Hockey – Walk on Wisconsin

13 May

Wisconsin offense is stalled out by talented Ohio State goaltender in the WCHA Final Faceoff Semifinal Game

Minneapolis, March 5—No. 3 ranked Wisconsin faced off with no. 2 ranked Ohio State in the second game of the WCHA Semifinals Saturday evening at Ridder Arena. The game kicked off slow waiting for either team to set the tone within the starting minutes of the first period but then led into an action-packed defensive battle where the scoring was eventually stalled on both sides by seasoned goaltenders. In the end, the Buckeyes pulled away with a 2-1 sweep over the Badgers to advance into the WCHA Final Faceoff Championship against Minnesota on Sunday.

Before the game, Ohio State held the confidence to win as the Buckeyes had smothered the Badgers, the defending national champions, over a two-day series just two weeks prior. This was visible as Ohio State was the first to establish game pace where Wisconsin struggled to keep up. During the first period, Ohio State’s Gabby Rosenthal received minors on two different occasions for tripping and hooking, Wisconsin begins to carry the weight of the game but was not able to use the power plays to their advantage leaving the scoreboard empty.

The scoreboard would not remain zeroed out much longer as Wisconsin continues to pick up speed. Wisconsin’s Chayla Edwards slides the puck to Sophie Shirley who hustles to net where with a flick of the wrist she is able to slap the puck through the middle and into the net at 1:07. After a hand pass and several more shots Wisconsin is unable to extend their lead before Ohio State’s Paetyn Levis and Liz Schepers succeed on a two-on-one, where Schepers’ shot trickles through into the net off of the stomach of Wisconsin’s goaltender Kennedy Blair at the 5:16 tying the score 1-1.

Following shortly behind was Rosenthal who was assisted by Sophie Jacques to make the second goal at 8:11 to give Ohio State a 2-1 lead. However, 45 seconds later Ohio State’s Templeton realizes she is alone on the outside where she skates in keeping her stick low for a screen and makes a goal bringing the score to 3-1, but this third goal is later rescinded for an offside call. Rosenthal receives another minor for elbowing to give Wisconsin their third power play of the game where offensively they play aggressive but still cannot see the puck into the net against Amanda Thiele’s next-level blocking.

Going into the third, Wisconsin and Ohio State amp up the pressure as there are still scoring opportunities, but in the end, Wisconsin could not recover the deficit and Ohio State does not extend the lead, and both sides become stalled out. The game came down to goaltending talent where Ohio State’s Amanda Thiele, a sophomore in the program, played above the rest. Thiele, who would not budge had a 33-save effort, unmatched by Blair at 16-saves, in the game with three WI power plays and at times an aggressive Wisconsin offense, no doubt throwing off the game’s equilibrium.

13 May

How the UW-Madison women’s ice hockey team will have to improve next season to keep up with top-conference competitors Minnesota and Ohio State

The Badgers started off the 2021-2022 season strong as they won their first 15 calendar games bringing the team to a 15-0-1 winning streak before losing to the University of Minnesota on Dec. 3. Following their first loss, the team took a deep dive and fell to an 8-7-2 record and was continually swept by top-conference competitors Minnesota, Ohio State, and occasionally Minnesota-Duluth for much of the remainder of the season. For the team to fare better against these top competitors and to have a chance at reclaiming their national championship title this upcoming season there are several things that will need to happen.

A reoccurring issue this season was that the Badgers were incredibly slow to pick a game speed, sometimes waiting all the way into the second period. They also tended to rely more on their opponents to establish the game speed rather than their starters leading to increased opponent comfortability and a more frenzied defense left to pick up the pace. The Badgers need to be less reliant on competitors and meet the program’s reputation as fast and forceful offense as it has been in past years. If the offense can pick up the slack, they will be able to force mistakes on opponents and get into the net quicker.

Another problem was poor offensive line connectivity where players were unable to make the fast and strong connections required of a top-tier team. This might come as a challenge in the upcoming season as the team is losing several big-name forwards which could potentially be offset by a promising recruiting class. This includes Delaney Drake, Brette Pettet, Maddie

Posick, Caitlin Schneider, and Daryl Watts. Furthermore, the team needs to improve on both ends, as the defense was weak in protecting the blue line where top competitors often broke through into the shooting zone without much difficulty. If the defense can provide consistent protection inside the blue line, it will put Wisconsin in peril less often and even out shooting potential between competitors.

