 16 GP).

Top Of The Class
- As a team, UMass leads the nation in freshmen scoring in goals (55), assists (89), points (144), power-play goals (15), goals per-game (1.62), assists per-game (2.62) and points per-game (4.24).
- The Minutemen are 33 points and 15 goals ahead of Bowling Green (111) and Boston University (40) for the national lead in those categories.
- UMass' 55 goals are the most by a freshman class in the program's Hockey East era and second all-time to the 1993-94 freshman class' 162 goals. This current crop of freshmen second all-time in program history in assists and points, as well.

Chau Chipping In
- Jump-started by a four-point weekend against Merrimack that earned him Hockey East Rookie of the Week recognition back in October, freshman Oliver Chau is currently second for UMass in scoring with 22 points on the season on eight goals and 14 assists.
- On Oct. 28 on the road at Merrimack, Chau posted a three-point effort with a goal and two assists for a new season high and third multi-point game of the season. He logged his first career multi-goal game with a pair of tallies in UMass' 6-3 win over Quinnipiac on Nov. 25.
- In Hockey East, Chau is tied for seventh in freshmen scoring with 22 points.

Wischow Earns Player Of The Week Honor From Hockey East
- Sophomore goaltender Ryan Wischow was named the Hockey East Player of the Week on Nov. 27 after leading UMass to a weekend sweep of Quinnipiac. It marked Wischow's first weekly honor of his career.
- Wischow, who was the first UMass neminder to garner Player of the Week recognition since Jonathan Quick did so in 2007, posted a pair of wins as the Minutemen swept a weekend series against the Bobcats. He logged a 2.00 goals-against average and a .952 save percentage over the two contests, making a total of 79 saves.
- Wischow stopped 47 shots in UMass' 6-3 win over the Bobcats in the Saturday contest after opening the weekend with 32 saves in a 2-1 win on the road at Quinnipiac.
- Wischow's performance against Quinnipiac capped a stellar month of November for the netminder, which saw him go 3-0-0 over four games with a 1.93 goals-against average and a .947 save percentage, making 126 saves.

Stellar Homecoming For Leonard
- After stealing the headlines following a three-point effort in his first game at the Mullins Center, Amherst native John Leonard was named the Hockey East Rookie of the Week and the UMass Student-Athlete of the Week on Oct. 16.
- Leonard helped UMass to a 2-0-0 weekend with the first two multi-point games of his career.
- He registered two goals and three assists over the two contests for a five-point week, starting the weekend with a pair of helpers in a 5-4 win at Union. He followed up with a three-point night against AIC, factoring in all three of the Minutemen's goals with two goals and an assist, including his second game winner of the season.
- Leonard earned his second Hockey East Rookie of the Week accolade of the season on Feb. 12 after leading the Minutemen in scoring with four points (2g, 2a) over three games in a 2-0-1 week against league foes Merrimack, BU and UMass Lowell.
- He currently ranks ninth nationally among freshmen in points-per game (0.82) and has a team-leading 23 points on 10 goals and 13 assists thus far this season. Leonard is tied for fourth in Hockey East in freshman scoring.

A Baker's Dozen
- With 13 freshmen on the roster, UMass has the largest freshman class in all of Division I hockey this season. Air Force and Alaska Anchorage follow, each with 12 freshmen.
- The class is comprised of eight forwards, three defensemen and two goaltenders. The group hails from three different countries with five from the United States, seven from Canada and one from Finland. Amherst native John Leonard is the closest to home, while Eetu Torpström, at 3,962 miles from Kuopio, Finland, is the furthest.

League Imports
- Though new to the Minutemen, two additions to the UMass roster for 2017-18 are not only veterans of college hockey, but of Hockey East.
- Redshirt sophomore Josh Couturier, who sat out last season per NCAA transfer rules, suited up for the Maroon and White for the first time this past fall. As a freshman at Boston College in 2015-16, Couturier saw action in 33 games and contributed six points for the Eagles on two goals and four assists. He passed his freshman year total of six points 14 games into the season and currently has two goals and 12 assists on the year through 34 games.
- In the offseason, UMass also added graduate transfer Niko Rufo to its 2017-18 roster, eligible to play immediately. Rufo, a forward from Stoneham, joined the Minutemen from Providence College and is in his final year of collegiate eligibility.
- At Providence, Rufo tallied 10 points on four goals and six assists in 56 games over four seasons, with a career-high 18 games played in both 2015-16 and 2016-17. He appeared in 11 games during the Friars' national championship season in 2014-15.
- Rufo equaled his season career high in a Friars' uniform (2g, 2a in 19 games in 2016-17) in just the third game of the season for the Minutemen. He is seventh on the team in scoring currently with 15 points on eight goals and seven assists, having surpassed his career points (10) and goals totals (4) from Providence in just 13 games.

