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) among all D-I leagues and it isn’t even close. Hockey East (.629) and the NCHC (.609) are the only two other leagues with winning nonconference records. It should be noted, though, that Hockey East is the only conference with a slight edge (4-3-1) over the Big Ten.
There are several Big Ten teams performing well on the national stage, but none so well as Minnesota. The Golden Gophers (15-5-0) are at the top of the PairWise Rankings, lead the nation in scoring (4.30 goals per game) and Minnesota has the second-best scoring margin (1.80) nationally.
The Gophers aren’t the only B1G team that contributes to the conference’s overall success. Nearly everyone does. Penn State (No. 5), Michigan State (No. 8), Ohio State (No. 10) and Michigan (No. 11) would all currently make the PWR cut if the season ended today, and Notre Dame (No. 16) is on the bubble.
Six of seven B1G conference teams high enough in the PWR at midseason to be eyeing the NCAA tournament is quite a statement.
Some snapshots
While there is a possibility that the effort it takes for nonleague foes to defeat Big Ten teams will translate into postseason success, the flip side of that is that conference play will be very tough in the second half. Every team in the league – no matter how successful in the first half – has something it needs in the coming months.
Here are quick hits on each team, in the order of the current B1G standings.
Minnesota
The Gophers are, indeed, golden – but Minnesota would certainly like to tighten up its defense.
Tied for 16th nationally with five other teams, the Gophers allow 2.50 goals per game. That second-best scoring margin wouldn’t be so hefty if the Gophers weren’t scoring so many goals.
With 30 points, Minnesota is eight points ahead of second-place Penn State in Big Ten standings. The Gophers will play the Nittany Lions on the road late in the season. Minnesota starts the second half with an exhibition game against Bemidji State Dec. 31 followed by a home-and-home series against St. Cloud State Jan. 7-8.
Penn State
The Nittany Lions are also 15-5-0 on the season and are tied with Minnesota nationally for defense (2.50).
Averaging 3.65 goals per game, the Nittany Lions are another powerful offensive team with a top-10 scoring margin (1.15).
In their final two first-half conference series, the Nittany Lions went 2-2 – which is the most predictable thing ever, as Penn State split with every B1G team this season with the exception of their sweep of Wisconsin. If the Nittany Lions are going to catch up to Minnesota and contend for a regular-season title, they’ll need game-to-game consistency moving forward.
Penn State will play a home-and-home series against a tough RIT team Dec. 30-31 before returning to league play on the road against Michigan State Jan. 13-14.
Michigan State
Ten points out of first place, the Spartans (12-7-1) ended their first half with a home-and-home split against archrival Michigan to bring their December record to 1-3 – which is a bit deceptive, given that two of those losses were against Minnesota, the only team to sweep Michigan State this season.
In the second half, all the Spartans need to do is to continue to improve. Michigan State is playing as a cohesive unit, with committee-type scoring, defense that is solid and improving – very close to where Minnesota and Penn State are (2.55) – and some of the best goaltending in the league from Dylan St. Cyr.
The Spartans will be tested immediately after Christmas at the Great Lakes Invitational in Grand Rapids, Mich. Dec. 27-28. The field includes Ferris State, Western Michigan and Michigan Tech. The Broncos and Huskies are top-20 teams.
Ohio State
Ohio State (12-7-1) is a team not to be overlooked.
With a .500 record in B1G play, the Buckeyes are tied with Denver nationally for the 10th-best offense (3.55 goals per game) and have absolutely had their way with several nonconference teams, as they did to end the first half with a sweep of Bowling Green in which the Buckeye outscored the Falcons 14-6.
The Buckeyes are the third team in the Big Ten to be part of the national cluster of teams tied for 16th defensively (2.50), but they have an insanely good penalty kill (.905). That specialized focus translated into five-on-five hockey would be a real benefit to the Buckeyes in the second half.
After a real midseason break, the Buckeyes resume play at home against Michigan State – a team Ohio State dropped two games to in the first half – Jan. 6-7.
Notre Dame
The Fighting Irish and the Wolverines each have four wins and 12 points in conference play. Neither team is playing up to its potential, but both in very different ways.