There are several returning upperclassmen who ended up only capitalizing on their full capabilities sporadically throughout the season, making game predictions, especially those with the “big dogs”, hard to predict. These players include forwards Casey O’Brien, Makenna Webster, Sophie Shirley and Sarah Wozniewicz, and defenseman Nicole LaMantia. If these players can get comfortable being in leadership roles and consistently perform the team could have substantial improvements in overall game performance.

Then there are schedule challenges, as most collegiate hockey games are played in two-game series, and I do not anticipate that changing into the next season. To stand out among other competitors Wisconsin needs to be able to bounce back from losses and reset from wins quickly with a carryover period of 24 hours or less during these two-day game series. If the team can, under losing conditions, recognize their mistakes and find solutions under time pressures, and through winning conditions do a full mental reset to not approach a second-day game groggy and exposed I believe we could give Minnesota and Ohio State a run for the title.

This season had some unique aspects as the 2022 Beijing Games ran midway through the season which I believe impacted the team more negatively. First off, the team lost members and recruits for centralization in the Olympics which lessened the potential of the season’s roster. Secondly, there were several Wisconsin alumni on both the U.S. and Canada teams which was exciting because they pulled away from the competition and won silver and gold respectively.

However, the attention shifted away from Wisconsin and was centered on the Olympic impacting the team’s morale which can be seen statistically starting in late December and following all the way through to the end of the season. Looking forward on a more positive note, Wisconsin will be getting players back from Olympic leave this upcoming season, but it remains uncertain whether these returning players will live up to the hype and be able to transfer their Olympics experience to a collegiate level.

13 May

The Shirley Sisters: Teammates on ice & sisters in life

Sisters who develop a similar fondness to one sport and end up sharing a roster are not something new, but a younger sister looking up to her older sister and nearly replicating her exact path since the beginning of a successful competitive hockey career is a bit more uncommon. That is the case for the Shirley sisters where younger sister Grace has played and competed through the same programs as older sister Sophie, but due to a two-year age difference they rarely played together all those years. Now in college, the sisters are finally playing together where natural competence, diligence, and hard-set goals landed them both on the distinguished women’s ice hockey program here at the University of Wisconsin-Madison

Sophie and Grace Shirley grew up together in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan where they were involved in several different sports before they became more centralized on hockey. In fact, Sophie did not even learn to skate from hockey, Sophie said, “I started off before hockey as a speed skater so that is one thing that a lot of people do not know about me, and then I got into hockey around the age of six”. Their parents never pushed them into hockey so growing up they enjoyed doing soccer, track, golf, and tennis, but gradually they sacrificed the other sports to excel in hockey and their parents became busier driving each sibling to and from practices and games, Grace added, “Our parents were really supportive of whatever sport or whatever we wanted to do with our lives”.

One might assume that these siblings developed their love and proficiency for hockey from a large family background within the sport, but it is worth nothing that neither parent

played hockey much. Instead, there dad was a football player and their mom a swimmer, but their Grandpa Shirley did play professionally as the backup goalie for the Detriot Red Wings, so Grace said that whenever anyone asks their dad why all his kids are in hockey he says, “Talent skips a generation” so jokingly all that talent went from his father straight to his children. However, that joke may ring true as hockey was the one sport that all the siblings became quite skillful at and did together including their two older brothers, Keenan & Collin where at one point all of them were playing hockey at the same time. Grace added, “I would say the reason me and Soph got into hockey was because of our two older brothers, they showed us the “ropes” a bit and we really looked up to them”. Three of the siblings have continued their playing careers in college like Sophie and Grace, but their brother Collin also continues at the professional level where he most recently competed in Poland.

