It's GO-pher time! Border Battle road trip this weekend for men's hockey
November 30, 2017 | Men's Hockey
Badgers skate Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. on Fox Sports Wisconsin and Fox Sports Wisconsin Plus
IT'S MINNESOTA WEEK
No. 12/14 Wisconsin (9-6-2, 3-2-1-0 Big Ten) travels to take on Border-rival No. 7 Minnesota (9-6-1, 3-4-1-1 Big Ten) for the first two meetings between the schools this season. Both Friday and Saturday games begin at 7 p.m.
Last week, the Badgers played to a split at the Kohl Center against Mercyhurst, falling 3-2 on Saturday, before returning for a 4-2 win on Sunday. Minnesota was swept at then-No. 4 Notre Dame, losing 1-0 and 5-2.
UW and UM split the season series last season, with both teams going 1-1-0 in the other's building.
Friday's game airs on Fox Sports Wisconsin, while Saturday's game will be shown on Fox Sports Wisconsin Plus. Both games stream on the BTN2Go app and BTN2Go.com for BTN cable and satellite subscribers. Friday's game airs on the radio on 1310 WIBA, while Saturday is on 1070 WTSO. Both are available across the Badger Radio Network.
| Game 18Â | Wisconsin at Minnesota | |
| Date | Friday, Dec. 1 | 7 p.m. (CT) |
| Location | Minneapolis, Minn. | Mariucci Arena (10,000) |
| Watch | Fox Sports Wisconsin | BTN2Go |
| Listen | WIBA 1310Â | Â Badger Sports Network | Listen Live |
| Follow | Live Stats | @BadgerMHockey |
| Game Notes | Wisconsin |
| Tickets | UWBadgers.com |
| Game 19Â | Wisconsin at Minnesota | |
| Date | Saturday, Dec. 2 | 7 p.m. (CT) |
| Location | Minneapolis, Minn. | Mariucci Arena (10,000) |
| Watch | Fox Sports Wisconsin Plus | BTN2Go |
| Listen | WTSOÂ 1070 Â | Â Badger Sports Network | Listen Live |
| Follow | Live Stats | @BadgerMHockey |
| Game Notes | Wisconsin |
| Tickets | UWBadgers.com |
SERIES NOTES
Minnesota
The teams meet for the 285th and 286th times, the most for the Badgers in school history.
Wisconsin and Minnesota's records differ slightly in the all-time record of the series.
The teams split last weekend, with both series at the Kohl Center and in Minneapolis splitting, 1-1-0.Â
LAST MEETINGS
Wisconsin 3, Minnesota 2
February 24, 2017
A second-period scoring outburst propelled the Badgers to a 3-2 road victory at Mariucci Arena over the No. 4 Gophers.
After falling behind 1-0 in the first, Wisconsin scored all three of its goals in the second period to secure the win.
Trent Frederic knotted the game 1-1 early in the second period before Aidan Cavallini gave the Badgers the go-ahead, short-handed goal minutes later.
In the final minute of the second period, Ryan Wagner put away a power-play goal that would be the eventual game-winner, tipping in a shot from the point.
Minnesota scored again in the final stanza, but freshman Jack Berry stood tall in net and Wisconsin held on for the 3-2 win.
Minnesota 3, Wisconsin 2
February 25, 2017
Wisconsin fought back from a two-goal deficit in the second period, but settled for a weekend split after a late goal helped Minnesota find the 3-2 victory.
Minnesota went up 2-0 in the first period, but the Badgers found the net twice in the second frame to tie things up.
Luke Kunin notched a power-play tally to get the ball rolling, then with just 15.4 seconds left in the period Jake linhart struck with a power-play goal of his own to even up the score.
The Badgers pushed for a go-ahead goal but the Gophers found the net first and scored the game-winner with just over five minutes remaining in regulation.
