‘It’s A Small World’: Inside Wisconsin's multilingual goaltending trio
Gramme, Scarfone and Castro bridge cultures for a common goal
Kali Mick
11/26/2024
“Hej! Jag heter William Gramme. Jag är från Stockholm.”
“Bonjour, comment ça va. Je m’appelle Tommy Scarfone. Êtes-vous de Montréal aussi? Essayons de voir ce que nous avons en commun.”
“Hola, me llamo Anton Castro. Soy de Minnesota – de dónde eres? Mucho gusto!”
Hailing from Sweden, Canada and America, the three goaltenders on the 2024-25 Wisconsin men’s hockey team may each come from a different culture, but they’re united by one thing – the universal language of hockey.
“Everything at the rink and on the ice is universal,” said sophomore William Gramme, who is a native of Stockholm, Sweden. “As soon as you get on the ice, it’s just hockey. You understand everything that’s going on.”
William Gramme’s fateful path to becoming a Badger
Gramme started playing hockey at age four, skating as a forward for the Swedish league Tyresö, before transitioning to playing goalie when he was eight. When he was 14, Gramme began goaltending for a team called Huddinge, and at age 20 got the call to play for the AIK, the highest junior league in Sweden, for the 2021-22 season.
Despite being halfway across the world, Gramme grew up dreaming of playing college hockey in the United States after his former goalie coach, who was American, told him about what it was like to play in the NCAA.
“To me, that sounded like a very interesting and cool thing to do,” he said on going the college route. “In Sweden, when you turn 19, you traditionally turn pro. I felt like I’d rather have four more years of development to try and get better before playing professionally.”
So, he made a plan and set out to achieve his dream. While playing for AIK, Gramme emailed every single North American Hockey League (NAHL) team, and after receiving some responses, he hopped on a plane to the States for training camps and never looked back. The sophomore ended up making the Lone Star Brahmas’ roster for the 2022-23 season and committed to Wisconsin after playing in only four games in the NAHL.
“It went pretty fast,” he said on the recruitment process. “I was very fortunate to have it this way. It wasn’t something I expected, but it was always something I dreamt about happening.”
Even with his Swedish roots, the goaltender always felt like he was meant to go to Wisconsin due to a special souvenir his family brought him after a trip to the States almost 10 years ago.
“When my brother was 15, he and my dad went to a hockey tournament in Chicago, and they bought me back a college jersey,” he said. “I had forgotten about it until after I committed here. My dad took the jersey out of the closet, and it was a Wisconsin Badgers sweater. It’s funny because I had it for many years before I committed here. That’s a pretty cool thing to look back on – I can’t believe that was the jersey he picked out seven years before I went here.”
It seems fate had already played its hand long before Gramme’s college career, but adjusting to his dream life in Wisconsin has still come with some challenges.
“Of course, you miss home, you miss your culture, your friends and family, all of that,” he said. “Being far away from my family is probably the hardest part because my parents can’t come and watch every game like they used to.”
Madison may be 4,254 miles from Stockholm, but that hasn’t stopped Gramme from finding ways to honor his culture and make his new surroundings feel a bit more like home. He has a Swedish flag and a Henrik Lundqvist national team jersey displayed in his room, and his parents are always sending him care packages full of his favorite Scandinavian candy to enjoy. He also keeps a reminder of home with him on the ice as his custom goalie mask features the Swedish Air Force logo and inspirational phrases from his country.
One of the sophomore’s favorite Swedish holidays is Midsommar, a festival traditionally held in June that celebrates the summer solstice. Swedes get together with their friends and family to light a bonfire, wear flowers in their hair and dance a traditional ‘maja’ around a maypole. As an additional reminder of home, Gramme has a small Midsommar pole in his locker room stall, which has been a good way to spark conversations about Swedish culture with his teammates.
“I’ve had a lot of people ask about it,” said Gramme on his meaningful decoration. “I remember talking to my roommates over the summer about Swedish holidays and stuff. I get to experience all of their holidays here, so they were interested in what we do back home.”
One teammate in particular has been instrumental in helping Gramme keep his culture alive: his freshman-year roommate, forward Sawyer Scholl. To help him feel more at home, Scholl’s family gifted the netminder a Swedish flag for their dorm room, which they displayed alongside an American flag as a symbol of their shared cultures.