Firsts On Firsts On Firsts
- In UMass' season opening weekend at Arizona State all 13 freshmen dressed for at least one of the two contests with 12 seeing their first collegiate action.
- Six freshmen collected their first collegiate points in the season opener at Arizona State: Austin Albrecht (assist), Marco Bozzo (goal), Mitchell Chaffee (goal), Mario Ferraro (assist), John Leonard (assist) and Cale Makar (assist).
- Redshirt sophomore Josh Couturier assisted on the squad's final tally in game one for his first point in a UMass uniform.
- On night two at Arizona State, freshmen provided two of the four goals for the Minutemen, with Jake Gaudet opening the scoring with his first of his career and John Leonard collecting the game-winner for his first career tally.
- Freshman Oliver Chau notched an assist in game two for his first career point and redshirt senior Niko Rufo logged a goal and an assist at Arizona State on Oct. 7 for his first career multi-point game.
- Freshman Matt Murray made his collegiate debut in net at Arizona State on Oct. 7 and earned his first career win. He collected his first collegiate shutout on Oct. 27 vs. Merrimack.
- Chau picked up his first collegiate goal early in the second period at Union on Oct. 13 and George Mika netted his on the power play midway through the third. To date, 55 of 89 UMass goals on the season have been scored by freshmen, including 45 of the last 72 goals.
- Freshman Philip Lagunov's assist on Niko Rufo's goal at Union on Oct. 13 marked his first collegiate point. He scored his first collegiate goal on Jan. 6 at UMass Lowell on the power play.
- In UMass' weekend series against Merrimack on Oct. 27-28, three rookie defensemen, Makar, Eetu Torpström and Ferraro registered their first collegiate goals, while Couturier picked up his first as a member of the Minutemen.
- Albrecht scored the game winner against #8/7 Providence for the Minutemen on Nov. 9 for his first career tally.
- Gaudet picked up his first three assists of his career in back-to-back nights of UMass' sweep of Quinnipiac (11/24-25).
- Junior Brett Boeing scored his first in a UMass uniform on Dec. 5 at UConn.

History Made At The 2017 NHL Draft
- It was a historic weekend for UMass at the 2017 NHL Draft as the Minutemen saw incoming freshmen Cale Makar and Mario Ferraro become the two highest draft picks in program history. Makar was selected No. 4 overall by the Colorado Avalanche and Ferraro was taken 49th overall by the San Jose Sharks.
- Makar became the first Minuteman to be selected in the first round. His No. 4 selection tied for fourth all-time in Hockey East history, as well. Prior to the 2017 NHL Draft, current Anaheim Ducks defenseman Brandon Montour had been UMass' highest draft pick going in the second round, 55th overall, to the Ducks in 2014.
- Makar amassed 135 career points on 35 goals and 100 assists over 111 regular season contests with the Brooks Bandits over the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) and added 37 points (9g, 28a) in 46 career postseason games with AJHL titles with Brooks in 2016 and 2017. His laundry list of honors includes: 2016-17 AJHL Top Defenceman, 2016-17 AJHL Most Valuable Player, 2016-17 AJHL Playoff MVP, 2016-17 AJHL All-League Team, 2016-17 Western Canada Cup Top Defenceman and All-Tournament Team, 2016-17 RBC Cup Top Defenceman and Most Valuable Player (the first player to ever be named RBC Cup MVP in back-to-back seasons), 2016-17 CJHL Most Valuable Player and 2016-17 RBC National Junior A Player of the Year.
- Ferraro played his final season of junior hockey in the United States Hockey League (USHL) with the Des Moines Buccaneers and totaled 41 points on eight goals and 33 assists over 60 regular season contests. He garnered USHL First All-Star Team and USHL All-Rookie Team accolades after tying for first among USHL defensemen in goals and ranking second in points and assists.

Minding The Net
- Ryan Wischow is the lone returning goaltender for the Minutemen, but brings a wealth of experience into his sophomore season after seeing nearly 70% of the time in net for UMass in 2016-17.
- As a freshman, Wischow played in 27 games, starting 26 of those, for a total of 1461 minutes and logged 700 saves.
- The Green Bay, Wisconsin, native recorded a 31-save shutout in his collegiate debut against Colorado College on Oct. 7, 2016 to become the first goaltender in UMass' Division I history to post a shutout in his career debut.
- On December 13, 2016, Wischow made a career high 52 saves at Princeton, the most saves for a UMass goaltender in a regulation game since 2001.

Scoreboard

Hockey Set To Open Postseason Hosting Best-Of-Three Series Vs. Vermont

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Players Mentioned

Austin Albrecht

Brett Boeing

Marco Bozzo

Mitchell Chaffee

Oliver Chau

Josh Couturier

Mario Ferraro

Jake Gaudet

Niko Hildenbrand

Philip Lagunov

John Leonard

Cale Makar

George Mika

Matt Murray

Niko Rufo

Ryan Wischow

Scoreboard

University of Massachusets Athletics