NON-CONFERENCE SEASON WRAPS UP
Wisconsin (7-5-0) plays its final home series of 2016, and its final non-conference series of the year when Omaha (7-5-2, 3-3-0 NCHC) visits for a Friday-Saturday series. The Badgers and Mavericks meet at 7:30 p.m. CT on Friday and 8 p.m. on Saturday.

Friday's game airs live on ASN (check local listings), while Saturday's game airs on Wisconsin Channel.

SERIES NOTES
This will be the first series between the two teams since March 2013. It will be the second straight weekend in which Wisconsin plays a NCHC opponent, playing Colorado College and Denver last weekend.  

UW and Omaha share two common opponents on their schedule so far this season, Colorado College and Northern Michigan. The Warriors went 1-1-0 against Colorado College and 1-0-1 against Northern Michigan. The Badgers defeated CC in their lone matchup and they went 2-2-0 against NMU.   

The last time Omaha played a Big Ten opponent was last season, sweeping Ohio State in November 2015. 

WISCONSIN-OMAHA CONNECTIONS
UW forward Dan Labosky and Omaha defenseman Jalen Schulz played together on the Tri-City Storm in the USHL during the 2013-14 season.

Wisconsin blue liner Patrick Sexton and UNO forward Riley Alferd played together from 2013-15 on the Penticton Vees in the BCHL. 

Warriors' winger Fredrik Olofsson and Badgers' defenseman Jake Linhart played together on the Green Bay Gamblers from 2012-14 in the USHL. Olofsson also played with UW's Peter Tischke and Jake Bunz from 2013-14 and briefly with Max Zimmer during the 2014-15 season with the Chicago Steel in the USHL. 

UW Associate Head Coach Mark Osieick was an assistant coach at North Dakota for the 1996–97 season when UNO head coach Dean Blais directed the UND program to the 1997 NCAA title. 

LAST MEETING
Wisconsin 6, Omaha 2
March 2, 2013

The Badgers broke the game open with a four-goal second period--a single-period high for Wisconsin that season--to pull away from Omaha for good.

Offensively, the Badgers were led by junior forwards Michael Mersch (two goals, two assists) and Mark Zengerle (one goal, three assists), who each recorded four points a piece in the win. 

For the second time that weekend the Badgers took an early lead as junior forward Tyler Barnes opened the game's scoring with a power-play tally just over three minutes into the contest. The goal also marked the tenth time in 2012-13 that Wisconsin scored first on the road. 

After UNO sophomore forward Josh Archibald tied the score just over 10 minutes later, Omaha had a chance to swing the momentum in its favor near the end of the first period as UW sophomore forward Brendan Woods was given a five-minute major and a game misconduct for a hit from behind, putting the Mavericks on a five-minute power play.

The Badgers re-took the lead just nine seconds after Woods' major expired. Sophomore defenseman Jake McCabe earned the first of his two points on the night by carrying the puck into the UNO zone and bouncing it off the backboards. Omaha senior goalie John Faulkner couldn't handle the bounce and senior Ryan Little was able to tap in the loose puck.

After Little's goal, the offensive floodgates opened for Wisconsin as the Badgers poured in three more goals in the second frame to put Nebraska Omaha firmly in the rearview mirror.

BEHIND THE BENCH
WISCONSIN BADGERS
Head Coach: Tony Granato
Record at WIS: 7-5-0 (1st Year)
Overall: 7-5-0 (1st Year)

OMAHA MAVERICKS
Head Coach: Dean Blais
Record at UNO: 129-116-25 (7th Year)
Overall: 391-231-58 (17th Year)

COLORADO REVIEW
Wisconsin outshot Colorado College, 33-12, and earned a 2-1 victory in Colorado Springs last Friday.

After going down, 1-0, UW scored twice in a 1:24 span of the second period on a power-play goal by Will Johnson, and a score by Grant Besse, to take the lead.
The Badgers were 1-for-3 on the power play, and killed off both its penalties. 

The victory marked the first for UW in Broadmoor World Arena since March 11, 2011. UW had dropped five consecutive games in the building.

The victory marked the 112th win for UW over CC, the most for UW against any opponent.

UW's 12 shots allowed to Colorado College were three shots off the UW record for fewest shots allowed in a game. UW allowed nine shots to UAH on Dec. 27, 2013 for its most recent of two occurrences.

The Badgers lost to No. 2 Denver, 6-5, last Saturday, with DU holding a 45-42 shot edge.