When Gramme couldn't return home to Stockholm for Christmas in 2023, the Scholl family extended their hospitality, inviting him to spend the holiday break with them at their Medford, Wisconsin, home. The pair spent the week sharing American and Swedish holiday traditions, strengthening their bond as both teammates and friends.
“Christmas was awesome,” Scholl said. “I think that was the first time that he’s been in a Midwestern spot for Christmas. We got to do all the things we did as a family with him, and I think he really enjoyed it. He shared some Swedish culture with us too, like the candy – he’s big on candy. He also got me this little dish from Sweden that’s meant for coffee breaks, which was pretty cool. He’s always welcome to come back.”
A hockey journey that’s been filled with happy moments hasn’t been without its hardships though. Gramme’s native language is Swedish, so it’s been a unique experience learning how to communicate with teammates who speak a different language.
“Talking with people outside the rink is what I struggled with the most in the beginning,” he said, reflecting on his language-learning experience. “When I came here as a freshman, my classmates understood that I was kind of shy, but they always checked in on me to make sure I was fine. Stuff like that has helped me feel included and confident. Sometimes, joking around can still be very challenging. If I have something to say, I have to translate it in my head, but then the moment’s over. My teammates have been very patient and supportive of me.”
Tommy Scarfone’s cross-cultural journey from Montreal to Madison
Goaltender Tommy Scarfone has had a language journey similar to Gramme’s. The senior is a native of Montreal, Quebec, and grew up speaking French as his native language, picking up English as he went through primary school to better communicate with his English-speaking hockey teammates. Like Gramme, Scarfone can only think in his first language, having to quickly translate statements from French to English and back when communicating with his peers.
“I’m used to it now,” he said, smiling.
Scarfone began playing hockey when he was six, also starting out as a player and transitioning to goalie after half a year of skating. He played for the city in Montreal until grade seven before standing between the pipes for three different high schools, eventually moving to British Columbia to play for the BCHL’s Surrey Eagles for two years.
He committed to play college hockey at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in 2020, where he played for three years before transferring to Wisconsin for his senior season.
His decision to come to the United States for college was influenced mainly by one thing – the high level of play that you can only get while playing NCAA hockey.
“In Canada, playing college hockey isn’t the same,” he said about leaving home to play for a U.S. university. “The level is completely different. Growing up, my goal was to play juniors and then get a scholarship to play Division I hockey in the States. If you’re going to stay in Canada and play college there, it’s a huge difference.”
Scarfone’s journey is one that many Canadians playing in the NCAA share, so it’s been easy for him to quickly make connections with many of his international teammates on the Badgers, especially fellow Montreal native Simon Tassy.
“I feel like everywhere I go, there’s at least one guy who speaks French,” said the netminder. “You become friends with those guys first just because you can speak the language together and find other ways to relate.”
As roommates, Scarfone and Tassy have fostered a unique dynamic that allows them to preserve their French-Canadian heritage while living far from home.
“It’s been fun having someone else to talk to in French,” said Tassy on his relationship with Scarfone. “He’s a fun guy to be around. We talk about the foods we miss from Canada a lot, and we look forward to whenever my parents visit because they bring us Timbits!”
The pair are also roommates with Gramme, and though they haven’t yet taught each other how to speak their languages, Scarfone is continually impressed by the linguistic diversity of his fellow Badgers.
“I’ll hear Gramme talk on the phone in Swedish sometimes, and I think it’s pretty awesome,” the senior said. “It’s cool to meet new people and have teammates that speak another language that’s not English or French.”
Anton Castro balances hockey and heritage to honor father’s legacy
Among Scarfone’s new teammates who speak a different language is freshman goaltender Anton Castro, who speaks Spanish. The grandson of a Mexican immigrant, Castro is a native of Mendota Heights, Minnesota, and takes a lot of pride in his cultural roots, a trait passed down from his father, Tony.
“My dad was incredibly proud to be Mexican,” he said. “We ate a lot of traditional Mexican food growing up – my favorite was tacos with my grandma’s homemade tortillas. He spoke Spanish and taught me and my siblings how to speak it as well. He shared Mexican traditions and values with us, especially the way of life – working hard, taking care of your family and trying to leave stuff better than you found it.”
