Badger Showdown

Badger Showdown
Sport	College ice hockey
Founded	1989
Ceased	2010
No. of teams	4
Venue(s)	Bradley Center 1989–2002; Kohl Center 2003–2010
Last; champion(s)	Wisconsin
Most titles	Wisconsin (11)

The Badger Showdown was a college Division I men's ice hockey tournament usually played before New Years at first the Bradley Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and then the Kohl Center in Madison. Wisconsin served as the tournament's host for the entirety of its run.^[1] The tournament was first held in 1989 and was played during the final week of December every year but twice: in 2005 and 2010. Wisconsin competed in the tournament every year and won more than half of the total championships (11 out of 21).

The tournament was conceived by Jeff Sauer and Joel Maturi and was initially a huge success, drawing over 30,000 fans for its first iteration. By the 21st century, however, its audience had dwindled to less than half that number and its main sponsor dropped the showcase in 2002. A move to the Badger's home venue in 2003 kept the tournament alive for several more years but it was ultimately cancelled as a cost-cutting measure, with the final championship held in January 2010.^[2]

The tournament champion received the Pettit Cup, named in honor of Lloyd and Jane Bradley Pettit.^[3]

Yearly results

Year	Pettit Cup	Runner-up	Third place	Fourth place
2009	Wisconsin	Yale	Ferris State	Merrimack
2008	Wisconsin	Lake Superior State	Alabama-Huntsville	Harvard
2007	Northeastern	Colgate	Wisconsin	Bowling Green
2006	Clarkson	Lake Superior State	Wisconsin	Providence
2005	Wisconsin	Northern Michigan	Wayne State	Western Michigan
2004	Ferris State	Wisconsin	Clarkson	Yale
2003	Ferris State	Wisconsin	Massachusetts–Lowell	Union
2002	Wisconsin	Northern Michigan	Harvard	Colgate
2001	New Hampshire	Brown	Wisconsin	Colorado College
2000	Wisconsin	Boston University	North Dakota	Princeton
1999	North Dakota	Wisconsin	Nebraska-Omaha	Miami
1998	Bowling Green	Yale	Cornell	Wisconsin
1997	Wisconsin	Northern Michigan	Harvard	Boston College
1996	New Hampshire	Colorado College	Vermont	Wisconsin
1995	Boston University	Notre Dame	Wisconsin	Princeton
1994	Wisconsin	Lake Superior State	Bowling Green	Northeastern
1993	Wisconsin	Northern Michigan	Providence	Alaska–Fairbanks
1992	Boston University	Wisconsin	Miami	Boston College
1991	Wisconsin	Maine	Yale	Toronto
1990	Wisconsin	North Dakota	St. Lawrence	Bowling Green
1989	Wisconsin	Boston College	Minnesota–Duluth	Notre Dame

Team records

Team	# of times participated	Titles
Wisconsin	21	11
Boston University	3	2
Ferris State	3	2
New Hampshire	2	2
Bowling Green	4	1
North Dakota	3	1
Clarkson	2	1
Northeastern	2	1
Northern Michigan	4	0
Yale	4	0
Boston College	3	0
Harvard	3	0
Lake Superior State	3	0
Colgate	2	0
Colorado College	2	0
Miami	2	0
Notre Dame	2	0
Princeton	2	0
Providence	2	0
Alabama-Huntsville	1	0
Alaska-Fairbanks	1	0
Brown	1	0
Cornell	1	0
Maine	1	0
Massachusetts–Lowell	1	0
Merrimack	1	0
Minnesota-Duluth	1	0
Nebraska-Omaha	1	0
St. Lawrence	1	0
Toronto	1	0
Union	1	0
Vermont	1	0
Western Michigan	1	0
Wayne State	1	0

References

^ "Badger Showdown". College Hockey Historical Archive. Retrieved 2017-09-04.
^ "Baggot: Sadly, it's time to say goodbye to Showdown". Madison.com. 2010-01-01. Retrieved 2017-09-04.
^ "Final Badger Hockey Showdown takes place this weekend". Madison.com. 2010-01-01. Retrieved 2017-09-04.

[1] "Badger Showdown". College Hockey Historical Archive. Retrieved 2017-09-04.

[2] "Baggot: Sadly, it's time to say goodbye to Showdown". Madison.com. 2010-01-01. Retrieved 2017-09-04.

[3] "Final Badger Hockey Showdown takes place this weekend". Madison.com. 2010-01-01. Retrieved 2017-09-04.

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v t e Wisconsin Badgers men's ice hockey
Playing venues	Hartmeyer Ice Arena (1963–1967) Dane County Coliseum (1967–1998) Kohl Center (1998–present)
Head coaches	A. C. Viner (1921–1923) Robert Blodgett (1923–1924) Kay Iverson (1924–1926) Rube Brandow (1926–1927) John Farquhar (1927–1930) Spike Carlson (1930–1931) Art Thomasen (1931–1935) John Riley (1963–1966) Bob Johnson (1966–1975, 1976–1982) Bill Rothwell (1975–1976) Jeff Sauer (1982–2002) Mike Eaves (2002–2016) Tony Granato (2016–2023) Mike Hastings (2023–Present)
Seasons	1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Conference affiliations	WCHA (1970–2013) Big Ten (1968–1981, 2013–present)
Culture & lore	Badger Showdown Frozen Tundra Hockey Classic
Rivalries	Minnesota
All-time leaders	Mike Eaves (267 Points) Mark Johnson (125 Goals) Graham Melanson (81 Wins)
National championships	1973 1977 1981 1983 1990 2006
Frozen Four appearances	1970 1972 1973 1977 1978 1981 1982 1983 1990 1992* 2006 2010
NCAA Tournament appearances	1970 1972 1973 1977 1978 1981 1982 1983 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992* 1993 1994 1995 1998 2000 2001 2004 2005 2006 2008 2010 2013 2014 2021 2024
Conference Tournament titles	WCHA: 1970 1972 1973 1977 1978 1982 1983 1988 1990 1995 1998 2013 Big Ten: 2014
Hobey Baker winners	Blake Geoffrion (2010)
Notable players	Adam Burish Jake Dowell Mike Eaves Brian Elliott Jake Gardiner Paul Houck Dany Heatley Mark Johnson Ryan McDonagh Craig Norwich Steven Reinprecht Craig Smith Derek Stepan Brad Winchester
University of Wisconsin Madison, WI