MADISON, Wis. — The Badgers are welcoming in the New Year and the second half of their 2020-21 season in a home rivalry series with No. 1 Minnesota scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 8-9. The Gophers will travel to Madison with a perfect 10-0-0 record while the No. 12 and Big Ten second-place Badgers look to gain ground on first-place UM.

Here are six quick things to know before tuning in:

1. GOLDEN BADGERS: Cole Caufield, former Badger Alex Turcotte and equipment manager Nate LaPoint claimed gold with Team USA in the 2021 World Junior Championship in a spectacular 2-0 win over Team Canada and Dylan Holloway, who earned a silver medal in the tournament. Turcotte netted USA's game-winning goal early in the first period, stunning hockey fans with an early lead in the gold medal game. 
 

Gold-Medal Joy#Badgers pic.twitter.com/Y9taXDR1im

— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerMHockey) January 6, 2021

Although Cole Caufield and Dylan Holloway faced off as rivals, they will head back to Madison and reunite as teammates for the Badgers. 

2. SECOND HALF STARTS NOW: This weekend marks the start of the Badgers second half stretch of play which consists of 18 games against their Big Ten opponents and Arizona State. Despite the frequency of games at the beginning of the season, the remaining series generally follows a weekly matchup similar to past seasons. The Badgers have skated one series against all but Minnesota and Michigan State thus far this season.  
 

Happy hockey schedule day!!

It's almost 2021!!!https://t.co/sH1V4cI3LR pic.twitter.com/ikxt080DNB

— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerMHockey) December 18, 2020

The Badgers have not played a game since Dec. 4 at Ohio State, postponing the following matchup against Michigan State due to COVID-19 concerns. Minnesota is coming off a pair of home victories against ASU played on Jan. 3-4. 

3. BORDER BATTLE: The Badgers vs. the Gophers is one of most heated rivalries in college hockey. Wisconsin trails Minnesota 96-174-24 in all time series. The last time Wisconsin faced a No. 1 ranked Minnesota, they swept the series in a pair of victories.

Wisconsin boasts seven Minnesota natives on its roster including senior defenseman Josh Ess (Lakeville), junior forward Roman Ahcan (Savage), sophomore defenseman Mike Vorlicky (Edina), sophomore brothers Ryder and Shay Donovan (Duluth), freshman defenseman Luke LaMaster (Duluth) and frosh goaltender Ben Garrity (Rosemount). 

UW sophomore Cole Caufield just returned from the world junior championship played in Edmonton, Canada, where he was teammates with Minnesota defenseman Ryan Johnson, Jackson LaCombe and Brock Faber.

4. BOYS ARE BACK: In addition to Caufield and Holloway returning from World Juniors, the Badgers are expected to have the most complete roster they've had since their first series of the season back in November. 

Ty Pelton Byce will rejoin the lineup after an injury suffered against Michigan on Nov. 19 forced him to miss seven games. 

Roman Ahcan, Tarek Baker and Dominick Mersch were forced to sit out the series against Arizona State and Ohio State due to COVID-19 guidelines but are also expected to hit the ice this weekend. 

Dylan Holloway will suit up for the Badgers for the first time since their season-opening series against Notre Dame in November. He recorded a goal in each of the two games he played this season. 

5. CAMPING OUT: Up to 19 Wisconsin alumni will take part in the NHL training camps that lead up to the start of the NHL season on Jan. 13. Among those are first-timers and 2019-20 Badgers Wyatt Kalynuk (Chicago) and K'Andre Miller (New York Rangers). A handful of NHL veterans are beginning camp with new franchises, including Luke Kunin (Nashville), Justin Schultz (Washington), Craig Smith (Boston) and Kyle Turris (Edmonton).

6. HOW TO WATCH: Puck drop is scheduled for 4 p.m. CT on Saturday and Sunday. Catch both games on Fox Sports Wisconsin, streaming at BTNPlus.com or listen on Badger Sports Network on 1310 WIBA in the Madison area. Follow along on Twitter and Instagram at @BadgerMHockey
 

It's sooo good to be back

Catch us this weekend on @fswisconsin#OnWisconsin || @everlightsolar pic.twitter.com/C3Pl0lm2Nx

— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerMHockey) January 6, 2021