2020–21 Wisconsin Badgers men's ice hockey season
The 2020–21 Wisconsin Badgers men's ice hockey season was the 72nd season of play for the program and the 21st season in the Big Ten Conference. The Badgers represented the University of Wisconsin–Madison and were coached by Tony Granato, in his 5th season.
| 2020–21 Wisconsin Badgers men's ice hockey season | |
|---|---|
| Big Ten, Champion NCAA Tournament, Regional semifinal | |
| Conference | 1st Big Ten |
| Home ice | LaBahn Arena |
| Rankings | |
| USCHO | 8 |
| USA Today | 8 |
| Record | |
| Overall | 20–10–1 |
| Conference | 17–6–1–1–1–0 |
| Home | 10–5–1 |
| Road | 9–3–0 |
| Neutral | 1–2–0 |
| Coaches and captains | |
| Head coach | Tony Granato |
| Assistant coaches | Mark Strobel Mark Osiecki Brad Winchester |
| Captain(s) | Ty Emberson |
| Alternate captain(s) | Tarek Baker Tyler Inamoto Ty Pelton-Byce |
| Wisconsin Badgers men's ice hockey seasons « 2019–20 2021–22 » | |
Season edit
As a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic the entire college ice hockey season was delayed. Because the NCAA had previously announced that all winter sports athletes would retain whatever eligibility they possessed through at least the following year, none of Wisconsin's players would lose a season of play.[1] However, the NCAA also approved a change in its transfer regulations that would allow players to transfer and play immediately rather than having to sit out a season, as the rules previously required.[2]
Wisconsin entered the season having to rely on an entirely new troop of goaltenders, having lost all of their netminders from the year before. That wasn't an unfortunate circumstance as the Badgers had been one of the worst teams in the nation in terms of goals allowed. Senior transfer Robbie Beydoun was the first goalie to start for the team and Wisconsin started well, winning four of their first six games (all against ranked teams). After getting embarrassed by Arizona State in late November, Tony Granato began rotating his starting goalies and the team responded by handing #1 Minnesota their first loss of the season. With the team beginning to fire on all cylinders, Cole Caufield came into his own and rocketed up the national scoring standings. Caufield's goal-scoring helped the Badgers win 13 out of 16 games and finish atop the Big Ten by .002. The drastic turnaround was the first time a team had gone from worst to first in any conference standings since Maine in 1995 (though that included 14 forfeited games).
As the top seed, Wisconsin received a bye into the Big Ten semifinals but, when they hit the ice, the team appeared to have lost some its steam. The Badgers had to twice recover from Penn State leads in the third period before dominating in the overtime session. The championship game versus Minnesota saw more loose play and the Gophers scored four goals in the second period to take a 4-goal edge. The Badgers tried to come back in the final frame, scoring three times but an empty-net goal sealed their defeat.
Despite the championship loss, Wisconsin was ranked 4th by the NCAA selection committee and given the top spot for the East Region in the NCAA Tournament. The Badgers opened against Bemidji State and for the third consecutive game they got off to a slow start. The Beavers scored twice in the first, including a goal with less than 20 seconds remaining. After Wisconsin cut the lead in half, BSU scored two more before the end of the second, including one off a terrible turnover by Beydoun. Cameron Rowe was in net to start the third but it didn't appear to make much difference as Bemidji State scored again to push their lead to four. Caufield scored twice in the third to try and spark a comeback but the deficit was too great and The Badgers' campaign ended on a 3–6 loss.
Ben Garrity sat out the season.
