The Western Collegiate Hockey Conference is hosting a reunion this week in Las Vegas when the Wisconsin Badgers take on North Dakota in the Frozen Four, followed by a matchup between Michigan and Denver in the second game on Thursday night. All four teams were at one point members of the WCHA, with Michigan departing for the CCHA in 1981 before Denver, North Dakota, and Wisconsin left the league in 2013.
Wisconsin (23-12-2) is playing in its first Frozen Four since 2010 after breaking a 16-year winless
streak in the NCAA Tournament with an opening round win over Dartmouth before surging late to take down Michigan State in overtime to earn a trip to Las Vegas.
North Dakota (29-9-1) is back in the Frozen Four for the first time since it last won it all in 2016. The Fighting Hawks won the NCHC regular season before bowing out in the semifinals of the conference tournament and earning the number two overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. They advanced to the Frozen Four with consecutive shutout wins over Merrimack and Quinnipiac.
For the younger fans who may not remember, the Wisconsin-North Dakota rivalry was must-see hockey back in the WCHA days. Twitter user Harry Doyle Burner (@Wisco0827) posted a fun series earlier this week about the rivalry, which I’ll summarize a bit below:
Wisconsin and North Dakota have met 173 times, the fourth most of any Badger opponent behind only Minnesota, Michigan, and Colorado College. The Badgers hold the all-time series lead, 87-73-13.
The rivalry began taking on a life of its own in the 70s and 80s, as at least one of the two teams made the Frozen Four from 1977-1984, with the teams combining for five championships during that span.
They’ve met once in the Frozen Four, with North Dakota winning 5-2 in the 1982 championship game. That game still holds the record for the most future NHL games played among participants.
It was a couple of months before that championship matchup that the rivalry reached its boiling point during a game at the Dane County Coliseum on January 30, 1982. North Dakota had a reputation for being a big, mean, physical group on the ice—not unlike the North Dakota we see in 2026.
Wisconsin jumped out to a big lead, and tensions were riding high in the Coliseum when Badger forward John Newberry squirted water from the bench at North Dakota’s Cary Eades, prompting an all-out brawl that made its way into the benches and up the tunnel, even into the crowd. The penalties following the skirmish resulted in a WCHA record for the number of suspensions arising from a single incident.
With North Dakota as the upcoming third NCAA Tournament opponent, the Badgers will have played the teams ranked fifth, sixth, and seventh in scoring defense this season. North Dakota also has an explosive offense averaging just under five goals per game, capable of blowing the doors off anybody in the country.
The Badgers already squared off with the nation’s leading goal scorer in Dartmouth’s Hayden Stavroff, but Wisconsin didn’t have much trouble holding off the Big Green’s two-trick pony between Stavroff and Hank Cleaves. The Michigan State offense is a bit more balanced and started to roll Wisconsin before the Badgers woke up late in the third.
What North Dakota brings to the table is something completely different. The Fighting Hawks feature a roster littered with NHL draft picks and a balanced attack that looks like something the Wisconsin women’s team brings to the table. North Dakota has five players with 30 or more points this season and three more knocking on the door.
Ellis Rickwood and Cole Reschny, the first- and second-line centers, have posted 28 and 29 assists, stirring the drink and creating lots of production in the top two groupings. Will Zellers and Dylan James flank Rickwood on the top lines, with the two wingers producing 18 and 21 goals to their respective names. Ben Strinden and Mac Swanson are the wingers surrounding Reschny, both reaching double figures with 15 and 11 goals between the two.
All in all, North Dakota has six double-digit goal scorers on their roster. They don’t get a ton of goal scoring from their defensemen, at least compared to the share of goals from the forwards, but it’s a group of blue liners with high assist numbers and the physicality to make life difficult in Wisconsin’s offensive zone.
As you scroll down the list of North Dakota’s top producers, the size really stands out. It’s a roster loaded with 6-foot-plus, 200-pound-plus skaters willing to throw their weight around. This may be the biggest opponent the Badgers have faced all year on paper, which creates an interesting dynamic between the speed and skill of Wisconsin versus the imposing size of North Dakota.
They also deploy one of the nation’s top goaltenders in freshman Jan Špunar. The Czech native is 20-4-1 in net this season with six shutouts and a 1.90 goals against average. Great goaltending isn’t new to the Badgers, who knocked off Richter Award finalist Trey Augustine in their last game, but it certainly adds another tricky layer to the puzzle that is North Dakota.
Wisconsin has struggled against North Dakota in the ten games played since both departed the WCHA, going 1-8-1 against the Fighting Hawks, with their only win coming in November of 2015. The last meeting took place in October 2023 when North Dakota won 2-0 in Grand Forks.
But this is a new Wisconsin, a team that’s made an inspired run in an effort to absolve this storied program’s rough stretch since 2010, and one that overcame the odds by erasing a late two-goal deficit against Michigan State in a never-say-die performance for the ages. This is a Wisconsin team that embraces the opportunity to revive a historic rivalry at the pinnacle of the men’s collegiate game.
Something about seeing Wisconsin and North Dakota sweaters on the ice always produces a big game feel, especially on the biggest weekend of the season. Many of the players involved have never experienced a Wisconsin-North Dakota game, but I have a feeling that the history and sentiment between these programs will transcend generational gaps, making it feel like we’re back in the old WCHA all over again.
Game Info
Date: April 9
Time: 4:00 p.m.
Place: Las Vegas, Nev. | T-Mobile Arena
TV: ESPN2 | Radio: 1310 WIBA