As much as the sisters looked up to their older brothers Grace really took to emulating Sophie because she was the other girl in the family. Sophie who acknowledges herself to be the “guinea pig” started playing for the Saskatoon Bobcats, a minor hockey team, where Grace would follow along two years later, a recurrent pattern. Sophie said, “To have me make a team and then her [Grace] make it after me and to do that all the way to where we are now is pretty cool in itself”. While progressing through different levels and teams they rarely played on the same team together, but they did get their faire share of time together as they spent many hours in their backyard on their homemade ice arena just practicing with each other where they only let their competitive nature get to them sometimes. Grace could add to that saying, “There were definitely sometimes where we got a little too competitive, I honestly to this day wish we would have had a camera in our backyard”. However, as sisters they have a great relationship and have

enjoyed the time they spent growing up together and because of that they know each other so well that they can often find ways to assist the other on and off the ice.

When asked to describe their sister’s personality each had a lot of nice things to say. Sophie said that Grace is more of an extrovert, really inclusive, and just fun to be around, and Grace said Sophie is a little more introverted, super patient and compassionate, and is always there to listen. In their personality differences they complement each other, as Grace said, “We add to each other so if I am ever worked up about something she is always there”. Growing up together and knowing each other’s personalities they are now able to read the other so well and, in that way, they help each other as teammates now that they are in college together and finally share a team. Sophie explained that, “She [Grace] is so good at giving me subtle cues even if we are not playing together especially within the last year with calming me down and frustration when things are not going my way”. So, while Grace may not continue to follow Sophie’s every move the strong familial bond they cultivated as children will be useful as they play out their hockey careers at UW-Madison and wherever they go into their professional lives.

11 May

Same City, New Team for Badgers New Defensemen Ben Dexheimer

_{Credit UW Madison Athletics}

Madison Wisconsin, a beautiful up and coming city stuck between the lakes of Monona and Mendota. It is known for its many bars and small stores. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin-Madison and their men’s Hockey team. That is not what brought Ben Dexheimer to Madison, but it is what made him stay.

Ben is a 19-year-old hockey player from Edina, MN. I was able to sit down and talk with him about how he became part of the Badgers 2022 recruiting class. He was born into a hockey family; his dad was a St. Louis Blues fan and would take Ben and his brother to the Blues home openers. It wasn’t long till he was playing himself. When talking about his dad, Ben said, “He also took me to skate for the first time around the age of 2, and I loved it from the start.” Ben worked his way up with stops at the Blake School in Minnesota and the Austin Bruins, a NAHL team based in Austin, MN. Then he found his way to Madison, playing for the Madison Capitols.

The Madison Capitols are a USHL team in Madison, most known for their dollar beer nights. Most college kids in the area have probably heard of it and some might have been lucky enough to attend. These occur on a select number of Fridays and as the name suggests offers a deal hard to turn down, beers for a dollar. When talking about the environment these nights created, Ben had this to say, “They were some of the most exciting hockey games I’ve played in. The place is sold out and its an atmosphere unlike any other place in the league.” The invested audience is a large boost to the players and creates that big game feel in a league full of players trying to make it to that next stage.

Ben was originally planned to attend the University of Miami (OH) next season a part of their hockey team. This is a commitment he made when he was only 15. The Capitols fans and the city of Madison influenced Ben’s decision to stay in Madison and play for the Wisconsin Badgers next season. “When I got to Madison I instantly fell in love with the city and it made me realize I needed to take a step in a new direction,” Ben said. When talking about his decision to switch schools, he said, “At the time it seemed like the smart thing to do, as I got older, I realized how rushed that process was.” The Badgers have a great history of developing defensemen for the NHL and Ben hopes to join that elite group.

The evolution of the Madison Capitols has become a nice recruiting pool for the Wisconsin Badgers. The Badgers have gotten 7 recruits from the Capitols within the last 7 years, 2 of those from the 2022 recruiting class. Ben is joined by his Capitols teammate Jack Horbach as members of this class. The influx of young talented players as even lead to some team success for the Capitols. They are currently in the Eastern Conference Finals of the USHL’s playoffs. They are going into Game 4 of this best of 5 series down 2-1 against the Muskegon Lumberjacks. This success will only increase the amount of talent coming to town.

It’s safe to say that there is something about Madison that is keeping these players around. Whether that is the city, the Badgers program, or the dollar beer nights. I look forward to seeing Ben switch up the blue and white Capitols jersey for some Cardinal Red.

