The Wisconsin men’s hockey team (13-21-3) fell from a No. 8 pre-season ranking, barely made their way back up to the top 20 then dropped back down at the end of the season. They also had a rough start to the season, going 3-for-10 in the first 10 games.
A glance at the 1,242 shots the Badgers had this season shows Wisconsin should’ve outscored their opponents. But their poor shot percentage of .087, compared to their opponents’ .112 shot percentage, sunk them.
On the other hand, Wisconsin won faceoffs and finished with a .545 percentage, averaging more than their opponents. They also scored 108 goals this season, only two goals behind the 110 their opponents scored on them.
Points-leader and leading goal-scorer sophomore Quinn Finley had a 40-point season in 37 games played, with 20 goals and 20 assists. Finley had a slower end to the season, scoring one goal in his last 10 games. He scored his final goal in Wisconsin’s loss to Ohio State in the third game of the Big Ten Tournament.
Badgers fans saw high point-productions from graduate student Ryland Mosley and freshman Gavin Morrissey this season. Mosley had 18 goals and 19 assists for 37 points in 37 games, while Morrissey had nine goals and 23 assists for 32 points in 37 games.
Those Badgers were seen on the power play, keeping a steady .221 percentage and putting the work in on the main-disadvantage for their .818 penalty kill percentage. Wisconsin didn’t give a whole lot of opportunities to put their opponents on the man-advantage, which should’ve been a huge opportunity to take some leads, but it wasn’t.
While Wisconsin let their top line and top power play unit shine, point-production dropped off outside of that Finley-Mosley-Morrissy connection. The transfer junior Kyle Kukkonen was fourth in points for the Badgers, having only 19 points in 37 games.
The lack of scoring depth on the Badgers offense might have contributed to the close losses they faced this season. Constantly running your top line couldn’t get Wisconsin those overtime wins or one-goal games that greatly contributed to Wisconsin’s final record.
Looking at the measly 13 wins the Badgers had this year, it wasn’t all on the line-depth of Badgers forwards, and it certainly wasn’t all the fault of the goaltenders.
Statistically, Wisconsin had a good year in goaltending, with senior Tommy Scarfone putting up a .900 save percentage this season and sophomore William Gramme with a .878. But, Badgers’ goaltenders weren’t competing with the top netminders in the NCAA this season.
Wisconsin kept a clean game early in the season, but as it went on, reffing got tighter and the Badgers looked to get desperate for wins to try and advance up the rankings. Wisconsin finished with 130 penalties at 3.5 per game, drawing 149 penalties at four per game from their opponents.
Wisconsin finished with relatively good statistics. There isn’t much more you can ask for in terms of shooting the puck toward the net, producing on the power play, winning a faceoff and defending at the blue line or staying out of the box.
The Badgers had a hard time coming back from and/or keeping the momentum going when down two or more goals. They lost 10 games by two or more this season, with five of those losses being a three-plus goal differential. There just wasn’t enough push to keep their leads, get one goal back when they let one in or really drive the net on those three-on-three overtimes.
Wisconsin had a great run in the 2023-24 season, but they did not show that same strength and fire coming into this season. They won 26 games that season and received a bid to the NCAA Tournament — was that some sort of fluke? Or is Wisconsin still trying to find their groove to compete not only within the Big Ten, but get those out-of-conference wins against big opponents and climb back up the rankings?
