Men’s hockey announces 2024-25 leadership group
September 23, 2024 | Men's Hockey
Lindmark named captain, Kehrer and Laatsch to wear ‘A’
MADISON, Wis. – Graduate student forward Owen Lindmark will serve as the Wisconsin men's hockey team's next captain, head coach Mike Hastings announced on Monday.
Lindmark is entering his sixth year with the Badgers, and he's racked up 26 goals and 65 points in 135 games played while missing nearly all his junior season due to injury. As a graduate student in 2023-24, the forward set career-highs, tallying 11 goals and 21 points in 28 games. He was the Badgers' recipient of the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award and was a finalist for Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year.
A native of Naperville, Illinois, Lindmark leads the country with seven-career shorthanded goals and ranks among the national leaders in face-off win percentage. The forward is a four-time Academic All-Big Ten skater and was picked in the fifth round of the 2019 NHL Draft (137th overall) by the Florida Panthers.
Lindmark will wear the 'C' on his jersey, while defensemen Anthony Kehrer and Daniel Laatsch will help as the team's alternate captains.
This marks Kehrer's second time as an alternate captain for the Badgers as he previously wore the 'A' during the 2022-23 season. The graduate student from Winnipeg, Manitoba, is a three-time academic All-Big Ten skater and the winner of the team's 2024 Suter Family Unsung Hero Award. Kehrer owns four goals and 20 points in 130 career games, including notching a career-high two goals and seven assists to total nine points in 2023-24.
Laatsch, a native of Altoona, Wisconsin, will wear the 'A' during his senior season. A draft pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins at 215th overall in the seventh round of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, the defenseman is a two-time Academic All-Big Ten skater. He owns four goals and 20 points in 103 career games played at Wisconsin, and tallied a career-high two goals and 11 points in 40 games played in 2023-24.
The Wisconsin men's hockey team is set to begin its regular season with a pair of games at the Kohl Center (buy tickets) against the Lindenwood Lions on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 11-12. UW skates in an exhibition game on Oct. 5 at Omaha.
