There’s nothing like December hardware to kick off the second half of the college hockey season.
With a pair of 3-0 wins, Wisconsin captured the Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Off in Milwaukee, extending the Badgers’ current win streak to seven games and bumping Wisconsin up one spot to No. 5 in the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll.
Mike Hastings – who has said all of the right things in his first season with the Badgers and has said them with sincerity – had the perfect comment about the tournament following Wisconsin’s 3-0 win over Northeastern in the title match Dec. 29.
“What a great experience this was,” said Hastings. “Thank you to all the people who dug into their pockets to come out and watch us play. It was important coming into Milwaukee and doing well because we’re representing a state.”
And represent they did. With crowds topping 8,600 for each night, the Badgers outshot Air Force 38-27 in the opener and Northeastern 38-28 while limiting the Falcons to two power-play chances and the Huskies to one.
With his fourth and fifth shutouts of the season, Kyle McClellan earned the Big Ten third star of the week. McClellan credited the team in front of him for its collective commitment.
“All season, we’ve had defensemen and forwards step up and block shots that I can’t see,” said McClellan. “It’s an all-around team effort, and I’m glad that they’re able to step up and make some big-time blocks.”
Another Badger, Simon Tassy, is this week’s Big Ten first star after netting the game-winning goals in each game and recording his first career hat trick. The four goals in the tournament give Tassy 20 on the season to lead all Badgers. Hastings, who came along with Hastings from Minnesota State Mankato at the start of this season, had one goal in 15 games with the Mavericks last season.
“For me, it’s about getting a good start and getting two good games,” said Tassy, “but I think it’s more important the for the team to do well this weekend so that we can start out [the rest of the season] on the right foot.”
With 16 overall wins at midseason, the Badgers have three more victories than they had for all of 2022-23. As the second half begins, Wisconsin has 24 points in the Big Ten standings, one point behind first-place Michigan State.
The Spartans fell short of their own quest for holiday hardware.
After beating Ferris State 4-1 in the opener of the Great Lakes Invitational Tournament Dec. 28, Michigan State tied host Michigan Tech 3-3 in the title game Dec. 29, but the Huskies bested the Spartans for the championship. The tournament drew more than 7,000 people each day Grand Rapids, Mich.
“It was a tough finish to the game for us for sure,” said coach Adam Nightingale, “but I thought we did a lot of things we were looking to do as a team. I think that will really help us learn some lessons [and] help us going into the second half.”
Freshman Luca Di Pasquo was in net for the Spartans each night, his first action since late October. Michigan State starter Trey Augustine is in Sweden with Team USA for the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship. Di Pasquo posted a .923 save percentage in the tourney.
The Spartans outshot the Huskies 57-25 in the championship game. “I liked us a lot in the Ferris game,” said Nightingale. “I liked us a lot in the Michigan Tech game. I thought we did a lot of good things.”
Nightingale said that the game against Michigan Tech showed the Spartans areas to “clean up” when they play a game in which they dominate in all ways except for the score.
“You’ve still got to be great away from the puck,” said Nightingale. “When you go long periods of time when you’re in the offensive zone, you’ve still got to be locked in.”
The Spartans play the U.S. National Team Development Program in a single exhibition game this weekend. Nightingale said that he’s confident that the Spartans won’t be looking past this contest.
“We talked to our guys a lot,” said Nightingale. “You turn the scoreboard on, and it means something. You put the jersey on, it means something.
“We want our guys to be ready to go and we’re trying to chase being a great team. Every time you play, and every time you practice, every time you’re in the weight room, you’ve got an opportunity to get closer to that. We’ve got a group of guys that understands that, so the expectation is that we’ll be ready to go.”
The Badgers have an opportunity to surpass the Spartans with two games against Notre Dame, who warmed up for the second half of B1G play with two wins against Augustana, a 5-1 win Dec. 30 followed by a 3-2 overtime win New Year’s Eve.
The Irish outshot the Vikings 78 to 44 for the series, including putting up 40 shots in the OT win. The Irish led that game 2-1 until late in the second period, when Augustana’s Owen Bohn scored the tying goal.
“We had a lot of opportunities,” said Notre Dame coach Jeff Jackson, “but couldn’t finish. I didn’t think we were sharp, which is understandable after a three-week break. But we found a way to win.”
Cole Knuble had the game winner for Notre Dame 22 seconds into overtime. That followed his hat-trick performance of the night before, and his four goals on the weekend earned the freshman the Big Ten second star of the week.
“Obviously,” said Jackson, “it’s good to get Cole Knuble going.”
With 15 points, Notre Dame is in fourth place in the Big Ten standings to start the second half of the season, 10 behind Michigan State entering the weekend against Wisconsin. The Fighting Irish trail Minnesota by two points and have two games in hand on the Golden Gophers.
The Wisconsin-Notre Dame series is the only Big Ten conference play this weekend. Minnesota hosts Colorado College for two games, Jan. 7-8. The Golden Gophers beat the U.S. National Development Team 3-2 Jan. 1.
Ohio State plays a home-and-home series against longtime, in-state rival Bowling Green this weekend. The Buckeyes beat Mercyhurst at home 5-3 Dec. 30 to tune up for the second half.
Penn State hosts Army West Point in a single game Saturday night. Nittany Lions coach Guy Gadowsky will be facing off against his son, Mac, a freshman defenseman for the Black Knights.
After the U.S. National Development Team plays Michigan State Friday, they’ll take on the Wolverines in exhibition Saturday.