05 May

The stars just weren’t aligned

Wisconsin won a national championship in March of 2021. The team was unstoppable and brought home numerous awards to cap off the season. The following season was destined to be great before it even began. This team was on fire.

They began the 2021-22 season on the right skate. They were a strong candidate to defend the national title, had brought in a handful of good players and received a number of pre-season awards. The only thing the team was missing was four players.

Natalie Buchbinder, Britta Curl and Lacey Eden, who had all been on the team during the title-winning season, along with should-have-been freshman KK Harvey. All four were all centralized for the 2022 Winter Olympics. Buchbinder, Curl and Eden could have played second semester, but it would have burned a full year of eligibility for each of them. So none of them did.

Despite those players being key players, the team was still stacked and heading into the season looking strong. The team started strong too, going 12-0, then remaining undefeated through their first 16 games. They were ranked No. 1 across the boards for weeks on end, not moving at all until January.

Freshman Marianne Picard was named WCHA Preseason Co-Rookie of the Year. She came to Wisconsin from Canada with a plethora of experience under her belt and a strong game that fit in with the program well. She only got to play six games before she tore her ACL. Surgery to mend that ultimately cut her season short.

Kendra Nealey transferred to Wisconsin after four years at Cornell. This Madison-native was able to play in 12 games before having to end her career due to a knee injury.

So before Wisconsin could face Minnesota, it was down a defender and a forward on a team that was already a little short-handed due to the Olympics.

Many players went in and out during the season, some missing just one or two games and being able to come back quickly. But none of that helped anything when it mattered most.

The Badgers truly could have been great, but the odds weren’t working in their favor. No one can really fault them either. They had some great games over the course of the season.

I don’t blame any of this on Nealey or Picard. What happened to them was entirely unfortunate and I feel sympathetic towards the pair not being able to contribute on the ice for the majority of the season.

I don’t blame any of the four girls who went for the Olympics. That is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and a very cool thing to experience. If given the opportunity, I would have done it too.

No one player is to blame. In fact, I don’t blame any of them for this season.

The cards were just stacked against Wisconsin this year. Sure, the team could have done more to fill in gaps. Teams always can. But there wasn’t anything working in their favor this year. A lot of things that were out of the team’s control happened, just something to consider. Something to recognize before choosing to get angry at a team that was so good last season and wasn’t able to perform to the high expectations this season.

I believe with a strong, healthy squad this upcoming season, the team has a good look at earning its seventh national title. That being said, there’s always the possibility that things don’t go the way we want them to.

05 May

On-Ice Impact: How the Returners and Incoming Players Can Help the Badgers

The Badgers could have a lot working in their favor this upcoming season. They just need to figure out how to make that happen.

The team has lost some key players, but there are still quite a few left on the roster and they’re bringing in eight new players to fill the gaps. A lot of them have potential.

One big one to note who recently announced they would be joining Wisconsin’s squad in 2022 is Jesse Compher. Compher comes to Wisconsin after spending four seasons at Boston University. Most recently, she competed in the 2022 Winter Olympics where she won a silver medal with Team USA’s women’s hockey team. Compher has seen a lot of success and spends the off-season training with her brother, J.T. Compher, who plays professional hockey for the Colorado Avalanche.

She is a seasoned player with Olympic experience, exposure to top-tier training and can bring in both her strong skills and her veteran status to help lead the Badgers. If she is able to transition and bond with the team, she could be a huge key to Wisconsin’s success this upcoming season.

Another Badger coming into the program with Olympic experience is Caroline “KK” Harvey. Harvey originally intended to join the Badgers as a freshman in the fall of 2021 but instead was centralized for the Olympics. She made the final roster and earned herself a silver medal playing as the youngest member on Team USA.

While Harvey doesn’t have any collegiate experience under her belt, she’s got an impressive resume. She should be able to take her experiences and help grow Wisconsin’s program in the next four years (granted she doesn’t play in the Olympics again during what should be her senior season) as she also grows as a player. Harvey will bring strong leadership skills, considering her rookie status, and could be a lasting staple for the Badgers in the upcoming few seasons.

The Badgers have a handful of returners who were able to capitalize sporadically throughout the 2021-22 season. If these players are able to make their games more consistent, they will also be a huge factor in the team’s success.

