Wisconsin Badgers men's hockey takes on historical foe in Frozen Four

The Wisconsin Badgers men’s hockey team is Frozen Four bound! For the first time since 2010, the Badgers will play a Frozen Four game. 

It was a fantastic comeback by the Badgers against third-ranked Michigan State last Saturday. Wisconsin found themselves down 3-1 late in the third period when two goals by Luke Osborn and Gavin Morrissey equalized the score. In the overtime period, defenseman Ben Dexheimer scored the biggest goal of his Badgers’ career 24 seconds into the extra period. 

That goal punched the Badgers ticket to Las Vegas for the Frozen Four. Awaiting them will be an old WCHA rival.

The Wisconsin Badgers take on the second-ranked North Dakota Fighting Hawks in the Frozen Four 

Wisconsin takes on head coach Dane Jackson and eight-time national champions North Dakota on Thursday, April 9th at 4:00 P.M. CT. The Fighting Hawks come into the Frozen Four with a dominant 29-9-1 record and are led by Ellis Rickwood’s team-high 36 points on the season. Forward Dylan James leads North Dakota with 21 goals on the season, including one goal in four straight games. 

North Dakota also arrives with momentum. To reach the Frozen Four, the Fighting Hawks dominated Quinnipiac 5-0 on Saturday. Two early goals by Jack Kernan and one goal from Cody Croal set the tone in the first period for the eventual win. 

For longtime Wisconsin Badgers hockey fans, any game with North Dakota might bring back a memory from the early 1980s. In 1982, with Wisconsin leading 3-0 over the then-Fighting Sioux, a massive bench-clearing brawl broke out after Wisconsin's John Newberry reportedly splashed North Dakota player Cary Eades with water from a water bottle. The result? Absolute mayhem in the Dane County Coliseum. 

While another “Water Bottle Game” is unlikely, this Frozen Four matchup renews one of college hockey’s fiercest rivalries and adds a new chapter to Wisconsin’s season.