State hockey primer: Everything you need to know about our area teams at state

The 2023 WIAA Boys and Girls State Hockey Tournament will be played this Thursday through Saturday, March 2-4, at Bob Suter’s Capitol Ice Arena in Middleton. Here’s how our area teams got there, players to watch and how to follow the action.

BOYS DIVISION 1 SCHEDULE

Semifinals Friday, March 3

#1 Green Bay Notre Dame (26-0) vs. #4 University School of Milwaukee– 10 a.m.

#2 Verona (22-5) vs. #3 Hudson (19-9)-- 12:15 p.m.

Championship game Saturday, March 4, 2:30 p.m.

HOW HUDSON GOT HERE

Two-time defending champion Hudson qualifies for the tournament for the 14th time and for the seventh time in the last eight seasons. They have six state titles on their ledger. The first came in 2001 with the second coming in 2004. The Raiders then won back-to-back championships in 2017-18 before capturing consecutive titles again the past two seasons. They also advanced to the championship final in 2016 and finished runner-up. This season, they defeated Superior 3-1 in the sectional final held in Chippewa Falls to continue their effort to win a third consecutive championship. 

HOW THEY FARED AGAINST THE REST OF THE FIELD

The Raiders defeated their state semifinal opponent Verona, 2-1, in the second game of the season Nov. 26 in Hudson. They lost to top-seed and undefeated Notre Dame 4-1 in Green Bay Dec. 17, and defeated University School of Milwaukee, 5-3, at home Feb. 4.

HUDSON PLAYERS TO WATCH

Senior Alex Pottratz leads the Raiders in scoring this season with 24 goals and 28 assists for 52 points while senior linemate Carson Strapon has tallied 21 goals and 16 assists for 37 points. Sophomore Mike Mauer contributed 13 goals and six assists in the regular season while junior defenseman Brecken Meyer had two goals and 17 assists from his blue line position. Junior Aidan Tepper-Engh has handled the bulk of the goaltending duties and enters the state tournament with a 2.45 goals against average and .906 saves percentage with three shutouts.

BOYS DIVISION 2 SCHEDULE

Semifinals Thursday, March 2

#1 New Richmond (22-4) vs. #4 Menomonie (10-16)-- 10 a.m

#2 Mosinee (21-6) vs. # 3 Oregon (16-11)-- 12:15 p.m.

Championship game Saturday, March 4, 9:30 a.m.

HOW NEW RICHMOND GOT HERE

Top-seeded New Richmond returns to state for the first time since 2011 and for the fifth time overall. The Tigers advanced to the championship final in 2003 and finished runner-up. They are on a pursuit to win the program’s first state title, which continues following a 3-2 win over the Amery Co-op in the sectional final held at Amery.

HOW THEY FARED AGAINST THE REST OF THE FIELD

The Tigers swept their semifinal opponent Menomonie, 6-0 and 5-2, in Big Rivers Conference play. They did not face Mosinee or Oregon.

NEW RICHMOND PLAYERS TO WATCH

Three Tigers finished with 30 or more points this season, and six had 25 or more. BRC scoring champion Catcher Langeness headlines the group with 55 points (19 goals, 36 assists), to make him the 10th player in New Richmond history to score over 100 career points. He is also the Tigers’ all-time leader in assists.

Sophomore Steven Chapman (10 goals, 20 assists) and senior Easton Schmit (8 goal, 22 assists), also cracked the 30-point mark this season while sophomore Zaylin Sweet (15 goals, 14 assists), and senior Reece Hubmer (16 goals, 13 assists) both tallied 29 points during the regular season. Sophomore Bjorn Bahneman gave the Tigers six 25-point-plus scorers with 14 goals and 22 assists.

Senior Blake Milton, the 2023 BRC Player of the Year, is a four-year starter in goal and enters the state tournament with a 1.72 goals against average, .923 save percentage and eight shutouts. He is a finalist for the Wisconsin Prep Hockey Kirk Daubenspeck Award, given to the top prep goalie in the state each year, and the Wisconsin Hockey Coaches Association State Player of the Year. 

GIRLS SCHEDULE

Semifinals Thursday, March 2

#1 De Pere Co-op (23-3) vs. #4 Middleton Co-op (19-6)-- 4 p.m.

#2 Superior (19-5) vs. # 3 Hudson (13-10)-- 6:15 p.m.

Championship game Saturday, March 4, 12:10 p.m.

HOW HUDSON GOT HERE

Third-seeded Hudson returns to the state semifinals for the first time since 2020 and for the sixth time overall. Their first two appearances resulted in state titles in 2002 and 2003. The Raiders advanced to the final field of four this season by defeating the Onalaska Co-op 2-1 in the Somerset Sectional final. 

HOW THEY FARED AGAINST THE REST OF THE FIELD

The Raiders lost to their semifinal opponent Superior, 4-3, Jan. 14 in Hudson and defeated the Middleton co-op 3-1 at home Feb. 3. They did not play the De Pere co-op.

HUDSON PLAYERS TO WATCH

Senior Kaylie Prater led the Raiders in scoring this season with 14 goals and 14 assists for 28 points, despite missing five games, while junior Averie Martin tallied 22 points with 12 goals and 10 assists. Seven of Martin’s goals came on the power play. She is also a finalist for the Wisconsin Prep Hockey Molly Engstrom Award, presented annually to the state’s top defender.

Junior Camryn Robson contributed 17 points this season (7 goals, 10 assists), while junior goaltender Catt Donna enters state tournament play with a goals against average of 2.63 and a .910 save percentage with one shutout.

SEMIFINALS STREAMED ON NFHS NETWORK: The boys and girls semifinals will be streamed live on the WIAA.TV portal of the NFHS Network. To purchase a subscription to the live programming for $11.99 per month, log-on to www.wiaa.tv or www.nfhsnetwork.com and click on the subscription button located on the page header. Archived streams of the sessions will be available On Demand on www.nfhsnetwork.com 72 hours after the tournament.

FINALS ON STATEWIDE TV NETWORK: The finals of the boys and girls State Tournaments will be televised live on WKOW Madison, WAOW Wausau, WXOW La Crosse, WQOW Eau Claire, WYOW Eagle River, WMOW Crandon, WCWF in Green Bay/Fox Valley and WMLW Milwaukee. The finals will also be streamed live on the State Television Network’s websites.

FOLLOW STATE TOURNAMENT ON SOCIAL MEDIA: Receive updates of the State Boys and Girls Hockey Tournaments on the WIAA State Tournament Twitter account @wiaawistate with the hashtag #wiaahockey. Also on Facebook and  Instagram at wiaawi.