Vermont Catamounts

Events

Sponsored by Comcast

Upcoming Events
Nov 25 Women's Hockey at Northeastern + Live Stats Live Video 3:00pm
Nov 25 Women's Basketball DARTMOUTH Live Stats Live Video Live audio 7:00pm
Nov 27 Men's Basketball at Drexel (Legends Classic) Live audio 4:30pm
Nov 27 Men's Hockey at Northeastern + 7:00pm
Nov 28 Men's Basketball at Cornell (Legends Classic at Drexel) Live audio 2:00pm
Nov 28 Women's Hockey DARTMOUTH (Radio: WVMT-620 AM) 7:00pm
Nov 29 Men's Basketball at Toledo (Legends Classic at Drexel) Live audio 12:00pm

The University of Vermont Catamounts

Men's Hockey

Skip Main Content Area

Milo's Blog

Junior forward Justin Milo is the Catamounts blogger for the 2009-10 season. Milo is Vermont's top returning goal scorer and he also spent the summer playing professional baseball in the New York Yankees organization.

November 19, 2009
It was an interesting weekend for the team and myself. In the first game against Boston College we got beaten badly. It was a close game in the first period, but after they scored their second goal to go up 2-1 with less than a minute remaining in the period, it all came crashing down. They kept scoring and we could do nothing to stop them. The final score was 7-1.

But luckily for us, it was the first of two games on the weekend, and we had another game to answer the bell. As long as I have been at UVM we have had one tough loss like this a year. It's hard to swallow, but you have to move on.

We went over the game tape in the hotel, which lasted about two minutes due to the fact we did so little right. However, Coach Sneddon was positive and made sure the game was behind us for good. The second game was a complete turn around. We played with urgency and stuck with our game plan. I was extremely happy we came out and played the way we did, and know we can in a 3-2 victory.

Although it was a solid game for the team as a whole on Sunday, it still was a pretty tough night for me. Things were not going my way early in the game and I was getting frustrated. I was not making plays with the puck, and the heat in the rink was getting to me. I wouldn't be surprised if it was 60 degrees at Kelley Rink and our equipment felt heavy.

Things sort of snowballed and my frustration was working against me. In the third period, I caught a pass in our end of the ice and got lit up by a body check. It kind of knocked the frustration out of me. When I got to the bench I put my stick and gloves down, took a deep breath and clapped my hands, and got back in the present state of mind, a technique we were taught by our team psychologist, Brian Cain. He always talks about red lights and green lights. When we get frustrated, that's a red light situation and worrying about things just becomes counterproductive. I used this technique as a reminder and was able to refocus on green lights to regain a positive approach.

Then we got a chance to go on the power play in the third period and I finally buried one. It felt great. It felt great to score in front of my dad and friends, and in the building where an idol of mine, Joe Mullen, played his college hockey. Mullen is the reason I wear the No. 7. My dad played against him growing up in New York City, and he was the first American-born player to score 500 goals, and I was fortunate enough to play with his son at the junior hockey level, and got to know the hall of famer. It also felt good that I was able to make something positive out of the game after having battled through a long and tough first two periods.

Boston College is always a tough team, and for us to win that second game and win the regular season series is huge. Weekends like these are tests for our team, and add to the experience level of our young guys. We don't have any games this weekend, but need to continue to get better in practice so we are ready to play UMass, the current leader in the Hockey East standings, next Tuesday.

Thanks for following the blog and more importantly sticking with our team. We have the best fans in college hockey!

Justin Milo #7

November 12, 2009
I think it is fair to say it was a pretty successful weekend for our team. Playing two different teams in a weekend is unusual, not to mention UMass-Lowell and Providence are two hot teams. We did exactly what I mentioned in my last post, play aggressive and with no fear of making mistakes. It proved to work for us. Any time you come away with three or four points in this league you have to feel good.

Lowell was ranked eighth coming into this past weekend, and has a skilled, veteran team. Their style of play is fast and physical. They like to move the puck quickly out of their zone, dump it into ours and go hit. We did a good job of disrupting their game plan. I feel like we outplayed them, and if it was not for some penalties, we could have won the game. We heavily out shot them and had Lowell on their heals for long periods of time. Most importantly, we stayed positive and showed poise coming from behind against a tough team. The feeling in the locker room during the game was great; there was a lot of excitement and positive emotion, something that we seemed to be lacking the last couple weekends.