Casey O’Brien will be a junior this upcoming season and she has had an incredible first two years with Wisconsin. She was a huge part of the national-title winning squad her freshman year which should have instilled quite a bit of confidence in her game.This past season, she was a top-10 finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, the highest honor in collegiate women’s ice hockey. She was fifth in the nation for goals and eighth in the nation in scoring. So that speaks volumes to her game and what she is capable of.

Makenna Webster will also be a junior and has played a key role with the Badgers. She was named Third Team All-WCHA at the end of the 2021-22 season after winning WCHA Forward of the Month and Forward of the Week twice each, along with being named the HCA National Player of the Month for October. Webster is a powerful forward who brings a lot to the ice when she is able to get looks.

Nicole LaMantia will be joining the Badgers for a fifth season after a fairly successful fourth season. She was named First Team All-WCHA and Second Team All-USCHO. She was third in the nation in blocks and won WCHA Defender of the Month in December. If this blueliner can bring her fiery game back for a fifth season, opponents will have a hard time getting up shots against the Badgers.

To cap off some of the best returners, Wisconsin has a youngster. Sarah Wozniewicz was named Pre-Season Co-Rookie of the Year, three-time Rookie of the Week and All-WCHA Rookie in her first season with the Badgers. She had a hot start early in the season but started to cool off towards the end after coming back from a brief injury. If Wozniewicz can keep her early-season heat going into the final stretch, she will be one of the greatest tools on the ice for Wisconsin.

The Badgers have a lot of players with various skills working in their favor for this upcoming season. The team just needs to figure how to put those skills to use to snag wins. A seventh national title is certainly not off the table for this team.

05 May

Buckeyes sweep Badgers in final regular-season series

MADISON, Wis.— Wisconsin hit the road for one final regular-season series, playing two games against Ohio State at OSU Ice Rink over the weekend.

Wisconsin lost both games and a few players to injury while in Columbus and are likely looking forward to coming home and shifting the team’s focus onto the upcoming conference tournament.

The Badgers lost the first game in shocking fashion. Wisconsin only put up one goal, while Ohio State put up five over the first two periods to win 5-1. The lone goal for the Badgers came from sophomore forward Makenna Webster.

“We played alright but we didn’t play well enough to win,” said head coach Mark Johnson. “We made mistakes and gave them opportunities and they capitalized on them.”

Sophomore Maddi Wheeler traveled with the team but did not play due to a newly-sustained lower body injury. She is currently day-to-day but hopes to be ready to go for the conference tournament.

Goaltender Kennedy Blair sustained a lower body injury late in the second period of Friday’s game. She was replaced by redshirt junior Cami Kronish who allowed zero goals in the final frame of the game.

Neither team scored in the final frame but there were a slew of penalties between the two teams; four for each team to total eight in a span of 10 minutes. At one point, Wisconsin had a 5-on-3 advantage and a fight broke out near Wisconsin’s net. After a long review, the refs assigned each team two roughing penalties and Wisconsin continued with the 5-on-3 advantage. The game ended at 5-1 with Ohio State taking the victory.

Wisconsin’s defense improved on Saturday. Though the team was still only able to score one goal, they allowed three less than the previous day, losing 2-1 to Ohio State. Kronish made just her third start of the season and stopped 43 shots.

“We had an opportunity, we had a couple good looks at the end and it didn’t work out that way,” said Johnson.

Daryl Watts put up Wisconsin’s only goal on Saturday. The fifth-year senior is currently knocking on the door of most all-time points in the NCAA. She has notched 294 points during her collegiate career and is just 10 points off from taking the lead for most points. The record is currently held by Meghan Agosta who has 303 points.

Freshman forward Sarah Wozniewicz went down with an injury in the first period and left the ice. She tried to skate early in the second period but looked uncomfortable and did not return for the rest of the game.

On top of Blair, Wheeler and Wozniewicz, Kendra Nealy and Marianne Picard have both been out since the first half of the season with injuries so Wisconsin was running on just three lines and four defenders.

The nation’s top-ranked women’s hockey team, Minnesota, easily swept St. Thomas over the weekend to keep hold of the number-one seed headed into the WCHA conference tournament this coming weekend. No. 3 Wisconsin and No. 2 Ohio State were tied for second in the league and the teams’ seeds depended on the outcome of the series this weekend. Ohio State claimed the two-seed by winning both games over the weekend.

