The Gophers hope to add a Big Ten Tournament title to their regular season championship.
The teams are finally set for the Big Ten’s inaugural end of season tournament. Actually, the teams were set for this tournament before the season even began. That is because, unlike the old WCHA playoff system, everyone in the conference is invited to this party. According to Twin Cities-based Ticket King (link to TK site), Big Ten Hockey Tournament tickets are ranging from $25 to $60 for Friday’s Gophers Hockey tickets and from $40 to $90 for the Big Ten Championship.
All six teams in the Big Ten Hockey Conference descend on St. Paul, and the Xcel Energy Center, March 20-22, for the 2014 Big Ten Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament. The #3 seed Michigan start things off when they take on #6 seed Penn State in the first game Thursday afternoon at 2:00 (Central). The winner of that game will take on #2 seeded Wisconsin Friday at 2:00. In the second game on Thursday, #4 Ohio State will play #5 Michigan State. The winner of that game will take on top seeded Minnesota Friday night at 7:00. The championship game will be played on Saturday night. All games will be broadcast on Big Ten Network.
Here is a preview of this weekends tournament.
Minnesota (25-5-6 Ranked #1 in the Country) – The Gophers enter the tournament as the #1 seed as league champion. But it will be interesting to see how Minnesota rebounds from a thorough 6-2 drubbing at the hands of the Michigan Wolverines in the final game of the regular season last Saturday. Yes, the Gophers were playing without Sam Warning and goaltender Adam Wilcox, who sat in favor of Sr. Michael Shibrowski, while Michigan was “playing for it’s NCAA Tournament life” in their final home game of the season. And yes, in the grand scheme of things, the game didn’t really carry any weight for the Gophers. Still, it appeared to be a frustrating loss for Minnesota. The Gophers will continue to rely on balanced scoring and team defense, which has fueled their season.
Key Players:
Don Lucia – B1G Coach of the Year
Adam Wilcox – First Team All-B1G, B1G Most Valuable Player & B1G Goaltender of the Year.
Mike Reilly – First Team All-B1G
Kyle Rau – Second Team All-B1G
Hudson Fasching – B1G All-Freshman Team & All-B1G Honorable Mention
Sam Warning – All-B1G Honorable Mention
Ben Marshall – All-B1G Honorable Mention
Brady Skjei – All-B1G Honorable Mention
Nate Condon – B1G Sportsmanship Award Honoree
Wisconsin (22-10-2 Ranked #5 in the Country) – The Badgers were the pre-season favorites to win the B1G conference, and made a run at the league championship after a slow start, coming up five points short of Minnesota. Wisconsin made a run in the WCHA Final Five last season, winning the Broadmoor Trophy as the WCHA post season tournament champion, after a mediocre season in which they finished sixth in the conference. Wisconsin’s strength is experience and team defense.
Key Players:
Michael Mersch – First Team All-B1G
Mark Zengerle – First Team All-B1G
Jake McCabe – First Team All-B1G
Nic Kerdiles – Second Team All-B1G
Joel Rumpel – Second Team All-B1G
Frankie Simonelli – Second Team All-B1G & B1G Sportsmanship Award Honoree
Michigan (18-12-4 Ranked #11 in the Country) – Michigan ended the season on a high note, beating Minnesota 6-2 on Senior night at Yost Ice Arena in Ann Arbor. The Wolverines took the #1 Gophers to overtime on Friday night, before Kyle Rau won it for Minnesota. Head Coach Red Barenson felt like his team played their best hockey of the year last weekend, and enter this weekend on a bit of a roll.
Key Players:
JT Compher – Second Team All-B1G, B1G Freshman of the Year & B1G All-Freshman Team
Mac Bennett – Second Team All-B1G
Andrew Copp – All-B1G Honorable Mention
Alex Guptill – All-B1G Honorable Mention
Michael Downing – B1G All-Freshman Team
Luke Moffatt – B1G Sportsmanship Award Honoree
Ohio State (16-13-5 Ranked #21 in the Country) – Everyone knows that a hot goaltender can carry a mediocre team a long way in the playoffs. Freshman Christian Frey, who enrolled at OSU part way through the season, has shown glimpses of brilliance, and has the potential to be a game changer in net. Ryan Dzingel led the Big Ten in scoring, and has the ability to shift the course of a game every time he’s on the ice. Head Coach Steve Rohlik has done a good job of taking over a team in turmoil, and keeping their heads above water.
Key Players:
Ryan Dzingel – First Team All-B1G
Christian Frey – B1G All-Freshman Team
Drew Brevig – B1G All-Freshman Team
Nick Schilkey – B1G All-Freshman Team
Tanner Fritz – B1G Sportsmanship Award Honoree
Michigan State (11-17-7 Ranked #37 in the Country) – MSU goaltender Jake Hildebrand is another guy who has the ability to carry the team on his back, when he’s on his game. And the Spartans are a better team than their record would suggest.
Key Players:
Greg Wolfe – All-B1G Honorable Mention & B1G Sportsmanship Award Honoree
Jake Chelios – All-B1G Honorable Mention
Jake Hildebrand – All-B1G Honorable Mention
Penn State (7-25-2 Ranked #52 in the Country) – Penn State had a respectable year, for a team in their rookie season of Division I hockey. They have a great new hockey facility on campus, and seem to have a lot of support from the student body. They also managed to split their season series with a pretty good Michigan squad, including a 4-0 win at home, and 5-4 OT win in Ann Arbor. So the potential is there.
Key Players:
David Glen – B1G Sportsmanship Award Honoree