Wisconsin's Mike Hastings earns National Championship revenge game
Wisconsin men's hockey head coach Mike Hastings has a chance to avenge a 2022 National Championship game loss to Denver.
A double overtime thriller kept Wisconsin Badgers fans up late on Thursday, April 9, in anticipation of who they would be playing in the national title game. Michigan, the No. 1 seed, blew an early 2-1 first-period lead to Denver .
The Pioneers lead the way with 10 National Championships, and one of those just so happened to come against Mike Hastings. Hastings came to Madison in the 2023 season after a lengthy stint at Minnesota State. The 60-year-old head coach is no stranger to Denver as he eyes redemption from what happened in 2022.
Denver's 2022 National Championship win was a 5-1 rout of Minnesota State at the TD Garden. The Mavericks may have gotten on the board first, but Hastings' squad later gave up five unanswered in a four-goal defeat. To make matters worse, all five goals came in the third period.
Minnesota State jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first period before the Pioneers scored five third-period goals in less than 14 minutes. Keep in mind, Denver had just eight combined shots in the first two periods. Wisconsin has had to run through a gauntlet to get to this point, but the job isn't finished.