Cole Caufield becomes the first Badgers player in 31 years to score 30 goals but a decision on his future looms

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — Cole Caufield wasn’t ready to talk about his next steps. The ones the University of Wisconsin men’s hockey sophomore just went through were too jarring.

“I’m still thinking about the game,” Caufield said after the Badgers crashed out of the NCAA tournament in the opening round on Friday. “I’ve got nothing else in my mind right now. It’s just a tough feeling and it’s going to be there for a while.”

Caufield became the school’s first player since 1990 to reach the 30-goal plateau, but his last two came after UW fell behind 5-1 in the third period of a 6-3 loss to Bemidji State.

It’s all but certain Caufield will become the Badgers’ second winner of the Hobey Baker Award as the nation’s top player. The question is whether that April 9 announcement will be with Caufield as a member of the Montreal Canadiens.

He wasn’t prepared to get into that speculation after Friday’s game but the Canadiens, who drafted him in the first round in 2019, have said they expect him to turn pro after the Badgers’ season ended.

Caufield said he would take a few days to weigh his decision. He’s not the only player the Badgers might lose to the pros. Fellow Hobey Baker Award finalist Dylan Holloway, a sophomore forward, and junior defenseman Ty Emberson also could depart.

There’s probably not much more for Caufield to prove on an individual level in college hockey. He scored 11 goals in a six-game scoring streak to end the season and was a dynamic force throughout his sophomore campaign.

He gave the Badgers some life in the third period Friday, scoring on a power play and then at even strength to cut the Beavers’ lead to 5-3. In all, he had a collegiate career-high 13 shots on goal on 18 attempts.

“He had no quit in him,” Badgers coach Tony Granato said. “He had a phenomenal year. He had as good of a year as I’ve ever seen any college player have.”

Granato said Caufield has “come miles” in growth as a complete player in his second season with the Badgers. He credited the right wing for staying focused on playing for the Badgers while knowing there’s an NHL career for him in the near future.

“We’ve got a Hobey vote coming up,” Granato said. “I’ve seen quite a few of the players in college hockey. I don’t know anyone who can come close to the year he had for us. He’s obviously very emotional right now because it ended way sooner than any of us expected it to.”

No Badgers player had scored 30 goals or more since Gary Shuchuk (41) and Chris Tancill (39) did in 45 games for the 1990 NCAA champions. Caufield scored his 30 in 31 contests.

Ice concerns

A warm, humid building didn’t help the ice conditions inside Webster Bank Arena, but Granato refused to use the slow surface and bouncing pucks as an excuse.

“Great teams, the teams that win, find ways to deal with it,” he said. “We were trying to play catch-up on ice that isn’t as good as it normally might be. Then it might become a little bit more difficult.”

Bemidji State coach Tom Serratore said TV broadcast insinuations that the ice conditions went against the Badgers’ style were disrespectful to his team.

“I don’t even want to go there because I think that’s a cop out,” Serratore said.

Slap shots

Equipment manager Nate LaPoint didn’t make the trip to Connecticut because of COVID-19 protocols, a UW spokesperson said. Sis Paulsen, the equipment manager for the UW women’s hockey team, worked with the men’s team. Big Ten teams Notre Dame and Michigan were removed from the NCAA tournament because of COVID-19 issues. ... Goalie Cameron Rowe played with a white backup mask after the cage of his game model was damaged by a shot.