Badgers to play host to No. 9 Denver
November 18, 2015 | Men's Hockey
Faceoff against Pioneers set for 7:30 p.m. on Friday, 8 p.m. on Saturday
MADISON, Wis. -- Wisconsin (3-4-3, 0-0-0-0 Big Ten) returns to action after its first bye week of the season to take on its second-straight ranked opponent, hosting No. 9 Denver (6-3-1, 3-0-1-0 NCHC) at the Kohl Center this Friday and Saturday night.
The bye week for UW came on the heels of a series split on the road at then No. 1-ranked North Dakota, while Denver is fresh off a series win at Minnesota Duluth a weekend ago. The two teams have a storied history against one another, with 148 prior meetings in the all-time series. However, Friday and Saturday will mark the first time since February 2012 that Wisconsin has hosted the Pioneers.
| Games 11-12 | Wisconsin (3-4-3, 0-0-0-0 Big Ten) vs. No. 9 Denver (6-3-1, 3-0-1-0 NCHC) | |
| Dates/Times | Fri., Nov. 20, 7:30 p.m. CT Sat., Nov. 21, 8 p.m. CT |
| Locations | Madison, Wis. Kohl Center (15,359) |
| Television | Friday: ASN Saturday: Wisconsin Channel |
| Video Stream | BTN2Go.com |
| Radio | Friday: WIBA-AM 1310 Saturday: WTSO-AM1070 (Badger Radio Network) |
| Live Audio | BadgerSportsNetwork.com |
| Live Blog | UWBadgers.com |
| Live Stats | Friday | Saturday |
| Social Media | @BadgerMHockey | Facebook  |
| Tickets | Buy Tickets (Home Games) |
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Last Meeting: L, 3-2-- UW fell to Denver on Nov. 22 of last season, part of a two-game road trip west that included a game against Colorado College the night before ... Wisconsin trailed 3-1 to the Pioneers almost halfway through the third period, but the Badgers got a goal from current UW sophomore Adam Rockwood at the 14:58 mark to bring them back within one ... Wisconsin pulled goaltender Joel Rumpel for an extra attacker, but couldn't net the game-tying goal in the waning seconds ... then-senior forward Joseph LaBate tallied a goal and an assist in the game, with current UW defensemen Jake Linhart and Kevin Schulze assisting on LaBate's second-period goal.
Series Notes: The two teams will meet for the 149th and 150th times in the all-time series ... UW and Denver both left the WCHA for new conferences after the 2012-13 season, with UW joining the Big Ten and Denver becoming one of the founding members of the new NCHC ... Denver has not played at the Kohl Center since Feb. 17-18, 2012, a series that the two teams split, with UW taking the series finale 5-2 after a 3-0 loss the night before ... The last six meetings in the series have all come at Magness Arena in Denver, including three games for the first round of the WCHA playoffs in March of 2012 ... Wisconsin beat Denver 4-2 on March 17, 1973 for the first NCAA title in the program's history ... junior defenseman Will Butcher (Sun Prairie) and junior forward Evan Janssen (Green Bay) hail from the state of Wisconsin.
THIS WEEK IN MEN'S HOCKEY
Wisconsin (3-4-3, 0-0-0-0 Big Ten) comes off the season's first bye week and plays host to Denver (6-3-1, 3-0-1-0 NCHC) on Friday and Saturday at the Kohl Center. Friday's game begins at 7:30 p.m., while Saturday's contest will start at 8 p.m. Saturday's game was originally scheduled for 7 p.m., but was moved back an hour with the announcement that Wisconsin's football game at home against Northwestern will start at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday.
When the Badgers last skated, they posted a split at then-No. 1 North Dakota. UW grabbed a 3-1 victory on Nov. 6, before falling 3-1 in the series finale on Nov. 7.
Denver is fresh off a road series victory against NCHC foe and 13th-ranked Minnesota Duluth. The Pioneers shutout the Bulldogs 3-0 on Friday night and skated to a 1-1 tie with UMD on Saturday night. On Saturday, UMD scored in the game's second overtime to earn an extra point in the NCHC standings. The NCHC skates 3-on-3 overtime after a traditional five-minute overtime to break ties for league purposes.
Wisconsin's victory over North Dakota ended UND's 17-game, non-conference unbeaten streak, UND's 12-game home unbeaten streak, its eight-game unbeaten streak to start the season, as well as UW's seven-game winless streak against UND. Prior to the victory, UND had trailed just six seconds the entire year.
Since then, UND posted a home sweep to improve to 9-1-2.
Wisconsin's victory over then-No. 1 North Dakota was the 11th victory for the Badgers against a No. 1 team under head coach Mike Eaves. UW is 11-9-3 against No. 1 teams since 2002 when Eaves took over the program.
Wisconsin will celebrate a pair of NCAA championship anniversaries this season, including this weekend, when the 1980-81 team returns for the 35th anniversary of their title. Returning members of the team will be honored on the ice during Saturday's game.
