WISCONSIN HOMESTANDÂ CONTINUES
In a clash of top-10 teams, No. 7 Wisconsin (6-3-0, 1-1-0 Big Ten) plays host to No. 4/5 North Dakota (5-2-1, 1-1-0 NCHC) at the Kohl Center on Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m.
The last time two top-10 teams met at the Kohl Center was Feb. 19-20, 2010 when No. 3 Wisconsin hosted No. 4 St. Cloud State. The Badgers dropped game one, 5-1, but took a 7-4 win in the finale.
The Badgers posted a split at home against St. Lawrence, grabbing a 4-2 victory last Friday, before dropping a 6-3 decision to the Saints on Saturday. North Dakota also posted a split, falling 2-1 at Colorado College last Friday, before grabbing a 6-4 victory on Saturday.Â
SERIES NOTES
North Dakota
Wisconsin and North Dakota last played at the Kohl Center on Nov. 7-8, 2014, a 4-3 and 5-1 sweep by the Fighting Hawks. The teams last met on Nov. 6-7, 2015, at North Dakota, with UW winning 3-1, before dropping a 3-1 decision the next night to the eventual NCAA champions.
UW head coach Tony Granato went 7-8-1 against North Dakota as a player at Wisconsin, while associate head coach Mark Osiecki was 10-2-1 and associate head coach Mark Strobel went 12-6-0.
WISCONSIN-NORTH DAKOTAÂ CONNECTIONS
UW associate head coach Mark Osiecki spent one year as an assistant coach at North Dakota and won the 1997 NCAA championship with UND.
UW rookies Tyler Inamoto and Sean Dhooghe were teammates with UND freshman Grant Mismash with the U.S. National Team Development Program's Under-18 team last year.
UW junior Seamus Malone and UND junior Hayden Shaw both graduated from Dubuque Senior High School and played the 2014-15 season with the Dubuque Saints (USHL)
Sophomore Max Zimmer and UND freshman Matt Kiersted played together for the Chicago Steel (USHL) from 2014-16
LAST MEETING
North Dakota 3, Wisconsin 1
Nov. 7, 2015
North Dakota's Shane Gersich broke a 1-1 tie in the third period with a goal at the 7:30 mark, then Drake Caggiula tallied at 15:20 to add insurance and help UND to a 3-1 victory in Grand Forks.
UND scored first in the first period, but Grant Besse tallied in the second period to knot the game at 1-1. Current UW junior Seamus Malone had a helper on the play.
The Badgers were 0-for-5 on the power play and 7-for-7 on the kill.Â
Matt Jurusik made 35 saves in a game UW was outshot 38-16.
Wisconsin 3, North Dakota 1
Nov. 6, 2015
Wisconsin upset the eventual NCAA champions despite falling behind 1-0 in the first period.
After Luke Johnson scored at 7:31 of the first period, Corbin McGuire scored to tie the game at 10:33.Â
Luke Kunin put home what proved to be the game-winner just 37 seconds into the second frame. Jedd Soleway added insurance at 9:06 of the second period and the Badgers held the rest of the way for the win.
Matt Jurusik made 29 saves, including 12 saves in the third period.Â
UND outshot UW, 30-23, in the contest.
BEHIND THE BENCH
WISCONSINÂ BADGERS
Head Coach: Tony Granato
Record at WIS: 26-18-1 (2nd Year)
Overall: 26-18-1 (2nd Year)
NORTH DAKOTA FIGHTING HAWKS
Head Coach: Brad Berry
Record at UND: 60-24-8 (3rd Year)
Overall: 60-24-8 (3rd Year)
BY THE NUMBERS
77-32 -Â Wisconsin outshot St. Lawrence last weekend, 77-32, including 40-19 last Friday and 37-13 last Saturday, but only went 1-1-0 on the weekend, winning 4-2, then dropping a 6-3 contest.
4+ -Â Prior to scoring three goals last Saturday, Wisconsin scored at least four goals in five consecutive games for the first time since Dec. 6-27, 2013, and for the second time in 18 seasons.
3.56Â -Â Wisconsin's 3.56 goals per game scoring average ranks 11th in the nation and ranks second among Big Ten schools. Three of the schools ahead of the Badgers have played two games or less.
KEY NOTES TO CONSIDER
Senior Ryan Wagner was the star of last weekend for the Badgers, opening the scoring last Friday just 58 seconds into the game against St. Lawrence with a goal that made No. 3 on the Sportscenter Top Ten. He also led all skaters with five shots on goal, and UW went on to a 4-2 victory. Saturday, Wagner had points on all three UW goals, including scoring the second goal, which helped erase a 2-0 deficit, and the third goal, which tied the game at 3-3.