Castro grew up close to Tony, attributing his fondness for hockey to his dad, who not only introduced him to the sport but made it a central part of his identity.
“My dad loved hockey,” he said. “It was always on the TV. Being from Minnesota, hockey is hockey – it’s the only sport there, pretty much. I am the youngest of five, so all my brothers played as well. We were a big hockey family.”
The freshman started playing hockey when he was five as a skater until he won a free goalie gear giveaway and gave netminding a go. He played for his local town’s team until attending hockey school in sixth grade, goaltending for Gentry Academy until he was 16. He then moved to New Jersey and played for the Avalanche AAA team before making the jump to juniors, playing for the NAHL’s Northeast Generals in 2020-21.
For the 2021-22 season, Castro split his time between the NAHL and the United States Hockey League’s (USHL) Fargo Force, playing for Fargo full-time from 2022-24. In his final year with the Force, Castro backstopped his team to a Clark Cup, the USHL’s championship trophy.
“It was cool to end on top,” he said on finishing his junior career as a league champion. “It was a special journey. We had a really good year and almost broke every record. Life was good for sure; it was a really fun time.”
However, when the netminder won the Cup, he was without an important person in the stands. Tony Castro passed away in April 2021 due to COVID-19-related complications. In the wake of his loss, the freshman turned to his family’s cultural heritage, reconnecting with his roots and engaging in many of the Mexican traditions that his dad enjoyed.
“My dad would go to a local church and get tamales from an abuela,” said Castro, reflecting on how he’s honored Tony’s memory. “He would also get authentic hot sauce from a small shop in West St. Paul. I did stuff he used to do because it reminded me of him. It also inspired me to learn more Spanish, and I added a small tribute to him on my goalie helmet: the words ‘Bread n’ Butter,’ a phrase he always used to say.”
Interestingly, Castro’s bond with his heritage and his father is one he shares with freshman defenseman and fellow Minnesota native Logan Hensler. Hensler is also of Mexican descent, and his grandparents were close with Castro’s dad in high school, further strengthening their cultural ties and adding a personal layer to their already tight friendship.
“It’s special,” said Hensler, reflecting on his unique connection to Castro. “We get along very well. It’s cool to share the same heritage and hear about how our families knew each other and connect those dots.”
This shared cultural connection is a reminder of how the bonds formed through hockey can transcend the rink and bring teammates together in unexpected ways.
Even with their differences – coming from different countries, speaking different languages, following different cultures – Wisconsin’s goaltending trio has bridged their backgrounds to come together for a common goal: backstopping the Badgers to success.
I think it’s special because we all have different backgrounds and experiences of how we got here. We all played in different leagues in juniors before coming to college, and we all come from different countries, so it’s really special. You don’t see that often.Tommy Scarfone
The three netminders met for the first time over the summer and since then have formed a strong relationship, becoming not just teammates but close friends. Whether it’s sharing advice, celebrating each other’s victories or lending a shoulder during tough times, they’ve quickly become a tight-knit group.
The key to their bond? Connecting over hockey.
“It’s crazy how small the hockey world is,” said Castro. “We all have friends that are tied together, even with how crazy our pasts have been. We all know similar people. Tommy played with guys from RIT that I played juniors with, and Gramme played in the NAHL with guys that I know. It’s pretty cool how we’re all connected.”
Scarfone adds: “I think it’s special because we all have different backgrounds and experiences of how we got here. We all played in different leagues in juniors before coming to college, and we all come from different countries, so it’s really special. You don’t see that often.”
No matter their differences, hockey has provided Wisconsin’s goaltending trio with a universal language that’s brought them together, forming a foundation of trust, camaraderie and mutual respect. The goalies continue to grow their bond both on and off the ice, with their cultures contributing valuable wisdom they can apply to the sport they all cherish.
“En för alla, alla för en.” One for everyone, everyone for one.
“Amuses-toi et donne toujours ton cent pour cent.” Have fun and always give your one hundred percent.
“Juega duro.” Play hard.
While their paths to Wisconsin may have been different, William Gramme, Tommy Scarfone and Anton Castro’s journey as teammates is one they’ll walk together, learning from one another every step of the way. It really is a small world after all.