The 2024–25 Wisconsin Badgers men's ice hockey season was the 76th season of play for the program and 24th in the Big Ten. The Badgers represented the University of Wisconsin–Madison in the 2024–25 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season, played their home games at Kohl Center and were coached by Mike Hastings in his 2nd season.
Previous season.
After making a splash in Mike Hastings' first year as coach, Wisconsin entered the season with high expectations as well as a top-10 preseason ranking. While the Badgers did see a significant portion of their roster change, the club was largely confident in its personnel. Goaltending, however, was uncertain as Wisconsin would have to rely on an untested duo of William Gramme and Tommy Scarfone. Gramme had just 4 games to his credit while Scarfone, who had made a name for himself in Atlantic Hockey, had not yet faced a murderer's row of opponents that the Big Ten was likely to put in his path.
Wisconsin's season did not begin auspiciously as the club dropped its season-opener to lowly Lindenwood and didn't get much better for the next five weeks. The Badgers won just twice in their first 10 games and completely fell out of the polls. Thanks in part to a capable defense holding the opposition to a low number of shots, the netminding tandem performed well during this time. It turned out to be the offense that failed the Badgers. Wisconsin was only able to score more than 2 goals once with the lack of firepower costing the team many winnable games. Scoring picked up in mid-November and the Badgers were able to limp into the winter break with a sub-par record. Fortunately for Wisconsin, they performed well in the Holiday Face–Off and were able to use a good mark in non-conference play to at least have a chance at earning an at-large position.
The second half of the season went largely like the first; Wisconsin had trouble finding its offensive game for long stretches and Scarfone, who had taken over as the primary starter, was faced with the impossible task of holding opponents to one goal or fewer on most nights. As the losses stacked up, Wisconsin knew that their only hope of returning to the tournament lay in a conference championship.
The team began its postseason push against Ohio State and demonstrated how good they could be in the first game. Four goals from up and down the lineup allowed Scarfone to backstop the Badgers to a comfortable victory. The Badgers then built a 2-goal lead by the middle of the second game and looked like they were set to earn a trip to the semifinals. However, The Buckeyes increased their offensive pressure and began shelling the UW cage. One got behind Scarfone but he resisted further attempts until the final few minutes of the game. With their goaltender pulled, Ohio State managed to tie the game with less than 90 seconds remaining and sent the match into overtime. The two sides exchanged changes in the fourth period but OSU was able to secure the winning goal and tie the series. Having lost a golden opportunity, Wisconsin struggled in the first part of the deciding game, managing just 15 shots through the first 40 minutes. Scarfone held the fort and allowed the team to enter the third with the score tied but he got little help from his team. Having already killed off two Buckeye power plays, the badgers took three minors in the first 10 minutes of the third. The first two went for naught but they were finally able to solve the Wisconsin penalty kill on their fifth man-advantage of the game. Ohio State handed the Badgers a power play a minute after taking the lead, however, Wisconsin couldn't capitalize. Instead, OSU was able to get a lucky bounce and rush up the ice. Just after the penalty expired, they extended their lead to 2 off of a rebound and left Wisconsin stunned. After killing off a sixth Ohio State power play, the Badgers pulled Scarfone and were able to cut the lead back to 1 but they were unable to find the tying goal and their season came to a close.
A few weeks later, Wisconsin was able to get a measure of revenge when their women's team defeated Ohio State to win the National Championship.
Schedule and results.
!colspan=12 style=";" | Exhibition
!colspan=12 style=";" | Regular Season
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!colspan=12 style=";" | Regular Season
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Rankings.
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