What's new
USCHO Fan Forum

This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

  • The USCHO Fan Forum has migrated to a new plaform, xenForo. Most of the function of the forum should work in familiar ways. Please note that you can switch between light and dark modes by clicking on the gear icon in the upper right of the main menu bar. We are hoping that this new platform will prove to be faster and more reliable. Please feel free to explore its features.

Wisconsin Badger 2025 Offseason

Hensler showed some upside on O as the season wore on but was -13, not ideal for a D who plays a lot. The only D who was any good +/- was Kerher, +13; outstanding. Dexheimer was -16 LOL. I see the wisdom in getting a rock solid defensive D. Plus Dex and Hensler need to play better. They are better than those horrible -'s. The last thing we need to to toast Hauser.

Upon further review, I really don't want any transfer F. Someone else said it, lets build from the ground up, mold these guys to have the right habits from a clean slate. I really like this Fr class of F. They should be sprinkled through the top 3 lines (net sure about Deering) and get as much ice time as possible.

I'd be very satisfied with a .520 winning percentage next season and sound defensive play through the N zone in our D zone. You need to start somewhere and build it up. This will also help Hauser develop.
From what I understand Osborn is more of an offensive defenseman as well. Combined him with Hensler and Dexheimer that is 3 very offensive minded defencemen. Which is not ideal. This past season because of injuries there were times Hensler and Dexheimer were paired together which was crazy.
I do think Palodichuk and Schulz played a good deal of the season through injury (especially Palodichuk) and that could really have affected their play.

I'm not sure if Knox stays. I'm guessing Phelan does stay. As it sits the D pairs could be
Dexheimer - Schulz
Hensler - Palodichuk
Osborn - Phelan
Knox/Stout (?)

Definitely feel like this could be upgraded.
 
Dexheimer - Schulz
Hensler - Palodichuk
Osborn - Phelan
Knox/Stout (?)

Definitely feel like this could be upgraded.

I don't think there's been any indication Stout will join the team this fall. I think if they add a solid defensive guy in the portal and stay healthy throughout the season this could be a good group.
 
Dexi was -16, 1g 17a. He had the fourth most sog on the team with 80 and only had one goal. That's pretty bad on both fronts.
 
Players starting to commit - big pickup for BU.

I'm assuming Bucky needs to shed a few players before getting involved with any potential transfers.......
 
Great article by TDM about Fitzgerald playing out of his preferred position of W the last 2 seasons but yet he decided to come back with the hopes of getting back to the W. He took one for the team though it may have hurt his stock in the points column. Speaks well to the culture of the team. It mentions Deering and Zelenov coming in as C's. Tulk must be taking faceoffs from the W spot. One concern is Deering and Zelenov are about a 35 pt guys in the ushl, I'm not sure how that will translate to 2nd or 3rd line C's as Fr.
 
Finley - Morrisey - Tulk
Montgomery - Zelenov - Fitzgerald
Idzan - Deering - Tassy
Brink - Dyck - Kukkonen

I’d be ok with those lines
I'd imagine Scholl is given the opportunity to start at center ahead of one of the freshmen, and really think Horbach will be on line 3/4. Seems like the lineup could go a number of different ways, though. Regardless, if the freshmen can produce and some of the older guys are a little bit more productive the lineup could be a lot better than last year.
 
Great article by TDM about Fitzgerald playing out of his preferred position of W the last 2 seasons but yet he decided to come back with the hopes of getting back to the W. He took one for the team though it may have hurt his stock in the points column. Speaks well to the culture of the team. It mentions Deering and Zelenov coming in as C's. Tulk must be taking faceoffs from the W spot. One concern is Deering and Zelenov are about a 35 pt guys in the ushl, I'm not sure how that will translate to 2nd or 3rd line C's as Fr.
Always just thought that Fitzgerald was a center. He looked natural at that position. Interesting stuff.

I got a bone to pick with Hastings. He played Fitzgerald out of position because they were thin at center, but stashed a recent 1st round pick center on the 4th line with zero opportunity to move up the lineup. That center then proceeded to transfer to a school in the same conference and play a pivotal top 6 role for a team that finished top 4 in the country. Was the center position really "thin" or was Stramel just not "his guy"? Seems pretty obvious at this point that Stramel was just not his guy. Happy he got to go to a staff that actually wanted him and had success.
 
