The Badgers men’s hockey program hasn’t seen this much success in a while, and expectations are high entering winter for both teams.
By Nathan Denzin, BADGER STRIPES
Halfway through the college hockey season, both Wisconsin teams are ranked in the top 10 for the first time in over a decade.
Badger men’s hockey has a 14-4 overall record, with big wins over then-No. 1 Minnesota and No. 4 Michigan. Wisconsin started the season extremely hot at 9-1, before dropping three games in a row in November.
The start was enough to launch the Badgers into the No. 1 spot temporarily, but they now sit at No. 6 in the country during the winter break.
The Badger women’s team – who claimed their seventh national title in the 2022-23 season – has fared similarly so far in 2023, posting a 14-4 record. That’s good for No. 5 in the country just behind some in-conference rivals. The women’s team has had a brutal schedule so far, playing six teams that are currently ranked, including four teams in the top 10.
In the last three series before the break, the Wisconsin ladies lost twice to No. 1 Ohio State, and then split series with No. 6 Minnesota Duluth and No. 2 Minnesota.
With both teams ranked so high, big expectations are sure to follow in January, February and March. So how did both teams get here, and how might they fare over the next three months?
Badger men
The men’s team has had a couple good campaigns in the last 10 years, including a 2021-2022 season where they won the Big Ten Title, but this year’s team feels different.
To start, Wisconsin made a splash at the end of the 2022-23 season by firing head coach Tony Granato – a Badger and USA hockey legend who disappointed in his time as head coach. Granato had just a 105-129-16 record in seven years, prompting new Athletic Director Chris MacIntosh to search for new leadership.
Granato recently announced he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma and stepped aside from his role as a Blackhawks TV analyst. Hopefully he’s able to recover and take his place in the booth again soon.
His old program looks like they found the leadership that was missing. New head coach Mike Hastings came from Minnesota State, where he was able to secure a winning record in each of his 11 seasons. In fact, Hastings has never had a losing record as a head coach in his entire 25 year career.
The Badgers have (for the most part) crushed opponents in their own territory, scoring 63 goals on 616 shots at the Kohl Center, compared to opponents scoring 31 goals on 475 shots. That’s good for 3.5 Badger goals a game, and just 1.7 a game for opponents.
Wisconsin’s top scorer this year has been Cruz Lucius, a sophomore from Minnesota who has already been drafted by the Carolina Hurricanes in the NHL. Lucius leads the front line with eight goals along with eight assists – which also puts him top of the Badgers with 16 points through 18 games.
Behind Lucius, Owen Lindmark and Carson Bantle each have seven goals. Lindmark has been drafted by the Florida Panthers, while Bantle will land in Arizona with the Coyotes when he graduates in the spring. Setting up the boys up front are Christian Fitzgerald and Ben Dexheimer, who each have 12 assists to their resume.
In net, Wisconsin has two elite shot stoppers in Kyle McClellan and William Gramme, who both boast over .930 save percentages.
Looking ahead to the next 18 games of the season, the Badgers are full steam ahead into conference play. They start off with a relatively easy first four games against teams not currently ranked, before a slate of 2-game series against No. 15 Michigan, No. 9 Minnesota and No. 19 Penn State. They’ll end the regular season at the beginning of March with a 2-game series against No. 7 Michigan State, which could decide the regular season conference champion.
If Wisconsin can recapture its preseason form before the losses in November, expect a team flying high into the NCAA tournament.
Badger women
The Badgers women hockey team is facing big expectations again this season, after winning a seventh National Championship last year. Head coach Mark Johnson is another living Wisconsin and Miracle on Ice legend, who has somehow one-upped his playing career as a coach.
Johnson is now in his 22nd season as Wisconsin’s head coach, boasting a 594-113-53 overall record, making him the winningest coach in NCAA women’s hockey history. He lost eight players to graduation or transfer entering this year, but brought in six freshmen and a grad transfer to round out the squad.
Wisconsin is averaging an eye popping 5.4 goals a game through the first half of the year, and have only given six power plays away to opponents. Led by Kirsten Simms and Lacey Eden with 15 goals a piece, the Badgers have seven players who have tallied at least five goals through 18 games.
The team play has been fantastic all season – the Badgers have nearly 170 assists on 97 goals – with 14 players tallying at least five assists.
Two goalies have played in rotation this season, evenly splitting games and minutes. Redshirt junior Jane Gervais typically starts in the first game of the series, while true freshman Ava McNaughton suits up for game two.
Both have been spectacular – sporting save percentages over .900 with over 150 saves each – but both have started in a pair of losses to top competition. Johnson is likely to continue rotating his keepers throughout the season, but if the NCAA tournament was today, Gervais would likely get the nod.
The women’s hockey team faces a tough remaining schedule. Wisconsin will only play one series against a team outside the top 25, and ends the season with back-to-back series against No. 2 Minnesota and No. 1 Ohio State.
The good news: both those series are at home in LaBahn Arena. The Badgers will need their home crowd to will them to victory, after taking home just one win from the same two series in the first half of the year.
Badger Stripes is a sports news organization that provides in-depth coverage of Wisconsin athletics. Follow us on Facebook.
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