One thing that Notre Dame needs that Michigan does not is scoring. Averaging 2.50 goals per game, the Irish are tied for 45th nationally in team offense.
A few weeks back, coach Jeff Jackson said that Notre Dame (8-8-2) is still looking for better chemistry. The Fighting Irish have split their last four two-game weekend – three of which were against B1G opponents, and one weekend a loss to Boston University and a win over Boston College. In those four weekends, the Irish lost every Friday game and won each Saturday night, including their last first-half game, a 5-3 win over Penn State in which the Irish allowed two late third-period goals.
Notre Dame hosts Alaska Dec. 31 and Jan. 1 before traveling to Wisconsin for two Big Ten games Jan. 6-7. All four of Notre Dame’s games against Wisconsin – the only team really beneath them in the standings right now – are in the second half, and the Irish end the season with a two-game set against Michigan, the team with which they are currently tied.
Michigan
The Wolverines are a puzzle – or maybe they’re not.
After a summer of controversy and now adjusting to a new coach, Michigan (12-7-1) has enough stars to light the evening sky and has been successful enough in nonconference play to sit fairly nigh in the PWR in spite of a losing record in Big Ten play. Unlike the Fighting Irish, chemistry doesn’t seem to be a problem. Consistency, though, is a bit of an issue – consistency from period to period in losing games as much as anything else.
A quick look at Michigan’s first-half results tells a story similar to that of everyone else in the Big Ten other than Minnesota and Wisconsin. The Wolverines have split with Penn State, Notre Dame, Wisconsin and most recently Michigan State. They’ve been swept by Minnesota – and in B1G play so far this season, only Ohio State and Penn State haven’t been swept by Minnesota – and they have yet to play the Buckeyes.
The Wolverines are scoring. Their 3.80 goals per game is sixth-best nationally. They are 37th defensively, though, and that will hamper them in the second half.
After a Jan. 6 exhibition against the U.S. National Development Team, the Wolverines start the second half of the season at home against Ohio State Jan. 13-14 – a brilliant move, as they’ll be without six players for the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship.
Wisconsin
With one Big Ten win and 27 points separating them from the first-place Golden Gophers, the Badgers need more than a little to improve their standing in the second half of the season. Wisconsin (7-11-0) is tied for 45th in scoring nationally (2.50) with Notre Dame and is tied for 48th nationally defensively (3.39) – with Holy Cross, if you’re curious – making the Badgers the only team in the league with a scoring margin in negative digits (-0.89).
The Badgers finished the first half with a sweep at the hands of Minnesota – again, not an uncommon thing for any team, but they surrendered 13 goals in the set. The weekend before that series, the Badgers earned their only B1G win with a home split against Michigan. That win was impressive, with the Badgers scoring four unanswered goals after surrendering the first two, going on to win 6-3.
Wisconsin will participate in the Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Off in Milwaukee Dec. 28-29, playing Lake Superior State the first night and either Clarkson or UMass the second. The Badgers host Notre Dame Jan. 6-7 to begin second-half Big Ten play.
IIHF World Junior Championship
Ten of Team USA’s players in the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship will be from Big Ten teams, but each B1G team with players on that roster will be impacted differently.
Five Wolverines will play for Team USA and one will play for Team Canada. Michigan forwards Gavin Brindley, Dylan Duke and Rutger McGroarty will join defensemen Seamus Casey and Luke Hughes representing the U.S., while forward Adam Fantilli will play for Team Canada.
The tournament runs from Dec. 26 through Jan. 5, and the Wolverines don’t return to D-I play until Jan. 13, meaning that (barring injury) all players who participate in this year’s World Juniors should be available for Michigan’s first second-half series.
Minnesota forwards Logan Cooley and Jimmy Snuggerud are joined by defensemen Ryan Chesley and Luke Mittelstadt on Team USA. The Gophers may or may not be affected by their participation when they play that home-and-home series against St. Cloud Jan. 6-7. The tournament is in Halifax, N.S., and Moncton, N.B., so travel may be a factor.
Wisconsin forward Charlie Stramel also joins the U.S. team and will miss the Holiday Faceoff and may not be available for the Badgers’ series against Notre Dame Jan. 6-7.