Last edited:
Always just thought that Fitzgerald was a center. He looked natural at that position. Interesting stuff.

I got a bone to pick with Hastings. He played Fitzgerald out of position because they were thin at center, but stashed a recent 1st round pick center on the 4th line with zero opportunity to move up the lineup. That center then proceeded to transfer to a school in the same conference and play a pivotal top 6 role for a team that finished top 4 in the country. Was the center position really "thin" or was Stramel just not "his guy"? Seems pretty obvious at this point that Stramel was just not his guy. Happy he got to go to a staff that actually wanted him and had success.
This is a curious situation. I have to believe Stamel did not practice his way up the line-up. If he could have helped them win more last year, Hastings would have used him in a more prominent role. This year had he stayed he would have been a top 6 candidate, so would have Stange. I'd love to know the circumstances behind the departures of Stramel, Stange and Urdahl. I do think it had to do with culture as was alluded to by coach Knott when he said culture is real and last year it seemed to be a problem. Whitelaw and Brown are on their 3rd teams, to me that indicates another culture issue. I think the fact that there has not been an exodus of higher end players that the culture issue is much improved. Obviously we will see some light on ice time players depart to make room for these fr F's, I guess that is the new way.
 
Really interesting that we have not seen some of the forwards that are towards the bottom of the totem pole (Pietila, Botterill, Buss etc) hop into the transfer portal. Maybe Coach Hastings is going to try and keep the current roster intact for continuity purposes, add the incoming Frosh to the mix, and roll the dice?
 
This is a curious situation. I have to believe Stamel did not practice his way up the line-up. If he could have helped them win more last year, Hastings would have used him in a more prominent role. This year had he stayed he would have been a top 6 candidate, so would have Stange. I'd love to know the circumstances behind the departures of Stramel, Stange and Urdahl. I do think it had to do with culture as was alluded to by coach Knott when he said culture is real and last year it seemed to be a problem. Whitelaw and Brown are on their 3rd teams, to me that indicates another culture issue. I think the fact that there has not been an exodus of higher end players that the culture issue is much improved. Obviously we will see some light on ice time players depart to make room for these fr F's, I guess that is the new way.
Really interesting that we have not seen some of the forwards that are towards the bottom of the totem pole (Pietila, Botterill, Buss etc) hop into the transfer portal. Maybe Coach Hastings is going to try and keep the current roster intact for continuity purposes, add the incoming Frosh to the mix, and roll the dice?
They have to be at 26 players (3 G, 8 D, 15 F being the preferred numbers). So, they either have to delay some of the freshman coming in or others will have to leave.
 
Gramme is going to Northern Michigan. Rooting for him to get his fair share of playing time and have some success there.

Aiden Dubinsky (D) from Duluth has committed to badgers, per Brad Elliott Schlossman. Should provide some solid D depth, had 4g 10a last year, he was -2 but UMD was also a pretty bad team. He'll be a senior with 1 year of eligibility. I personally like bringing in someone with 3 years of experience in the NCHC, hopefully he'll give the team some blueline reliability.
 
Gramme is going to Northern Michigan. Rooting for him to get his fair share of playing time and have some success there.

Aiden Dubinsky (D) from Duluth has committed to badgers, per Brad Elliott Schlossman. Should provide some solid D depth, had 4g 10a last year, he was -2 but UMD was also a pretty bad team. He'll be a senior with 1 year of eligibility. I personally like bringing in someone with 3 years of experience in the NCHC, hopefully he'll give the team some blueline reliability.
The -2 doesn't really bother me at all, he's more of a defensive D. The D were +13, +1, +1, 0, -7, -13, -16. Pair him with Dexi or Hensler and the -16 or -13 will improve for either one and hopefully Dubinsky is in the plus someplace. The +13 and a +1 are gone.

That must mean no Stout coming next year, so that is 7 D with no Fr (not sure if I like that or not) plus Horbach for depth. The following year Stout and Osburn come in.

I hope Gramme does really well at his new home. His confidence this year was zippo.
 
Back
Top