UVM "walks" back to Chestnut Hill

Your superiors didn't expect to see the Vermont Catamounts in the first round of the Hockey East playoffs, but that's exactly what awaits America's Team starting this Thursday. For Boston College, hosting a first round opponent is business as usual. For UVM, it's a chance to duel with collar-ups in their first year as a member of Hockey East.

Members of the maroon and gold glitterati may be confounded about the University of Vermont. It seems like just yesterday when the people you wish you were found ourselves chortling at a bizarre sexual hazing incident in 1999 at UVM that shook the college hockey world to its foundation.


For the second time since January, UVM's hockey squad will make the slow crawl down Interstate 89 to Chestnut Hill.

Since Vermont is new to Hockey East, BC fans may not know the Universitas Virdis Mondis from a cheap glass of "virdis vinun". The Vermont Catamounts started playing hockey in 1963, until this year, in the ECAC. Since their inception, they have made the NCAA tournament just three times and made their lone Frozen Four appearance in 1996. Like their neighbors to the east in New Hampshire, UVM is a rural school of besotted bumpkins who appreciate a mediocre hockey team and have a penchant for playing "spin the bottle" at family reunions.


The University of Vermont brings a long tradition of 'teamwork' and a 'friends to the end' attitude to their first trip to the Hockey East playoffs.

On the ice, UVM is led by Joe Fallon, a sophomore goaltender who, although hailing from Bemidji, Minnesota, wasn't good enough to earn an instate scholarship. Offensively, forward Jeff Corey leads the Catamount attack with just 15 total goals. Though defensively they appear competent, Vermont is a team that scores less than an unsightly U.Mass-Lowell student at a sorority party.


By earning a return trip to Boston, visitors from Vermont will once again enjoy some of the many world class restaurants the city has to offer.

Like America's Team, UVM started hot and fizzled down the stretch. Both the Eagles and Catamounts found themselves in the nation's top 5 when they last met, but this time, both are out of the top ten. As a matter of fact, this series is crucial if BC has plans of attending the NCAA tournament later this month.

Although BC is far from the hottest team in the Hockey East tournament, the sight of the defending conference champion Eagles will still make UVM feel as uneasy as when former Catamount Corey LaTulippe sees a hot dog with a hair on it.


In case Vermonters want to stay in their hotels and not venture out during their visit, most Boston hotels offer hundreds of popular and obscure movies on demand.

Some would say that a BC vs. UVM series may actually be contested. Though the school that rejected you gave the Hockey East regular season crown away faster than the time it takes for a BU hockey coach to polish off a Rob Roy, the Eagles have already beaten UVM three times this year. Despite the rash of "Phish" bumper stickers than will likely be seen in the parking lots this week, it doesn't take a memory of an elephant to know BC is still the defending champions and won't go down easily.

Collar Up.