The 2005-06 Badgers return to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the school's sixth NCAA title the weekend of Jan. 30 during the NHL All-Star break. The UW women's team will also be celebrating their 2006 NCAA title that same weekend.
'Skate with the Badgers' takes place on Sunday at the Kohl Center from 4:30-6:30 p.m. Doors open for the event at 4 p.m. Skates are required for those interested in getting on the ice. Players and coaches will be on the ice for photos and autographs. Fans without skates can interact with the players and coaches from the stands near the Badger bench as the glass will be removed.
The Badgers are unbeaten at home this season, having gone 2-0-2 through four contests.
Wisconsin sits nine victories away from reaching 200 on the Kohl Center ice, not counting exhibition contests. Since the building opened in 1998, UW has reached at least 11 victories at the Kohl Center in 10 of 17 seasons.
Wisconsin has averaged slightly more than 11 wins per season at the Kohl Center, including five seasons of 14-plus victories. UW's best single season record in the KC came in 2013-14 with a mark of 17-2-1.
The Badger penalty kill has gone over four games without allowing a power-play goal, including going seven-for-seven in their last game at North Dakota. That performance included a pair of five-on-three kills that totaled 1:49 of game time. UW is perfect on its last 17 kills.
The Badgers' penalty kill is at 87.6 percent (36-for-41) to share third in the Big Ten and 13th in the nation.
This week's opponent, Denver, owns a 90.9 percent penalty kill (30-for-33), good for seventh in the country.
UW's power play is scoreless in three games, going 0-for-9 during that stretch, and are unsuccessful in 10 consecutive opportunities. That followed a 5-for-16 span over three games that saw UW have two games of two power-play goals.
The Badger power play is still at 19.0 percent (8-for-42) this season, which ranks third in the Big Ten. UW scored 15 power-play goals all of last season.
When redshirt sophomore Corbin McGuire tied the game at 1-1 on Nov. 6 at North Dakota, it snapped a 17-game stretch without a goal for the forward, dating back to Feb. 13, 2015 at Ohio State. It was his first point of the season.
The goal was the third of McGuire's career and his fifth career point in 42 games.
Wisconsin's victory on Nov. 6 gave the team a three-game winning streak. The last UW three-game winning streak prior came March 15-22, 2014 and included its run to the 2014 Big Ten Tournament title.
Junior forward Grant Besse (Plymouth, Minn.) extended his career-best, point-scoring streak to seven games with a goal and an assist in the games at North Dakota. Besse, who leads the Badgers with 10 points in 10 games, has three goals, five assists and eight points during his current seven-game point streak.
Besse sits two points off the Big Ten leading pace of Ohio State's Nick Shilkey and Penn State's Curtis Loik in the Conference's early-season scoring race.
Freshman forward Luke Kunin (Chesterfield, Missouri) scored his first career game-winning goal on Nov. 6, tallying 37 seconds into the second period for his third goal of the season. Kunin also owns a game-tying goal from earlier this year when he scored in the third period in UW's 3-3 tie on Oct. 10 against Northern Michigan.
Kunin ranks third on the Badgers with seven points on three goals and four assists in 10 games played.
Senior defenseman Eddie Wittchow (Burnsville, Minn.) skated in his 100th career game for the Badgers on Nov. 6 to become just the second current Badger to reach the milestone. Only fellow senior defenseman Kevin Schulze (White Bear Lake, Minn.), who has played in 123 games, has played in more.
Two other Badgers could play in their 100th career games this season as junior forwards Jedd Soleway (80 GP) and Grant Besse (78 GP) are within striking distance.
Sophomore forward Ryan Wagner (Park Ridge, Ill.) collected a primary assist on UW's first goal on Nov. 6, giving him three assists and six points on the season through 10 games. As a freshman, Wagner totaled two goals and five assists in 35 games played.
For the second time in as many weeks, freshman goaltender Matt Jurusik (La Grange, Illinois) earned recognition as one of the Big Ten Stars of the Week. One week after garnering third-star honors, Jurusik nabbed second star of the week accolades after posting a .941 save percentage and a 2.04 goals-against average to help the Badgers to a road split at then-No. 1 North Dakota on Nov. 6 and 7.
Jurusik stopped 29 UND shots on Friday in the Badgers' 3-1 victory, including 12 saves in the third period.
The rookie returned to the ice on Saturday to make 35 more saves, but the Badgers dropped a 3-1 decision. In the game, Jurusik helped the Badgers kill all seven UND power plays, including a pair of five-on-three power plays that totaled 1:49 of game time.
Jurusik is 3-3-2 with a 2.66 goals-against average and .913 save percentage in nine appearances this season.
Sophomore Adam Rockwood (Coquitlam, British Columbia) posted primary assists in each of UW's last two games, including a no-look, behind-the-back pass from behind the net to Grant Besse on Saturday, Nov. 7 at North Dakota that made the NCAA top-five plays of the week. Rockwood has five assists and six points in nine games played to share third on the Badgers in scoring.