“I congratulate our group on their regular season,” Johnson. “We had some hiccups and some hurdles that we had to get over, some adversity, no different than any other season… Now we just have to regroup and get ourselves organized for who we’re going to play next weekend.”

Wisconsin is the three-seed for the WCHA tournament and will host six-seed Bemidji State for the on-site round of the tournament. The first game will be Friday with puck drop set for 7 p.m. The second game will start at 3 p.m. on Saturday. If the teams split the series, they will play a third game at 2 p.m. on Sunday to decide who advances to WCHA Final Faceoff in Minneapolis the following week.

05 May

Counting on College Hockey: A Goaltender’s Journey

Credit: Tom Lynn/ UW Athletics — Credit: Tom Lynn/UW Athletics

College hockey has meant the world to Kennedy Blair. Her story? Unique.

A native of Bismarck, North Dakota, she spent her entire childhood dreaming of growing up to play college hockey. She fought to make that dream come true.

She signed her National Letter of Intent to play at the University of North Dakota. She redshirted her freshman year but never got the chance to take the ice in competition. The university cut the women’s hockey program the spring of her freshman year, leaving her wondering what would come next.

Blair immediately began reaching out to schools but no one she contacted was in need of a goaltender. When she thought her chances were over, Mercyhurst found her. They already had three of four goaltender positions on the roster filled, but Blair took the chance and moved to Erie, Pennsylvania. It proved to be the right choice and she earned the starting goalie position her freshman season there. She ended up spending three seasons with the Lakers.

Then the pandemic hit. College hockey was a mess, seasons were cut short and no one knew what was going on. What Blair did know was that she wanted to transfer and a handful of schools were losing their starting goalies. One of those schools was Wisconsin.

“I entered the transfer portal, crossed my fingers and hoped for the best,” said Blair.

After a long process and many conversations, Blair was able to transfer to Wisconsin as a graduate student. The goaltender had one year of eligibility left but the pandemic altered plans even more and the NCAA ruled that student-athletes could take an extra year of eligibility. So she did.

“When I first came to Wisconsin I thought I was only going to have one year, but I was lucky enough and got two.”

Many student-athletes got to benefit from this ruling. Blair got to continue playing hockey while she finished her graduate degree. This wasn’t initially the plan but when the opportunity presented itself, there was no way she could say no.

Wisconsin was a dream.

“This university and program are everything and more,” she said. “I would like to thank the coaching staff for taking a chance on me as a transfer. I know that can be difficult to do but they never gave up on me and believed in me every second I was here.”

She gave them more than enough reasons to believe in her, proving herself in so many ways. With Wisconsin, she was named WCHA Goalie of the Week four times, a two-time WCHA Goalie of the Month and was a top-10 finalist for HCA Goalie of the Year among many other accolades.

But now her time as a student-athlete has come to an end.

When you add it all up, her college career totaled six years, three programs and one national title. What she can’t count are the memories created and lessons learned.

“I did not ever envision this path for my college hockey career, but I wouldn’t change it one bit,” said Blair. “There were so many life lessons that I learned at each university that also helped me grow into the person I am today.”

She learned resilience, learned to never take a day for granted, learned to overcome adversity and learned that the right people will always have your back.

For her, that’s been her teammates and coaches at Wisconsin these past two seasons.

The coaching staff made it a point to put her as a person before her as a hockey player, which was a breath of fresh air for her. Her teammates took her in, embraced her personality and trusted her to fill a vital role on the ice. She valued them all too, for what they saw in her and for who they are as people.

“I value every single individual in this program. From the staff members, coaches, academic individuals, lunch ladies, you name it. This program is everything and more. The urge of competition, grit, dedication, and pride is the definition of this program.”

As her time in front of the net comes to an end, she’s done a lot reflecting.

“From the highest of highs to the lowest of lows, each program had a powerful impact and helped shape me into the person I am today.”

She plans to move back to North Dakota and hopes to coach youth hockey and softball, as well as enjoy time outdoors and with her family. It’s the end of her college playing career, but it’s certainly not the end of hockey for her.

