Rivalry aside, the Twin Cities might be starting to feel a lot like home for the Wisconsin men's hockey team. The Badgers learned Sunday that they would be the top seed in the West Regional, hosted at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn. This marks the third time in the last four weekends that the Badgers will play in the metropolitan area, and the second straight at the Xcel.
Wisconsin's first round draw is the fourth-seeded Catamounts of Vermont. Vermont finished the season 17-14-7 overall and 9-11-7 in Hockey East action. Despite the rather pedestrian record, Vermont jumped from No. 19 to No. 14 after defeating New Hampshire in the Hockey East quarterfinals, and had a strong enough Pairwise ranking to make the tournament. Senior forward Brayden Irwin led the Catamounts in both goals (15) and assists (19).
The winner of this matchup will meet the winner of the contest between No. 2 seed St. Cloud State the No. 3-seeded Northern Michigan Wildcats. The WCHA is well represented in the NCAA tournament this year, as Denver and North Dakota are also in the field. Denver is the top seed in the East regional and will face RIT in the first round. North Dakota is the No. 2 seed in the Northeast regional and will face Yale in the first round.
—Parker Gabriel