Departures edit
| Player | Position | Nationality | Cause |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jack Berry | Goaltender | United States | Graduation (signed with Pensacola Ice Flyers) |
| Johan Blomquist | Goaltender | Sweden | Graduation |
| Sean Dhooghe | Forward | United States | Transferred to Arizona State |
| Wyatt Kalynuk | Defenseman | Canada | Signed professional contract (Chicago Blackhawks) |
| Daniel Lebedeff | Goaltender | Finland | Signed professional contract (HPK) |
| Mick Messner | Forward | United States | Transferred to Merrimack |
| K'Andre Miller | Defenseman | United States | Signed professional contract (New York Rangers) |
| Alex Turcotte | Forward | United States | Signed professional contract (Los Angeles Kings) |
| Max Zimmer | Forward | United States | Graduation (signed with Charlotte Checkers) |
Recruiting edit
| Player | Position | Nationality | Age | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Robbie Beydoun | Goaltender | United States | 23 | Plymouth, MI; transfer from Michigan Tech |
| Mathieu De St. Phalle | Forward | United States | 20 | Glencoe, IL |
| Ben Garrity | Goaltender | United States | 20 | Rosemount, MN |
| Anthony Kehrer | Defenseman | Canada | 18 | Winnipeg, MB |
| Luke LaMaster | Defenseman | United States | 20 | Duluth, MN |
| Cameron Rowe | Goaltender | United States | 19 | Wilmette, IL |
| Sam Stange | Forward | United States | 19 | Eau Claire, WI; selected 97th overall in 2020 |
Roster edit
As of August 31, 2020.[3]
| No. | S/P/C | Player | Class | Pos | Height | Weight | DoB | Hometown | Previous team | NHL rights |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | Sam Stange | Freshman | F | 6' 1" (1.85 m) | 200 lb (91 kg) | 2001-04-20 | Eau Claire, Wisconsin | Sioux Falls (USHL) | DET, 97th overall 2020 | |
| 4 | Dylan Holloway | Sophomore | F | 6' 1" (1.85 m) | 203 lb (92 kg) | 2001-09-23 | Bragg Creek, Alberta | Okotoks (AJHL) | EDM, 14th overall 2020 | |
| 5 | Tyler Inamoto (A) | Senior | D | 6' 2" (1.88 m) | 198 lb (90 kg) | 1999-05-06 | Barrington, Illinois | USNTDP (USHL) | FLA, 133rd overall 2017 | |
| 7 | Mike Vorlicky | Sophomore | D | 6' 1" (1.85 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | 2000-07-17 | Edina, Minnesota | Edina (USHS–MN) | — | |
| 8 | Cole Caufield | Sophomore | F | 5' 7" (1.7 m) | 165 lb (75 kg) | 2001-01-02 | Stevens Point, Wisconsin | USNTDP (USHL) | MTL, 15th overall 2019 | |
| 9 | Linus Weissbach | Senior | F | 5' 9" (1.75 m) | 177 lb (80 kg) | 1998-04-19 | Gothenburg, Sweden | Tri-City (USHL) | BUF, 192nd overall 2017 | |
| 11 | Jack Gorniak | Junior | F | 5' 11" (1.8 m) | 187 lb (85 kg) | 1999-09-15 | West Salem, Wisconsin | West Salem (USHS–WI) | MTL, 123rd overall 2018 | |
| 13 | Roman Ahcan | Junior | F | 5' 9" (1.75 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | 1999-03-24 | Savage, Minnesota | Cedar Rapids (USHL) | — | |
| 14 | Jesper Peltonen | Junior | D | 5' 10" (1.78 m) | 179 lb (81 kg) | 1998-06-08 | Helsinki, Finland | Omaha (USHL) | — | |
| 15 | Mathieu De St. Phalle | Freshman | F | 5' 9" (1.75 m) | 160 lb (73 kg) | 2000-03-20 | Lake Forest, Illinois | Chicago (USHL) | — | |
| 16 | Tarek Baker (A) | Senior | F | 5' 10" (1.78 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | 1997-02-22 | Verona, Wisconsin | Sioux City (USHL) | — | |
| 17 | Ty Pelton-Byce (A) | Senior | F | 6' 2" (1.88 m) | 195 lb (88 kg) | 1997-04-14 | Madison, Wisconsin | Harvard (ECAC) | — | |
| 18 | Owen Lindmark | Sophomore | F | 6' 0" (1.83 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | 2001-05-17 | Naperville, Illinois | USNTDP (USHL) | FLA, 137th overall 2019 | |
| 19 | Brock Caufield | Junior | F | 5' 9" (1.75 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | 1999-03-09 | Stevens Point, Wisconsin | Green Bay (USHL) | — | |
