With just under a month left in the Wisconsin Badgers men’s hockey team’s 2024-25 regular season, star sophomore forward Quinn Finley has made his presence known.
Before joining the Badgers, the New York Islanders drafted Finley in the third round of the NHL Entry Draft at just 17 years old. Finley also played in the USHL for both the Chicago Steel and Madison Capitols. Along with these teams, Finley recently also competed for the United States national juniors hockey team during the 2024 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.
Just a season ago, Finley tallied just a total of 16 points in 36 games played for Wisconsin, ranking 11th in total points on the team. This year, the Suamico native has taken a massive jump.
Finley has played in all of the 26 games this season for the Badgers, a massive improvement from his already outstanding previous season.
Finley currently leads the team in points scored, more than doubling his total from the last calendar year. He also leads the team with 34 points in 26 games played.
“I'm appreciative of all the work he put in and utilizing everything we have here at the university to help make himself better,” Hastings said. “But the one ingredient in that we don't get to be a part of is the effort and the attitude that he's put into it, so I'm happy for him having the success that he has.”
Finley has played a huge part inf the Badgers’ late-season success after getting off to a slow start. The Badgers have won five of their last eight games with two of the three games they lost coming down to overtime.
With six still games remaining on the schedule, Finley will be a major factor in a potential Badgers NCAA Tournament run.
Wisconsin took both games earlier in the season in State College against the Penn State Nittany Lions, so Finley and the Badgers will look to pad the win column this weekend once again.
