Quick Six: Wisconsin faces No. 20 Notre Dame in season opener

MADISON, Wis. – The Wisconsin men's hockey team is back on the ice with its trip to Notre Dame on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 13-14. Both games are slated for 6 p.m. starts.

Here are six quick things to know before tuning into the 2020-21 season opening weekend:

1. IT'S HOCKEY TIME: The Badgers embark on a 28-game season that includes 24 Big Ten conference contests, and four home games against Arizona State.

The Sun Devils entered into a one season schedule agreement with the seven Big Ten schools to play four games at each Conference member.

The first 12 games of the Wisconsin season, all taking place between Nov. 13 and Dec. 9, were announced on Nov. 4.

"The Wait" is over

Wisconsin Hockey All-Access presented by @OdysseyBrands is BAAACCCKKK!!!! pic.twitter.com/Vn8ikTpaB3
— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerMHockey) November 11, 2020

2. FEELING A DRAFT: Sophomore forward Dylan Holloway became the 16th all-time Badger drafted in the first round of the NHL draft when the Edmonton Oilers picked him 14th overall in early October.

He is the fourth Badger in three years picked in the first round (K'Andre Miller, Alex Turcotte, Cole Caufield) and the sixth in five drafts (Luke Kunin, Trent Frederic).

UW boasts 10 NHL draft picks on its roster, including freshman forward Sam Stange, who gave UW two draft picks in the 2020 NHL Draft. Stange went at No. 97 in the fourth round to the Detroit Red Wings.

How would you react if you were a first-round NHL Draft pick? (Yes he did actually react)

Congrats to @EdmontonOilers pick Dylan Holloway!!!

Rounds 2-7 today starting 10:30 a.m. CT pic.twitter.com/4InQfnTbT9
— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerMHockey) October 7, 2020

3. FRESH LEGS: In a turnover season for the Badgers, Stange is joined by five more freshmen including forward Mathieu De St. Phalle, defensemen Anthony Kehrer and Luke LaMaster and goaltenders Ben Garrity and Cameron Rowe as well as graduate netminder Robbie Beydoun.

Stange posted 26 goals, 19 assists and 45 points in 48 games during the 2019-20 USHL season he split between Sioux City and Sioux Falls. The Eau Claire native was named to the 2020 Third-Team All-USHL while his 26 goals tied for fifth in the USHL. The 2019 Wisconsin Hockey Coaches Association All-State First Team was also named to the U.S. High School All-USA Hockey Second Team by USA Today for his 2018-19 season and earned the Joe Pavelski Award as the state's top forward that year.

Badger legacy Mathieu De St. Phalle led the USHL with 60 points and ranked second with 30 goals for the USHL's Chicago Steel while serving as an alternate captain. Son of former Badger Jacques De Saint Phalle (1982-83) and Lake Forest, Illinois native, the forward helped his team win the Anderson Cup as pandemic-shortened, regular-season champions and was named to the 2020 Second-Team All-USHL.

Winnipeg, Manitoba native Anthony Kehrer played two seasons with the USHL's Sioux City Musketeers alongside UW teammates LaMaster and Stange scoring a goal and five points in 27 games during the 2019-20 slate. The defenseman had a goal and 11 points in 58 games during 2018-19, adding two assists in a pair of playoff games.

Hailing from Duluth, Minnesota, and having skated alongside fellow Badger Ryder Donovan at Duluth East High, Luke LaMaster captained his team both junior and senior seasons. The 2018 Reed Larson Award as Minnesota's top defenseman also played with fellow freshmen Anthony Kehrer and Sam Stange for the USHL's Sioux City where he played 38 games with two goals, eight assists and 10 points.

Goaltender Ben Garrity played 37 games, going 19-12-5 with a 3.14 goals-against average and .905 save percentage during the 2019-20 season with the Minot Minotauros of the NAHL. The Rosemount, Minnesota, native also went 15-10-2 with a 2.52 goals-against average and .917 save percentage during the 2018-19 campaign.

Wilmette, Illinois, native Cameron Rowe went 14-16-1 with a 3.52 goals-against average and .899 save percentage in 33 games for the USHL's Des Moines Buccaneers during the 2019-20 season. Rowe served as a member of USA Hockey's NTDP from 2017-19, winning bronze at the 2019 Under 18 World Championship and gold with Team USA at the 2017 U17 World Hockey Challenge.