BEHIND THE BENCH
WISCONSINÂ BADGERS
Head Coach: Tony Granato
Record at WIS: 29-21-3 (2nd Year)
Overall: 29-21-3 (2nd Year)
MINNESOTAÂ GOLDEN GOPHERS
Head Coach: Don Lucia
Record at UM: 447-237-72 (19th Year)
Overall: 726-392-101 (31st Year)
BY THE NUMBERS
1-3-1Â -Â Wisconsin came back for a 4-2 win last Sunday against Mercyhurst. UW improved to 1-3-1 on the season when allowing the first goal and trailing at the first intermission with the comeback.
15.6%Â -Â The line of Malone-Hughes-Johnson accounted for 55.6 percent of UW's offense last weekend against Mercyhurst, combining for three goals and 10 points out of UW's six goals and 18 points on the weekend.
20 -Â Wisconsin has blocked over 20 shots in three of its last four games, including last Sunday when it stopped 21 Mercyhurst shots from reaching the Badgers' net.
KEY NOTES TO CONSIDER
The Badgers are 3-1-0 this season in true road games, posting victories at Boston College, Merrimack and Michigan State. UW's lone road loss came at Michigan State.
UW continued its fast starts last Saturday, scoring 1:59 into the game against Mercyhurst when senior Jason Ford tallied. The Badgers have scored first in 12 of 17 games this season and sit 8-3-1 in those contests.
The line of junior forward Seamus Malone-Cameron Hughes-Will Johnson combined for seven points in UW's 4-2 victory over Mercyhurst last Sunday. Malone led the way with a goal and two assists, while Johnson scored the game-winning goal to go along with an assist, and Hughes collected a pair of helpers. The three also combined for three points on Friday on UW's two goals, with Malone scoring and Johnson and Hughes setting up the play. The line accounted for 10 of UW's 18 points on the weekend.
Senior defenseman Jake Linhart ended a 22-game goal-scoring drought on Sunday with UW's fourth and final goal in a 4-2 victory over the Lakers. Linhart scored on a point shot through a screen for his first goal and eighth point of the season in 17 games played. Linhart was UW's top-scoring defenseman last season with six goals and 23 points in 36 games. He has 15 goals and 55 points in 122 career games.
Linhart's last goal prior to last Sunday came Feb. 25, 2017 at Minnesota.
The Badgers have outscored opponents 59-45 this season, including 19-11 in the first period and 22-14 in the second period. They have been edged 19-18 in third periods and 1-0 in overtimes.
Freshman forward Linus Weissbach boasts a career-long, four-game point-scoring streak during which he has two goals and four assists. Weissbach owns five goals and 12 points in 15 games this season.
Senior forward Jason Forward is two games shy of becoming the sixth current Badger to skate in 100 career college games, and the fifth to do so at Wisconsin. Goaltender Kyle Hayton played in more than 100 games at St. Lawrence before transferring to UW.
Sophomore forward Trent Frederic has points in all four career games against Minnesota posting three goals and one assist in those contests. He had goals in his first three games against Minnesota, before posting an assist in the most recent game.
Wisconsin's top seven point scorers all have between five and seven goals on the season. Senior forward Ryan Wagner, who shares the team point lead of 14 with junior forward Will Johnson, leads the Badgers with seven tallies. Four Badgers are tied for second with six goals (Trent Frederic, Cameron Hughes, Seamus Malone, Tarek Baker), while a pair of Badgers own five goals (Johnson, Linus Weissbach).Â
Wisconsin's seven skaters with at least five goals are the most among Big Ten schools. The next closest are Notre Dane and Penn State, which both have four players with at least five goals.
Senior forward Jason Ford's goal last Saturday helped him equal his career high with four goals in 13 games this season. Ford set his prior career mark last season with four goals in 26 games. He owns 10 goals in 98 career games.
