WISCONSIN HOCKEY OPEN THREAD! [UPDATE]

I’ve noticed that there have been numerous, impromptu Wisconsin hockey threads on this site over the past couple of weekends and, well, it just makes sense to have everything in one place, right?

Please consider this post your weekend long open thread as the men’s hockey team hosts Ohio State and the women’s team travels to Duluth. Both series’ have major conference title implications and this will be a safe space to let out all of your angst.

Here is all the info for the women’s game with a couple of media guide fun facts:

• The Badgers are looking to bring home their ninth WCHA regular-season title. With two or more points this weekend, the team would capture the title outright. With one point, the team would split the title and if UMD sweeps, then the Bulldogs would take the title. This is the second straight year that the Badgers head to Duluth in hopes of securing the Julianne Bye Cup.
• Wisconsin is currently running an eight-game unbeaten streak, the third longest streak in the NCAA and the longest active streak by a WCHA team.
• In the last eight games, Wisconsin has outscored opponents 42-10. The team is also scoring .250 on power plays with six goals on 24 power plays.
• The No. 1 Badgers end the regular season with a top-10 matchup against the No. 7 Bulldogs for the second-straight year. Wisconsin took four out of five games against UMD last season and leads the series against UMD 52-31-15.
• Sophie Shirley and Daryl Watts prove to be a dymanic duo against Minnesota Duluth with Shirley having six goals and five assists in nine games against UMD and Watts having four goals and eight assists in five career games against UMD.

And here is all of the info for the men’s game plus some media guide fun facts:

• The Badgers are ranked No. 5 in the nation for the second week in a row following their win and tie against Notre Dame. This is their highest national ranking since Oct. 2019.
• Should Cole Caufield score again this season, he would become UW’s first 20-goal scorer since Luke Kunin tallied 22 during the 2016–17 season. His performance would also mark the No. 95 20-goal season in UW history and make him the No. 57 skater to reach the mark.
• The last time the Badgers and Buckeyes faced off back in December they split the series with OSU claiming the first game 4-2 then Wisconsin bouncing back 3-1 in the second game.
• The Big Ten regular-season champion will be determined by winning percentage in Big Ten games, with wins in regulation and overtime counted as wins and shootout results counted as ties for the purpose of calculating winning percentages. The Badgers currently hold second place with a .675 winning percentage and still have a chance to catch Minnesota (.750).
• UW’s 30.6 percent power play (22-for-72) leads the nation.
• Badgers rank 1-2-3 in Big Ten scoring with Caufield (37 points) and Dylan Holloway and Linus Weissbach (29 points) leading the way. The same three lead in conference play with Caufield (34 points) and Holloway (26 points) at 1-2 and Weissbach tied for third (24 points) with Notre Dame’s Alex Steeves.

We will update this post on Saturday with the game information and any other pertinent facts.

SATURDAY UPDATE:

The Badgers lost on Friday which makes today’s game for all the regular season WCHA title marbles. I’m not nervous, you’re nervous!

The men’s team won in OT on Friday and the puck drops for game two at 4 p.m. CST on Saturday.