When the WCHA splintered off in 2013, little did anyone know what exactly would happen with many of the traditional rivalries from that league.
Yeah, we knew Minnesota and Wisconsin would keep playing each other, as would North Dakota and St. Cloud State, North Dakota and UMD, and UMD and St. Cloud State. They were all in the same leagues, after all.
But what about Minnesota-North Dakota?
(Actually, at the time, there was still consternation over UND’s Fighting Sioux nickname and logo, to the point that Minnesota wasn’t scheduling them non-conference in anything, and that rivalry went dormant for a while as a result.)
Or, yes, Wisconsin and UMD? The two have played some classics over the years. And anyone in the building wasn’t going to easily forget the night Dany Heatley fed off a raucous UMD student section and broke Bulldog fans’ hearts with two goals at the DECC, including an extra attacker equalizer to force an overtime Wisconsin won in.
(Heatley had a goal and three assists the night before, giving him a six-point weekend, which is good by any metric.)
The Badgers also ruined the Brett Hull jersey retirement night in 2006, before UMD got a measure of revenge and a split the next night.
One of the few times the football classic “Jump Around” was played to fire up a Kohl Center hockey crowd was before overtime of a UMD-Wisconsin game in 2010. UMD got a Jordan Fulton goal exactly 60 seconds into overtime to silence a sellout crowd, one of the loudest environments I have ever seen a college hockey game in.
The teams had some classic battles in the 1980s, too.
“Hull, Watson, Christiansen, Maciver, Johnson, Gosselin, Kosti,” Badgers alum-turned head coach Tony Granato said this week when asked about memories of playing UMD during his career. “Those days were some of the greatest hockey games that I ever played in. I just remember, ‘How do you stop them?,” well you can’t, so you’ve got to score six or seven to beat them.”
Well, the Badgers haven’t visited Duluth since 2012, the last time they were required to. On Oct. 26 and 27 of that year, Wisconsin won 2-0 and then tied 2-2 to open WCHA play, the final season in the league for both teams. The non-conference dates never happened, largely because then-Wisconsin coach Mike Eaves was said to have wanted two trips to Madison in exchange for one trip north to Duluth, something that the sides couldn’t agree to.
Granato took over at Wisconsin in 2016, and the sides made a two-year agreement (one series in each city) for the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons. UMD went to Madison and got swept in 2019, as Cole Caufield’s home debut was a smashing success. The return trip — twice delayed by COVID — happens this weekend, almost exactly ten years to the day of Wisconsin’s last games in Duluth.
“It’s good to have Wisconsin back in here,” UMD coach Scott Sandelin said this week. He was surprised to learn from me that it had been ten years. “Obviously, a great rivalry going back to the WCHA.”
8 THOUGHTS
1. I fell into a bit of a historical rabbit hole this week, in advance of this weekend series. I decided to hit up old friend collegehockeystats.net and look up the last time Wisconsin was in Duluth. While Chicago defenseman Jake McCabe (at Wisconsin in 2012-13) is the only player from that weekend who is still in the NHL, I found a few more active guys from the Badgers’ only other trip to Amsoil Arena. Wisconsin was the first opponent for a WCHA series at the new arena, visiting Duluth Jan. 14-15, 2011. UMD won the opening game 2-0, thanks to first-period power play goals by David Grun and Mike Connolly. The Badgers bit back in the Saturday game, jumping to a 3-0 lead and holding on for dear life late. Two of Wisconsin’s goal scorers that night, Craig Smith (Boston) and Justin Schultz (Seattle) are still in the NHL, while defenseman Jake Gardiner (Carolina) missed all of last season with injury and might be at the end of his career. Defenseman Justin Faulk (St. Louis) of UMD is also still in the NHL, while JT Brown retired last year and is part of the Seattle television crew.
2. Both teams were swept last weekend, UMD by Minnesota State in Mankato, and Wisconsin at home by St. Cloud State. Last week’s losses dropped the Badgers to 0-4, having also been swept on the road by Ohio State.
“Really would have loved to have gotten off to a better start as far as results go,” said Granato. “Really trying to find ourselves. Couple games, we played really well. The Saturday game against St. Cloud was probably our best game. We’re just trying to find a way to get some wins here.”
Offense has been an issue for the Badgers, with just six goals in four games while conceding 14.
I asked Sandelin what challenges he expected from the Badgers.
“Well, they’re probably pissed,” he said, referencing their 0-4 start. “They went through the same thing last week, didn’t play very well Friday and they had a much better game and probably deserved a better outcome Saturday. They’re a little bit younger.”
