It was announced Thursday that former Wisconsin Badger and NCAA champion Joe Pavelski is joining the program as the Director of Player Development.
Although his experience is limited, Pavelski spent the last two seasons coaching his son, Nate, in Madison, Wisconsin, with the AAA Madison Capitols. The program is coming off a heartbreaking loss in the National Championship to the Denver Pioneers and is looking to not just get back there, but to win it all.
It’s not a shock that Pavelski is staying in hockey; he expressed interest in the Toronto Maple Leafs head coach vacancy, but the job eventually went to Jim Hiller.
Pavelski played over 18 seasons in the NHL and put up 1068 points in 1332 games.
His time with the Badgers was also very elite, even without the national championship. The Plover, Wisconsin native played his college hockey in the 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons. He posted 39 goals and 62 assists for 101 points in 84 combined games. And in the team’s national championship season in 2006, he led the team in points that year. He was elected into the University of Wisconsin Athletics Hall of Fame in 2025 and forever will be looked at as a legend of the program, in all sports, not just hockey.
Pavelski became a legend for the San Jose Sharks as well, helping lead them to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2016, and as he got older, he did the same with the Dallas Stars in 2020, where he had 13 goals and 19 points in 27 games.
Pavelski joining the Badgers signifies a new era where the program is expected to win and will hire, fire, and recruit whoever helps them do so, as long as it leads to winning on the biggest stage.
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