As a graduate transfer from Michigan Tech, Robbie Beydoun holds three collegiate seasons with the WCHA under his belt. The Plymouth, Mich. native skated in 28 games for Michigan Tech, posting a 10-11-2 record with a 2.28 goals-against average, a .919 save percentage and three shutouts.

He's a Badger legacy

He also led the @USHL in scoring last season

Get to know freshman forward Matthieu De St. Phalle

📰 https://t.co/3rSZxg02U5 pic.twitter.com/YXkEapDuTw
— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerMHockey) November 2, 2020

4. RETURNING TO THE RINK: Cole Caufield returns to the Badgers as the leading returning scorer in the Big Ten.

The sophomore paced the Conference with 19 goals and ranked second behind then-Penn State senior Nate Sucese (38 points) with 36 points in 36 games played in 2019–20. Caufield was named to the 2020-21 Preseason All-Big Ten First Team.

Junior defenseman Ty Emberson and sophomore forward Dylan Holloway were named to 2020-21 Preseason All-Big Ten Honorable Mention.

Emberson serves as the Badgers' captain and is assisted by senior forwards Tarek Baker and Ty Pelton-Byce, as well as senior defenseman Tyler Inamoto. He marks the fourth consecutive Eau Claire, Wisconsin, native to wear a letter on his jersey (Jake Dowell, Jefferson Dahl, Jake McCabe) and will be the first to wear the 'C' as captain.

Pelton-Byce makes his family the first in UW history to produce multi-generational alternate captains. His father, John Byce, was a two-time alternate captain (1988–89 and 1989–90) and is a 2020 UW Athletics Hall of Fame inductee.

Congrats to @t_emberson and Dylan Holloway on the preseason honorable mention All-Big Ten honors#Badgers || #OnWisconsin pic.twitter.com/mNhuvRhWYo
— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerMHockey) November 9, 2020

5. SCOUTING THE FIGHTING IRISH: The No. 20 ranked Notre Dame finished last season with a series split 2-2-0 against the UW and leads the Badgers 7-4-1 overall since joining the Big Ten. Former opponents in the WCHA, Notre Dame and Wisconsin have met 76 times in program history with Wisconsin leading the all-time series 43-25-8.

Last time out, the Badgers beat the Irish, 6-4, in the first series game Jan. 24 where freshman Cole Caufield scored three goals in two periods to record his first career hat trick before falling to Notre Dame, 5-2, in the series finale on Jan. 25.

With last season being cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Notre Dame remains the only team with multiple Big Ten Tournament Championships (2018 and 2019).

Key Fighting Irish junior forward Michael Graham has had 16 career, shining agianst the Badgers tallying eight goals and two assists in his six games played with UW. Junior forward Alex Steeves led the Fighting Irish with 28 points last season while senior forward Colin Theisen is Notre Dame's leading returning career goal-scorer with 25 marks in his first three seasons.

🚨🚨🚨 for @colecaufield 🎩🎩🎩 and most importantly... Badgers WIN!! pic.twitter.com/RIqhDh80Xe
— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerMHockey) January 25, 2020

6. HOW TO WATCH: Puck drop will be at 6 p.m. CT from South Bend both Friday and Saturday night. Catch Friday's matchup on TV at NBC Sports Network with a radio play-by-play on 1310 WIBA. Saturday's game will be featured online NHL Network with a radio play-by-play on 1070 WTSO. Both games can be seen at NBCSports.com and on the NBC Sports app.

Follow the games live via Twitter @BadgerMHockey.

There's no emoji good enough for this

This post just makes us happy...😄

Friday hockey on @NBCSports

Saturday streaming on https://t.co/vS0a9VfRqz and the NBC Sports app pic.twitter.com/7CN3HQs9vL
— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerMHockey) November 10, 2020

University of Wisconsin Athletics

Quick Six: Wisconsin faces No. 20 Notre Dame in season opener

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Players Mentioned

Tarek Baker

Robbie Beydoun

Cole Caufield

Mathieu De St. Phalle

Ryder Donovan

Ty Emberson

Ben Garrity

Dylan Holloway

Tyler Inamoto

Anthony Kehrer

Luke LaMaster

K'Andre Miller

Ty Pelton-Byce

Cameron Rowe

Sam Stange

Alex Turcotte

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