The Providence game started slowly, but we turned it around and played better each period. Someone could look at the box score, see the shots and think they outplayed us, but the shots were misleading. Instead of dumping the puck into the corners like most teams do, they throw everything on net, which count as shots but not dangerous opportunities. Furthermore, every game we have 10 categories for success that we strive to achieve, and against Providence we achieved eight out of 10.

We certainly did not give up any soft goals against Providence. Mike Spillane, who made his season debut, got his first career shutout. He made 33 saves, which earned him Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week. I don't have to mention that freshman Anders Franzon had to make a save to preserve the shutout when a shot took Spillane out of the net and Franzon slid and stopped the rebound. It was a real team effort and that play is a perfect example.

Tuesday we did a lot of "flow" drills to get the rust off and work on our skills. This week we will continue to work on our power play and penalty kill, and prepare for Boston College this coming weekend. It was nice to get back on track this past weekend and we want to continue that strong play against BC. It is too early to be watching the standings, but in order to be toward the top we have to be at our best every game. It should be an exciting weekend, BC is always a tough opponent plus my dad and a bunch of family friends are coming. It is always nice to see familiar faces on the road.

The team is excited about playing at a high level and I hope our fans are excited too. Thanks again for your support; we have the best fans in college hockey!

Justin Milo #7

November 6, 2009
Well, I finally got cleared to play this weekend. It has been five long weeks of sitting out and watching, but I'm finally back. I have been skating this week and it feels great to get back out there with my teammates again. I can't wait to be in a game again and to help the team get out of this little skid.

The team was really positive this week and that was great to see. Coach Sneddon talked to us on Monday and basically told us to relax and trust ourselves. There was a feeling like someone hit the panic button and we were falling apart. Like I said in the last post, every team hits bumps along the road, it is about how we respond. Losing two games in a row is not the end of the world. Coach told us he still believes we have a great team, and we have to let it out.

Often times in hockey the problem is not a lack of intensity, but slowing the game down in your head in order to make plays. Sometimes the game seems to go so fast and rushed plays end up as mistakes. On top of that, being afraid to make mistakes forces one to "squeeze the stick," which in turn creates even more mistakes. Coach really emphasized to us not being afraid to make mistakes. Against Denver, knowing it was our first two games; we simplified the game and were not afraid to make mistakes. Coach encouraged us to make aggressive mistakes. It turned out to work for us considering we played pretty darn well. That is what we need to go back to.

We worked on the power play and penalty kill this week like we always do, and we watched video of UMass-Lowell's style of play, but the key is to transfer it over to the game. It is easier said than done, but we need to just go out there and play. We have to remember it is a game and we need to enjoy ourselves.

It is slightly different playing a game on Friday and Sunday, but it is nice to have two games on the weekend. It is important to take one game at a time and not look ahead. Both games are against league opponents and that is always important for the standings. We also need to make a statement starting this weekend that we are a team you are not going to want to face.

There are a few lineup changes this weekend that hopefully will spark the team. Vermont native Brett Leonard will be playing for the first time in over a year. I'm really happy for him. He works his butt off every single day on the ice and in the weight room, makes his teammates better, and he really deserves to be playing in this game. It should be a great weekend for college hockey. Hopefully we can put on a good show for our fans.

Thanks again for your support; we have the best fans in college hockey!

Justin Milo #7

October 30, 2009
This was an exciting week for me. I continued to show progress with my foot and I'm able to do more sport specific activity. Playing baseball all summer and then having this set back has really increased my excitement and appreciation for hockey. I've been fortunate to have just a few injuries in my life, and this one has really tested my patience. I realized how much I love hockey and the camaraderie that comes with being on a team.

It was a long bus trip to Maine, but a fun one. I did not travel to Merrimack last weekend and it felt great to be part of the routine again. Bus trips bring us together as a team; it is like a family road trip with 25 guys watching movies and joking around. But at the same time we know we are here for business. We need to bounce back from last weekend's loss and prove once again that we are one of the best teams in the country. Maine has a great college hockey atmosphere; the boys should be fired up to play. There really isn't anything better than going into another school's rink and getting a win.

Each day of practice got better and better as the week went on. It seemed like we had lost some confidence at first, but we worked out the kinks and had our best practice on Thursday. Hopefully that will transfer over to the game. This week we did a lot of battling and special teams work. We did not pay the price to win last weekend and we needed a reminder about how hard we need to play in every game.

