BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider
MADISON, Wis. — There's no doubt Aidan Cavallini is the oldest member of the Wisconsin men's hockey team and there's little doubt he's its most revered.
A senior winger, Cavallini turned 25 on New Year's Day, which makes him nearly six years older than Luke Kunin, the sophomore captain of the Badgers.
Part of Cavallini's charm is that his birth certificate doesn't always jibe with his shtick.
"I make fun of him all the time," junior center Cameron Hughes said, "because he acts like a 15-year-old."
Hughes is sporting a huge post-practice grin when he says this because he knows Cavallini is standing within earshot and will appreciate the humor.
Hughes also knows that Cavallini is more than just a fun-loving elder statesman, more than just a career fourth-liner with modest statistics and prominent family roots in the NHL.
Cavallini, from Barrington, Illinois, is one whose value in the dressing room and on the ice is hard to quantify.
Hughes, an assistant captain, gave it a shot.
"There are just those guys who are friends with everybody," he explained. "They can make everybody laugh. They can joke with everybody.
"He's definitely one of those guys. He's been a pretty special teammate, one of the better ones anyone of us have ever had."
Ryan Wagner, a junior winger who rooms with Cavallini on the road, gave it a shot as well.
"He's a smart guy and he cares about everyone," he said of Cavallini. "You can just see that. If anyone's down, he's the guy that makes you laugh and stuff like that. He's just an unbelievable all-around guy."
Tony Granato, the first-year UW head coach, said he can't put a price tag on what Cavallini brings to the mix every day.
"He's a hockey player," Granato began. "He gets it. He understands it. He understands his role.
"He doesn't ask for more. Doesn't think he's getting cheated. Cheers for his teammates as much as himself, maybe more.
"Those are invaluable guys in your lineup. Totally invaluable. You can't have enough of them."
Cavallini grew up with a father, Gino, and an uncle, Paul, who combined to skate in 1,100-plus games in the NHL. Aidan spent a good chunk of his formative years listening and seeing first-hand what it takes to prepare, co-exist and endure as a player at the highest level.
"That's invaluable experience about how to be a teammate and respect the game and whatever else comes with it," said Granato, who played 13 seasons in the NHL and competed against both Cavallinis.
Granato described Aidan as the ideal person to have on your team.
"His maturity in the locker room and as a teammate, he's perfect," Granato said. "He understands it. He gets it.
"What he is he's contagious. Those are the players you have to have. Your soldiers."
Cavallini, listed at 5-foot-10 and 200 pounds, has scored all three career goals this season. All have come in Big Ten Conference road games. All have come in victories.
He'll take a stab at changing one of those trends Friday night and Saturday night when the 17th-ranked Badgers (15-8-1 overall, 8-2 in the Big Ten) host 10th-rated Penn State (16-6-2, 5-4-1) in a conference series at the Kohl Center.
When Cavallini got his first conversion, a greasy effort in front of the net vs. Michigan on Dec. 9, the celebration on the UW bench was epic and genuine. The same goes for the goals he scored against Ohio State on Jan. 28 and Michigan State on Feb. 3.
"You can just see the emotion on the bench whenever he puts the puck in the net," Wagner said. "Everyone seems to go a bit crazy."
The one against Ohio State was particularly memorable. It came in iconic Madison Square Garden, the NHL home of the New York Rangers. According to the website Hockey-Reference.com, his father never scored a goal in that building while playing for three NHL teams.
Why does Cavallini generate such a strong reaction from his UW teammates?
"Because he's a great guy and I'm just happy for him," Wagner said.
"He's done an unbelievable job carrying the fourth line. He does literally everything. He back checks, hits, scores. He's an energy guy and people love having him around."
Hughes was asked what makes Cavallini such a good teammate.
"The list goes on and on," he said.
"When he comes to the rink you're probably going to laugh three or four times. He's going to have a smile. He's one of the best story-tellers on the team. Little things like that.
"He'll do anything for you."
Cavallini, who has nine points in 73 career games, came to UW having endured his share of adversity.
A broken femur when he was 17 and a fractured wrist when he was 18 — an injury that required three surgeries — cost him nearly two years of development. He bounced around four junior leagues in the U.S. and Canada and suited up for five junior teams before landing in Madison.
Cavallini played in six games as a freshman when Wisconsin won the Big Ten tournament title, 29 as a sophomore and drifted back to 16 as a junior. UW won only 12 of 70 games those latter two seasons and he was in the lineup for nine of them.
"It's been a grind, that's for sure," Cavallini said of his journey. "But it nonetheless has been rewarding and humbling."
In addition to his degree in finance, investment and banking, Cavallini is in line to get a certificate in German when he's scheduled to graduate in May. He said the foreign language piece stems from growing up in Germany while his father played there professionally. Cavallini said he spent his first five years in school speaking German.
Cavallini, who has played in 20 of 24 games this season, was asked to explain the reaction he gets from his teammates.
"It's kind of cool," he said. "I feel everyone is just as happy as I am."
But why?
"I'm not really sure what it is to be honest," Cavallini said. "I try to treat everyone the same and I try to lighten up the mood in the locker room, too, and I'm always having a good time. I don't know if that plays into it.
"Maybe someone will call me a locker room guy, if that's what it is. Maybe that's why."
Cavallini paused.
"Being a very supportive teammate; I think that's huge," he said. "Maybe that's why they react the way they do."
Whatever it is, it's heartfelt.
Granato said teammates see Cavallini as a measuring stick.
"They see a hard-working kid who doesn't cheat the game," Granato said. "They respect his work ethic, his personality, his positive support and his energy."
That explains a lot.
