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	2024
Current champion	Michigan State
Most championships	Michigan (3)
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

From 2014 through 2017, all six Big Ten teams participated in a single-elimination tournament held over three days at one neutral host site.^[2] These four tournaments alternated between Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota and Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan.^[1]

Teams were seeded by the regular-season conference standings. In the quarterfinals on Thursday of the tournament weekend, 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 were not reseeded). The two semifinal winners played each other on Saturday in the final.^[3]

2018–Present

Due to poor attendance at 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] The 2020 tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[7]

Members

There are currently seven member schools, with all seven 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	Minneapolis, 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
Pennsylvania 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

Main article: List of 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	[8]
2015	Minnesota	Don Lucia	Michigan	Red Berenson	4–2	Detroit, Michigan	Joe Louis Arena	[9]
2016	Michigan	Red Berenson	Minnesota	Don Lucia	5–3	Saint Paul, Minnesota	Xcel Energy Center	[10]
2017	Penn State	Guy Gadowsky	Wisconsin	Tony Granato	2–1 ^(2OT)	Detroit, Michigan	Joe Louis Arena	[11]
2018	Notre Dame	Jeff Jackson	Ohio State	Steve Rohlik	3–2 ^(OT)	Notre Dame, Indiana	Compton Family Ice Arena	[12]
2019	Notre Dame	Jeff Jackson	Penn State	Guy Gadowsky	3–2	Notre Dame, Indiana	Compton Family Ice Arena	[13]
2020	Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic							[14]
2021	Minnesota	Bob Motzko	Wisconsin	Tony Granato	6–4	Notre Dame, Indiana	Compton Family Ice Arena	[15]
2022	Michigan	Mel Pearson	Minnesota	Bob Motzko	4–3	Minneapolis, Minnesota	3M Arena at Mariucci	[16]
2023	Michigan	Brandon Naurato	Minnesota	Bob Motzko	4–3	Minneapolis, Minnesota	3M Arena at Mariucci	[17]
2024	Michigan State	Adam Nightingale	Michigan	Brandon Naurato	5–4 ^(OT)	East Lansing, Michigan	Munn Ice Arena	[18]

Championship records

By school No. School Record Pct 1 Michigan 3–2 .600 2 Notre Dame 2–0 1.000 3 Michigan State 1–0 1.000 4 Penn State 1-1 .500 5 Minnesota 2–3 .400 6 Wisconsin 1–2 .333 7 Ohio State 0–2 .000

By coach No. Coach Record Pct 1 Jeff Jackson 2–0 1.000 T2 Mike Eaves 1–0 1.000 T2 Adam Nightingale 1–0 1.000 T2 Mel Pearson 1–0 1.000 T3 Red Berenson 1–1 .500 T3 Guy Gadowski 1–1 .500 T3 Don Lucia 1–1 .500 T3 Brandon Naurato 1–1 .500 4 Bob Motzko 1–2 .333 T5 Tony Granato 0–2 .000 T5 Steve Rohlik 0–2 .000

References

1. "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.
2. "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.
3. 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.
4. "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.
5. Dilks, Chris (September 30, 2016). "Big Ten Officially Approves On-Campus Playoffs". SB Nation. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
6. Gonzalez, Jason (May 20, 2016). "Big Ten hockey in process of approving new on-campus playoff format". Star Tribune. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
7. "Big Ten Statement on Competitions, Recruiting". Big Ten Conference. March 12, 2020. Archived from the original on March 14, 2020. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
8. "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.
9. "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.
10. Merriman, Sean (March 19, 2016). "Michigan defeats Minnesota in championship game". Saint Paul, Minnesota: Big Ten Conference. Retrieved March 19, 2016.
11. "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.
12. "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.
13. "Irish Capture Second Straight B1G Crown; Fourth Straight NCAA Bid". Notre Dame, Indiana: Big Ten Conference. March 23, 2019. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
14. "Big Ten Statement on Competitions, Recruiting". Big Ten Conference. March 12, 2020. Archived from the original on March 14, 2020. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
15. "Gophers Take Down Badgers, Win B1G Tournament Championship". gophersports.com. March 16, 2021. Retrieved March 16, 2021.
16. McNeil, Kristy (March 19, 2022). "Michigan Scores Four Straight to Win Second B1G Tournament Championship". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. Retrieved March 19, 2022.
17. McNeil, Kristy (March 18, 2023). "Mich-AGAIN! U-M Wins Second-Straight Big Ten Tournament Title". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
18. "Michigan State Wins the Big Ten Hockey Tournament". BigTen.org. Big Ten Conference. March 23, 2024. Archived from the original on March 24, 2024. Retrieved March 23, 2024.

External links

• Big Ten Conference
• Big Ten Men's Ice Hockey Tournament