The rivalry between the Wisconsin and Minnesota men’s hockey teams goes back decades—far beyond any current player or coaches’ time with their team. The two squads have faced off 262 times in their history, and they will begin writing the next chapter this weekend when the Badgers (1-2-1 WCHA, 1-4-1 overall) head to Minneapolis to take on the No. 3 ranked Golden Gophers (3-2-1, 6-2-1).
“There’s a special place in everyone’s hearts for these games,” junior defenseman Frankie Simonelli said. “They’re real emotional games—extra physical. If you don’t get excited for games like these, you shouldn’t be playing hockey.”
Wisconsin has found success on the road against Minnesota recently, going 5-2-1 in their last eight games at Mariucci Arena and splitting or winning their last five series with the Golden Gophers overall.
The last time the Badgers saw the ice they were swept at home by Colorado College, and just days later, assistant coach Bill Butters announced his departure from the team. The team was off last weekend—time the players felt helped them move on from their losses on and off the ice.
“We had a major decision made by a coach and so now we have time to regroup and really focus on Minnesota and get back to working hard on the ice,” senior defenseman John Ramage said. “[The bye week] allows us to work on details that maybe we were missing in the Colorado College series.”
Six current Badgers hail from Minnesota, and Ramage said those players especially want to return home and show their rivals what they have missed out on.
“For them to go into Minnesota, it leaves a bitter taste in their mouths,” Ramage said. “They want to go back and play their best hockey and show Minnesota what they have to offer.”
The Golden Gophers have as deep an offense as any team in the country this season, with six players who have scored at least seven points in the team’s first nine games. They are led by junior forward Erik Haula, who leads the team in goals (five), assists (six) and points (11).
Minnesota is ranked in the top ten for team offense, defense, and power play this season, but is coming off of consecutive weekends in which they could not sweep their opponents.
The Gophers split a series with Minnesota State two weeks ago and followed that up with a win and a tie at Alaska-Anchorage .
The rivalry between Wisconsin and Minnesota has provided a source of excitement in the Badgers locker room this week, and a sense that this could be the weekend to turn around their season after a disappointing start to the year.
“Anytime you’re playing a No. 3 ranked team in the country, if you can go into their barn and take some points out of there, it’s always making a statement on a national level,” Simonelli said.
“Anytime you don’t get off to a good start I think that there is a tendency to blow it out of proportion,” junior defenseman and Bloomington, Minn., native Joe Faust said. “Obviously it’s not how you want to start, but it’s a great opportunity to go to Minnesota and turn things around.”
Wisconsin-Minnesota series are always special, and head coach Mike Eaves said on weekends like this, he and his staff don’t need to do much more to pump their players up.
“I don’t think that we have to fan that flame at all,” he said. “These kids go back home during the summer and they know each other. They’ve played against these kids since they were 12-13, so they know each other and there’s a great deal of pride on the line.”