“Although the storybook ending wasn’t what I hoped for, I’m forever thankful for this journey. I may have one of the most unique careers and as I look back at it, I wouldn’t regret it one bit.”

04 May

The Light at the End of the Tunnel

As many Badger fans would agree, this past season for the Men’s hockey team was a major disappointment. After winning the Big Ten Regular Season last year, the Badgers had an abysmal 10-24-3 record. The conversation around this team has been mostly negative, but as the optimist that I am, I will share why I think it was a blessing in disguise. A sort of Mr. Rodgers outlook on the season. That unexpected positive was the development of their underclassmen.

Many underclassmen were thrown into action and became major contributors. There were a total of 9 Freshman and Sophomores who played in 25 or more games this season, and 7 of those played in at least 30. The younger players got a lot of playing time and some valuable experience. It can be a difficult transition to the collegiate level; this experience is going to be a big factor going into the upcoming offseason and into next year. A lot of these young guys are set up nicely to improve their skillsets in a major way

There were a couple guys that stood out to me this season. They led the team in pts at 22 apiece. Sophomore Mathieu De St. Phalle and Freshmen Corson Ceulemans. De St. Phalle led the team in goals with 10 and Ceulemans led the team in assists at 15. The two most productive players on the team were underclassman, that doesn’t happen often. These are two very special players that are primed to take Wisconsin back to the promise land.

Ceulemans, who was drafted 25th overall in the 2021 draft, was one of the few bright spots for Wisconsin this past season. I think he has the ability to become one of the all-time greats here at Wisconsin and I am very excited to see what he will do for us next season. De St. Phalle also grew a lot in his sophomore season becoming one of their most reliable scorers for a team that struggled on the offensive end.

The underclassmen, as a whole, contributed a lot to the Badgers scoring this season. Half of the 76 goals came from underclassmen including the top 3 goal scorers on the team. De St. Phalle (10), Carson Bantle (8), and Ceulemens (7). That is a lot of production coming from the younger guys on the team. It will be a definite boost of confidence for them going into next season.

The talented class of underclassmen in addition to the return of some key players, should get fans excited for what’s to come. They have paid their dues, experienced the pain of a poor season and are ready for redemption.

04 May

Granato on Thin Ice After Poor Season

Tony Granato, Head Coach of the Wisconsin Badgers Men’s Hockey, team has recently signed a one-year contract extension. The contract extension has Granato under contract until after the 2026-27 season. This comes on the heels of one of the worst seasons in recent memory. The Badgers were 10-24-3, their 2^nd worst record since the 1963.

His whole tenure in Wisconsin has been up and down since joining in 2016. In that span of 6 seasons, there were 4 losing seasons and 2 seasons of 20 wins. The highlight of his career is a Big Ten Regular Season Championship and NCAA tournament apparent last year in 2020-21 season.

The Badgers Hockey team have been underwhelming under Granato’s run and it begs the question, how much longer will he be the Head Coach? The rumors and conversation have begun after this most recent season. No one is necessarily calling for him to be fired yet, but people are starting to consider the option. Athletic Director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Chris McIntosh has showed support in Granato after announcing that he would return as Head Coach. The pressure is on as another losing season may not bode well for Coach Granato.

He did have the magical season in 2020-2021, led by the Hobey Baker Award winner in Cole Caufiled. That team was dominant in the regular season but fizzled out in the postseason. Losses against Minnesota in the Big Ten Tournament Final and then an upset loss to Bemidji State in the NCAA regionals. There has just been a lack of success in meaningful games.

Great seasons in 2016-17 and 2020-21 have shown glimmers of hope in terms of what Wisconsin hockey can be. They were both 20-win seasons with meaningful game toward the end. Granato was also named Big Ten Coach of the Year in those two seasons. The problem is that those are sprinkled in between a lot of losing seasons.

I am all for schools giving coaches time to set up a program. Success doesn’t come overnight, and I am ok with that. Six seasons is enough time to start showing improvements, but we just have not seen that. Wisconsin used to be a powerhouse in Men’s hockey and the last decade has not shown that. Granato was supposed to bring Wisconsin back into the limelight and he has failed to do so. Improvements need to be seen otherwise I don’t see why we should keep him around.