New Badgers on campus for men’s hockey
July 11, 2019 | Men's Hockey, Andy Baggot
This year’s roster touted as ‘one of the most interesting amateur hockey teams in the world’
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MADISON, Wis. — One of the first things you notice when you walk into the Wisconsin men's hockey dressing room at the Kohl Center these mid-summer days is the clutter.
Construction material is strewn about near the players' cubicles and throughout the neighboring lounge area as practical upgrades — video, sound system, nutrition station, historical displays — are being made.
A closer look shows another notable renovation project is underway.
The nameplates over each wood-grained dressing stall signify that seven brand-new faces have taken up residence. Moving right to left around the room, center Dylan Holloway, No. 4, is between Jack Gorniak and Mick Messner; center Alex Turcotte, No. 15, is between Brock Caufield and Dominick Mersch; defenseman Mike Vorlicky, No. 7, is between Jesper Peltonen and K'Andre Miller; defenseman Shay Donovan, No. 28, is between Josh Ess and Ty Pelton-Byce; winger Ryder Donovan, No. 27, is between Pelton-Byce and Roman Ahcan; winger Cole Caufield, No. 8, is between Linus Weissbach and Tarek Baker; and center Owen Lindmark, No. 18, is between Max Zimmer and Jason Dhooghe.
The newcomers arrived last month to begin summer school, train, bond and get acclimated to new people and surroundings. They came amid considerable ballyhoo, the kind reserved for the supremely elite. To a man, they look forward to trying to live up to the attention while maintaining an air of humility.
"It's pretty cool," Lindmark said of the hype following the class, "but at the same time it means nothing. The only thing that matters is how well we do on the ice. All this outside talk isn't going to mean anything if we don't perform like we know we can on the ice. Our goal right now is just to attack every day with the best attitude we can and give everything we have."
That goes for everyone in the Wisconsin dressing room, not just the rookies.
"There's a lot of talk and stuff about the great players we have coming in this year," Cole Caufield said, "but we also have great players that were here and are upperclassmen and sophomores.
"We have a really exciting and fun team to watch and I think the pressure that's on us is good pressure.
"I'm looking forward to getting started and having a lot of memories with the guys."
That process shifted gears this week when the Badgers began a series of practices that will carry them to a preseason foreign tour to Vancouver, British Columbia. They are scheduled to face the University of British Columbia on Aug. 30 and Sept. 1.
The NCAA allows a foreign trip for exhibition games once in a four-year cycle. Wisconsin coach Tony Granato intends to spread the 10 sanctioned practices over July and August, giving his young squad a foundation for its trip to Canada and subsequent season-opening games at Boston College on Oct. 11 and Merrimack on Oct. 12.
A year after having the third-youngest roster among the 60 teams in the NCAA — 20 years, eight months — the Badgers will begin the season with an average age of 21.07. They have 17 players who are 20 or younger, including eight teenagers.
The incoming freshman class has six of those teens, but the group is so dynamic that one independent NHL talent evaluator, Corey Pronman, wrote that the Badgers will be "one of the most interesting amateur hockey teams in the world" in 2019-20.
Video: Future Badgers Shine in Exhibition Game (Wisconsin Badgers Youtube)
Pronman had Turcotte and Cole Caufield projected as top-10 picks in the NHL Entry Draft last month. Turcotte wound up going fifth overall to Los Angeles, while Caufield went 15th to Montreal.
Meanwhile, Ryder Donovan was a fourth-round NHL pick of Las Vegas and Lindmark was chosen by Florida in the fifth round.
Pronman also has Holloway ranked ninth overall on his list of top prospects for the 2020 draft.
In all, Wisconsin has 12 NHL draftees on its 26-man roster, including four selected among the top 100 picks: Turcotte, Caufield, Miller at No. 22 in 2018 and Ty Emberson at No. 73 in '18.
So far it's been a whirlwind summer for the newcomers. They all moved into the Lakeshore dorms and enrolled for summer school in mid-June. Caufield, Donovan, Lindmark and Turcotte subsequently attended the NHL draft in Vancouver. The four draftees were then joined by Vorlicky and 13 Wisconsin teammates in attending various NHL prospects camps.
