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Wisconsin athletic director Chris McIntosh presented women’s hockey coach Mark Johnson with the game puck after a 9-0 victory over Minnesota State on Oct. 13, 2023, his 600th as a college head coach.
It has been 11 years since the last University of Wisconsin men’s hockey outdoor game. The Badgers women have played only one, and it was in 2010.
The pace of outdoor college hockey events has slowed since the 2010s but the Badgers could be part of a new undertaking.
Both Wisconsin hockey teams are part of a Big Ten endeavor focused on playing games at Wrigley Field after the venerable home of Major League Baseball’s Chicago Cubs hosts the NHL Winter Classic in the upcoming season.
The conference hasn’t announced details but the plans being discussed, sources said, include three Big Ten men’s hockey games and one women’s hockey contest involving Big Ten schools Wisconsin and Ohio State.
The Badgers and Buckeyes have faced each other in the last two NCAA women’s hockey championship games. Wisconsin won 1-0 in 2023 and Ohio State returned the favor by the same score in 2024.
Chicago’s Wrigley Field is scheduled to host the NHL Winter Classic for the second time in the 2024-25 season. The Chicago Blackhawks played the Detroit Red Wings on Jan. 1, 2009.
The men’s teams involved, sources said, include Wisconsin, Michigan State, Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State and Penn State. Minnesota is the odd one out from the seven-team men’s hockey conference.
Dates for the games haven’t been confirmed but are likely in the first days of January 2025.
Wrigley Field is scheduled to host an NHL Winter Classic for the second time when the Chicago Blackhawks play the St. Louis Blues on Dec. 31. It was the second Winter Classic venue on Jan. 1, 2009, when the Detroit Red Wings beat Chicago 6-4 and former Badgers defenseman Brian Rafalski scored the winning goal on a 32-degree day.
The Badgers men have played neutral-site games in Chicago before, including one outdoors. They defeated No. 2 Minnesota 3-2 at Soldier Field on Feb. 17, 2013, in the Hockey City Classic in front of an announced crowd of 52,051.
Wisconsin also had a two-year agreement with Notre Dame to play at the United Center. The Badgers beat the top-ranked Irish 5-0 on Jan. 21, 2018, and the teams skated to a 2-2 tie on Jan. 20, 2019, before Notre Dame won the extra Big Ten point in 3-on-3 overtime.
The other two Badgers men’s hockey outdoor games in the team’s modern era — it routinely played outdoors in the early days of the program before it went on hiatus in 1935 — were in Wisconsin. They downed Ohio State 4-2 at Green Bay’s Lambeau Field on Feb. 11, 2006, with an announced crowd of 40,890. The crowd was listed as 55,031 when the Badgers overcame Michigan at Camp Randall Stadium on Feb. 6, 2010.
“Life experiences are what these young men are after when they come to a university like Wisconsin,” Badgers coach Mike Hastings said in February when asked about the potential for another outdoor game.
“That’s a lifelong experience. That’s something you can remember forever. So from a coach’s perspective, I’m on board if that’s something that became an opportunity.”
The Wisconsin women’s hockey team also played at Camp Randall Stadium in 2010, beating Bemidji State 6-1.
Outdoor games were a college hockey fad in the 2010s: There were 36 outdoor Division I men’s hockey games in the decade. There have been only five since the start of 2020. Hastings was involved in one of them at Minnesota State, which hosted St. Thomas at its football stadium in January 2022.
The NHL has a mobile refrigeration unit to maintain outdoor ice at multiple venues each season. It has provided an opportunity for college games around the pro contest at Boston’s Fenway Park, Air Force’s Falcon Stadium, Notre Dame Stadium, Pittsburgh’s Heinz Field and Denver’s Coors Field in the past decade.
The Chicago location is a natural one for the Big Ten, which has its headquarters in the suburb of Rosemont and has a heavy marketing presence in the area. The Big Ten Network operates out of studios less than four miles away from Wrigley Field.
Two of its men’s hockey schools — Wisconsin and Notre Dame — are less than 150 miles away from the stadium.
