Wisconsin
Third-period dominance has helped Wisconsin men’s hockey post a nation-best 16 victories
Wisconsin men’s hockey excited for Holiday Face-Off at Fiserv Forum
The Badgers will face Air Force Thursday night and then take on Northeastern or Minnesota Duluth Friday night.
MADISON – For as much as the Wisconsin men’s hockey team has accomplished, the Big Ten season hasn’t officially reached its midpoint yet.
As Mike Hastings says, there is a lot of meat on the bone when it comes to areas the Badgers can improve.
One area where UW has especially excelled, however, has been in the third period. No team in the Big Ten has been better in the final 20 minutes, a major reason the Badgers (16-4) lead the nation in victories, winning percentage (.800) and hold the No. 5 ranking in the USCHO poll this week.
Not only is UW’s plus-16 goals margin the best in the conference, but no team in the league has scored more goals (25) or allowed fewer (nine).
Hastings said the team’s leadership group, which includes captain Mike Vorlicky and assistant captains Mathieu De St. Phalle and David Silye, and veterans have played a key role in how the team is closing games.
“They’re taking ownership as a group on what we’re doing or what we’re not doing on the rink from a responsibility standpoint,” Hastings said. “They’re doing it in a positive way, not calling guys out, just reaffirming what we need to be doing to be successful at that time in the game. We’re going to continue to lean on those guys because they’ve done a really good job.”
Wisconsin resumes Big Ten play Friday and Saturday at Notre Dame. The series will officially complete the first half of the Big Ten season for the Badgers, who are 8-2 in league play and with 24 points trail first place Michigan State by one point.
The puck drops at Notre Dame at 6 p.m. Friday and 4 p.m. Saturday. Both games can be seen on the Peacock app or heard on the Varsity Network app.
Wisconsin setting itself up for late-game success
UW is riding the wave of a seven-game winning streak that includes the championship at the Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Off last week.
The back-to-back shutouts raised Wisconsin’s season total to six, the most for the program since 2006-07.
The performance raised senior Kyle McClellan’s save percentage to a nation-best .939. Notre Dame’s Ryan Bischel (.932) is No. 2.
“I feel like we’re in each and every game from the start and I think when you have that throughout the lineup (and) everyone is thinking that, that is pretty impactful,” Vorlicky said. “That’s pretty beneficial for you down the stretch and you’re not going to have much panic when guys are thinking like that.”
Wisconsin has set itself up nicely for success in the third period. It has led 13 times heading into the final period and won each time. Conversely, the team lost three of the four times it trailed after three periods.
And though the Badgers lead the Big Ten in scoring margin (plus-1.90), many of their games have been tight after two periods. Six times it has owned a one-goal advantage heading into the third. In wins over Minnesota on Oct. 26 and Michigan on Nov. 4, UW allowed tying goals before scoring the game-winner.
Maintaining that advantage will be key this week for Wisconsin as it faces an opponent in Notre Dame that is tied with Michigan State for second in the league in third-period scoring margin (plus-11). The Fighting Irish are 9-4 at home.
As for Wisconsin, Hastings sees the team’s attitude toward closing out games spreading throughout the team.
“It’s starting to come from the bench whether that’s Mike Vorlicky down at the defensive core, (Anthony) Kehrer,” Hastings said, “guys who have been around who understand if we stay on it and don’t allow them to gather momentum, we’ve got a better chance to finish out games or whatever.”
About 1,000 animal welfare activists who tried to gain entry on Saturday to a beagle breeding and research facility in Wisconsin were turned back by police who fired rubber bullets and pepper spray into the crowd and arrested the group’s leader.
It was the second attempt in as many months by protesters to take beagles from the Ridglan Farms facility in Blue Mounds, a small town about 25 miles (about 40 kilometres) southwest of Wisconsin’s capital, Madison.
Dane County Sheriff Kalvin Barrett said in a video statement that 300 to 400 protesters were “violently trying to break into the property” and assault officers. He said protesters have ignored designated areas for peaceful protest and blocked roads to prevent emergency vehicles from entering.
“This is not a peaceful protest,” Barrett said.
The sheriff’s department said a “significant” number of people were arrested out of about 1,000 protesters at the site but did not give an exact total as they were still being processed as of the afternoon.
Protesters tried to overcome barricades that included a manure-filled trench, hay bales and a barbed-wire fence. Some protesters did get through the fence but were unable to enter the facility, where an estimated 2,000 beagles are kept, the Wisconsin State Journal reported.
Wisconsin guard Andrew Rohde reflects on early March Madness exit
Wisconsin guard Andrew Rohde said the Badgers ‘thought we could do so many things’ in the NCAA Tournament before it ended abrupty with an upset loss.
Wisconsin men’s basketball has added a sharpshooting wing via the transfer portal.
Miami (Ohio) transfer Eian Elmer has signed with the Badgers, the team announced April 18. The 6-foot-7 wing will join UW with one year of eligibility remaining.
Elmer averaged a career-high 12.7 points and 5.9 rebounds while shooting 49.8% from the field and 42.9% from 3-point range in 2025-26. His production helped the RedHawks go 32-2 and earn an at-large NCAA Tournament bid.
“We are really excited to add another excellent addition to our spring signees,” UW coach Greg Gard said in a release. “Eian brings a wealth of experience and scoring punch as a 6-7 wing. … A terrific shooter, his skillset and production fit excellently into our plan as we build out next year’s team. Throughout our evaluation process, our staff loved his size, power and skill and truly believe he will thrive in our system.”
Elmer is Wisconsin’s third transfer portal addition since the end of the 2025-26 season, joining former George Washington guard Trey Autry and former Hofstra forward Victory Onuetu. UW also added Australian guard Owen Foxwell.
The additions of Autry, Onuetu and now Elmer leave Gard’s staff with three more roster spots to fill ahead of the 2026-27 season.
The Badgers are looking to replace much of their production from a 2025-26 team that went 24-11. Nolan Winter is expected to be the team’s only returning starter after John Blackwell and Aleksas Bieliauskas entered the transfer portal and Nick Boyd and Andrew Rohde exhausted their eligibility.
MILWAUKEE – Friday’s severe storms have passed. And with that, the threat of any severe weather has also passed for the immediate future as no storms or rain are expected for several days.
However, plenty of damage remains across southeastern Wisconsin as of Saturday morning, in addition to the ongoing flooding threat.
Several area rivers are at flood stage, and there are multiple river flood warnings in effect.
FOX6 Weekend WakeUp on Saturday begins at 6 a.m.
On the scene in the morning
What we know:
Farmstead damage in Franklin
FOX6’s Hayley Spitler is in Franklin on Saturday morning, April 18, getting a daylight look at the damage from last night’s storms.
Storm damage in Caledonia
Friday’s storms left quite the mark across southern and southeastern Wisconsin, including at L and L Farms and Greenhouse in Caledonia.
FOX6 Weather Extras
Local perspective:
Meanwhile, FOX6Now.com offers a variety of extremely useful weather tools to help you navigate the stormy season. They include the following:
FOX6 Storm Center app
FOX LOCAL Mobile app
FOX Weather app
Maps and radar
We have a host of maps and radars on the FOX6 Weather page that are updating regularly — to provide you the most accurate assessment of the weather. From a county-by-county view to the Midwest regional radar and a national view — it’s all there.
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School and business closings
When the weather gets a little dicey, schools and businesses may shut down. Monitor the latest list of closings, cancellations, and delays reported in southeast Wisconsin.
FOX6 Weather Experts in social media
The Source: Information in this post was compiled by the FOX6 Weather Experts.
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