With the inaugural season of Big Ten hockey coming to a close this weekend, six programs will attempt to become the first-ever Big Ten tournament champions. The Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn., will play host to the tournament, which will take place March 20-22. Try and keep up as The Daily Cardinal breaks down the Big Ten’s inaugural bests and busts.
Wisconsin (12-5-1 Big Ten, 21-9-2 overall)
Home is where the wins are for the Badgers: Wisconsin went 17-2-1 at the Kohl Center this year and notched a slightly less impressive 4-7-1 record on the road. In order to be successful in the tournament, the Badgers will have to rise from their road woes as well as adjust to the Xcel Energy Center’s NHL-sized ice sheet. Wisconsin is abundant in Big Ten leaders: senior forward and Hobey Baker candidate Michael Mersch leads the conference in goals with 20, while senior forward Mark Zengerle tops the conference in assists with 27.
Not all of the Badgers’ strength is on offense, however. Junior goaltender Joel Rumpel put forth a standout season between the pipes with a conference-leading 1.83 goals against average and a .937 save percentage.
Wisconsin’s special teams has been both strong and weak at points this season. While the team’s power play percentage is tied for second-lowest in the Big Ten at .172, its penalty-kill percentage leads the conference at .863. The Badgers wrap up regular season play this weekend in East Lansing against the Spartans. Most likely to finish as the second seed, Wisconsin will have a bye in the quarterfinal round and will play the winner of the 3 and 6 seed matchup.
Michigan (9-7-2, 17-11-4)
The Wolverines enter the tournament currently sitting in third place in the Big Ten, seven points behind Wisconsin. The Badgers had a back-and-forth season with Michigan, sweeping the squad at home behind Michael Mersch’s hat trick. However, just two weeks later, Wisconsin was unable to secure a win in Ann Arbor and left with a loss and a tie. Michigan sophomore forward Andrew Copp leads the team with 13 goals. If these teams close out the season strong and Michigan wins against Penn State next Thursday, the Badgers and Wolverines will face off in the semi-final round March 21.
Michigan State (4-8-6, 10-16-7)
The Spartans head to St. Paul in fifth place, but are one of the best defensive teams in the conference. Sophomore goaltender Jake Hildebrand leads the Big Ten in saves with 870 on the season. Michigan State is also known for blocking a conference-leading 583 shots. The Spartans haven’t proved to be much of a challenge for Wisconsin, who swept MSU 5-2 and 2-0 back in February. If Michigan State remains in the fifth spot they’ll take on Ohio State, who they failed to win a single game against this season.
Ohio State (5-8-5, 15-12-5)
The rest of the Big Ten better bring their umbrellas to St. Paul: Ohio State is notorious for raining on everyone’s parade. Most recently, the Buckeyes downed Minnesota in a shootout, halting what would have been a conference clinch for the Gophers. In January they handed Wisconsin one of its only two home losses. At first glance, the Buckeyes’ record and lack of a ranking is unimpressive, but the squad does boast the Big Ten’s leading scorer in junior forward Ryan Dzingel. Dzingel tops the Big Ten in points with 40 and ranks second in goals with 18, behind Mersch’s 20. Ohio State is also strong on the power play, tying Minnesota with 30 man-advantage goals on the season. It’s likely the Buckeyes will match up against the Spartans in the first round of the tournament as the fourth seed.
Penn State (2-15-1, 6-24-2)
The Nittany Lions are all hiss and no roar. The program’s second year has been plagued with losses, most notably its string of eight straight defeats over the month of January. Penn State’s lukewarm offense is led by sophomore forward Eric Scheid, who comes in at 29th in the Big Ten in points. Sophomore goaltender Michael Skoff highlights the Lions’ defensive weaknesses with a 3.23 GAA on the season. Planted firmly at last place in the conference standings, Penn State will likely play in a first-round matchup with Michigan, the only Big Ten team they’ve managed to beat in the regular season.
Minnesota (13-2-3, 24-4-6)
They don’t call it the state of hockey for nothing. This season, Minnesota launched an aggressive campaign to cement their spot in first place. They lead the Big Ten with 24 wins, and have dropped only two games against conference opponents. Of course, those two losses came at the hands of Wisconsin in one of the Badgers’ most memorable sweeps of the season. It’s all but official that Minnesota will finish in the number one spot. The only way they could be dethroned would be for Wisconsin to sweep Michigan State and for Minnesota to lose on the road against Michigan this weekend. Junior forward Kyle Rau leads the Gophers with 32 points on the year, and is tied for first in the Big Ten for game-winning goals. If Minnesota remains atop the conference standings its first opponent will be the winner of the matchup between seeds four and five.
