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
The Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Off returns to Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee with Air Force, Minnesota Duluth, Northeastern, and Wisconsin comprising the third annual event from Dec. 28-29. Wisconsin won the inaugural event in 2021 and advanced to the title game of the 2022 tournament last week. An on-sale date for tickets to the event as … 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
Sometimes when you’re down, every setback seems to add another rung to the ladder you’re climbing. In situations like these, even the littlest things get amplified. Sometimes when you’re down, though, something that looks small to outsiders really is bigger than it appears. It’s only diminished to others because you appear diminished to others. The … Read more
The Ice Breaker Tournament, the traditional start to the NCAA Division I men’s hockey season, will be co-hosted by Bemidji State and North Dakota in 2023-24, it was announced jointly this week by the host schools and College Hockey Inc. Army West Point and Wisconsin will also participate in the event, scheduled for Oct. 13-14 … 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
Steve Cash, Jim Johannson, Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson, Monique Lamoureux-Morando, and Ryan Miller will be enshrined into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame as the class of 2022. Cash was a standout Paralympic hockey player for the United States, while Johansson played at Wisconsin and later worked for USA Hockey. Lamoureux-Davidson and Lamoureux-Morando both played at … Read more
Jordy Murray has been named an assistant coach with the Michigan Tech hockey team. Murray played collegiately at Wisconsin and was a volunteer assistant coach at Notre Dame during the 2021-22 season. “I am excited to announce the addition of Jordy Murray to our staff,” MTU head coach Joe Shawhan said in a statement. “He … Read more
Forward Ty Smilanic, who spent the past two seasons at Quinnipiac, will transfer and join Wisconsin for the fall of 2022. “We are very excited to add Ty to our program,” UW coach Tony Granato said in a statement. “He’s an exciting young player who has two productive years of college hockey under his belt. … Read more
A Wisconsin native and graduate is coming back home to Madison as Andy Brandt, a 2006 NCAA champion, is joining the Badgers’ men’s hockey program as an assistant coach. Brandt replaces Mark Strobel, who stepped down after the 2021-22 season. “I am excited to add Andy Brandt to our coaching staff,” UW head coach Tony … Read more
The University of Wisconsin athletic board met Friday afternoon and approved contract extensions for both hockey coaches. Wisconsin men’s hockey coach Tony Granato’s five-year agreement was extended through June 30, 2027, while UW women’s hockey coach Mark Johnson’s five-year agreement was also extended through June 30, 2027. This past season, the Badgers’ men’s team went … Read more
Wisconsin associate head coach Mark Strobel has resigned from his position with the Badgers’ men’s hockey program. “I want to thank the student-athletes and their families for allowing me to coach and teach them the past five years,” Strobel said in a statement. “I am forever grateful.” Strobel, who played for Wisconsin from 1991 to … Read more
The Big Ten announced Tuesday the hockey all-Big Ten teams and individual award winners as selected by the conference’s coaches and a media panel. Minnesota’s Ben Meyers was named the Big Ten player of the year, while teammate Brock Faber was tabbed the defensive player of the year, which is awarded to a defenseman or … Read more
The Big Ten playoffs start this weekend, and here are reasons for and against each team winning the championship and getting the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Michigan Why the Wolverines will win the tournament: Michigan failed to take its name off the list of teams to never win a Big Ten regular season … Read more
The Notre Dame-Wisconsin series in Madison will now be played on Saturday, Feb. 12 and Sunday, Feb. 13 at the Kohl Center. Saturday’s game is scheduled for 9:30 p.m. ET, while Sunday’s series finale will begin at 9 p.m. ET. Broadcast and/or streaming information will be announced at a later date. The series had been … Read more