Big Ten men's ice hockey tournament
| Big Ten Men's Ice Hockey Tournament | |
|---|---|
| Conference Hockey Championship | |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Conference | Big Ten Conference |
| Number of teams | 7 |
| Format | Single-elimination tournament |
| Last contest | 2019 |
| Current champion | Notre Dame |
| Most championships | Notre Dame (2) |
| TV partner(s) | Big Ten Network |
| Official website | www.bigten.org |
The Big Ten Men's Ice Hockey Tournament is the conference tournament for the Big Ten Conference. The winner of the tournament receives an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.
The tournament was first held in 2014, the first year of conference play; the first four tournaments alternated between Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota and Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan.[1] Due to the addition of Notre Dame to conference play, a new playoff format was introduced for the 2018 tournament, utilizing campus sites instead.
Format
2014–2017
All six Big Ten teams participated in the single-elimination tournament, which was held over three days at one host site.[2] Teams were seeded by the regular season conference standings. In the quarterfinals on Thursday, No. 3 played No. 6 and No. 4 played No. 5. On Friday, No. 2 played the winner of the first game and No. 1 played the winner of the second game (the teams are not reseeded). The two semifinal winners played each other on Saturday in the final.[3]
2018–present
Due to the poor attendance of the neutral site tournaments, and the addition of Notre Dame as a seventh Big Ten team in hockey, a new format was introduced in 2018. The No. 1 team in the regular season conference standings automatically advances to the conference semifinals, while the remaining teams are seeded into best-of-three quarterfinals to determine the three remaining teams. The remainder of the playoff is single-elimination.[4][5][6]
All games are held at the home arena of the team with the higher seed, rather than a neutral site. In order to reduce the likelihood of scheduling conflicts at team venues, the semifinals and championship are played as single games (in contrast to other conference tournaments).[5][6]
Members
There are currently 7 member schools, with all 7 participating in the men's division.
| Institution | City | Nickname | Founded | Affiliation | Enrollment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Michigan | Ann Arbor, Michigan | Wolverines | 1817 | Public | 44,718 |
| Michigan State University | East Lansing, Michigan | Spartans | 1855 | Public | 55,543 |
| University of Minnesota | Twin Cities, Minnesota | Golden Gophers | 1851 | Public | 48,231 |
| University of Notre Dame | South Bend, Indiana | Fighting Irish | 1842 | Private | 12,292 |
| Ohio State University | Columbus, Ohio | Buckeyes | 1870 | Public | 59,873 |
| Penn State University | State College, Pennsylvania | Nittany Lions | 1855 | Public | 46,606 |
| University of Wisconsin | Madison, Wisconsin | Badgers | 1848 | Public | 43,820 |
Big Ten Men's Ice Hockey Tournament champions
| Year | Winning team | Coach | Losing team | Coach | Score | Location | Venue | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Wisconsin | Mike Eaves | Ohio State | Steve Rohlik | 5–4 (OT) | Saint Paul, Minnesota | Xcel Energy Center | [7] |
| 2015 | Minnesota | Don Lucia | Michigan | Red Berenson | 4–2 | Detroit, Michigan | Joe Louis Arena | [8] |
| 2016 | Michigan | Red Berenson | Minnesota | Don Lucia | 5–3 | Saint Paul, Minnesota | Xcel Energy Center | [9] |
| 2017 | Penn State | Guy Gadowsky | Wisconsin | Tony Granato | 2–1 (2OT) | Detroit, Michigan | Joe Louis Arena | [10] |
| 2018 | Notre Dame | Jeff Jackson | Ohio State | Steve Rohlik | 3–2 (OT) | Notre Dame, Indiana | Compton Family Ice Arena | [11] |
| 2019 | Notre Dame | Jeff Jackson | Penn State | Guy Gadowsky | 3–2 | Notre Dame, Indiana | Compton Family Ice Arena | [12] |
| 2020 | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | [13] | ||||||
Championship records
By school
|
By coach
|
References
- ^ "Big Ten announces tournament sites" (Press release). Park Ridge, Illinois: NCAA. April 19, 2012. Archived from the original on July 27, 2013. Retrieved March 29, 2014.
- ^ "Big Ten Announces Conference Schedule for Inaugural Season of Men's Ice Hockey" (Press release). Big Ten Conference. May 8, 2013. Archived from the original on June 9, 2013. Retrieved March 29, 2014.
- ^ Jovenitti, Tony; Jashvina Shah (19 March 2014). "Big Ten Tournament Preview". College Hockey News. Archived from the original on 29 March 2014. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
- ^ "Big Ten Announces Conference Schedule for 2017-18 Hockey Season". Big Ten Conference. May 4, 2017. Archived from the original on 30 June 2017. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
- ^ a b Dilks, Chris (September 30, 2016). "Big Ten Officially Approves On-Campus Playoffs". SB Nation. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
- ^ a b Gonzalez, Jason (May 20, 2016). "Big Ten hockey in process of approving new on-campus playoff format". Star Tribune. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
- ^ "Wisconsin Wins Big Ten Men's Ice Hockey Tournament" (Press release). Saint Paul, Minnesota: Big Ten Conference. March 22, 2014. Archived from the original on March 29, 2014. Retrieved March 29, 2014.
- ^ "Minnesota claims Big Ten Tournament title" (Press release). Detroit, Michigan: Big Ten Conference. March 21, 2015. Archived from the original on March 25, 2015. Retrieved March 21, 2015.
- ^ Merriman, Sean (March 19, 2016). "Michigan defeats Minnesota in championship game". Saint Paul, Minnesota: Big Ten Conference. Retrieved March 19, 2016.
- ^ "Penn State Wins Hockey Tourney In 2OT". Detroit, Michigan: Big Ten Conference. March 19, 2017. Archived from the original on March 21, 2017. Retrieved March 19, 2017.
- ^ "Morrison's Overtime Goal Gives Irish B1G Tourney Title". Notre Dame, Indiana: Big Ten Conference. March 17, 2018. Archived from the original on March 19, 2018. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
- ^ "Irish Capture Second Straight B1G Crown; Fourth Straight NCAA Bid". Notre Dame, Indiana: Big Ten Conference. March 23, 2019. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
- ^ "Big Ten Statement on Competitions, Recruiting". Big Ten Conference. March 12, 2020. Retrieved April 19, 2020.