Wagner's two-goal game marked the third of the season for a Badger (Linus Weissbach, Trent Frederic), and the fifth of his career.
Wagner now shares the team lead of five goals with sophomore Trent Frederic.
Junior forward Will Johnson leads a trio of Badgers with extended point streaks. Johnson posted three assists last weekend and now has points in a career-long seven consecutive games (2-6=8). He is joined by sophomore forward Trent Frederic (4-3=7) and junior forward Seamus Malone (4-2=6) who each have points in the last six contests.
Both Johnson and Frederic have points in eight of UW's nine games this season.
The Badgers have scored the first goal in seven of nine contests this season. UW had the first goal in its first five contests. The Badgers are 6-1-0 when scoring first this season, and went 16-1-1 last season when opening the scoring.
After a slow start to the season on the power play, the Badgers have picked things up, scoring at least one power-play goal in five straight games and at least two power-play markers in each of the last three games. UW is 8-for-24 (33 percent) on the power play in the last five games and 9-for-36 (25 percent) on the season. The Badgers scored just one power-play goal in their first four games (1-for-12).
Freshman defenseman Wyatt Kalynuk went without a point in his first six career games, but has since recorded five assists in the three games since, including two assists in both games last weekend against St. Lawrence.Â
Junior forward Seamus Malone's game-winner last Friday gives him a team-leading three game-winning tallies on the season, including three of the last four for the Badgers. He is tied for the national lead in game-winning goals with Penn State sophomore Denis Smirnov.
UW is allowing 2.56 goals against per game through nine games. Last year, UW allowed 3.28 goals per game.Â
ABOUT LAST WEEK
Wisconsin split its games at the Kohl Center against St. Lawrence, winning 4-2 last Friday, before falling, 6-3, on Saturday.Â
Senior forward Ryan Wagner scored 58 seconds into the weekend with a highlight-reel goal that made No. 3 on Sportscenter's Top Ten Plays of the night.Â
SLU tied things up less than a minute later, but sophomore Trent Frederic scored on the power play go give UW a 2-1 lead.
After SLU tied the game again, junior forward Seamus Malone broke the tie for good with a power-play goal at 14:42, his third game-winning goal of the season.
Frosh Tarek Baker sealed the win with his fourth goal of the season at 12:55 of the third period.Â
Graduate transfer goaltender Kyle Hayton made 17 saves to earn the win against his alma mater.
Saturday, UW played from behind most of the night and dropped a 6-3 decision, despite outshooting SLU, 37-13, in the game.
The Saints scored at 5:39 and 7:56 of the first period to take a 2-0 lead, but UW fought back on goals by Cameron Hughes and Ryan Wagner to make it 2-2 by 15:40 of the second period.
After falling behind again, Ryan Wagner tied the game again with his second power-play goal of the night at 32 seconds of the third period.
SLU struck back with their own power-play tally at 3:33 of the third period, then added insurance and then an empty-net goal for the 6-3 win.
Sophomore Jack Berry made seven saves on 11 shots, before giving way to Kyle Hayton in relief. Hayton faced just one shot in 15:28 of action, but that one shot beat the netminder.Â
SPECIAL TEAMS
Wisconsin's penalty kill has gone 32-for-38 (.842) on the season, ranking fourth in the Big Ten and 19th nationally.
UW is tied for 18th nationally with its 25.0 percent power play (9-for-36), which is good for third in the Big Ten.
Wisconsin was +15 on special teams last season, but -9 at even strength. UW is +7 at even strength this year, and +2 on special teams.
OF PENALTY SHOTS
Freshman forward Tarek Baker's successful penalty shot against Ohio State marked the fourth penalty shot goal in the last five seasons for the Badgers. Prior to that, UW went 16 seasons without a successful penalty shot.Â
Baker's penalty shot goal marked his first career goal as a Badger. That makes him the first UW skater since at least the 1989–90 season to score his first goal on a penalty shot.
THEÂ WHITE BROOK
Weissbach's two-goal game on Oct. 1 made him the first freshman to debut with a two-goal game since Michael Davies tallied twice in a 3-0 victory over Northern Michigan on Oct. 6, 2006.
HEY, HAYTON
Goaltender Kyle Hayton joins the Badgers as a graduate transfer from St. Lawrence University, where he was named the ECAC Goaltender of the Year and a second-team All-American in 2016-17.Â
Hayton, a native of Denver, was one of 10 semifinalists for the Mike Richter Award. He started 35 of the Saints' 37 contests while posting a .929 save percentage and five shutouts.
