MADISON, WIS. – The No. 19/20 Wisconsin Badgers men's hockey team officially opens its 2025-26 season with a series at the Lindenwood Lions on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 3-4, at Centene Community Ice Center in Maryland Heights, Missouri.
Both games start at 7 p.m. and stream on FloSports (Friday || Saturday).
Here are six quick things to know before tuning in:
Rosters: Badgers || Lions
1 - FRESH FACES: The Badgers welcome 10 newcomers for 2025-26, including a talented and celebrated recruiting class of eight freshmen comprised of USHL Defenseman of the Year Luke Osburn, top-six WHL Player of the Year finalist in forward Oliver Tulk, top-six WHL Goaltender of the Year finalist and all-time WHL wins leader Daniel Hauser, CHL Memorial Cup champion forward Blake Montgomery, and USHL regular-season champion and league runner-up in points-per-game forward Bruno Idžan. Also part of the group is Finn Brink, the 2023-24 Madison Capitols captain, Waterloo alternate captain Grady Deering and Green Bay Gamblers forward Vasily Zelenov.
Joining UW as transfers: senior defenseman Aiden Dubinsky and sophomore goaltender Eli Pulver. Dubinsky served as an alternate captain for Minnesota Duluth in 2024-25, tallying a career-high four goals and 14 points after appearing in all 36 games. Pulver comes to Wisconsin after standing between the pipes for Minnesota State last year, backstopping MSU to a 5-1 victory in his first and only collegiate start, to finish the year with a .958 save percentage and 1.00 goals-allowed on average.
"I do feel like we have a unified group in terms of their understanding of what we have to do to get better every day," Coach Hastings said about how the newcomers have meshed with the veterans. "That's been shown from our guys that have been here a while, and especially from our young guys. They've come in, and that mentality has been where we've needed it to be."
2 - RETURNING TALENT: UW returns 16 veterans – nine forwards, six defensemen and one goaltender – who accounted for 69.2 percent of the scoring and 63.0 percent of the goals from last season.
Among the returners is junior forward
Quinn Finley, who enters the season as one of five returning players nationally who scored at least 20 goals last season. Finley is also one of eight players in the country who tallied at least 40 points last year.
Also coming back to the Badgers for his second season is sophomore forward
Gavin Morrissey, who became the 12th Badger freshman in school history to record at least 30 points in a season. One of three finalists for the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, he earned Big Ten All-Freshman Team honors after his nine-goal, 32-point season.
3 - PRESEASON RANKINGS AND HONORS: The Badgers begin the season ranked for the second year in a row, coming in at No. 20 in the USCHO preseason rankings with 78 votes.
This marks UW's first appearance in the USCHO poll since January 2025, when the Badgers sat at the No. 17 ranking with 118 votes. Wisconsin was also ranked No. 19 in the USA Hockey preseason poll with 60 votes.
All seven Big Ten teams were either ranked in the top 20 or received votes in both the USCHO and USA Hockey polls. Wisconsin was picked to finish fifth in the 2025-26 Big Ten hockey preseason coaches' poll.
Additionally, junior forward
Quinn Finley picked up individual Preseason All-Big Ten First Team honors.
"I think he's had a really good summer," said Hastings about Finley. "I don't think anybody's going to put an expectation on Quinn, other than Quinn. We're hoping he can hit the ground running because we're going to need him to, as well as a couple of other guys who have been there and done that before."
UW begins Big Ten play at home on Thursday and Saturday, Oct. 30 and Nov. 1, against Minnesota, which was picked to finish third in the conference preseason coaches' poll.
4 - LONG-TERM MEMORY: This marks the second consecutive year that the Badgers will start their season against Lindenwood, also opening the 2024-25 season with a series against the Lions at the Kohl Center on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 11-12. Wisconsin fell in game one, 4-2, with
Gavin Morrissey and then-graduate student forward
Ryland Mosley finding the back of the net.
In game two on Saturday, UW came back from down 2-0 to win, 3-2, in overtime, with
Quinn Finley striking twice in regulation before then-senior defenseman Dan Laatsch scored the game-winner in the extra time.
5 - SCOUTING THE LIONS: Lindenwood's series against Wisconsin also marks the opening of its regular season. The Lions' top returner is junior forward Jake Southgate, who ranked third on the roster with five goals and 12 points in 30 games played last year.
Over the offseason, LU hired Keith Fisher as the team's new head coach, who previously served as Penn State's associate head coach, where he was on staff for 13 years. Fisher and Badger men's hockey Head Coach
Mike Hastings coached together for the USHL's Omaha Lancers from 2000-05, including helping the team to a Clark Cup championship in 2001.
"I'm happy that he's in that spot, but I don't want him to win a hockey game this weekend," Hastings said about Fisher. "I know that team will be detailed in what they're doing. We're going to have to handle our own business."
6 - HOW TO WATCH: Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. both nights. The games will be available to stream live on FloSports, while audio play-by-play can be found on 1310 WIBA as well as on the Badgers app and The Varsity Network app. You can also follow along on X/Twitter and Instagram at @BadgerMHockey.
OVERTIME: Secure your tickets to the Badgers' home opener on Thursday and Friday, Oct. 16-17, against Minnesota State Mankato at the Kohl Center! Both games will start at 7 p.m. Prior to its official home-opening series, UW will also play an exhibition game against the U.S. Under-18 Team on Thursday, Oct. 7, at 7 p.m. –
buy tickets here.
