WHO: #20 Notre Dame (0-0-0, 0-0-0-0 B1G) vs. Wisconsin (0-0-0, 0-0-0-0 B1G)
WHEN: Friday, November 13 – 7 p.m. ET | Saturday, November 14 – 7 p.m. ET
WHERE: Compton Family Ice Arena
WATCH: Friday – NBCSN & NBCSports.com | Saturday – NBCSports.com
LISTEN: 94.3 FM | UND.com
GAME NOTES (PDF)
FOR STARTERS
- The Fighting Irish open the 16th season under head coach Jeff Jackson on Friday night and their fourth season in the Big Ten.
- Overall, it is the 52nd season of NCAA Division I hockey for Notre Dame.
- The Irish are 8-6-1 in season openers under Head Coach Jeff Jackson.
- Defensemen Spencer Stastney (Second Team) and Matt Hellickson (Honorable Mention) each earned preseason All-Big Ten honors.
- Junior forward Alex Steeves led the Fighting Irish with 28 points last season (11-17-28).
- Senior forward Colin Theisen is Notre Dame’s leading returning career goalscorer with 25 tallies in his first three seasons.
- Theisen and Hellickson enter the 2020-21 season with matching 117-consecutive
games played streaks (each game of their Irish careers). - Since joining the Big Ten, Notre Dame leads the series versus the Badgers, 7-4-1.
- The teams split last season’s series 2-2-0.
- Eight of Michael Graham’s 16 career goals have come against the Badgers in just six games played (8-2-10 points).
- With last season being cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Notre Dame remains the only team with multiple Big Ten Tournament Championships (2018 and 2019).
- Key departures from 2019-20 (all were graduating seniors): goaltender Cale Morris, defenseman Tory Dello, forwards Cam Morrison, Mike O’Leary and Cal Burke.
THE SCHEDULE
- With a delayed start to the season due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, each Big Ten team will play a 24-game conference schedule, plus an additional four games per school against Arizona State University hosted at Big Ten venues.
- After hosting the Badgers and then breaking for final exams, Notre Dame will hit the road for a two-game series at Michigan (Nov. 27-28).
- The Irish will then host Arizona State (Dec. 3-4), Ohio State (Dec 12-13) and Michigan State (Dec. 19-20) before the winter break.
- The remainder of the schedule will be announced by the conference at a later date.
- Outside of immediate family members of the participating student-athletes, there will be no spectators in attendance for this weekend’s series.
- As the season progresses, the ability to host fans will be informed by the University’s health and safety guidelines along with the guidance of local health officials and the Big Ten Conference.
THE NOTRE DAME-WISCONSIN SERIES
- Former opponents in the WCHA, Notre Dame and Wisconsin have met 76 times in program history with Wisconsin leading the all-time series 43-25-8.
- The first meeting between the two teams came during the 1921-22 season when the Irish skated away with a 3-0 victory at Badin Rink (outdoors at Notre Dame).
- The teams met once more, in 1925-26, before taking a 40 year hiatus and returning to competition when Notre Dame earned varsity status.
- The Badgers lead the series when playing at Notre Dame, 17-12-5.
- As a head coach, Jeff Jackson is 8-5-1 all-time against the Badgers (1-1-0 at Lake Superior State).
- The one win Jackson had over the Badgers at Lake Superior State came on April 4, 1992, in Albany, New York, as the Lakers defeated Wisconsin 5-3 to win the NCAA Championship (the first of Jackson’s two NCAA Championships at Lake State).
- Since joining the Big Ten, Notre Dame leads the series 7-4-1.
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