2014-15 Schedule Released

Here it is folks. What do you think? The schedule concludes with the 2015 Big Ten Tournament, March 19-25, at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.

 2014‐15 BIG TEN HOCKEY SCHEDULE
DAY  DATE  MATCHUP

Thursday or Friday  Nov. 20 or 21  Michigan State at Ohio State*

Friday or Saturday  Nov. 21 or 22  Michigan State at Ohio State*

Friday  Nov. 21  Penn State at Michigan

Saturday  Nov. 22  Penn State at Michigan

Friday  Dec. 5  Ohio State at Michigan
Friday  Dec. 5  Minnesota at Michigan State
Friday  Dec. 5  Penn State at Wisconsin

Saturday  Dec. 6  Minnesota at Michigan State
Saturday  Dec. 6  Penn State at Wisconsin

Final Tournament Thoughts

Great Competition, Lacking Crowd

For all the complaints that poured in on Thursday, I think even disappointed fans can agree the competition at the tournament was pretty high. Even in the tournament's opening games overtime was reached with Penn State pushing past Michigan 2-1 in two OTs, and Ohio State advancing by beating Michigan State 2-1 in a single extra frame.

Wisconsin and Penn State opened up Friday competition with another OT and Ohio State made it a game with Minnesota before disappointing local Gopher fans by taking the upset win, 3-1.
On the crowd side of things it was a disappointing turn out. But as the USCO pointed out, NCAA tournaments across the board were down 40 percent this year.

"The total attendance for the two leagues that played in the Twin Cities (the Big Ten in St. Paul, Minn., and the NCHC in Minneapolis) was 59,862 across seven sessions.

In a 13-year run at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, the WCHA Final Five had only one year where the total attendance was lower: 2011, when the tournament had only four sessions instead of the usual five.

Badgers Capture Inaugural Tournament Title

Wisconsin was the prediction at the beginning of the year to win the Big Ten Championship Tournament.

Though they wavered at the beginning of the season, for the second straight year the Badgers hoisted a conference tournament championship trophy around the Xcel Energy Arena.

Ohio State didn't make it easy for them. The Buckeyes had pushed past Michigan State in a 2-1 overtime victory and out-muscled top-seed Minnesota to earn their spot in Saturday's championship bout. Wisconsin earned a bye from the first round and topped Penn State for a shot at the title.

It was anyone's game.

Tourney Talk

It came, it went, and few people noticed. More than likely because the attendance at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn., Thursday barely tipped 4,000 (despite the announced attendance). Penn State, Michigan, Ohio State and Michigan State took to the ice at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. respectively. It was a rough draw.

Those watching it on TV noticed the empty seats -- something that is rarely seen in that building, home to the state high school tournament that draws 19,000+ and the NHL's Minnesota Wild. Hockey fans that snuck out of work to catch a glimpse of Big Ten hockey found themselves able to purchase tickets at an extraordinarily low price and move down to the lower bowl freely. Most of them didn't stay to the end, even in a double OT upset win for Penn State over Michigan.

Yes, all in all, the first day of the Big Ten Championship tournament was a B1G disappointment.

As my boss told me all season -- mind you I work in a hockey office -- "I just have no feeling or excitement for this." He won't be going back to the X for the weekend. And like him, many won't be.

Our blog pushes and strives to promote Big Ten hockey. It has for the past two years, seeing the growing potential it has for the sport that we all love. It's a good thing in the grand scheme of college hockey and will take time to adjust. But even we must admit, the same intense passion that has been felt for years in the WCHA and CCHA is now gone. It's a tough pill to swallow for fans who were so loyal to those conferences.

Fans don't flock to the X like they used to on tournament weekend and the local bars are noticeably missing jerseys in the seats.

Wrapping Up The Inaugural Season...Finally

I have to admit, the word 'inaugural' has found itself blacklisted from my vocabulary. The redundancy and overuse of 'the-word-that-shall-not-be-said' this season has taken its toll.

So hang it from the rafters, applaud its retirement, starting next year there will be no more firsts in the Big Ten hockey conference.

That being said, we can now look back on what was accomplished in 'Year One' of Big Ten hockey.

More opinions will of course be decided this weekend. The Big Ten Conference Championship Tournament invades the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn., providing one final measuring stick before we find out where our Big Ten teams land on the national stage.