| 20 | Josh Ess | Senior | D | 5' 11" (1.8 m) | 187 lb (85 kg) | 1999-04-03 | Lakeville, Minnesota | Lakeville South (USHS–MN) | CHI, 215th overall 2017 | |
| 21 | Ty Emberson (C) | Junior | D | 6' 1" (1.85 m) | 198 lb (90 kg) | 2000-05-24 | Eau Claire, Wisconsin | USNTDP (USHL) | ARI, 73rd overall 2018 | |
| 23 | Jason Dhooghe | Senior | F | 5' 7" (1.7 m) | 165 lb (75 kg) | 1997-03-15 | Aurora, Illinois | Green Bay (USHL) | — | |
| 24 | Anthony Kehrer | Freshman | D | 5' 11" (1.8 m) | 196 lb (89 kg) | 2002-03-04 | Winnipeg, Manitoba | Sioux City (USHL) | — | |
| 25 | Dominick Mersch | Junior | F | 6' 0" (1.83 m) | 193 lb (88 kg) | 1998-12-16 | Park Ridge, Illinois | Lincoln (USHL) | — | |
| 26 | Luke LaMaster | Freshman | D | 6' 0" (1.83 m) | 187 lb (85 kg) | 1999-10-17 | Duluth, Minnesota | Sioux City (USHL) | — | |
| 27 | Ryder Donovan | Sophomore | F | 6' 3" (1.91 m) | 203 lb (92 kg) | 2000-10-04 | Duluth, Minnesota | Duluth East (USHS–MN) | VGK, 110th overall 2019 | |
| 28 | Shay Donovan | Sophomore | D | 6' 3" (1.91 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | 1998-05-26 | Duluth, Minnesota | Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (NAHL) | — | |
| 29 | Ben Garrity | Freshman | G | 6' 2" (1.88 m) | 184 lb (83 kg) | 2000-01-20 | Rosemount, Minnesota | Minot (NAHL) | — | |
| 30 | Robbie Beydoun | Graduate | G | 6' 0" (1.83 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | 1996-10-01 | Plymouth, Michigan | Michigan Tech (WCHA) | — | |
| 31 | Cameron Rowe | Freshman | G | 6' 3" (1.91 m) | 212 lb (96 kg) | 2001-06-01 | Wilmette, Illinois | Des Moines (USHL) | — |
Standings edit
| Conference record | Overall record | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | W | L | T | OTW | OTL | 3/SW | PTS | PT% | GF | GA | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | ||
| #8 Wisconsin † | 24 | 17 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 52 | .722 | 92 | 52 | 31 | 20 | 10 | 1 | 118 | 80 | |
| #7 Minnesota * | 22 | 16 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 48 | .727 | 69 | 44 | 31 | 24 | 7 | 0 | 117 | 64 | |
| #9 Michigan | 20 | 11 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 32 | .550 | 69 | 45 | 26 | 15 | 10 | 1 | 91 | 51 | |
| #17 Notre Dame | 24 | 12 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 41 | .542 | 65 | 53 | 29 | 14 | 13 | 2 | 84 | 78 | |
| Penn State | 18 | 7 | 11 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 20 | .389 | 48 | 68 | 22 | 10 | 12 | 0 | 65 | 81 | |
| Ohio State | 22 | 6 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 20 | .273 | 39 | 82 | 27 | 7 | 19 | 1 | 53 | 101 | |
| Michigan State | 22 | 5 | 16 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 15 | .250 | 32 | 70 | 27 | 7 | 18 | 2 | 40 | 77 | |
| Championship: March 16, 2021 † indicates conference regular season champion * indicates conference tournament champion Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll | ||||||||||||||||||
Schedule and Results edit
| Date | Time | Opponent# | Rank# | Site | TV | Decision | Result | Attendance | Record | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regular season | |||||||||||
| November 13 | 6:06 PM | at #20 Notre Dame | Compton Family Ice Arena • Notre Dame, Indiana | NBCSN | Beydoun | W 2–0 | 0 | 1–0–0 (1–0–0) | |||
| November 14 | 6:06 PM | at #20 Notre Dame | Compton Family Ice Arena • Notre Dame, Indiana | NHL Network | Beydoun | W 5–3 | 0 | 2–0–0 (2–0–0) | |||
| November 19 | 6:02 PM | vs. #6 Michigan | #14 | LaBahn Arena • Madison, Wisconsin | FSD, FSW | Beydoun | L 2–5 | 0 | 2–1–0 (2–1–0) | ||
| November 20 | 6:02 PM | vs. #6 Michigan | #14 | LaBahn Arena • Madison, Wisconsin | FSD+, FSW | Beydoun | L 1–2 OT | 0 | 2–2–0 (2–2–0) | ||
| November 23 | 5:08 PM | vs. #15 Penn State | #14 | LaBahn Arena • Madison, Wisconsin | BTN | Beydoun | W 6–3 | 0 | 3–2–0 (3–2–0) | ||
