Sept. 30, 2014
MADISON, Wis. -– This season, 32 former Wisconsin hockey players were invited to NHL training camps, including seven from last year’s squad and 21 who played at least one game in the league in 2013-14—the second-most of any school in the nation.
The Montreal Canadiens lead all teams with four Badgers at their training camp. Rene Bourque and Davis Drewiske are returners to the organization, as Bourque registered 16 points in 63 games with the Canadiens and Drewiske played 21 games for the Hamilton Bulldogs, Montreal’s AHL affiliate, in 2013-14. Newcomers Jake Dowell and Tom Gilbert will battle for spots on the team after taking the ice for the Minnesota Wild and Florida Panthers, respectively, last year.
The Anaheim Ducks and Detroit Red Wings trail Montreal by just one Wisconsin invitee.
All in their first year with the Ducks, Dany Heatley enters his 13th season in the NHL, while Nic Kerdiles begins his rookie campaign and Brad Winchester tries to make an NHL roster for the first time since 2011-12 when he played 67 games for the San Jose Sharks. Both Kerdiles and Winchester have since been sent down to Norfolk in the AHL.
Brendan Smith has spent his entire professional career with the Red Wings organization, playing 119 games with Detroit and 152 with its minor league affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins. Last year was Smith’s first full season in the NHL, as he picked up 19 points in 71 games with the Wings. Tyler Barnes and Mark Zengerle make their NHL debuts fresh off their senior season at UW in 2013-14. Barnes became Wisconsin’s 73rd 100-point scorer on March 22, 2014, tallying a goal and an assist against Ohio State in the inaugural Big Ten Championship game. Zengerle was named first-team All-Big Ten and scored the game-winning goal to capture the Big Ten championship during his final season in Madison. Barnes has since been released from Detroit.
Other NHL camp attendees that played for the Badgers last year include Michael Mersch (Los Angeles Kings), Jake McCabe (Buffalo Sabres), Joe Faust (New Jersey Devils) and Frankie Simonelli (Boston Bruins). Mersch, a fourth-round draft pick of the Kings in 2011, was named second-team All-America, first-team All-Big Ten and received All-Big Ten Tournament team honors as a senior. McCabe prepares for his first full season as a professional following his seven-game stint with the Sabres to finish out the 2013-14 campaign in which he recorded an assist and 15 penalty minutes. Mersch, Faust and Simonelli have already been released from NHL training camps and will report to their respective AHL teams’ camps, the Manchester Monarchs, Albany Devils and Providence Bruins.
In all, 77 Badgers have skated in the NHL all-time and 21 of the league’s 30 training camps are represented by at least one former Wisconsin hockey player.
