(UW ATHLETICS/LEARFIED) – The Wisconsin men’s hockey team earned its second NCAA Tournament bid in three seasons under head coach Mike Hastings and will take on Dartmouth for the first time in school history in the process.
The regional’s third-seeded Badgers (21-12-2) face the ECAC tournament champion and second-seeded Big Green (23-7-4) on Thursday. March 26 at 4 p.m. CT at DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts.
No. 1-seed Michigan State (25-8-2) will face off against No. 4-seed UConn (20-12-5) in the other regional semifinal.
The winners of both contests will skate in the regional final on Saturday, March 28 at a time to be determined.
Badgers coach Mike Hastings talked about making the tournament.
Hastings talked about the contest against Dartmouth.
Hastings also talked about getting ready for the tournament.
Badgers captain Ben Dexheimer said that Wisconsin can play with anybody.
Six-time NCAA champion Wisconsin will officially make its 28th NCAA Tournament appearance, the eighth-most in the nation. UW officially boasts a 37-24-2 mark all-time in NCAA tournament action, with its .603 NCAA win percentage ranking sixth all-time. UW’s six titles rank fourth all-time.
Wisconsin will play Dartmouth for the first time in school history. The Big Green boast four NCAA Tournament appearances all-time, last making it in 1980. Dartmouth also competed in 1979, 1949 and 1948.
Connections between the programs are minimal. Former Badger assistant coach Grant Standbrook (1976-87) served as an assistant coach at Dartmouth (1966-70) before taking over the program as head coach (1970-75). He then served as the U.S. National Team assistant coach in the lead up to the 1976 Olympics under head coach Bob Johnson, before joining the Badger coaching staff.
The Badgers earned their at-large bid on the strength of their impressive record against the top teams in the nation. Wisconsin owns four wins over top-2 teams for the first time since the USCHO.com Poll began in 1997.
That includes a 2-2-0 mark against Worcester Regional No. 1-seeded Michigan State, with both wins coming on the road.
The Badgers reached 20 wins in a season for the 40th time and second time in three seasons during Mike Hastings‘ tenure.
The Badgers also went 5-1-0 on the road against top-6 teams with two wins over then-No. 1 Michigan State, two wins at then-No. 6 Penn State and one win over then-No. 2 Michigan.
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