| November 24 | 5:08 PM | vs. #15 Penn State | #14 | LaBahn Arena • Madison, Wisconsin | BTN | Beydoun | W 7–3 | 0 | 4–2–0 (4–2–0) | ||
| November 28 | 7:04 PM | vs. Arizona State* | #14 | LaBahn Arena • Madison, Wisconsin | FSW | Rowe | L 5–8 | 0 | 4–3–0 | ||
| November 29 | 4:04 PM | vs. Arizona State* | #14 | LaBahn Arena • Madison, Wisconsin | FSW | Beydoun | L 1–3 | 0 | 4–4–0 | ||
| December 3 | 4:30 PM | at #13 Ohio State | #14 | Value City Arena • Columbus, Ohio | Beydoun | L 2–4 | 0 | 4–5–0 (4–3–0) | |||
| December 4 | 4:32 PM | at #13 Ohio State | #14 | Value City Arena • Columbus, Ohio | ESPNU | Rowe | W 3–1 | 0 | 5–5–0 (5–3–0) | ||
| January 9 | 4:04 PM | vs. #1 Minnesota | #12 | LaBahn Arena • Madison, Wisconsin | Beydoun | W 3–1 | 0 | 6–5–0 (6–3–0) | |||
| January 10 | 4:04 PM | vs. #1 Minnesota | #12 | LaBahn Arena • Madison, Wisconsin | Beydoun | L 3–5 | 0 | 6–6–0 (6–4–0) | |||
| January 16 | 7:04 PM | vs. Arizona State | #12 | LaBahn Arena • Madison, Wisconsin | FSW | Rowe | W 4–0 | 0 | 7–6–0 | ||
| January 17 | 6:34 PM | vs. Arizona State | #12 | LaBahn Arena • Madison, Wisconsin | FSW | Rowe | W 5–2 | 0 | 8–6–0 | ||
| January 21 | 5:04 PM | at Penn State | #12 | Pegula Ice Arena • University Park, Pennsylvania | Rowe | W 4–1 | 171 | 9–6–0 (7–4–0) | |||
| January 22 | 5:04 PM | at Penn State | #12 | Pegula Ice Arena • University Park, Pennsylvania | Beydoun | L 4–5 | 180 | 9–7–0 (7–5–0) | |||
| January 29 | 7:04 PM | vs. Michigan State | #13 | LaBahn Arena • Madison, Wisconsin | Beydoun | W 6–0 | 0 | 10–7–0 (8–5–0) | |||
| January 30 | 3:04 PM | vs. Michigan State | #13 | LaBahn Arena • Madison, Wisconsin | Rowe | W 4–1 | 0 | 11–7–0 (9–5–0) | |||
| February 5 | 7:05 PM | at #2 Minnesota | #11 | 3M Arena at Mariucci • Minneapolis, Minnesota | Beydoun | W 4–1 | 0 | 12–7–0 (10–5–0) | |||
| February 6 | 7:05 PM | at #2 Minnesota | #11 | 3M Arena at Mariucci • Minneapolis, Minnesota | Rowe | W 8–1 | 0 | 13–7–0 (11–5–0) | |||
| February 13 | 1:04 PM | at #8 Michigan | #7 | Yost Ice Arena • Ann Arbor, Michigan | Beydoun | L 1–5 | 93 | 13–8–0 (11–6–0) | |||
| February 14 | 4:04 PM | at #8 Michigan | #7 | Yost Ice Arena • Ann Arbor, Michigan | Rowe | W 3–2 | 98 | 14–8–0 (12–6–0) | |||
| February 19 | 7:04 PM | vs. Notre Dame | #5 | LaBahn Arena • Madison, Wisconsin | Beydoun | W 4–2 | 0 | 15–8–0 (13–6–0) | |||
| February 20 | 4:04 PM | vs. Notre Dame | #5 | LaBahn Arena • Madison, Wisconsin | Rowe | T 5–5 SOL | 0 | 15–8–1 (13–6–1) | |||
| February 26 | 7:04 PM | vs. Ohio State | #5 | LaBahn Arena • Madison, Wisconsin | Beydoun | W 2–1 OT | 0 | 16–8–1 (14–6–1) | |||
| February 27 | 4:04 PM | vs. Ohio State | #5 | LaBahn Arena • Madison, Wisconsin | Rowe | W 7–0 | 0 | 17–8–1 (15–6–1) | |||
| March 5 | 3:00 PM | at Michigan State | #5 | Munn Ice Arena • East Lansing, Michigan | Beydoun | W 4–0 | 0 | 18–8–1 (16–6–1) | |||
| March 6 | 1:30 PM | at Michigan State | #5 | Munn Ice Arena • East Lansing, Michigan | BTN | Rowe | W 2–1 | 0 | 19–8–1 (17–6–1) | ||
| Big Ten Tournament | |||||||||||
| March 15 | 3:35 PM | vs. Penn State* | #5 | Compton Family Ice Arena • Notre Dame, Indiana (Big Ten Semifinal) | Beydoun | W 4–3 OT | 158 | 20–8–1 | |||
| March 16 | 7:05 PM | vs. #4 Minnesota* | #5 | Compton Family Ice Arena • Notre Dame, Indiana (Big Ten Championship) | Rowe | L 4–6 | 149 | 20–9–1 | |||
| NCAA Tournament | |||||||||||
| March 26 | 12:00 PM | vs. #14 Omaha* | #4 | Webster Bank Arena • Bridgeport, Connecticut (NCAA East Regional semifinal) | ESPN2 | Beydoun | L 3–6 | 0 | 20–10–1 | ||
| *Non-conference game. #Rankings from USCHO.com Poll. All times are in Central Time. | |||||||||||
Scoring statistics edit
| Name | Position | Games | Goals | Assists | Points | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cole Caufield | RW | 31 | 30 | 22 | 52 | 4 |
| Linus Weissbach | LW/RW | 31 | 12 | 29 | 41 | 12 |
| Dylan Holloway | C/LW | 23 | 11 | 24 | 35 | 19 |
