After a surprisingly strong first half of the season, Wisconsin has stumbled at the turn, getting swept at home by then-No. 8 Denver and dropping a listless exhibition game against the U.S. Under-18 team 6-2 on Saturday.
An up-and-down season is to be expected from a team as young as the Badgers. Wisconsin has just six seniors and only two juniors who have seen the ice this year.
Despite the lack of upperclassmen, the freshman class, headlined by New York Rangers 2018 first-round draft pick K’Andre Miller, and the sophomore class including the trio of Sean Dhooghe, Tarek Baker, and Linus Weissbach, have performed very well this year.