Men’s hockey team award winners announced
May 29, 2024 | Men's Hockey
Nine players receive annual team-given honors
MADISON, Wis. – Following the conclusion of the 2023-24 season, the Wisconsin men's hockey program has chosen its annual team award winners, handing out honors for competitiveness, consistency and improvement, among others.
Senior goaltender Kyle McClellan took home the Spike Carlson/Chris Chelios Most Valuable Player award for his history-making season between the pipes for the Badgers. First handed out in 1964, this award honors Spike Carlson, one of the first hockey players for the Badgers who also coached at UW during the 1930-31 season. McClellan led the nation with a .931 save percentage and seven shutouts and ranked second with a 1.94 goals-against average. The Manchester, Missouri, native also picked up a number of accolades for his performance during the 2023-24 campaign, including winning the Mike Richter Award for national college hockey goaltender of the year. His full list of accomplishments can be found here. After the Badgers' season, McClellan signed a one-year, one-way AHL contract with the Iowa Wild for the 2024-25 season.
The Ivan B. Williamson Scholastic Award was given to sophomore forward Simon Tassy. Williamson served at Wisconsin as its Director of Athletics from 1955-69 and was instrumental in the revival of UW hockey as a varsity sport in 1963. A transfer from Minnesota State, Tassy put up 12 goals and 28 points in his first year with the Badgers, skating in all 40 games. He led the team with seven power-play goals and posted his first-career natural hat trick in UW's 3-0 win over Northeastern in the Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Off championship game.
Team captain Mike Vorlicky took home the Jeff Sauer Award, given annually to a 'great guy' on the team in honor of Coach Sauer, the winningest Wisconsin men's hockey coach, who spent 20 years behind the Badger bench. Vorlicky, a defenseman finished his graduate student season with one goal and five points, scoring a short-handed empty-net goal to seal the Badgers' 5-2 victory at then-No. 17 Michigan Tech on Oct. 21. A four-time Academic All-Big Ten skater and previous winner of the Dr. Joseph Coyne/Joe Pavelski Most Consistent Award, the Edina, Minnesota, native completed his college hockey career with four goals and 21 points in 124 games.
Naperville, Illinois, native Jack Horbach won the Fenton Kelsey, Jr./Mike Richter Most Competitive Award, named in honor of Kelsey, Jr., the first Executive Director of the Blue Line Club who was a big supporter of hockey and played a major role in the building of Hartmeyer Ice Arena on Madison's east side. Sophomore forward Horbach, who won the WHA-TV/Jim Santulli 7th Man Award in 2023, finished the season with a career-high six goals and 14 points.
Senior defenseman Anthony Kehrer won his second-career Suter Family Unsung Hero Award, taking home the honor once before in 2022. First handed out in 2016, the award honors Madison natives and brothers Bob (1975-79), Gary (1983-85) and John (1973-78) Suter, as well as Bob's son Ryan (2003-04), who all attended Wisconsin and played defense for the Badgers. Winnipeg, Manitoba, native Kehrer picked up two goals and nine points in 38 games during his senior season, ranking third on the roster with 52 blocked shots and tying for first with a plus-17 rating.
Kehrer was also a nominee for the national Derek Hines Unsung Hero Award.
Senior forward and team alternate captain David Silye won the Dr. Joseph Coyne/Joe Pavelski Most Consistent Award. The award honors Dr. Joseph Coyne, a dentist in Madison who was a big supporter of the UW hockey program in the early days of John Riley and Bob Johnson. Silye proved an all-around force for UW as an honorable mention All-Big Ten pick, especially in the faceoff circle, where he ranked fourth in the nation with 497 faceoff wins. His 59.3 percent success rate (497-341) in the faceoff circle ranked seventh in the nation among players with at least 200 wins. The Arnprior, Ontario, native, finished second on the roster with 32 points, sharing the team lead with 23 assists and adding in nine goals. After the Badgers' season, Silye signed with the AHL's Calgary Wranglers, joining the team for the remainder of the 2023-24 season on an amateur tryout contract before signing a one-year AHL contract for the 2024-25 campaign.
Graduate student forward Owen Lindmark won the fan voted WHA-TV/Jim Santulli 7th Man Award. The award is named after the late Jim Santulli, a producer for the Wisconsin Public Television network for 30 years (1966-96) who was instrumental in initiating Badger basketball, football and hockey broadcasts on WHA-TV beginning in 1973-74. Lindmark, a four-time Academic All-Big Ten skater, tallied 11 goals and 21 points in 28 games this year, tying for first place on the roster with a plus-17 rating. The Naperville, Illinois, native was Wisconsin's 2023-24 Big Ten Sportsmanship Award recipient, also being recognized as a top three finalist for the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year honor.
The final two team awards went to members of Wisconsin's talented freshmen class.
Named after two-time first team All-American, former WCHA Freshman of the Year and UW's all-time leading goal scorer, this year's Mark Johnson Rookie of the Year honor went to Joe Palodichuk. The defenseman tallied three goals and 15 points in 40 games, leading all freshmen on the roster with 18 points. The Cottage Grove, Minnesota, native's performance on the blue line helped him get named to the 2023-24 Tim Taylor Rookie of the Year watch list and the 2023 Ice Breaker All-Tournament team.
Forward Owen Mehlenbacher was voted the team's Otto Breitenbach/Curtis Joseph Most Improved Player award winner. Otto Breitenbach was a past commissioner of the WCHA and UW Associate Athletic Director from 1973-87. Mehlenbacher, a Fort Erie, Ontario, native, finished the season with a goal and four points playing in 26 games as a rookie, notching his first career goal in the Badgers 6-5 overtime victory at then-No. 14 Michigan on Jan. 27.
Awards
Spike Carlson/Chris Chelios Most Valuable Player - Kyle McClellan
Ivan B. Williamson Scholastic Award - Simon Tassy
Jeff Sauer Award - Mike Vorlicky
Fenton Kelsey, Jr./Mike Richter Most Competitive Player - Jack Horbach
The Suter Family Unsung Hero Award - Anthony Kehrer
Dr. Joseph Coyne/Joe Pavelski Most Consistent Player - David Silye
WHA-TV Jim Santulli 7th Man Award - Owen Lindmark
Mark Johnson Rookie of the Year Award - Joe Palodichuk
Otto Breitenbach/Curtis Joseph Most Improved Player - Owen Mehlenbacher