Holloway, the lone Canadian in the freshman class, was the last to come in because his high school was in session through June. His arrival in Madison seemingly ended speculation that he might opt for the Major Junior route.
"I never once thought I wasn't coming here," he said.
Eyebrows were raised last month when Winnipeg acquired Holloway's rights from Everett in a Western Hockey League trade, but the reigning Canadian Junior A Player of the Year said any reports that he would sign with the ICE were unfounded.
"I was never thinking about going there," he said.
The seven freshmen are already historic in one sense. They give Wisconsin three sets of brothers for the first time. In addition to the Donovans, you have Paul and Brock Caufield and Jason and Sean Dhooghe.
Some of the newcomers knew each other before they got to Madison. Lindmark, Turcotte and Cole Caufield were teammates for two years at the U.S. National Team Developmental Program. The three crossed paths with Holloway during the under-18 world championships and with Ryder Donovan during the NHL scouting combine. The Donovans, meanwhile, knew Vorlicky because of their backgrounds at Minnesota high schools. The Donovans played at Duluth East, while Vorlicky played at Edina.
In short order, the seven have cultivated some noticeable chemistry.
"It feels like I've known them forever," Ryder Donovan said.
"We've got a lot of fun guys. This group is pretty special," Caufield said.
"The whole group is pretty awesome and we've gelled together pretty quickly," Holloway said.
"Ever since the season's been over and I've gotten time to relax, I've been really excited to finally come here and move in and be a part of this team," Turcotte said.
"We're already gelling as teammates and buddies," Vorlicky said. "Coming in in the summer makes a big difference. If it was the fall, it would be super chaotic trying to figure it out."
During workouts at the Kohl Center, the seven rookies have encountered some of the Wisconsin alums currently playing in the NHL. The group, including Joe Pavelski, Brian Elliott, Craig Smith and Luke Kunin, make Madison their home base during the offseason.
"It's part of the energy of the place," Ryder Donovan said.
"Just seeing those guys around here is one of the craziest parts about Wisconsin," said Shay Donovan, who's three years older than his brother. "You're surrounded by the best and have an opportunity to train with the best, which is something you can't get anywhere else, or at least most places."
Lindmark said the Badgers have an "unbelievable" culture in part because of their prominent links to the NHL.
"It's always good to see the professionals — people who've come through this program — and knowing that you can succeed in life not only as a hockey player but as a person coming through this program," he said.
Cole Caufield grew up in Stevens Point and attended the same high school as Pavelski, who helped lead the Badgers to the NCAA title in 2006. It's no coincidence that Caufield is wearing the same number as Pavelski, the two-time Olympian and former captain at San Jose who recently signed a lucrative free-agent deal with Dallas.
"I kind of wanted to wear it because of him," Caufield said. "Obviously he's a great player and I want to live up to him in a way. He's someone I really look up to and hopefully I can make an impact on the ice like he did."
Sharing the same space with Pavelski and Co. is a motivator.
"When you're walking through here and see guys like that come back here, you really look at things in a different way here," Cole Caufield said. "Anything I can do to make myself better throughout the years that I'm here, I want to make the most of it. Seeing guys like that come back here means a lot to me and not only the school, but looking up to them and seeing what they do and how hard they've worked for what they got."
Wisconsin has won six NCAA championships in part because of great recruiting. This latest one is eager to measure up to all the attention.
"When you put together a freshman class like that, there's always going to be expectations, but none of those guys are coming in thinking it's going to be easy, which is the awesome part," Shay Donovan said. "When you put together that much talent in one class and mix in that work ethic, it's going to be a lot of fun."
Cole Caufield, who set NTDP scoring records before being drafted by an iconic NHL franchise, was asked the last time he felt this much excitement.
"I've been pretty excited before, but this is a new experience," he said. "It's college. It's something that you kind of dream about. It doesn't get any better than playing in front of your students and your school.
"I've never had to live up to something like this before. I'm really looking forward to it."
This is the third time Wisconsin has had three first-round NHL draft picks on the roster. Turcotte and Caufield are joined by Miller, a sophomore defenseman who played at the NTDP and was chosen by the New York Rangers in 2018.
"The group we have coming in is pretty incredible," Holloway said. "It's pretty special to have those guys in our group."