There were no passed up body checks in this highly intense week. Usually we work on power play and penalty kill once or twice a week, but this week we worked on them everyday. It is extremely important to have strong special teams. It seemed like we were getting better each game until Merrimack, but every team hits a few bumps along the road and it's all about how we respond.

Maine is a tough place to play, but I think the guys will be ready to go. Two roommates of mine, Mike Spillane and Jay Anctil, will be making their season debuts. Both guys bring experience to our lineup and I know they will be excited to play. It should be a great game and hopefully we can come home with two more league points under our belt.

Thanks again for your support; we have the best fans in college hockey!

Justin Milo #7

October 20, 2009
Another big win for the Cats! Playing against perennial powerhouse Boston College on ESPNU the stage was set for a big game, and it feels great to have come out on top. Sometimes wins are not always pretty and coming away with the 'W' is the most important thing. I think that was the case for us in Sunday night's game.

Boston College came out firing on all cylinders in the first period, and really put us on our heels. It seemed like the ice was tilted toward our defensive end and they ended up burying the first goal. However, from that point on we should some signs of a tough, mature team. We weathered their storm and played better and better as the game wore on.

Although I think we took a few too many penalties, they were aggressive penalties that occur when you are playing hard and fast. On top of that, our penalty kill did a great job. For a team like Boston College, who has many skilled players and thrives on the power play, we really kept them to the perimeter and blocked a lot of shots. They say the most important penalty killer is the goalie, and Rob Madore proved that to be right. A spectator kind of forgets about the other team's scoring chances when they do not go in, but Rob had to make some pretty spectacular saves to keep us in the game and to preserve the win.

It was nice to see the power play put in a goal as well. Jack Downing made an excellent pass to the back door and Brian Roloff had a nice finish. I was real happy for Chris McCarthy who made his college debut and had a goal and an assist to earn Hockey East Rookie of the Week honors. I single those guys out, but once again it was a team effort. We had very timely scoring, another sign of a mature team, that proved too much for Boston College.

Yesterday was a restful day off, and it feels good knowing we deserved it. But once again, we have to get back at it and have another solid week of practice. For me, I'm still rehabbing and getting stronger everyday. As happy as I am for the team's success, it is hard sitting out, and I can't wait to get back out there and help the team.

We play a tough Merrimack College team this coming Friday. Every Hockey East game is a battle and in order to stay on top of the standings we need to keep working hard and getting better everyday.

Thanks again for your support; we have the best fans in college hockey!

Justin Milo #7

October 12, 2009
Well, we just got back from Denver on Sunday night. It was a long day of travelling, but it feels good to be back in Vermont. I would have to say it was a pretty successful weekend overall. Coming off a tough loss to the University of New Brunswick last weekend, we wanted to redeem ourselves and start the regular season off well. We knew facing the Denver Pioneers would not be an easy task; they were the preseason number one team in the country with many highly touted players.

We had a short week of practice leading up to Denver due to flying out on Thursday. We focused on our systems, especially our forecheck, and special teams. Despite not having much rest from our game on Sunday, the guys were chomping at the bit to get on the ice and in the weight room.

My days have been a little different than the rest of the guys on the team. I injured my foot before our exhibition game and have been sitting out. I have been lifting weights with the guys and riding the bike to keep my endurance up, but it sure has been frustrating not being on the ice. My foot has been getting better everyday thanks to our training staff.

Both games this past weekend were extremely exciting. We had a great fan base at the game because of a large alumni following in Colorado. Both teams had a lot of firepower and the score went back and forth.

In the first game, Patrick Cullity scored the first goal of his career and all the boys were really happy for him. He made a rush up the ice, left if for Brayden Irwin, and buried the rebound. He definitely deserved it.

Going into the third period we were up 4-2. It looked like the elevation in Denver got to us and we started making some untypical mistakes. Denver kept coming at us in waves and we were unable to hold on losing 5-4.

The next day we studied the game tape at the hotel and knew what we needed to correct. The second game was a lot better. We really put a full 60 minutes together. Coach Sneddon told us winning that second game and earning the split would feel great. It was a full team effort beating the number one team in the country that second night.

We now know we can play with anyone in the country which is definitely a confidence booster. But like always, we need to forget about the games and move on. We have another tough opponent coming up in Boston College and need to have a solid week of practice.

I look forward to giving everyone an inside look at our team throughout the season. Thanks for your support; we have the best fans in college hockey!

Justin Milo #7

Last modified November 19 2009 12:50 PM

Contact UVM © 2009 The University of Vermont - Burlington, VT 05405 - (802) 656-3131