UW scored first, then tied the game at 2-2 early in the second, but fell behind 5-2 by the start of the third period.

Three third-period goals fell one short in an effort to equalize. Besse and Seamus Malone scored power-play goals on a mid-period five-minute major power play to climb within one.

UW went 3-for-7 on the power play against Denver, but allowed two power-play goals on seven chances, with one on a 5-on-3, and the first a second after a 5-on-3 officially ended.

KEY NOTES TO CONSIDER
Wisconsin's seven victories through 12 games shares the second most for UW over the first 12 games of the season dating back to UW's last regular-season conference title when it won the 1999–2000 WCHA. The seven wins are tied with the 2009-10 squad, as well as the 2000–01 team. Only the 2005–06 team's nine victories are better. 

Wisconsin's +8.50 shots per game rank fifth in the country. The Badgers are averaging 33.83 shots per game, which ranks seventh in the nation, and allowing 25.33 shots per contest, which is the nation's eighth lowest total.

The Badgers own 198 all-time wins at the Kohl Center and so sit two victories away from 200 wins in the building. Wisconsin is 198-127-41 in its 19th season inside the Kohl Center. The building opened for the 1998–99 season. 

NON-CON
The Badgers are 7-5-0 against non-conference foes this season. The seven non-conference victories match the program's combined non-conference win total for the last two seasons. The Badgers were 7-13-6 in non-conference play over the last two seasons.

UW's single-season record for non-conference wins since joining a league for the 1969–70 season is 11 when the team went 11-4-1 in non-conference action during the 2013–14 campaign, and 11-2-0 during the 1981–82 season. 

There have been seven seasons in UW history with eight or more non-conference victories.

FAMOUS SEAMUS
Sophomore forward Seamus Malone is one of four Badgers who are averaging at least a point per game through the first 12 games of the season (Grant Besse, Luke Kunin, Trent Frederic). Malone has 13 points through 12 contests.

Malone posted his first career two-goal game last Saturday at No. 2 Denver, scoring the first and last goal of the game.

Malone ranks second on the Badgers in both goals (six) and points (13). 

The undrafted forward has 39 points through his first 47 career games.

NAME GAMES
Sophomore forward Will Johnson, no relation to former Badgers Mark, Peter and Patrick, or former head coach Bob Johnson, scored his first goal since the opening weekend of the season last Friday at Colorado College. The goal came on the power play, giving Johnson three total goals and three power-play tallies on the season. Just one of his six goals last season came on the power play.

LEAGUE LEADERS
Senior forward Grant Besse ranks third in the Big Ten with a 1.36 points-per-game scoring average. Penn State freshman Denis Smirnov leads the Big Ten at 1.69 points per game. Besse is tied for fifth in league scoring with 15 points.

Besse's 10 assists share eighth in the Big Ten.

Sophomore forward Seamus Malone is tied for eighth in the Big Ten with 13 points.

Malone is tied for the Big Ten lead with seven power-play points.

Besse, Luke Kunin, Cameron Hughes and Trent Frederic are tied for fifth with six power-play points.

Frederic, Kunin and Will Johnson are tied for third with three power-play tallies, one off the league leaders.

Sophomore forward Luke Kunin ranks sixth in the Big Ten with seven goals and his 0.58 goals-per-game average. Kunin has six goals in 10 games played. Ohio State's Nick Schilkey leads the Big Ten with a 0.92 goals-per-game average and 12 goals.

Junior Tim Davison's nine points and Jake Linhart's eight points rank sixth and seventh, respectively among Big Ten defensemen.  

Freshman forward Trent Frederic's 10 points have him tied for fourth among Big Ten freshmen in scoring. His 1.25 points per game rank third among rookies.

Freshman goaltender Jack Berry's 1.80 goals-against average has him second in the Big Ten, while his .920 save percentage is good for third.

TOP 10 SPECIAL TEAMS
Wisconsin's 3-for-7 power-play performance last Saturday at No. 2 Denver, along with its 1-for-3 night at Colorado College gave it a 4-for-10 weekend (40 percent) on the power play. UW now ranks fourth in the country with the man advantage at 24.3 percent (18-for-74).

The Badgers have scored 18 of their 40 goals while on the power play.

UW's penalty kill was 7-for-9 on the weekend and ranks eighth in the nation at 88.0 percent (56-for-63).

UW is one of just two schools to boast top-10 programs in both power play and penalty Kill (Michigan).

