Badgers welcome Wolverines to the Kohl Center

November 16, 2017 | Men's Hockey

No. 9/10 Wisconsin hosts No. 17 Michigan in B1G matchup

WISCONSIN WELCOMES MICHIGAN TO THE KOHL CENTER
No. 9/10 Wisconsin (7-5-1, 2-2-0 Big Ten) plays host to No. 17 Michigan (6-3-1, 2-1-1 Big Ten) on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 17-18, with both contests beginning at 7 p.m. at the Kohl Center.

The Badgers skated to a split last weekend at Michigan State, taking a 6-3 victory last Friday, before dropping a 2-0 contest to the Spartans on Saturday. Michigan overcame a 3-0 deficit for a 5-4 overtime victory over Minnesota last Friday, then recovered from a 4-0 deficit for a 6-6 overtime tie on Saturday.

The Badgers swept Michigan last season at the Kohl Center, winning 5-2 and 6-4 on Feb. 17 and 18. UW took three of the four meetings between the schools last season.

Friday's game airs on BTN Plus at BTN2Go.com, while Saturday's game will broadcast on Fox Sports Wisconsin Plus and stream for BTN cable and satellite subscribers on the BTN2Go app and at BTN2Go.com. Both games air on the radio on 1310 WIBA and the Badger Radio Network. Listen online on the iHeart radio app.

Head coach Tony Granato returns to the Wisconsin bench after missing last weekend's series at Michigan State. Granato spent last week in Germany directing Team USA at the Deutschland Cup. The event served as an evaluation tool for 2018 U.S. Olympic Head Coach Tony Granato and the rest of the U.S. staff, who are putting together the American team for the 2018 Olympic Winter Games set for February in South Korea. Associate head coaches Mark Osiecki and Mark Strobel led the Badgers during the week.

Game 14 \| Wisconsin vs. Michigan
Date	Friday, Nov. 17 \| 7 p.m. (CT)
Location	Madison, Wis. \| Kohl Center (15,359)
Watch	BTN Plus \| BTN2Go
Listen	WIBA 1310 \| Badger Sports Network \| Listen Live
Follow	Live Stats \| @BadgerMHockey
Game Notes	Wisconsin
Tickets	UWBadgers.com

Game 15 \| Wisconsin vs. Michigan
Date	Saturday, Nov. 18 \| 7 p.m. (CT)
Location	Madison, Wis. \| Kohl Center (15,359)
Watch	Fox Sports Wisconsin Plus \| BTN2Go
Listen	WIBA 1310 \| Badger Sports Network \| Listen Live
Follow	Live Stats \| @BadgerMHockey
Game Notes	Wisconsin
Tickets	UWBadgers.com

SERIES NOTES
Michigan
The teams meet for the 142nd and 143rd times in what is the second-most played rivalry in the Big Ten in UW men's hockey history (Minnesota is the most played).

The Badgers captured three of four games against Michigan last season, including both contests at the Kohl Center, on Feb. 17-18.

WISCONSIN-MICHIGAN CONNECTIONS
UW sophomore JD Greenway and Trent Frederic played in the USNTDP with Michigan's Luke Martin, Griffin Luce, James Sanchez and Nick Pastujov from 2014-16

Badgers' defenseman Cullen Hurley and Wolverines' defenseman Joseph Cecconi played together on the Muskegon Lumberjacks in the USHL during the 2013-14 season.

UW freshmen Tyler Inamoto and Sean Dhooghe were teammates with Michigan rookie Josh Norris and Quinn Hughes with the U.S. Under-18 Team last season.

LAST MEETING
Wisconsin 6, Michigan 4
Feb. 18, 2017
Wisconsin finished off a Kohl Center sweep of Michigan with a 6-4 victory.

Trent Frederic scored two goals for the second consecutive night, Aidan Cavallini scored two goals and Cameron Hughes posted three assists to lead the Badgers on offense.

Frederic reset the UW school record for fastest goal by scoring just eight seconds into the game, but Michigan's James Sanchez tied it at 1-1 just 43 seconds into the contest.

Michigan went on to take the lead at 4:40, but Frederic struck again, this time shorthanded, late in the first period to even the score.

The Badgers and Michigan exchanged goals to get to 3-3 and 4-4, before Peter Tischke finally broke the deadlock at 11:03 of the third period. Cavallini added an empty-net marker to seal the win.

Matt Jurusik made 34 saves in the victory.

The Badgers were outshot, 38-29, while both teams went scoreless on three power-play chances.

Wisconsin 5, Michigan 2
Feb. 17, 2017
Wisconsin broke a 2-2 tie game at 10:23 of the third period when Trent Frederic scored, then added goals by Jarod Zirbel and Seamus Malone at 17:43 and 18:01, respectively to blow open a close game.

Frederic opened the scoring for a 1-0 UW lead, then Cameron Hughes scored on the power play at 12:06 of the second to make it 2-1.

Each Wisconsin line scored in the game, with each coming from the centers.

Michigan native Jack Berry made 25 stops in the victory.

UW outshot Michigan, 31-27, while both squads went 1-for-3 on the power play.

BEHIND THE BENCH
WISCONSIN BADGERS
Head Coach: Tony Granato
Record at WIS: 27-20-2 (2nd Year)
Overall: 27-20-2 (2nd Year)

MICHIGAN STATE SPARTANS
Head Coach: Mel Pearson
Record at MICH: 6-3-1 (1st Year)
Overall: 124-95-30 (4th Year)

BY THE NUMBERS
7 - The Badgers have seven skaters who have scored at least four goals, though none has more than six. That balanced scoring gives the Badger two more 4+ goal scorers than any other Big Ten team. Notre Dame is second with five.

