1. LAST TIME OUT
Wisconsin swept St. Thomas at LaBahn Arena for their seventh sweep in just eight series this season. The Badgers won game one 6-1 with six different Badgers recording goals on the night. Four different Wisconsin skaters recorded multiple points to close out the Badger's 10th conference win on the season.

The Badgers took game two with a 5-2 margin as Casey O'Brien and Caroline Harvey put together record-breaking performances. O'Brien broke the school assist record pulling away with two assists on the night for 140 assists — Sara Bauer previously held the record with 138 assists.

2. HOME, SWEET HOME

During the 2024 calendar year, Wisconsin was dominant at LaBahn Arena with a 20-1 record, including a perfect 8-0 record during the 2024-25 season. The Badgers have outscored their opponents 114-26 this year and outshot them by a 863-433 margin. Casey O'Brien has 42 points in 21 games at LaBahn Arena thanks to 11 goals and 33 helpers and Kirsten Simms has 35 points in 20 games at LaBahn with 10 goals and 25 assists. 

The Badgers played their last home game of the 2024 calendar year as they won't be back home until they face Ohio State on Jan. 2, 2025.

3.  DUO OF RECORD-BREAKERS

Two Badgers broke significant milestones in game two of the series against the Tommies.

Casey O'Brien picked up her 139th and 140th assists, enough to break the school assist record which was 138 set by Sara Bauer. Her 140 career assists are the 14th most in NCAA history and seventh in WCHA history. 

Caroline Harvey scored a power-play goal that marked her 100th career point. She became the fifth and fastest blueliner in school history to reach the 100 point mark.
 

4. MAINE CONNECTIONS

Despite having played Maine for only one series back in October of 2003, the two teams are well connected. 
A Siren, Wisconsin, native, Maine coach Molly Engstrom spent her collegiate career playing in the WCHA for the Badgers, suiting up from 2001-05. She earned first-team All-America honors her senior year and was a two-time WCHA Defensive Player of the Year and led the Badgers’ to their first NCAA tournament appearance in 2005 as an alternate captain. Engstrom and fellow blueliner Carla MacLeod became the first players in program history to be a top-10 finalist for the Patty Kazmiaer Memorial Award. 

Engstrom concluded her collegiate career with 28 goals, 57 assists and 85 points. The last time Wisconsin faced Maine, Engstrom had the primary assist on the game-winning goal. 

Maine freshman Brenna Curl is a sister of former Badger standout captain and current PWHL Minnesota Frost Britta Curl. The sisters missed playing against eachother by just a year as Britta finished up her collegiate career in the 2023-24 season. 

Wisconsin assistant coach and former Badger skater Jackie Crum recorded a shorthanded goal the last time the two teams met. 

5. WRIGLEY  FAN EVENT

Gather with your Badger friends in Chicago before the Wisconsin hockey teams play in the Frozen Confines of Wrigley Field on Saturday, Jan. 4, at Sluggers Bar, presented by UW Credit Union.

Located a two-minute walk from Wrigley Field at 3540 North Clark Street in Chicago, the festivities at Sluggers Bar begin at 1 p.m. There will be Wisconsin swag giveaways and food and drink available to purchase, among other activities.

The Wisconsin men's and women's hockey teams will take it outdoors on Saturday, Jan. 4 for games at Wrigley Field. The women take on NCAA championship game-rival Ohio State at 4:30 p.m., while the men face off against defending Big Ten champion Michigan State, who edged out the Badgers for the title last season, at 8 p.m.