Wisconsin has played each of its last eight overtime contests to ties. UW was 0-0-5 in overtime last season and is 0-0-3 this year.
The Badgers are unbeaten in their last nine overtime contests, going 1-0-8 over a span that dates back to March 22, 2014 and the Badgers' 5-4 overtime victory over Ohio State in the championship game of the 2014 Big Ten Tournament.
UW faces one of the tougher schedules in the nation this season, with an especially grueling stretch to start the campaign. The Badgers play six of their first 12 games against teams ranked in the top five of the preaseason USCHO.com poll, with at least one game against four of the top five teams.
Of its 34 total games, Wisconsin will play 14 against teams ranked in the top 13 of the USCHO.com preseason poll. Only three of UW's series this year are against a team not receiving votes in the preseason poll.
The Badgers begin the season with 28 skaters on the roster. That is the largest roster at UW since the 2009-10 team also boasted 28 members. Three of the 28 skaters on the roster that year did not see action.
Sophomore forward Cameron Hughes became just the second Badger drafted by the Boston Bruins when he went in the sixth round, 165th overall, in the 2015 NHL Draft this past June. Hughes, along with fellow sophomore forward Adam Rockwood, enter the season tied for the second-leading scorer spot from last season after each posted three goals and 13 points in their freshman season's last year. Both spent most of the season at center.
Junior Jedd Soleway ranked 11th in the country in faceoff win percentage at .583. Soleway went 180-129 on faceoffs. Clarkson freshman Ben Dalpe led the nation with a .642 faceoff win percentage (97-54).
Senior defenseman Kevin Schulze led the nation in 2014-15 with an average of 2.66 blocks per game, 0.11 shots-per-game better than Bemidji State defenseman Sam Windle (2.55). Schulze's 93 blocks were four shy of Windle's national lead.
As a team, UW ranked 10th in the country with an average of 14.83 blocks per game.
Wisconsin will serve as host school for the 2016 NCAA Frozen Four set for April 7-9 at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida.
The Badgers last played host to the NCAA Frozen Four in 2006 when it was held at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee. The Badgers won the championship that season, defeating Boston College, 2-1, in the title game.
Five Badgers were captains of their teams before arriving on campus including Kevin Schulze (Hill-Murray), Cullen Hurley (Academy of Holy Angels) and Jarod Zirbel (Notre Dame Academy), who each captained their high school teams, as well as Luke Kunin who served as a captain of the U.S. Under-18 Team and Patrick Sexton (Penticton) in the BCHL. Hurley also co-captained the Muskegon Lumberjacks in the USHL. Eddie Wittchow (co-captain) and Grant Besse (assistant captain) will earn their stripes this season as captains of the Badgers.
Wisconsin boasts 13 skaters who have championships on their resumes. Three Badgers (Besse, Davison, Zirbel) own high school state titles, two (Rockwood, Sexton) own BCHL titles, Hughes won an AJHL championship, Malone won a USHL crown, McGuire won an EJHL championship and Keryluk owns an USPHL win. In addition, Kunin won a under-18 world title and Jurusik won the NAHL regular-season crown. Others include Wittchow's USHL western conference victory and Soleway's BCHL division triumph.
Santa Barabara, California native Will Johnson is the ninth Badger all-time to hail from the Golden State. In fact, five of those nine players have come during the 14-year tenure of head coach Mike Eaves, with Robbie Earl (2003-06), Matthew Ford (2004-08), Brendan Woods (2011-13) and Nic Kerdiles (2012-14). The other four California Badgers are Chris Chelios (1981-83), Mike McGrath (1983-85), Rob Mendel (1986-90) and Chris Nelson (1988-92).
Head coach Mike Eaves is behind the bench for his 14th season at Wisconsin. The Badgers own one NCAA title (2006), two Frozen Four appearances (2006, 2010), seven NCAA tournament appearances and two conference tournament titles (2013, 2014) during Eaves' tenure.
Eaves has seen 28 of his former Badgers go on to play in the NHL, as well as over 60 of his former players go on to play some sort of professional hockey (NHL, AHL, ECHL, overseas). Fifty NHL drafted skaters have played at Wisconsin under Eaves.
Wisconsin hockey boasts five new staff members including associate head coach Luke Strand, assistant coach JB Bittner, director of hockey operations John Hamre, video coordinator Emily Engen and primary care Dr. Andrew Watson.
For the new coaches, associate head coach Luke Strand came to UW from a year as general manager and coach of the first-year Madison Capitols of the USHL. He played college hockey for UW-Eau Claire. New assistant coach JB Bittner, who played his college hockey at Ohio State, arrived in Madison from a two-year assistant coaching stint for the USHL's Tri-City Storm in Kearney, Nebraska.
UP NEXT
Wisconsin has its second bye week in the last three weeks, as the Badgers have off over Thanksgiving weekend. UW is back in action in the first week of December, and will travelto Michigan for two games on Dec. 4-5.
