Head coach Mike Eaves announced Wednesday defenseman John Ramage and goaltender Brett Bennett will join the Wisconsin men's hockey team next fall.
""Brett will come in as a Badger after a super year in junior hockey,"" Eaves said. ""We look forward to him bringing his experience to our team. And John, with his experience with the National Team Development Program, he has already played multiple college games and will come in and add that experience to our incoming class.""
Ramage spent the past year in the U.S. National Team Development Program in Ann Arbor, Mich., playing for the U.S. Under-18 Team, and is currently playing in the 2009 International Ice Hockey Federation World Men's Under-18 Championship.
He is also the son of former NHL defenseman Rob Ramage, who was a No. 1 overall pick in the 1979 NHL draft and played over 1,000 games in his career.
He has experience in the North American Hockey League as well. During the 2007-'08 season, he played for the Robertson Cup-winning St. Louis Bandits. In their championship season, Ramage skated in 56 games, accumulating four goals, including two game-winners, and 11 points.
Bennett comes to Wisconsin with college experience already under his belt. He spent two years at Boston University, and during the 2007-'08 season he finished with a record of 16-10-3, a 2.63 goals-against average and a .888 save percentage.
He is the current goalie for the United States Hockey League's Indiana Ice. Bennett received 2009 First Team All-USHL honors, leading the league with 54 games played, 35 wins and four shutouts. He ended the regular season with a record of 35-17-4 while only allowing 2.59 goals per game.
Before heading to Boston University, Bennett also had the opportunity to be a part of the U.S. National Team Development Program. While with the under-17 team in 2004-'05 he was 20-12-2-1 with 2.71 goals-against and a .913 save percentage.
With the addition of Ramage and Bennett the Badgers have now signed seven players for next fall.
—uwbadgers.com contributed to this report.
