After a hotly contested regular season, the first round of the Big Ten playoffs begins this week and it’s nearly impossible to predict who will advance to the semifinals. First-place Minnesota gets a first-round bye. The quarterfinal best-of-three series has No. 7 Wisconsin at No. 2 Michigan, No. 6 Penn State at No. 3 Ohio … Read more
Heading into the final weekend of regular-season Big Ten play, we know two things for sure about conference playoff seedings: Minnesota has the first-round bye and Wisconsin travels for that first week of playoff action. Where the Badgers are going, though, remains a mystery for a few days more. First things first. Congratulations to the … Read more
In advance of Minnesota’s series in Wisconsin last weekend and two wins away from securing the Big Ten regular-season title, Golden Gophers coach Bob Motzko was asked about how his team had handled a break in the schedule the week before. “The best answer would be Saturday night late,” he said. “We’ll tell you.” The … Read more
With three weeks remaining in the regular season, everything in the Big Ten is a numbers game. Last weekend’s results created the kind of scenario that many sports fans love and coaches hate, the possibility that nothing concrete will be resolved until the last game of the season. Well, maybe not nothing. While results aren’t … Read more
Adam Augustine is a pragmatic man. A son of the great state of Wisconsin, the senior director of sports administration for the Big Ten is of course pleased with what he’s seeing from B1G hockey this season, but his Midwestern sensibilities add a dose of slow-your-roll when discussing any bigger picture. “While it’s nice that … Read more
How strange is this season of Big Ten hockey? If the season were to end today, five of the conference’s seven teams would play in the NCAA tournament. Minnesota would be the overall No. 1 seed and Penn State would likely be the top seed in its regional. How strange? Of the five Big Ten … Read more
As Jimmy Connelly and I lamented in the last TMQ of the first half of the season, once upon a time in the college hockey world, there were many significant and highly anticipated holiday tournaments. While the number of these tourneys has dwindled, the impact that any interleague play has on those who participate remains … Read more
With the first half of the season behind us, it’s a good time to reflect on how things have gone so far in the Big Ten. The B1G picture For the Big Ten, the first half was productive in several ways. With a record of 44-13-3, B1G Hockey has the best inter-conference win percentage (.758) … Read more
As the first half of the season begins to wind down, the Fighting Irish aren’t where they’d like to be. With a record of 7-7-2, Notre Dame is 15 points out of first place in the Big Ten standings and is lowish – for Notre Dame, anyway – in the very early PairWise Rankings. None … Read more
Is this B1G Hockey’s big season? Finally? While Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota and Wisconsin have 23 national championships among them, not one of those titles was captured as a member of the Big Ten. Since its inaugural season in 2013-14, B1G Hockey has sent teams to the Frozen Four seven times, and two B1G teams … Read more
The Big Ten on Wednesday announced its preseason coaches poll as well as two preseason all-Big Ten teams. Coaches also picked the preseason teams. 2022-23 Big Ten Preseason Coaches Poll 1. Minnesota 2. Notre Dame 3. Michigan 4. Wisconsin 5. Ohio State 6. Penn State 7. Michigan State 2022-23 Preseason All-Big Ten Hockey Teams FIRST … Read more
The United States has their captains for the upcoming IIHF World Junior Championship. Minnesota defenseman Brock Faber has been named captain of the 2022 U.S. National Junior Team, while forwards Thomas Bordeleau (Michigan) and Landon Slaggert (Notre Dame) were named alternate captains. Faber and Slaggert were members of the gold medal-winning 2021 U.S. National Junior … Read more
Notre Dame has added forward Chayse Primeau as a graduate transfer for the 2022-23 season. Primeau joins the Irish after spending the past four seasons with Omaha. He played 117 career games with the Mavericks while scoring 29 goals and adding 43 assists for 72 points. He scored nine goals and had 14 assists for … Read more
Notre Dame announced Monday that the team has added forward Jackson Pierson as a graduate transfer for the 2022-23 season. Pierson joins the Irish after spending the past four seasons with New Hampshire. Playing 115 career games for the Wildcats, he scored 31 goals and added 57 assists for 88 points. As a senior in … Read more
Notre Dame has added defenseman Ben Brinkman as a graduate transfer for the 2022-23 season. Brinkman joins the Irish after spending the past four seasons with Minnesota. He played 140 career games with the Gophers, scoring a pair of goals and adding 21 assists for 23 points. Each of the past three seasons, Brinkman was … Read more
Notre Dame has added transfer Drew Bavaro ahead of the 2022-23 season. Bavaro, a defenseman, recently completed his sophomore season at Bentley, where he skated in 36 games for the Falcons, totaling nine goals and adding 18 assists for 27 points. He was a first team all-Atlantic Hockey selection. His 18 assists and 27 points … Read more
Notre Dame has announced that graduate student Chase Blackmun will return for the 2022-23 season, which will be his fifth NCAA season overall. “The gratitude and appreciation I have for my teammates and for this university is hard to put into words,” Blackmun said in a statement. “Notre Dame has changed me in the best … Read more
Notre Dame graduate student forward Jack Adams will return for the 2022-23 season. “After an extremely difficult past few years, I feel like I finally found my home here in South Bend,” Adams said in a statement. “I am so excited to be coming back for one more run with my brothers. I love this … Read more
Notre Dame junior forward Max Ellis has signed a two-year, entry-level contract with the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs. Ellis will join the AHL’s Toronto Marlies on a professional tryout for the remainder of the 2021-22 regular season and the Calder Cup playoffs before his contract begins with the 2022-23 season. In signing with the Maple … Read more
Notre Dame senior defenseman Nick Leivermann will return for a fifth season in 2022-23. “After looking at potential options, I felt returning to Notre Dame would be best for my career development,” Leivermann said in a statement. “I’m looking forward to continuing my education and becoming a Double Domer and I’m excited to hit the … Read more