Big Ten men's ice hockey tournament
American college ice hockey tournament
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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.
| Big Ten men's ice hockey tournament | |
|---|---|
| Conference hockey championship | |
Notre Dame's Compton Family Ice Arena has hosted the championship game three times, the most of any venue. | |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Conference | Big Ten Conference |
| Number of teams | 7 |
| Format | Single-elimination tournament |
| Last contest | 2026 |
| Current champion | Michigan (4th title) |
| Most championships | Michigan (4) |
| TV partner | Big Ten Network |
| Official website | www.bigten.org |
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
Championship records
By school
|
By coach
|
Performance by team
The code in each cell represents the furthest the team made it in the respective tournament:
- – Team not in Big Ten
- QF Quarterfinals (4 teams from 2014 to 2017, 6 teams afterwards)
- SF Semifinals
- F Finals
- CH Champion
Note: the 2020 tournament was cancelled prior to the start of the semifinal round.
| School | # | QF | SF | F | CH | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michigan | 12 | 11 | 8 | 5 | 3 | QF | F | CH | QF | SF | QF | SF | SF | CH | CH | F | QF |
| Minnesota | 12 | 6 | 10 | 5 | 2 | SF | CH | F | SF | QF | SF | SF | CH | F | F | SF | QF |
| Michigan State | 12 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 2 | QF | SF | QF | QF | QF | QF | QF | QF | QF | SF | CH | CH |
| Notre Dame | 8 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 2 | – | – | – | – | CH | CH | QF | QF | SF | QF | QF | SF |
| Wisconsin | 12 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 1 | CH | QF | QF | F | QF | QF | QF | F | QF | QF | QF | QF |
| Penn State | 12 | 11 | 9 | 2 | 1 | SF | QF | SF | CH | SF | F | SF | SF | SF | QF | QF | SF |
| Ohio State | 12 | 11 | 10 | 3 | 0 | F | SF | SF | SF | F | SF | SF | QF | QF | SF | SF | F |