SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Augustana hockey sets off to Madison, Wisconsin, to kick off its inaugural season presented by First PREMIER Bank / PREMIER Bankcard against the Wisconsin Badgers, Saturday and Sunday.

Complete action can be followed on GoAugie.com/Live and the GoAugie app, presented by The Original Pancake House. The app can be downloaded in the app store or Google Play. In addition to the GoAugie app, a live stream of the game will be on B1G+, a subscription service through the B1G Network.

About The Game
After two years in the making, Viking hockey has finally arrived as it is set to face off against Big Ten opponent Wisconsin in the Kohl Center, Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 5 p.m in front of 15,000 plus fans. 

This weekend's match up will include two brand new coaching staffs' as both programs go into the 2023-24 season under new bench bosses. AU bench boss Garrett Raboin makes his head coaching debut for the Vikings while the Badgers will play under Mike Hastings, who joined back in March of 2023. 

The Badgers, under new head coach Mike Hastings will be celebrating their 75th season as a hockey program on homecoming weekend. 

The Badgers 
Under new leadership, UW-Madison enters the season as the sixth youngest program in NCAA Division I, with an average age 21.2. 

The Badgers announced head coach Mike Hastings as their newest leader in March of 2023, making him the sixth head coach in program history. Hastings accumulated a 299-109-25 record during his 11 year stint with Minnesota State. Hastings has built up quite the resume, with seven players skating to All-America seasons including 2022 Hobey Baker Award Winner Drayden Mckay. 

In 2019, Hastings led Team USA to a silver medal at the 2019 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship and served as an assistant coach for the 2022 U.S. Olympic Team in Beijing, he followed up that season as the assistant coach for the 2022 U.S. National Team at the world championship. 

Wisconsin had itself quite the offseason as four incoming Badgers were taken in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft, led by sophomore forward Charlie Stramel who was taken in the first round by the Minnesota Wild. Stramel was followed by freshmen Brady Clevend, William Whitelaw and Zach Schulz. Wisconsin has had 177 players in program history get taken in the NHL Entry Draft. 

The Vikings
Under first-time head coach Garrett Raboin, Augustana welcomed 27 student-athletes from various states, provinces and countries to Sioux Falls, S.D. to be a part of something special. 14 forwards, nine defenseman and three goalies shape up the inaugural season roster. 

The bench boss made the most of the newest rule in NCAA Hockey, where head coaches are allowed to have three full-time coaches as he hired two coaches with NCAA experience in Taylor Nelson and Chad Demers, while adding Brandon Wildung who has made a name for himself in the USHL. 

Raboin made the most of the transfer portal as he brought in 15 transfer players. His transfer class involves five graduate students, one senior, seven juniors and two sophomores. AU comes into the 2023-24 season as the ninth oldest team in the NCAA, with an average age of 22.6. 

Graduate senior Ryan Naumovski enters the 2023-24 season ranked third in the country for career assists with 58. Naumovski accumulated 23 goals and 57 assists for 80 points in 132 games at Niagara.

One Last Thing 
Augustana will be the eighth newest program to NCAA Division I hockey since 2004, joining notable teams in Penn State (2012) and Arizona State (2015). The Vikings were granted membership into the CCHA back in May of 2022, where they will play as partial members through the first two seasons and will be full members in the 2025-26 season. AU is one of the only startup programs in recent history to become members of a conference in its first season.