| Ty Pelton-Byce | F | 24 | 12 | 19 | 31 | 2 |
| Roman Ahcan | LW | 26 | 9 | 13 | 22 | 43 |
| Brock Caufield | RW | 31 | 7 | 10 | 17 | 0 |
| Owen Lindmark | C | 27 | 4 | 13 | 17 | 4 |
| Jack Gorniak | C/LW | 31 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 8 |
| Ty Emberson | D | 31 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 6 |
| Tarek Baker | LW | 27 | 3 | 9 | 12 | 24 |
| Tyler Inamoto | D | 26 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 15 |
| Mathieu De St. Phalle | F | 31 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 4 |
| Sam Stange | RW | 29 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 4 |
| Dominick Mersch | F | 27 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 14 |
| Josh Ess | D | 31 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 6 |
| Jesper Peltonen | D | 30 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 2 |
| Anthony Kehrer | D | 31 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 12 |
| Mike Vorlicky | D | 24 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 16 |
| Ryder Donovan | C/RW | 22 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 40 |
| Jason Dhooghe | F | 24 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| Shay Donovan | D | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Luke LaMaster | D | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Cameron Rowe | G | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Robbie Beydoun | G | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bench | - | - | - | - | - | 6 |
| Total | 118 | 197 | 315 | 249 |
Goaltending statistics edit
Rankings edit
| Poll | Week | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 (Final) | ||||
| USCHO.com | NR | 14 | 14 | 14 | 12 | 14 | 13 | 14 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 11 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | - | 8 | |||
| USA Today | NR | 13 | 15 | NR | 13 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 12 | 13 | 12 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 8 | |||
USCHO did not release a poll in week 20.[6]
Awards and honors edit
2021 NHL Entry Draft edit
| Round | Pick | Player | NHL team |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 25 | Corson Ceulemans† | Columbus Blue Jackets |
| 7 | 215 | Daniel Laatsch† | Pittsburgh Penguins |
† incoming freshman [11]
References edit
- ^ "NCAA approves blanket waiver for 2020 fall sports athletes to retain year of eligibility". CBS Sports. August 21, 2020. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
- ^ "DI Council grants waiver to allow transfer student-athletes to compete immediately". NCAA. December 16, 2020. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
- ^ "2019–20 Men's Ice Hockey Roster". Wisconsin Athletics. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
- ^ "Wisconsin Badgers (Men) 2020-2021 Schedule and Results". College Hockey Stats. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
- ^ "Univ. of Wisconsin 2020-2021 Skater Stats". Elite Prospects. Retrieved March 7, 2020.
- ^ "USCHO Division I Men's Poll". USCHO.com. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
- ^ "Wisconsin's Cole Caufield wins 2021 Hobey Baker Award as college hockey's best player". USCHO.com. April 9, 2021. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
- ^ a b "Boston College, Minnesota, North Dakota, Wisconsin lead way with three All-American college hockey players apiece for '20-21 season". USCHO.com. April 9, 2021. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f "Hockey Postseason Honors Announced". Big Ten. March 16, 2021. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
- ^ "Gophers Take Down Badgers, Win B1G tournament championship". Big Ten. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
- ^ "NCAA player rankings, selections in 2021 NHL Draft". USCHO.com. Retrieved July 24, 2021.