BADGERS WOMEN’S HOCKEY PREVIEW: Cassie Hall is cooking. Finish the fucking job.
The Curds & Chaos Desk · Pregame Preview · Fan Opinion · Adult language
Source brief
No. 2 Wisconsin hosts Minnesota State at LaBahn Arena October 16 at 7 p.m. CT and October 17 at 2 p.m. CT, with B1G+ video and Fox Sports 1070 radio. UW’s October 14 preview reports Cassie Hall has scored in all six games this season. Friday forecast below is fan opinion.
Read the reporting: Wisconsin Athletics ↗Our take · Original opinion
R-rated fan opinion: Ohio State earned the sweep. Fine. Put the imaginary October dynasty documentary back in the fucking drawer. Wisconsin’s response has to arrive on skates, not in a furious comment explaining why the rankings hurt our feelings. Minnesota State is coming to LaBahn, and the assignment is beautifully rude: make the next sixty minutes miserable for somebody else.
The useful advantage starts with Cassie Hall. Through Wisconsin’s first six 2026–27 games, as reported by UW on October 14, she has seven goals and eleven points, with a goal in every game. That is a six-game early-season sample, not a promise of another goal Friday. It does give Wisconsin a productive attacking reference point. My preference: use the attention she attracts to create the next option, rather than asking one scorer to drag the entire offense around like a loaded ice-fishing sled. My key matchup is Wisconsin’s support around the puck against Minnesota State’s attempts to disrupt an entry and get out. I want an available short pass, a second player arriving with purpose, and someone ready for the loose puck. Those are tactical preferences, not claims about an unverified scouting statistic. If Hall draws attention, make that attention expensive. A teammate becoming available is more useful than three teammates respectfully watching talent happen. What could go wrong? Impatience. Trying to erase an entire bad weekend with the next rush is how an attacking team starts donating odd-player chances. I want the defender making the sensible choice, the forward staying available, and the bench accepting that a clean change is sometimes the most aggressive useful decision. Nobody needs to launch a fucking revenge expedition every time the puck crosses center ice. The closing stretch deserves particular attention. Wisconsin lost both games at Ohio State last weekend; Saturday ended 5–3 after the Buckeyes scored twice in the third. That is the contrary evidence beside our optimism. A favorable individual scoring run did not prevent a team loss. The lesson I want applied Friday is disciplined support after the initial push, especially when a shift gets long and the glamorous play stops being the correct one. I am also refusing to turn opponent history into a guaranteed result. Minnesota State does not have to participate in Wisconsin’s preferred redemption screenplay. Win the current battles. Our own fans can be ridiculous about this: one confident prediction and suddenly we are commissioning the commemorative fucking glassware. Save the engraving until the game is over. Fan prediction — Friday: Wisconsin 4, Minnesota State 1, with moderate confidence. My rationale is Hall’s current scoring form, home ice and the opportunity to turn that threat into connected offense. The risk is that hurried decisions expose the defense and turn a response game into another lesson. This is a forecast, not a result or a betting lock. Give me a controlled finish, then let Ohio State’s imaginary victory committee discover its parking validation expired.