Badgers embrace return to Milwaukee
Milwaukee hosted the Badger Hockey Showdown 14 times at the Bradley Center, but more Christmas breaks than that have passed without a tournament since the last in 2002. And that building, which had been built with hockey in mind, is gone.
So sure, it was disappointing to fans when the inaugural Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Off sat on ice last winter due to COVID-19 restrictions. But it's upon us now, with holiday college hockey set for Tuesday and Wednesday at Fiserv Forum.
“I want us to go to Milwaukee as if it was the Stanley Cup,” Wisconsin coach Tony Granato said recently.
“I think it's really important for us to look at it as we're going to a special building, special place, special tournament. We're going to have a group of fans there that don't get to see us regularly. And I want to make sure that's our focus going in there, that that's a chance to have a special moment in Wisconsin hockey. That's what we have to look forward to.”
The Badgers are scheduled to meet Yale in the second semifinal at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, following 16th-ranked Providence vs. Bowling Green at 4 p.m.
Wisconsin also will play in the 7:30 game Wednesday, regardless of whether it is for the championship or third place.
Wisconsin won the Showdown eight times in the 14 years it was held at the Bradley Center. As attendance waned, the tournament moved to the Kohl Center in Madison for its final seven years.
Including regular-season games, holiday tournaments, conference tournaments and NCAA tournament games, Wisconsin is 29-18-3 in Milwaukee. One of the program's biggest victories came at the Bradley Center in 2006, when the Badgers won their sixth and most recent NCAA title.
“There's been some phenomenal hockey played there, there's been some great players that have stepped onto that ice and played in the Milwaukee tournament,” Granato said. “We know it's important not only for our team but for our state and for our fans to have us have a good showing there.”
Tuesday games are scheduled to be televised on Bally Sports Wisconsin Plus,
Wednesday games on Bally Sports Wisconsin and all games on the Big Ten Plus streaming service.
Here's a quick look at the teams:
Wisconsin (5-12-1)
The Badgers are coming off a split with Penn State two weeks ago at the Kohl Center.
Senior forward Brock Caufield (four goals, seven assists) and graduate student Tarek Baker (five goals, five assists) have led the Badgers offense. Freshman defenseman Corson Ceulemans leads the team with eight assists and shares second overall with 10 points.
Junior Jared Moe (2.62 goals-against average, .926 save percentage) has spent most of the time in net and made a career-high 47 saves in the most recent game, a 5-4 overtime loss to Penn State.
UW holds a 7-2-2 all-time edge in meetings with Yale, including 1-1-2 in holiday showdowns in Wisconsin. Yale reached the title game in 1998 at the Bradley Center and tied UW for the 2010 title in Madison.
Yale (3-7)
The Bulldogs did not play last season, started this year with just nine skaters with college experience and played the first 10 games with just eight forwards. The three wins have come the past four games, though, with sophomore goaltender Nathan Reid — who lettered in lacrosse at Sun Prairie High School — on the ice for all of them.
Sophomore Niklas Allain leads Yale with four goals and seven points, and junior Cole Donhauser has recorded a team-high four assists.
Providence (14-7)
The Friars come in with eight victories in their past 10 games but without head coach Nate Leaman, director of hockey operations Theresa Feaster and leading scorer Brett Berard, all of whom are participating in the World Junior Championship this week in Canada.
In Berard's absence, Nick Poisson, another sophomore, is the Friars' leading point scorer with five goals and 18 assists. But the team has had points recorded by 21 players, and is high in the national rankings on the power play (second, .301) and penalty kill (fifth, 89.9%).
Goaltender Jaxson Stauber, a Mike Richter Award finalist last season, has a 2.13 goals-against average and .923 save percentage, both ranking among the top 20 in Division I.
Bowling Green (8-7-3)
The Falcons began the season with 11 new players, including eight freshmen.
Goaltender Christian Stoever, who played junior hockey for the Madison Capitols, is 3-4-1 with a .916 save percentage and 2.55 goals-against average.
Offensive leaders are Nathan Burke (10 goals), Austen Swankler (19 points), Taylor Schneider (12 assists, tied for the lead with Swankler and Gabriel Chicoine) and Alex Barber (seven goals, tied with Swankler for second, and 17 points, tied for second with Schneider).