The 2024–25 Wisconsin Badgers men's ice hockey season was the 76th season of play for the program and 24th in the Big Ten. The Badgers represented the University of Wisconsin–Madison in the 2024–25 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season, played their home games at Kohl Center and were coached by Mike Hastings in his 2nd season.

Previous season After making a splash in Mike Hastings' first year as coach, Wisconsin entered the season with high expectations and a top-10 preseason ranking. While the Badgers did see a significant portion of their roster change, the club was largely confident in its personnel. Goaltending was uncertain as Wisconsin would have to rely on an untested duo of William Gramme and Tommy Scarfone. Gramme had just 4 games to his credit while Scarfone, who had made a name for himself in Atlantic Hockey, had not yet faced a murderer's row of opponents that the Big Ten was likely to put in his path.

Wisconsin's season did not begin auspiciously as the club dropped its season-opener to lowly Lindenwood and didn't get much better for the next five weeks. The Badgers won just twice in their first 10 games and completely fell out of the polls. Thanks in part to a capable defense holding the opposition to a low number of shots, the netminding tandem performed well during this time. It turned out to be the offense that failed the Badgers. Wisconsin could only score more than 2 goals once, with the lack of firepower costing the team many winnable games. Scoring picked up in mid-November, and the Badgers could limp into the winter break with a subpar record. Fortunately for Wisconsin, they performed well in the Holiday Face–Off and could use a good mark in non-conference play to have a chance at earning an at-large position.

The second half of the season went largely like the first; Wisconsin had trouble finding its offensive game for long stretches, and Scarfone, who had taken over as the primary starter, was faced with the impossible task of holding opponents to one goal or fewer on most nights. As the losses stacked up, Wisconsin knew that their only hope of returning to the tournament lay in a conference championship.

The team began its postseason push against Ohio State and demonstrated how good they could be in the first game. Four goals from up and down the lineup allowed Scarfone to backstop the Badgers to a comfortable victory. The Badgers then built a 2-goal lead by the middle of the second game and looked like they were set to earn a trip to the semifinals. However, the Buckeyes increased their offensive pressure and shelled the UW cage. One got behind Scarfone, but resisted further attempts until the game's final few minutes. With their goaltender pulled, Ohio State tied the game with less than 90 seconds remaining and sent the match into overtime. The two sides exchanged changes in the fourth period, but OSU secured the winning goal and tied the series. Having lost a golden opportunity, Wisconsin struggled in the first part of the deciding game, managing just 15 shots through the first 40 minutes. Scarfone held the fort and allowed the team to enter the third with the score tied, but he got little help from his team. Having already killed off two Buckeye power plays, the Badgers took three minors in the first 10 minutes of the third. The first two went for naught but finally solved the Wisconsin penalty kill on their fifth man-advantage of the game. Ohio State handed the Badgers a power play a minute after taking the lead; however, Wisconsin couldn't capitalize. Instead, OSU got a lucky bounce and rushed up the ice. Just after the penalty expired, they extended their lead to 2 off a rebound and left Wisconsin stunned. After killing off a sixth Ohio State power play, the Badgers pulled Scarfone and were able to cut the lead back to 1, but they could not find the tying goal, and their season came to a close.

A few weeks later, Wisconsin got revenge when its women's team defeated Ohio State to win the National Championship.

Departures Carson Bantle Forward Graduation (signed with Grand Rapids Griffins) Brady Cleveland Defenseman Transferred to Colorado College Mathieu De St. Phalle Forward Graduation (signed with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins) Ben Garrity Goaltender Graduation (retired) Tyson Jugnauth Defenseman Left program (signed with Portland Winterhawks) Luke LaMaster Defenseman Graduate Transfer to Alaska Cruz Lucius Forward Transferred to Arizona State Kyle McClellan Goaltender Graduation (signed with Iowa Wild) David Silye Forward Graduation (signed with Calgary Wranglers) Charlie Stramel Forward Transferred to Michigan State Sam Strange Forward Transferred to Omaha Mike Vorlicky Defenseman Graduation (signed with Idaho Steelheads) William Whitelaw Forward Transferred to Michigan

Recruiting Ryan Botterill Forward 21 Portage la Prairie, MB Luke Buss Forward 21 Columbus, OH Anton Castro Goaltender 21 Mendota Heights, MN Logan Hensler Defenseman 17 Woodbury, MN Kyle Kukkonen Forward 21 Maple Grove, MN; transfer from Michigan Tech Cody Laskosky Forward 25 Camrose, AB; transfer from RIT Gavin Morrissey Forward 21 Rochester Hills, MI Ryland Mosley Forward 24 Arnprior, ON; transfer from Michigan Tech Weston Knox Defenseman 20 Andover, MN Jack Phelan Defenseman 20 Hinsdale, IL; selected 137th overall in 2023 Adam Pietila Forward 21 Howell, MI; transfer from Northern Michigan Tommy Scarfone Goaltender 23 Montreal, QC; transfer from RIT

Roster As of September 23, 2024.

Standings

Schedule and results

!colspan=12 style=";" | Exhibition

!colspan=12 style=";" | Regular season

!colspan=12 style=";" |

!colspan=12 style=";" | Regular season

!colspan=12 style=";" |

Scoring statistics LW 37 20 20 40 31 LW/RW 37 18 19 37 21 F 37 9 23 32 14 C/RW 37 10 9 19 22 F 37 6 11 17 24 D 35 1 16 17 24 C 37 3 10 13 10 D 32 2 10 12 27 D 35 1 11 12 14 C 27 7 4 11 4 F 31 6 5 11 10 D 28 2 9 11 10 C/RW 37 5 4 9 12 RW 34 3 6 9 26 C/RW 35 3 6 9 21 F 31 4 3 7 2 C 25 4 2 6 2 D 22 2 3 5 2 D 25 1 3 4 8 D 36 0 4 4 14 F 31 1 2 3 57 D 11 0 3 3 4 G 32 0 1 1 0 G 1 0 0 0 0 F 5 0 0 0 0 G 8 0 0 0 0 Bench – – – – – 2 Total 108 184 292 339

Goaltending statistics 32 1841:24 11 16 3 80 721 3 .900 2.61 8 353:19 2 4 0 19 137 0 .878 3.23 1 42:10 0 1 0 3 11 0 .786 4.27 Empty Net - 33:39 - - - 8 - - - - Total 37 2270:32 13 21 3 110 869 3 .888 2.91

Rankings

PollWeekPre123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627 (Final) USCHO.com1091620RV RVNRRVNRNRRVRV–RVRVRVRV1719NRRVRVRVRVRVRV–NR USA Today10915RVRVRVNRRVNRNRNRNR–RVNRRVRV1820NRRVNRNRNRNRNRNRNR Note: USCHO did not release a poll in week 12 or 26.Note: USA Hockey did not release a poll in week 12.

Awards and honors Quinn Finley All-Big Ten Second Team Logan Hensler All-Big Ten Freshman Team Gavin Morrissey

2025 NHL entry draft

1 23 Ottawa Senators 4 109 † Detroit Red Wings 6 181 † Ottawa Senators † incoming freshman

References

External links