MADISON, Wis.-- The first game of the Tony Granato era went according to plan and then some. The Wisconsin men's hockey team (0-0-0, 0-0-0-0) routed the University of Victoria 10-1 in an exhibition game on Saturday night at the Kohl Center.
 
With all the talk surrounding Tony Granato's return to the Wisconsin hockey program, the Badgers showed their new coach just what they are capable of. Seven different players contributed to the goal-scoring parade while UW outshot the Vikes 63-10.
 
"I thought that if you look through our lineup and you saw the 25 guys that played, everybody had a positive night, everybody did something really well," Granato said.
 
Matt Ustaski opened the scoring at 10:12 of the first period on a short-handed goal that opened the floodgates for the Badgers. Ryan Wagner would add one on the power play just one minute later and sophomore forward Dan Labosky potted his first goal as a Badger 27 seconds later.
 
"It's exciting. Honestly there's going to be little butterflies, playing your first game, unbelievable program and unbelievable fans," Labosky said. "I just tried to stay calm and got to enjoy the moment and the first game; it was definitely a memorable time."
 
Wisconsin would head into the first intermission with a 4-0 lead after Seamus Malone added a goal with just over a minute to go in the frame. 
 
The Cardinal and White started the second period just as it ended the first, finding the back of the net just 1:14 into the second period on Luke Kunin's first of three goals in the game. Will Johnson contributed a goal and Kunin would net his second of the game later in the period to make it 7-0 at the second intermission.
 
In the final frame, the Badgers would add three more goals while Victoria would end the shutout bid with short-handed goal to make it 8-1 at the time.
 
"After the last few seasons here, we are hungry… to be winners and I think that showed tonight," captain Kunin said. "I think that's going to carry on to the rest of the season, so I'm very happy how the boys performed tonight and hopefully it keeps moving forward here."
 
Almost the entire Badgers' roster saw game-action as Tony Granato decided to roll out five offensive and four defensive lines with one line sitting out a period each. Freshmen Jack Berry and Johan Blomquist split duties between the pipes with sophomore goalie Matt Jurusik being the only player not to get playing time.
The 10-goal output for the Badgers marked the first time that the men's hockey team has scored in double-digits in a game of any kind since the Badgers defeated Colorado College 10-3 on March 13, 1993.
 
The first official game of the year for the Badgers will be next weekend in a series against Northern Michigan on Oct. 6-7 in Green Bay at the Resch Center. UW will then return home for its first home series of the year against Boston College on Oct. 14 and 16.
 
"Those guys played together a lot last year and really all the lines that were out there tonight looked like they had good chemistry, even away from the puck as well. But I guess that the skill is showing more," Granato said.