The Wisconsin Badgers men’s hockey team is off to a rocky start with a 4-8 record. The Badgers have been testing out their goaltending depth further with transfer Tommy Scarfone and returning sophomore goaltender William Gramme.
Scarfone held the goaltending position for both games in the series against the Penn State Nittany Lions, which for the first time this season, resulted in two consecutive wins for the Badgers. A close 5-4 win on Friday and a statement 6-3 win on Saturday fueled the Badgers’ return to dominating performances.
Aside from this weekend’s series, the Badgers’ series against the Minnesota Gophers and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish have not met the mark Wisconsin would have hoped for. The Badgers’ defense, fortified by a pair of goaltenders, has produced concerning results and mixed feelings going into practice sessions before more upcoming matches against better Big Ten opponents.
This wasn’t the case last season.
The Badgers lost their starting goaltender, Kyle McLellan, to the Iowa Heartlanders in the American pro league coming off the 2023-24 season. McClellan was a key asset to the Badgers’ NCAA Frozen Four Tournament appearance last season. During his time as a Badger, McClellan led the Big Ten with a .931 save percentage and claimed seven shutouts, allowing two goals or less in 26 of 34 games played and being second among current NCAA goaltenders, according to the UW Badgers website.
“Kyle was awesome and he won the [Mike] Richter award for a reason…and that was a big part of us last season,” alternate captain Anthony Kehrer said.
The prestigious Mike Richter award as the nation's top goaltender was not the only award McClellan earned during his time as a Wisconsin Badger. McClellan clinched spots as a Top-10 Hobey Baker Memorial Award finalist and claimed the title of Big Ten Goaltender of the Year He showed extreme promise for being a top pick in national leagues and was a crucial piece in the Badgers’ hopes for the NCAA championship.
Now, alongside Scarfone, Wisconsin looks to find success in net with two new goaltenders in Gramme and freshman Anton Castro.
Coming from the Rochester Tigers, Scarfone fit the spot of a promising goaltender the Badgers were looking for. In his past three years playing NCAA ice hockey, Scarfone averaged a .921 save percentage and less than 2.5 goals allowed per game on average.
Castro, on the other hand, hasn’t had a chance to show what he can do for the Badgers. He played for USHL’s Fargo Force before being recruited by Wisconsin, showing encouraging statistics of a .886 save percentage and 2.63 average goals allowed per game.
The Badgers have always had a squad to watch out for in the past few years, so where does the need for improvement in goaltending lie?
“I think it's a two-way relationship between both goaltending and defending,” Kehrer said. “We’re pretty excited for the three goaltenders we have for this season.”
The Badgers look to the next generation of goalies to help them work their way back to the top in upcoming games of this season. The Badgers have always prioritized the interdependence between their defense and goaltending to win games and shut out opponents.
In Wisconsin’s ten games so far, head coach Mike Hastings has alternated the Badgers’ starting goaltenders between Scarfone and Gramme.
Scarfone has yet to show his promise, allowing 2.8 goals per game on average with a .890 save percentage, leading the team to go 3-4 on the season. Gramme, in contrast, allowed 3.2 goals per game on average with a .886 save percentage, leading the team to also go 1-4. This, compared to the outstanding numbers of his freshman season of 1.13 goals allowed per game on average and a .959 save percentage, could be a growing concern as the season progresses.
Wisconsin will take on Alaska Anchorage on Friday, Nov. 29 and Saturday, Nov. 30 at home. It will be yet another chance of redemption for Scarfone and Gramme to prove and establish themselves as Wisconsin’s starting goaltenders.
Hastings had only one thing to say to them: “the most important thing for them is not to pay attention to criticism.”
