Thus far, the second act has been a challenge for Wisconsin men’s hockey coach Mike Hastings. A year ago, the northern Minnesota native who previously took Minnesota State Mankato to new heights, burst from the gate in Madison, starting the season 9-1-0 and earning the top ranking in the national polls on the way to a runner-up finish in the Big Ten.

But a rash of injuries, especially on defense, has made Year 2 a struggle for the Badgers, who are 2-6-0 heading into their Border Battle series versus the Gophers this weekend at the Kohl Center. Still, Minnesota coach Bob Motzko, friends with Hastings since they were teammates at St. Cloud State in the 1980s, said the sub-.500 record is deceptive for a Wisconsin team that the Gophers are decidedly not taking lightly.

“We broke down their tape. They’re way better than their record shows, and I think they’re smart enough to know it,” Motzko said. “So don’t anybody feel sorry for Mike Hastings right now. He’s got enough wins in his life. He’ll have that ship going in a good direction.”

After a hard-fought home sweep of Penn State in their conference openers last weekend, the Gophers moved up to No. 3 in the national polls, and got a renewed taste of the kind of “rock fight” hockey they will need to play in March and potentially April. That was especially the case on Saturday, when two Gophers left the game early due to injury, scoring star Jimmy Snuggerud was tossed due to a major penalty in the second period, and still they found a way to win, getting the only goal in the final minute of the game.

“I was pretty proud of how we kept digging in and fighting,” said defenseman Mike Koster, one of the Gophers’ co-captains. “Being able to dig into a defensive hockey game is the biggest thing. It’s not relying on one line or one guy to find the goal. Coach always says you have to have a 1-0 win in your holster too. That’s the way it is come playoff time, once you get into the Big Ten tournament and the NCAA tournament.”

The Gophers will be without veteran defenseman Cal Thomas and rookie forward August Falloon this weekend after both were injured versus the Nittany Lions. The games at Wisconsin face off at 7 p.m. Friday and 6 p.m. Saturday, with B1G+ streaming both games.

Emphatic return for Eagan’s Jackson Hallum

If there was some trepidation that Michigan junior forward Jackson Hallum had about playing on the opening weekend of November, it would be understandable. Exactly a year earlier, in a game at Wisconsin, the former St. Thomas Academy standout was cut down by an open ice collision and in an instant, his season was done.

Eagan native Jackson Hallum was named one of the Big Ten’s three stars of the week following his hat trick in an overtime win by Michigan at Boston University on Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024.

As the Wolverines made a run to the Big Ten title game and played in the Frozen Four in St. Paul, just a few miles from Hallum’s family home in Eagan, all he could do was watch from the stands. By contrast, last weekend in a notable upset at Boston University, Hallum recorded his first career hat trick – capped with the overtime winner – and was named one of the Big Ten’s three stars of the week.

“I feel like my body has been there basically for the whole season. It’s more the mental part of being in a game situation and making fast decisions, making plays with my hands,” he said. “The skill plays, I’ve noticed, have come back a little slower than I wanted to. Things like that take time with more games, but my body is really good. I feel great.”

As a junior in Michigan’s renowned Ross School of Business, there’s plenty of off-ice thinking for Hallum as well. He admits the class load in a college that’s ranked among the top dozen nationally is a challenge.

“Junior year is the toughest semester in Ross. We have a group project for every class,” Hallum said. “We have Business Law, Business Decision-Making, Business Communication and Business Management, and we have a group for every one of those classes. On top of all that we have an extra group that creates a business and has to tie in principles from each class. It’s really hard, but it’s going well.”

Michigan, 5-2-1 overall, hosts Notre Dame this weekend for its first two conference games.

Healthier Tommies clash with Mavericks

When he first came to St. Thomas in 2021, coach Rico Blasi had to start a Division I program pretty much from scratch. And late last season, as the Tommies were beset by injuries that ultimately derailed their push for a first CCHA title, he was pasting together a lineup on a nightly basis again.

St. Thomas is 2-4-1 overall following a home split with Augustana last weekend in Mendota Heights, and is notably in better health than previously, as the Tommies head into a home-and-home with in-state rival Minnesota State Mankato. Blasi is a man of faith coaching the state’s only top-level hockey program at a Catholic school, but is not ready to credit higher powers for the good health.

“I go to mass every day, and I don’t know if the good Lord is listening or not, but if he is, maybe we’ll stay healthy,” said Blasi, taking a moment to knock on the wooden desk where he sat for his weekly media availability. “The injuries that have happened weren’t strains or anything like that, because then at least you could have an answer for it. These were shoulders or concussions or things like that.”

MSU has wins over Michigan and North Dakota already this season, and brings a 6-4-0 mark to the weekend series. They are led offensively by Rhett Pitlick, who was the Gophers’ leading goal-scorer last season before transferring to Mankato in September.

“We’re going to have to play some defense. We can’t give them any easy ones,” Blasi said. “They’re as good a team as I’ve seen in the early part of the season. We’ve got our hands full.”