The Badger men’s hockey team will hold their first practice of the season in Eau Claire in the form of a Red-White scrimmage at 1 p.m. this Saturday in Hobbs Ice Center.

Blugolds head coach Matt Loen said he mentioned the idea of the Badgers coming to Eau Claire a while back to Badger’s head coach Mike Eaves.

Loen said Eaves called him this summer and brought up the idea of having the Badger’s first practice of the season in Eau Claire as a fundraising event for UW-Eau Claire’s men’s hockey team.

“We fundraise 30 to 40 percent of our operating budget each year,” Loen said. “And this will take care of that — hopefully.”

He said if this covers what they needed to fundraise for this year, the Blugolds can focus on fundraising for next year.

Scott Kilgallon, director of athletics at Eau Claire, said about 800 tickets to the scrimmage have been sold so far.

Kilgallon said he is hoping to recreate the fun environment the Blugold national championship games created and bring in as many people as possible.

“I think anytime we can get our name out in a positive way is great,” Kilgallon said. “And I think it’s great for the community, too, because it does bring some economic impact to the community as well. Anytime we bring in big events, it’s a good thing and the city benefits.”

Kilgallon said there are several reasons why the Badgers would come all the way to Eau Claire for a practice scrimmage.

Three connections, specifically.

Eaves coached Eau Claire’s men’s hockey team for the 1986-87 season, his first coaching job.

Eaves said he doesn’t remember which of his staff suggested the Red-White scrimmage, but once it was suggested, he knew it was a great idea.

“We thought it would be a great way to pay homage to Eau Claire’s championship win,” Eaves said. ”It’s a neat way to start the season. It’s a two-hour drive there and a two-hour drive back, so the boys get to bond a bit. It’s a bit of a road trip for them.”

Two of the Badgers’ current players, senior forward Jefferson Dahl and junior defenseman Jake McCabe, are from Eau Claire and both played hockey for Memorial High School.

McCabe, whose brother Andrew McCabe was one of the Blugolds who took the hockey team to the national championship last season, is looking forward to skating at Hobbs again.

“It’s really exciting to be coming back to Eau Claire,” he said. “Especially since my brother and last year’s team just got their championship rings last week. (Andrew) was definitely rubbing it in my face.”

McCabe said it’s the first time since he’s been on the team that the Badgers have turned their practices into fundraisers for other teams, though he knows the Badgers have done this in the past.

While the Blugolds see the financial benefits, McCabe said the scrimmage will help out his team in other ways.

“Hobbs got brand new boards and glass, and I think they even put it in a little early for us,” he said. “Hobbs is a little smaller than the Kohl Center, but we’re used to playing on different ice all the time. So it almost benefits us to get some practice in on a

different rink.”

Eaves said the change of pace will be good for his team.

“It’s different and holds a bit of an air of excitement,” he said. “And I think having an audience watching a practice like this, it has extra enthusiasm around it.”

“The Blugolds had a great season,” Eaves said. “And hopefully we can do just as well this year.”

The controlled scrimmage will start with a 30-minute practice followed by two officiated 20-minute periods.

Loen said Blugold Athletics is having referees come in to make it as much like a real game as possible.

After the practice, an autograph session will be held.

Presale tickets are $15 and will be available at the Student Service Desk. They will cost $20 at the door.

A total of 1,500 tickets are available. All proceeds will benefit the UW-Eau Claire men’s hockey program.