MADISON, Wis. – Fresh off its 2023 Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Off win, the No. 5 Wisconsin men's travels to South Bend, Indiana, for a Big Ten series against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 5-6.
Here's six quick things to know before tuning in:
Rosters: Badgers || Fighting Irish
1 - HOLIDAY FACE-OFF CHAMPIONS: On Thursday and Friday, Dec. 28-29, the Badgers participated in the 2023 Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Off at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, bringing home their second championship title in the tournament's third year.
Goaltender
Kyle McClellan had a perfect tournament, backstopping Wisconsin to a pair of 3-0 victories over Air Force in the semifinals and Northeastern in the championship game. The senior made a total of 55 saves through two games to be crowned "Most Outstanding Goaltender" of the tournament.
Sophomore forward
Simon Tassy and junior defenseman
Daniel Laatsch were also named to the All-Tournament Team as "Most Outstanding Forward" and "Most Outstanding Defenseman," respectively.
2 - THREE FOR TASSY: During the Holiday Face-Off championship game,
Simon Tassy earned his first-career hat trick, scoring all three goals in the contest.
The forward found the back of the net four times throughout the tournament and now leads the roster with nine goals in 20 games played.
Tassy's hat trick marked the second for the Badgers in four games (
Carson Bantle - Dec. 8 vs. Penn State) and the first natural hat trick for UW since Dany Heatley scored three consecutive goals on Feb. 19, 2000, at Alaska Anchorage.
3 - LUCKY NUMBER SEVEN: Wisconsin's perfect performance at the Holiday Face-Off extends its current win-streak to seven, marking UW's most consecutive victories so far this season and the most since the program won seven straight from Dec. 13, 2012, through Jan. 18, 2013.
The Badgers previously recorded six wins in a row from Oct. 20-Nov. 4, 2023, sweeping series against then-No. 17 Michigan Tech, then-No. 1 Minnesota and then-No. 4 Michigan.
4 - WORLD JUNIORS UPDATE: Freshman
Quinn Finley is currently part of the 25-man roster representing the United States at the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship in Gothenburg, Sweden.
The forward scored his first goal of the tournament in Team USA's second preliminary game, sending the United States' goal total to double digits in an 11-3 win against Switzerland. He also notched an assist in the victory for a total of two points in five games so far.
The United States won all four of its preliminary games to earn the top seed in Group B before taking down Latvia, 7-2, in the quarterfinals to continue its quest to a gold medal.
Catch Finley and Team USA in action next on Thursday, Jan. 4, at 12:30 p.m. CT on the NHL Network as the U.S. faces Finland in one of the tournament semifinals.
5 - SCOUTING NOTRE DAME: Notre Dame currently has a 10-8-2 record, including going 4-4-2 in Big Ten conference play. The Fighting Irish head into the series after a pair of home victories over Augustana, winning game one, 5-1, and game two, 3-2, in overtime.
Senior forward Landon Slaggert leads the roster with 12 goals and 17 points. Graduate student goaltender Ryan Bischel has won 10 of 20 starts this season, accumulating a national second-best .932 save percentage (only behind
Kyle McClellan's .939 percentage) and an average of 2.27 goals allowed per game.
6 - HOW TO WATCH: Puck drop for Friday's game is scheduled for 6 p.m. while Saturday's game will start at 4 p.m. Both games will be available to stream live on Peacock while audio play-by-play can be found on 1310 WIBA in the Madison area, 97.3 The Game in Milwaukee, as well as on the Badgers app and The Varsity Network app. You can also follow along on X/Twitter and Instagram @BadgerMHockey.