Sophomore goaltender Jack Berry made 24 stops on 26 shots last Sunday to earn the 4-2 victory over Mercyhurst. Berry was making his first appearance since an Oct. 28 game during which he allowed four goals on 11 shots. The start was his first appearance in seven games. He is 2-1-0 on the season with a 2.20 goals-against average and .875 save percentage.Â
In last Saturday's game, both Wisconsin and Mercyhurst were called for just one penalty each in the contest. That is the fewest combined penalty minutes in a game for the Badgers since Dec. 14, 2013 at Colorado College. That evening, no penalties were called in the game, the first and only time in UW history.Â
SPECIAL TEAMS
UW is seventh nationally with its 24.6 percent power play (15-for-61), which is tops in the Big Ten.Â
Wisconsin's penalty kill is 51-for-62 (.823) on the season, ranking fourth in the Big Ten and 26th nationally. UW was a perfect 3-for-3 against Mercyhurst last weekend. The Lakers share the third-ranked power play in the country.
Wisconsin was +15 on special teams last season, but -9 at even strength. UW is +11 at even strength this year, and +3 on special teams.
WHERE THEY RANK
A handful of Badgers rank among the top players in the Big Ten in various categories.
| 10t. Wagner/Johnson | 14 points |
| 4t. Wagner | 4 goals |
| 8t. Kalynuk | 8 assists |
| 3t. Kalynuk | 7 power-play points |
| 2t. Wagner | 4 power-play goals |
| 1t. Malone | 3 game-winners |
| 4t. Kalynuk | 11 points (D-men) |
| 3t. Weissbach | 12 points (Freshmen) |
| 3. Wisconsin | 3.47 goals/game |
| 4. Wisconsin | 2.65 GA/game |
| 1. Wisconsin | 24.6% power play |
| 4. Wisconsin | 82.3% penalty kill |
OF PENALTY SHOTS
Freshman forward Tarek Baker's successful penalty shot against Ohio State on Oct. 6 marked the fourth penalty shot goal in the last five seasons for the Badgers. Freshman forward Sean Dhooghe made it five in five seasons with his penalty-shot goal on Nov. 4 against North Dakota. Prior to the last five years, UW went 16 seasons without a successful penalty shot.Â
Both Baker's and Sean Dhooghe's penalty shot goals marked their first career goals as a Badger. That makes them the first UW skaters since at least the 1989–90 season to score their first goal on a penalty shot.
DOUBLE DHOOGHE
When Sean and Jason Dhooghe each scored their first career goals in the same game on Nov. 4 against North Dakota, they became the first brothers in UW history to accomplish the feat. They also became the sixth brother combination to score goals in the same game, including most recently current UW associate head coach Mark Strobel, and his twin brother, Mike, who both scored on Nov. 19, 1993 against Colorado College. They were the second Badger twin brothers to both score in the same game.
First OccurrenceÂ
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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.
100 GAMES
Five Badgers have skated in at least 100 games played with senior forward Ryan Wagner leading the way (123 GP). Also over the 100 games-played threshold are senior defenseman Jake Linhart (122), senior forward Cameron Hughes (119) and senior defenseman Tim Davison (119). Graduate transfer goaltender Kyle Hayton has also played in 119 games.
Five others, including Jason Ford (98), Matt Ustaski (88) Seamus Malone (87), Will Johnson (87), and Peter Tischke (79), 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.
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
| NAME | TEAM | YEAR | RD./PICK |
| Trent Frederic | Boston | 2016 | 1/29 |
| JD Greenway | Toronto | 2016 | 3/72 |
| Max Zimmer | Carolina | 2016 | 4/104 |
| Tyler Inamoto | Florida | 2017 | 5/133 |
| Cameron Hughes | Boston | 2015 | 6/165 |
| Matt Ustaski | Winnipeg | 2014 | 7/192 |
| Linus Weissbach | Buffalo | 2017 | 7/192 |
| Wyatt Kalynuk | Philadelphia | 2017 | 7/196 |
| Josh Ess | Chicago | 2017 | 7/215 |
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 returns to Madison for the final series of 2017, welcoming Notre Dame to the Kohl Center on Dec. 8-9.