Wisconsin’s Caroline Harvey, of Salem, N.H., breaks up a pass for Ohio State’s Jenn Gardiner during the first period of the NCAA Division I championship game Sunday at the Whittemore Center in Durham, N.H.
Wisconsin goalie Ava McNaughton makes a save in front of Ohio State’s Hadley Hartmetz and teammate Ava Murphy during the first period of the NCAA Division I championship game Sunday at the Whittemore Center in Durham, N.H.
Wisconsin’s Laney Potter gets past Ohio State’s Jenna Buglioni during the first period of the NCAA Division I championship game Sunday at the Whittemore Center in Durham, N.H.
Wisconsin’s Ava Murphy poke checks Ohio State’s Kiara Zanon during the first period of the NCAA Division I championship game Sunday at the Whittemore Center in Durham, N.H.
Wisconsin’s Lacey Eden and Ohio State’s Stephanie Markowski pursue the puck in the first period of the NCAA Division I championship game Sunday at the Whittemore Center in Durham, N.H.
Wisconsin forward Britta Curl hits the ice in front of Ohio State forward Kelsey King as they pursue the puck in the first period of the NCAA Division I championship game Sunday at the Whittemore Center in Durham, N.H.
Wisconsin’s Kirsten Simms and Ohio State’s Lauren Bernard slam into the boards as they pursue the puck in the first period of the NCAA Division I championship game Sunday at the Whittemore Center in Durham, N.H.
Ohio State’s Kenzie Hauswirth and Wisconsin’s Laney Potter pursue the puck in the first period of the NCAA Division I championship game Sunday at the Whittemore Center in Durham, N.H.
Ohio State goaltender Raygan Kirk deflects the puck as Wisconsin forward Kirsten Simms is unable to score in the second period of the NCAA Division I championship game Sunday at the Whittemore Center in Durham, N.H.
Wisconsin goaltender Ava McNaughton deflects a shot in the second period of the NCAA Division I championship game Sunday at the Whittemore Center in Durham, N.H.
Ohio State’s Jenna Buglioni and Wisconsin’s Anna Wilgren grapple for position in the second period of the NCAA Division I championship game Sunday at the Whittemore Center in Durham, N.H.
Ohio State’s Hadley Hartmetz and Wisconsin’s Kirsten Simms collide in the second period of the NCAA Division I championship game Sunday at the Whittemore Center in Durham, N.H.
Ohio State forward Joy Dunne celebrates with defenseman Lauren Bernard (19) after Dunne scored in the third period against Wisconsin on March 24, 2024, in Durham, N.H.
Ohio State forward Joy Dunne celebrates after scoring in the third period against Wisconsin on March 24, 2024, in Durham, N.H.
Ohio State goaltender Raygan Kirk deflects the puck as Wisconsin forward Kirsten Simms is unable to score in the second period on March 24, 2024, in Durham, N.H.
Wisconsin goaltender Ava McNaughton deflects a goal attempt in the second period against Ohio State on March 24, 2024, in Durham, N.H.
Ohio State forward Joy Dunne, left, celebrates after scoring against Wisconsin goaltender Ava McNaughton in the third period on March 24, 2024, in Durham, N.H.
Ohio State forward Sloane Matthews, left, and defenseman Emma Peschel celebrate with the NCAA college women’s championship trophy after beating Wisconsin on March 24, 2024, in Durham, N.H.
Ohio State forward Olivia Mobley cuts a piece of the goal net while celebrating her team’s win over Wisconsin in the NCAA college women’s championship hockey game on March 24, 2024, in Durham, N.H.
Ohio State players celebrate after beating Wisconsin in the NCAA college women’s championship game on March 24, 2024, in Durham, N.H.
Ohio State celebrates after beating Wisconsin in the NCAA college women’s hockey championship game on March 24, 2024, in Durham, N.H.
Ohio State goaltenders Quinn Kuntz, center left, and Amanda Thiele, center right, celebrate after beating Wisconsin in a NCAA college women’s championship game on March 24, 2024, in Durham, N.H.
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