Omaha, UW's opponent this weekend, leads the nation with a 32.5 percent power play (25-for-77). More than half of UNO's goals (25 of 49), have come on the power play. With four short-handed goals, 29 of UNO's 49 goals have come via special teams.

YOU DON'T KNOW JACK
Freshman goaltender Jack Berry started his Badger career with 144 minutes, 17 seconds of shutout hockey before finally allowing a goal to Merrimack last Friday. That marks the longest shutout streak to start a UW career, more than double Bernd Brückler's 67:59 of shutout hockey to start his career in 2001–02, which is the second longest streak in school history.

Berry's 22-save shutout in UW's game on Nov. 5 against Northern Michigan marked the fourth time a Badger goalie accomplished the feat in his first collegiate start. In addition to Bernd Brückler's 25-save shutout on Oct. 20, 2001 in a 5-0 win over Wayne State in his first start, Jim Carey posted a 22-save shutout on Nov. 1, 1992 in an 11-0 win over Northern Michigan. Wayne Thomas also began his career with a 22-save shutout on Nov. 16, 1968 in an 11-0 win over Pennsylvania. 

CAPTAINS
Sophomore forward Luke Kunin was named team captain, the second sophomore captain in school history. Mike Eaves was a sophomore captain for the 1975–76 season. 

Joining sophomore forward Luke Kunin as alternate captains are senior forward Grant Besse and junior forward Cameron Hughes. Besse served as alternate captain last season, while Hughes filled in at that capacity for a handful of games last year.

BESSE TO 100 
Should senior forward Grant Besse match his point total of 33 from last season, he would become the 74th skater in UW history to reach 100 career points, and would become the first since Tyler Barnes (2010–14) reached the mark with 101 points for his career. He actually needs 31 to reach 100.

With 15 points through 11 games played, Besse currently boasts 35 goals, 49 assists and 84 points in 114 games played.

Besse's 114 games played makes him one of just two Badgers who have played 100 career college games, joining fellow senior forward Jedd Soleway, who has played 105 games. 

BIG TEN PLAY OPENS
While the Badgers still have one more week until opening Big Ten play, four of the league's six teams conference action this weekend as No. 20/RV Michigan visits No. 6/7 Penn State and No. 10/11 Ohio State travels to No. 9/11 Minnesota.

As of the start of the week, the Big Ten boasts the nation's top non-conference record at 42-22-9 (.637 win percentage). The NCHC ranks second with a 31-17-0 mark (.621). 

NHL DEBUT
Former Wisconsin forward Joseph LaBate (2011–15) became the 16th Badger this season and the 81st all-time to play in the NHL when he made his debut on Nov. 23 at Arizona. LaBate has played three games as of Monday, Nov. 28, and is plus-1 with seven penalty minutes.

CAPTAIN KUNIN 
Luke Kunin ended the 2015–16 season with points in a career-best seven straight games, tallying six goals and nine points during the active streak. He has points in the first two games of this season with a goal and an assist. That give Kunin a nine-game point streak dating back to last year. He has seven goals and 11 points in that stretch.  

Kunin scored the first goal of the game last Saturday to give UW a 1-0 lead against Northern Michigan. The goal was his team-leading fourth game-opening goal of his career.

Luke Kunin finished the 2015–16 season as the Badgers leading goal scorer with 19 goals, the first UW rookie since Dany Heatley scored 28 goals in 1999–2000 to lead the Badgers in goals. The 19 goals are also the most for a UW freshman since Heatley's 28. 

Kunin's 32 points made him the first UW rookie to reach 30 points since Nic Kerdiles tallied 33 points (11 goals, 22 assists) in 32 games during the 2012–13 season. The 32 points were good for second among Big Ten freshmen, while his 0.94 points per game ranked seventh nationally among freshmen.

Kunin finished one back of UW's point lead, narrowly missing becoming the first UW rookie to pace the Badgers in scoring since Kyle Turris, who had 35 points during the 2007–08 season.

He scored four goals in the last minute of a period last season to rank second in the country, while his seven points in the last minute were also second. He had nine goals and 14 points in the first and last minute of periods, which both led the country.

Kunin finished conference play as UW's leader with 13 goals and 21 points in Big Ten play. His 13 goals ranked fourth among all Big Ten skaters, while his 21 points shared eighth. Both ranked second among Big Ten freshmen.

LINHART AND SOUL
Junior defenseman Jake Linhart's eight goals last year ranked fourth among Badgers and only trailed tied Michigan's early-departure Zach Werenski among Big Ten defensemen, who finished with 11. That means Linhart shares the title the "Big Ten's top goal-scoring defenseman returning." 