UMD is healthier. Ben Steeves (lower body) is expected back after missing the series in Mankato, while Jack Smith (lower body) could be available soon, if not this weekend. Goalie Zach Sandy (upper body) was expected to return to practice Thursday.
3. The Badgers are indeed younger, but their average age of 21.6 is just ahead of UMD at 21.4. Wisconsin has a defensive corps that varies in size but not as much in skill. Granato knows the blue line is a big key to the Badgers’ attack, and he isn’t afraid to give guys like Corson Ceulemans, Ben Dexheimer, and Tyson Jugnauth the green light to jump up in the play.
“We need that,” he said. “Two years ago, when we had Caufield and (Dylan) Holloway and all these scorers in our lineup, you take them out and you have to find ways to produce goals.
“I think it’s an important part of college hockey. You need to have four on the rush, with how teams defend. You need a back end that can get pucks to the net from the point.”
4. Does college hockey get better than Minnesota and North Dakota? Enjoy some old videos put together by each program.
We all appreciate UMD’s rivalries with both, but this is as much a blood feud as you’re going to find in the sport. They’ve been at each other’s throats for decades, and there’s no doubt this series will be played with an incredible intensity both nights.
As for the games, it’s the always-fun contrast in styles. Minnesota has the speed and skill and wants to get up and down the ice on the big rink. North Dakota has skill, but will try to frustrate the Gophers, force turnovers, and feed a dangerous transition game.
Which team can get enough goaltending? If last week’s struggles are any indication, UND might not be the best bet in this area. Drew DeRidder and/or Jakob Hellsten need to rebound here to give the Fighting Hawks a, well, fighting chance.
5. As if UND-Minnesota isn’t a big enough series, Minnesota State tries to follow up its outstanding weekend against UMD when it travels to St. Cloud. This should be really good. Can the Huskies spread the Mavericks out a bit and perhaps create some holes in their structure? Can Minnesota State, which is a really good team on the wall, play more in the middle of the ice and have success?
(Also, I’ll pre-emptively ask that UMD fans not worry about the common opponent comparison. Just move on from last week. Overthinking what happened will not do you any good.)
(Oh, and it’s a WCHA Reunion Weekend. UMD hosts Wisconsin, North Dakota is at Minnesota, we have this series in St. Cloud, and CCHA play opens for Bemidji State at Michigan Tech. Unfortunately, Omaha isn’t playing the right team from Alaska to be a part of the fun.)
6. Western Michigan has won four straight, shaking off a season-opening loss to Alaska-Anchorage. The Broncos play at Notre Dame Friday before hosting the Fighting Irish at a sold-out Lawson on Saturday. Very intrigued to see how that plays out, as Notre Dame is arguably the best team WMU has faced to this point and a good barometer for a new-look Broncos team.
After getting swept by UMass last weekend, a likely ornery Denver team hosts Providence at Magness. This should be a good series, featuring a couple teams that can get up and down the ice. Feels like a good series to fire up on the ol’ NCHC.tv.
7. Everyone in the NCHC plays this weekend, as Colorado College heads to Mullett Arena and battles Arizona State in a two-game series. Gotta say, Sandelin and go ahead and schedule that return trip anytime. The place looks fantastic.
It’s time to practice!#CCTigers pic.twitter.com/7h0XtnOJXl
— CC Hockey (@CCTigerHKY) October 20, 2022
Elsewhere, Miami plays a two-game series at Canisius, and Omaha is at home for two with Alaska-Fairbanks.
8. Can you really get revenge from a national championship loss in the regular season? Probably not, but the UMD women get a rematch this weekend, facing Ohio State in Columbus. Watch the games at 5pm Friday and 2pm Saturday on Big Ten PLUS.
The rematch storyline is cool and all, but mad props to Kevin Moore of Northern News Now, because he brought up the fact that this series matches up the only two female head coaches in the WCHA, Maura Crowell of UMD and Nadine Muzzerall of Ohio State. Crowell really appreciated him thinking of that. In retrospect, I’m thrilled Kevin brought it up, as it’s much more interesting than the tired “revenge” storyline that we always get with rematches. That’s just played out. And Crowell had some very interesting thoughts on the topic.
“I think it’s awesome,” Crowell said of the matchup. “I was happy it got the recognition it got in the national championship game last year with the all-female staffs (Ohio State can’t boast an all-female staff this year, but UMD still can). It’s something we’re incredibly proud of. I think it’s important for people to talk about it and notice it, and I want more female head coaches represented in our league and beyond. Hopefully, I can be a role model to young coaches coming up and help them get these opportunities.”
We’ll be at Amsoil for UMD-Wisconsin. 6:30pm pregame Friday, then 5:30pm Saturday on KDAL. Back pregame with lines.
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