Hayton finished his time at SLU as the leader in career wins, appearances, saves, shutouts and goals-against average in just three seasons of play.
Had Hayton played his first three years at Wisconsin, he would currently rank in the top-five on the all-time UW list for career save percentage (.934, first), shutouts (13, second), wins (58, fourth) and saves (3,206, fifth).
Hayton entered the season with numbers that rank among the best in the country among the nation's goaltenders. His 3,079 saves were No. 1, as was his .934 save percentage. He ranked second with 54 victories in goal, while his 13 shutouts also ranked second.Â
B1G ADDITION
Notre Dame is now the seventh member of the Big Ten for hockey after spending the last four seasons as a member of Hockey East. The Fighting Irish were CCHA members prior to that.
UND reached the 2017 NCAA Frozen Four semifinals, before eventual national champion Denver eliminated the Fighting Irish.
UND visits the Kohl Center for a Dec. 8-9 series, while UW visits South Bend, Indiana, for a series on Jan. 19-20.
The Big Ten moves to a three-week playoff with best-of-three series on campus sites, then a semifinal game and championship game at campus sites of the higher seed. The top seed will get a first-round bye.
olympic opportunity
Badgers' head coach Tony Granato was named head coach of the United State's men's hockey team competing in the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
As a player, Granato represented Team USA in the 1988 Winter Games. He also served as an assistant coach for the Americans at the 2014 Olympics.
Joining Granato on the bench as an assistant coach will be former UW defenseman Chris Chelios, as well as general manager for Team USA Jim Johannson, who played with Granato at Wisconsin and on the 1988 Olympic team.
Granato joins Peter Laviolette, John Garrison, Jack Riley and Herb Brooks on a short list of coaches who have played in the Olympics for Team USA and later coached the American squad in the Games.
Granato joins Bob Johnson, who guided the Americans in 1976, as Wisconsin men's coaches who have been tabbed to coach Team USA.
ALL-LEAGUE RETURNS
The Badgers welcome the return of a pair of 2017 Second-Team All-Big Ten skaters in senior defenseman Jake Linhart and sophomore forward Trent Frederic, as well as a pair of honorable mention All-Big Ten players in junior defenseman Peter Tischke and sophomore goaltender Jack Berry. Graduate transfer goaltender Kyle Hayton joins the Badgers after being named the 2017 ECAC Goaltender of the Year.
OLYMPIC PRECURSOR?
A pair of former 2006 Wisconsin NCAA champions in forward Robbie Earl and defenseman Tom Gilbert were named to Team USA for the Deutschland Cup, which takes place Nov. 10-12 in Germany. The event will be used for evaluation for the 2018 U.S. Olympic Team.
UW head coach Tony Granato will serve as Team USA's Deutschland Cup head coach. He is the 2018 U.S. Olympic Team head coach.
Rene Bourque was invited to play for Team Canada at the Karjala Cup. The event runs Nov. 8-12 in Finland and Switzerland and serves as an evaluation for Canada's 2018 Olympic Team.
RANKINGS
Wisconsin dropped two spots to No. 7 in both the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll and the USCHO.com Poll after splitting the weekend with St. Lawrence.
Those previous No. 5 rankings were the best for the Badger since they were ranked No. 4 in both polls on March 24, 2014 heading into the NCAA tournament.
Wisconsin is one of three Big Ten schools currently in the top 10.
Wisconsin was picked to finish third in the Big Ten by Conference coaches.Â
100 GAMES
Five Badgers have skated in at least 100 games played with senior forward Ryan Wagner leading the way (115 GP). Also over the 100 games-played threshold are senior defenseman Jake Linhart (114), senior forward Cameron Hughes (111) and senior defenseman Tim Davison (111). Graduate transfer goaltender Kyle Hayton has also played in 112 games.
Five others, including Jason Ford (93), Matt Ustaski (83) Seamus Malone (79), Will Johnson (79), and Peter Tischke (71), are within striking distance of 100 games played.
UW boasted seven skaters last season with at least 100 games played, the most since the 2013–14 Badgers had 11 skaters over 100 career games played.
CAPTAINS
Senior forward Cameron Hughes was named team captain after serving as an alternate captain in 2016-17.Â
The four Badgers joining Hughes as alternate captains are senior forward Ryan Wagner and senior defenseman Jake Linhart, as well as junior forward Seamus Malone and sophomore forward Trent Frederic.
The five-member leadership crew is the largest in program history, not counting the three seasons during which the Badgers have rotated and had game captains.
