2024-25 men’s hockey team award winners announced
May 14, 2025 | Men's Hockey
Seven skaters receive annual team-given honors
MADISON, Wis. – Following the conclusion of the 2024-25 season, the Wisconsin men's hockey program has chosen its annual team award winners, handing out honors for competitiveness, consistency and improvement, among others.
Sophomore forward Quinn Finley took home the Spike Carlson/Chris Chelios Most Valuable Player award. 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, while Chelios is a Badger and member of the Hockey Hall of Fame. Finley was an offensive powerhouse for Wisconsin this year, posting its first 20-goal, 40-point season since Cole Caufield reached both marks in 2021. The sophomore's 40 points topped the Badgers' roster, and he led the team with 10 multi-point and three multi-goal games this season, earning a Hobey Baker Award fan vote nomination for his offensive efforts. The Suamico, Wisconsin, native also received multiple other accolades for his stellar season, including two Big Ten Star of the Week honors and 2024 Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Off Most Outstanding Forward.
The Ivan B. Williamson Scholastic Award was given to junior 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. Tassy earned Academic All-Big Ten honors at the end of the 2024-25 season and was one of three men's ice hockey student-athletes in the Big Ten to have a perfect GPA. The forward tallied six goals and 11 points over 31 games during the season, and his two-game winning goals were tied for first on the roster. A transfer from Minnesota State before the 2023-24 season, Tassy is a two-time recipient of the Ivan B. Williamson Scholastic Award, also receiving the honor last year.
Graduate student forward Owen Lindmark took home the Jeff Sauer Award, given annually to a 'great guy' on the team. The award honors Coach Sauer, the winningest Wisconsin men's hockey coach, who spent 20 years behind the Badger bench. Lindmark, who was captain of the 2024-25 Badgers, finished the year with five goals and nine points in 37 games played. Over his six-year career as a Badger, Lindmark played in 173 games, which is tied for third in the Wisconsin record book. A five-time Academic All-Big Ten skater, Lindmark's eight career short-handed goals led the nation, and he was Wisconsin's 2024 recipient of the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award. The forward was also the recipient of the team's WHA-TV Jim Santulli 7th Man Award in 2023-24. After the 2024-25 season, Lindmark signed an amateur tryout contract with the San Diego Gulls, the AHL affiliate of the NHL's Anaheim Ducks.
Graduate student defenseman and team alternate captain Anthony Kehrer won three awards, including 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. It's also named after Badger goaltender and U.S Hockey Hall of Famer Richter. He also took home 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, and Pavelski a 2006 NCAA champion at Wisconsin and UW's all-time leading scorer in the NHL.
Finally, Kehrer won his third-career Suter Family Unsung Hero Award, also taking home the honor in 2022 and 2024. 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 one goal and 12 points in 35 games during his graduate student season, ranking second among defensemen on the roster in points and leading the team with a plus-13 rating. A four-time Academic All-Big Ten skater and Wisconsin's 2025 Big Ten Sportsmanship Award recipient, the defenseman finished his five-year collegiate career with five goals and 32 points in 166 games played. After the Badgers' season, Kehrer signed with the AHL's Springfield Thunderbirds, joining the team for the remainder of the 2024-25 season on an amateur tryout contract before signing a one-year AHL contract for the 2025-26 campaign.
Sophomore defenseman Zach Schulz 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. Schulz tallied two goals and nine assists for a career-high 11 points in 28 games played, and he was named the 2024 Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Off Most Outstanding Defenseman after tallying three assists in two tournament games played in December.
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 Gavin Morrissey. Morrissey, who was one of three finalists for the Big Ten Freshman of the Year award, delivered one of the most outstanding freshman seasons in the last 25 years for Wisconsin men's hockey as one of 12 who have reached the 30-point mark. He finished his first UW campaign with nine goals, 23 assists and 32 points in 37 games played. The Rochester Hills, Michigan, native was also strong in the faceoff circle, winning 437 of 759 draws for a 57.6 percent success rate to rank fourth among Big Ten skaters with at least 50 faceoffs taken.
Forward Adam Pietila 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, while Joseph was a Badger and NHL standout in goal. Pietila, a Hartland, Michigan, native, finished the season with a goal and three points in 31 games played as a rookie, notching his first career goal in the Badgers' 7-3 win over Notre Dame on Feb. 21.
Awards
Spike Carlson/Chris Chelios Most Valuable Player - Quinn Finley
Ivan B. Williamson Scholastic Award - Simon Tassy
Jeff Sauer Award - Owen Lindmark
Fenton Kelsey, Jr./Mike Richter Most Competitive Player - Anthony Kehrer
Dr. Joseph Coyne/Joe Pavelski Most Consistent Player - Anthony Kehrer
The Suter Family Unsung Hero Award - Anthony Kehrer
WHA-TV Jim Santulli 7th Man Award - Zach Schulz
Mark Johnson Rookie of the Year Award - Gavin Morrissey
Otto Breitenbach/Curtis Joseph Most Improved Player - Adam Pietila
