Wisconsin hockey vs. Denver: Live updates from the NCAA title game

LAS VEGAS – One more win and the Wisconsin men’s hockey team brings home a national championship and completes a heck of a postseason run.

The Badgers (24-12-2) face Denver (28-11-3) in the NCAA championship game at 4:30 p.m. Saturday, April 11, at T-Mobile Arena with a chance to bring home their first national championship since 2006.

A win would also give UW its fourth straight postseason win over a higher seed. All those teams were ranked among the top eight in the final USCHO regular-season poll.

With a Wisonsin win  …

The Badgers will sweep the men’s and women’s titles in the same season for the first time since 2006. No other college program has accomplished the feat.

The Big Ten would win its ninth title this school year. Here is the rundown:  Football, Indiana; men’s basketball, Michigan; women’s basketball, UCLA, women’s hockey, Wisconsin; men’s soccer, Washington, wrestling, Penn State; field hockey, Northwestern, and water polo, UCLA.

Check for updates on the UW-Denver NCAA final throughout the day.

Wisconsin-Denver tale of the tape

Scoring offense: Wisconsin 3.71 (fifth nationally); Denver 3.62 (8).

Scoring defense: Wisconsin 2.97 (32); Denver 2.12 (4)

Scoring margin: Wisconsin .74 (14); Denver 1.50 (I5)

Power-play percentage: .265 (6), Denver .188 (37)

Penalty-kill percentage: .722 (58); Denver .818 (23)

A look at Wisconsin hockey’s final practice of the season

On the eve of the national championship game, the Wisconsin men”s hockey team went through a short workout at T-Mobile Arena on Friday Apri 10.

Coaching legend offers Mike Hastings advice

After the Badgers defeated North Dakota in the semifinals Thursday, Badgers coach Mike Hastings received a text message from former Boston College coach Jerry York.

“He just said enjoy tomorrow’s practice,” Hastings said. “We always thought it was the best practice of the year and then he put dot, dot, dot, but it was hard to schedule that one.”

Getting to the final possible practice of the season means reaching the national championship game. York coached for 50 seasons. He spent the final 28 at Boston College where he led the Eagles to eight NCAA finals and four championships.

As Hastings planned the team’s final practice of the season, he kept York’s message in mind.

“To me it’s about us having energy tomorrow because we’re going to need a lot of it,” Hastings said. “And so we went out for a short period of time. (The players) had a lot to do with what we were doing with practice.

“I went to the leadership group and said, ‘Hey, here’s some ideas I’ve got. What are you guys feeling?’ And so they ended up putting into that. It was a good 25-minute scheme.”