20- - Five times in the last seven games, Wisconsin held its opponent to under 20 shots on goal (11, 19, 13, 17, 17) and is 3-2-0 in those contests. UW has held a 36.8-15.4 shot edge in those tilts. UW has outshot its opponent in six of the last seven games.

.526 - Wisconsin's combined special teams is 51-of-97 (.526), which ranks second in the conference and 19th nationally. UW's penalty kill is 40-for-50 (.800) on the season, ranking fourth in the Big Ten and sharing 26th nationally.

KEY NOTES TO CONSIDER
Freshman forward Sean Dhooghe played his first nine game at Wisconsin without a point, but has one goal and five points over his last four games played.

Freshman defenseman Wyatt Kalynuk skated in his first six games as a Badger without a point, but has one goal and seven points over his past seven games.

Kalynuk tallied his first career goal last Friday at Michigan State. It marked the third time this season Kalynuk was credited with his first career goal, but this time it stuck. The first two goals announced as Kalynuk were later changed to teammates, who deflected his shot.

Kalynuk leads all Badger defensemen with his seven points. He is one of two UW rear guards with a goal this season, tied with senior Tim Davison for the blue line lead with one tally.

Junior forward Matthew Freytag owns three goals in the last four games, with all three coming on the last two Fridays. He tallied two goals on Friday, Nov. 3 against North Dakota, then scored again last Friday at Michigan State. He scored the game's first goal on the last two Fridays.

The Badgers scored a season-high six goals last Friday at Michigan State and all six goals came off the stick of a different Badger.

Wisconsin tied its program-best winning streak agianst Michigan State with last Friday's 6-3 victory, but had it snapped on Saturday.

The Badgers had won four consecutive games in East Lansing, Michigan for the first time in program history, before dropping Saturday's contest.

Freshman forward Tarek Baker scored the game-winning goal last Friday at Michigan State and owns both game-winners for the Badgers in Big Ten play. Those two winners are tops among Conference skaters.

Baker's four points (3 goals, 1 assist) in four Big Ten games shares second among league rookies, while his point-per-game average is tied for the top spot among freshmen in league games.

The Badgers have scored the first goal in 10 of 13 contests this season.

The Badgers are 7-2-1 when scoring first this season, and went 16-1-1 last season when opening the scoring.

After posting points in eight of the season's first nine games, sophomore forward Trent Frederic is pointless in career-long four games. Frederic still shares second on the Badgers with five goals and third on the squad with 10 points.

Junior forward Seamus Malone leads the team with three game-winning tallies on the season, including three of the last five for the Badgers. He is tied for the national lead in game-winning goals with Penn State sophomore Denis Smirnov.

UW is allowing 2.54 goals against per game through 13 games to rank 14th in the nation. Last year, UW allowed 3.28 goals per game.

UW also ranks 14th in the nation with a 3.23 goals per game scoring average.

ABOUT LAST WEEK
The Badgers split at Michigan State, winning 6-3 last Friday, before losing 2-0 last Saturday.

The Badgers jumped out to a 3-0 lead after the first period on Friday on goals by Matthew Freytag, Will Johnson and Ryan Wagner.

MSU made it a game in the second period, scoring at 1:04 of the frame moments after its 5-on-3 power play expired, then tallying again just over six minutes later to make it 3-2.

UW frosh Tarek Baker stemmed the rally later in the period to make it 4-2.

Cameron Hughes and Wyatt Kalynuk added third-period tallies, before a late MSU power-play goal accounted for the 6-3 final score.

UW went 2-for-4 on the power play and 4-for-6 on the penalty kill.

Goaltender Kyle Hayton made 14 saves to win his 60th career game.

Five different skaters posted multi-point games, including one goal, one assist efforts by defenseman Wyatt Kalynuk, Ryan Wagner, Tarek Baker and Cameron Hughes. Sean Dhooghe posted a pair of assists.

Saturday, UW outshoot MSU, 38-17, but were shutout for the first time this year, 2-0.

Junior forward Jarod Zirbel led the Badgers with six shots on goal.

Michigan State took a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 18:07 of the first period, and sealed the victory just past the midpoint of the third period.

The Badgers went 0-for-4 on the power play and 2-for-3 on the penalty kill.

SPECIAL TEAMS
Wisconsin's penalty kill is 40-for-50 (.800) on the season, ranking fourth in the Big Ten and sharing 26th nationally.

UW is tied for 16th nationally with its 23.4 percent power play (11-for-47), which is tied for second in the Big Ten.

Wisconsin was +15 on special teams last season, but -9 at even strength. UW is +9 at even strength this year, and even on special teams.

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.

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 this past Saturday, 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 are the first and only Badger twin brothers to both scored in the same game.

First Occurrence

Brothers	Date	Opponent
Sean/Jason Dhooghe	11/4/2017	North Dakota
Mark/Mike Strobel	11/19/1993	Colo. College
Jim/John Johanson	11/26/1982	Air Force
Scott/Todd Lecy	11/2/1979	Michigan State
Mark/Peter Johnson	11/10/1978	Michigan
Dave/Bob Lundeen	11/17/1973	Notre Dame

THE 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.

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.

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 (119 GP). Also over the 100 games-played threshold are senior defenseman Jake Linhart (118), senior forward Cameron Hughes (115) and senior defenseman Tim Davison (115). Graduate transfer goaltender Kyle Hayton has also played in 116 games.

Five others, including Jason Ford (94), Matt Ustaski (86) Seamus Malone (83), Will Johnson (83), and Peter Tischke (75), 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.

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.

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.

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 PICKS

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.

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.

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 finished out its homestand with a Saturday-Sunday series, Nov. 25-26, against Mercyhurst.