Linhart also led UW defensemen with 18 points, which was tied for ninth among Big Ten blue liners.

MANY HAPPY RETURNS 
Wisconsin returns 96.8 percent of its goals (90 of 93 goals), 80.4 percent of its assists (135 of 168 assists) and 86.2 percent of its points (225 of 261 points). The Badgers also return 100 percent of their power-play goals (22) from last season.

NEW COACHING STAFF
Tony Granato returns to Wisconsin after 13 years as a head and assistant coach in the NHL with the Detroit Red Wings, Pittsburgh Penguins and Colorado Avalanche. That followed a 13-year NHL playing career that included stops with the New York Rangers, Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks. 

Don Granato arrives in Madison after nearly five seasons as head coach with the U.S. National Team Development Program (USNTDP) helping develop the nation's best young hockey players. He also spent one season as an assistant coach with the NHL's St. Louis Blues, in addition to over 10 years as a head coach in junior and minor-league hockey. 

Osiecki returns to Madison, where he previously spent six seasons (2004–10) as an assistant coach. While at UW, he helped the Badgers win the 2006 NCAA Championship, as well as a runner-up spot in the 2010 NCAA Frozen Four. Since his time at UW, Osiecki spent time as the head coach at Ohio State, as well as an assistant coach with the AHL's Rockford Ice Hogs, the minor league affiliate of the Chicago Blackhawks. 

All three coaches went to school and played hockey for Wisconsin. 

20/20 VISION
Wisconsin welcomes five skaters back from last year who had 20 points, including Grant Besse (33), Luke Kunin (32), Seamus Malone (26), Cameron Hughes (22) and Ryan Wagner (22). This marks the first time UW returns five 20-point scores since the 2013–14 team welcomed six 20-point scorers back. That year, Michael Mersch (36), Nic Kerdiles (33), Mark Zengerle (32), Tyler Barnes (30), Joseph LaBate (23) and Jake McCabe (21) each returned to the Badgers. Prior to 2013–14, UW had last returned at least five 20-point scorers for a season when seven began the 2009–10 campaign.

FEELING A DRAFT
Wisconsin begins the season with eight NHL draft picks on its roster, including two first-round picks in Luke Kunin and Trent Frederic, third-round pick JD Greenway, fourth-round pick Max Zimmer, fifth-round selection Grant Besse, sixth-round choice Cameron Hughes and seventh-round picks Jedd Soleway and Matt Ustaski. 

UW's top four picks were all chosen in the 2016 draft.  

This year marks the first time since the 2010–11 season that UW boasts a first-round draft pick on its roster (Jake Gardiner), and the first team since the 2009–10 squad to boast more than one first-round pick (Gardiner, Ryan McDonagh, Brendan Smith).

Forwards Kunin and Frederic give UW its first first-round draft picks at the forward position since Kyle Turris played for UW during the 2007–08 season.
Kunin and Frederic give Wisconsin two first-round draft picks on the same team at forward for the first time in school history. 

CURRENT UW DRAFT PICKS    

GETTING YOUNGER
While Wisconsin boasted one of the youngest rosters in the country last season with regards to age, they get even younger this year. The team average 20 years, 10 months at the start of October last season. This year, the team averages 20 years, 5 months.

WHERE'S HOME?
Wisconsin's two new goaltenders, Jack Berry and Johan Blomquist, hail from places that have been rare at Wisconsin of late.

Berry comes from Holly, Michigan, The Badgers first player from Michigan since Jon Krall (2000–04), who came from Temperence, Michigan.

Blomquist, from Stockholm, Sweden, arrives as just the second Swede to play for Wisconsin. He joins Jan-Ake Danielson (1981–84), who came from Insjon, Sweden.

SEASONS STREAK
In the modern era of Wisconsin hockey (since 1963), the Badgers have never posted three consecutive losing seasons. UW had losing seasons the last two years, marking the third time that has happened in the modern era.

UP NEXT
Following the games against Omaha, the Badgers will begin their conference schedule with a road series against Michigan on Dec. 9-10. Both games are slated to start at 6:30 p.m. CT with Friday night's matchup airing on ESPNEWS and available for radio broadcast on WIBA-AM 1310 and the Badger Sports Network. Saturday's tilt will be on BTN Plus as well as WIBA-AM 1310 and the Badger Sports Network.