The No. 20 Wisconsin Badgers men’s hockey team takes the ice on Friday night at Lindenwood, kicking off the season and dropping the puck on year three of the Mike Hastings era. Hastings made the NCAA Tournament in his first season, but a 2-10-1 skid over the last month and a half put to bed any hopes of a playoff bid last year.
The Badgers return some really nice core pieces, namely junior forward Quinn Finley and sophomore defenseman Logan Hensler, the No. 23 overall pick by the Ottawa Senators in the 2025 NHL Draft. Hensler and senior Ben Dexheimer will be largely responsible for patrolling the defensive zone, and there is plenty of buzz around forward Gavin Morrissey, who burst onto the scene his freshman year and is primed for a big role in year two.
While the core pieces are nice, the primary issue that plagued Wisconsin last year was the inability to find scoring outside of their first line. Finley led the NCAA in goals for a while, but it was apparent that when he went cold, so did the Badger offense. Mike Hastings will look to provide reinforcements through his forward-heavy recruiting class.
One of the highlights of the incoming class is Bruno Idžan, a Croatian sharpshooter who played with the USHL’s Lincoln Stars last season. Idžan posted 44 points over 36 games in Lincoln. The Badgers also tapped into the USHL to bring in Finn Brink (Madison Capitols), Grady Deering (Waterloo Black Hawks), Vasily Zelenov (Green Bay Gamblers), and Blake Montgomery, who played with the Lincoln Stars before joining the OHL’s London Knights.
Wisconsin fans should be excited about some of the young scoring talent, but the looming question will be whether or not they can make an impact this year or need an adjustment period to get acclimated to B1G play.
The incoming defensive talent looks very promising. The Badgers already boast an experienced defensive unit with a ton of talent, but freshman Luke Osburn should earn his way onto the ice quickly. The Buffalo Sabres’ fourth-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft is a solid two-way defenseman who ran the power play for the USHL’s Youngstown Phantoms. He also tallied nine points in five games with the Team USA Junior Select Team this past summer.
Hastings also brought in senior Aiden Dubinsky through the transfer portal by way of Minnesota Duluth. Dubinsky is the only skater added through the portal (along with reserve goaltender Eli Pulver) and looks to add some experience on the back end.
Another issue the Badgers have struggled with since the departure of Kyle McClellan is goaltending. Transfer Tommy Scarfone was not the answer last year, and neither was William Gramme. With both gone, the door is open for freshman Daniel Hauser to claim the crease. Hauser set a WHL record with 123 wins between the Wenatchee Wild and the Calgary Hitmen. Hauser looks primed to be the future in net for Wisconsin, but his role this season remains to be seen.
It’s tough to say that the Lindenwood Lions should be a litmus test for the Badgers, but Wisconsin dropped the opener before salvaging an overtime win in game two against Lindenwood to open the season last year, sounding the initial alarm on what was to come in the Badger season. Lindenwood also finished 8-22-2, so it wasn’t like they took any momentum from opening weekend.
Anything less than two comfortable wins feels like a loss at this point, with the Badger faithful clamoring for a bounce-back year. The Big Ten is as tough a league as you’ll find in college hockey, but there will be plenty of ranked opportunities for Wisconsin to test its mettle and make it clear it deserves to be back in the postseason. And the first steps toward that goal start on Friday night.
Game Info
Date: October 3-4
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Place: Maryland Heights, MO | Centene Community Ice Center
TV: FloHockey | Radio: 1310 WIBA