UW has had combinations of four captains and assistant captains on six prior occasions, including most recently during the 2012-13 season when captain John Ramage had assistant help from Ryan Little, Derek Lee and Frankie Simonelli.
Other than Hughes, who served as one of UW's two alternate captains last season, the remaining four Badgers will wear a letter on their jersey's for the first time in their UW careers.
SCORING PUNCH
In the offensively-minded Big Ten, the Badgers scored with the best of them last season, averaging 3.39 goals per game to rank No. 9 in the country. That mark ranked fourth among Big Ten schools.Â
Sophomore forward and 2017 Big Ten Freshman of the Year Trent Frederic enters the season as UW's leading returning scorer after posting 15 goals and 33 points as a rookie.
Four Badgers scored double figures, including three who return for the squad. Frederic led the returners with 15 goals, while both Seamus Malone and Will Johnson tallied 10 times last year. UW lost leader scorer Luke Kunin to the pros after the second-team All-American tallied 22 goals and 38 points last year.
The Badgers add some punch, as well, with freshman speedster Linus Weissbach joining the team. Weissbach led the USHL's Tri-City Storm last season with 47 points on 19 goals and 28 assists.
Frosh defenseman Wyatt Kalynuk enters after playing as one of the USHL's most offensive defenseman last season. With the Bloomington Thunder, Kalynuk paced the defense and ranked seventh in the USHL among rear guards with 31 points (6 g, 25 a).
DEFENSE GET TOUGH
The biggest area of improvement for the Badgers from last year might come in UW's own zone with the addition of three NHL drafted defensemen and All-American goaltender Kyle Hayton.
U.S. National Team Development product Tyler Inamoto is the highest drafted of the newcomers after he was picked by the Florida Panthers in the fifth round (133rd overall) this summer. Wyatt Kalynuk went in the seventh round (196th) to the Philadelphia Flyers and the Chicago Blackhawks drafted Josh Ess in the seventh round (215th).
UW ranked 46th out of 60 teams in the nation last season, allowing an average of 3.28 goals per game.
KUNIN MAKES NHL DEBUT
Former Badger Luke Kunin, who turned at the conclusion of last season, made his NHL debut last weekend for the Minnesota Wild. The 15th overall pick in the 2016 draft, Kunin skated in his first game for the Wild last Saturday, Oct. 14, against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Kunin recorded one hit in 13 minutes, 53 seconds of action during the 5-4 overtime setback.Â
Kunin wore No. 19 for his debut.
Kunin becomes the 83rd Badger in the NHL all time.
Coupled with Anaheim's call-up of Nic Kerdiles, who played last Friday for the Ducks, the Badgers have seen 13 alumni play at least one NHL game this season.
FEELING A DRAFT
Wisconsin begins the season with nine NHL draft picks on its roster.Â
UW had four players selected in 2017, including three defensemen. That marks the first time since 2008 that three Badger defensemen were chosen by NHL teams.
Defenseman Tyler Inamoto (5th round, 133rd overall) was the highest pick for the Badgers in this year's draft, followed by defensemen Wyatt Kalynuk (196th) and Josh Ess (215th), both in the seventh round.
Forward Linus Weissbach was also selected in the seventh round, going 192nd overall.
This marks the second consecutive year that four Badgers were chosen in the NHL Draft.
CURRENT UW DRAFT PICKSÂ Â Â
NCAA ATTENDANCE RANKINGS
Wisconsin finished the season ranked second in the country in average attendance at 10,157.7 fans per game. North Dakota led the country at 11,504.9.Â
Wisconsin has led the country in attendance 38 times all time, including most recently in the 2011–12 season.
COACHING THEM UP
All three Wisconsin coaches are Badgers' alumni with head coach Tony Granato (1983–87), associate head coach Mark Osiecki (1987–90) and associate head coach Mark Strobel (1991–95) all having skated for UW.
Granato, who completed his degree last year during his first season as UW head coach, will face a similar challenge this season as the 2018 U.S. Men's Olympic Hockey Team head coach.Â
UW's director of hockey operations Shane Connelly gives UW two former Badger athletes with NCAA titles on their resume. Connelly was a member of UW's 2006 NCAA title-winning team, while Osiecki played for the Badgers' 1990 NCAA championship team. Osiecki also served as an assistant coach for the 2006 team during his first coaching stint at UW.
UP NEXT
Wisconsin hits the road for a Friday-Saturday series at Michigan State, Nov. 10-11. Both games have a 6 p.m. (CT) puck drop.
