Big Ten Expansion -- What Does It Mean For Hockey?

By Jessi Pierce

On July 1, the Big Ten Conference became home to 14. The University of Maryland and Rutgers are now official Big Ten members, with Johns Hopkins University joining on the men's lacrosse field (that should be interesting for the up and coming Big Ten D1 lacrosse schools...).

23 Big Ten Hockey Athletes Earn Distinguished Scholar Awards

ROSEMONT, Ill. – The Big Ten Conference announced on Wednesday that 683 student-athletes have earned the Big Ten Distinguished Scholar Award. The list includes student-athletes from every institution and 37 different sports who have recorded a minimum grade-point average (GPA) of 3.7 or higher for the previous academic year.

  

Big Ten Faculty Representatives established the Distinguished Scholar Award in 2008 to supplement the Academic All-Big Ten program. Similar to the Academic All-Big Ten honor, Distinguished Scholar Award recipients must be letterwinners in at least their second academic year at their institution. However, the Distinguished Scholar Award encompasses only student-athletes with a minimum GPA of 3.7 or higher for the previous academic year, excluding summer school. The Academic All-Big Ten threshold is a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher for a student-athlete’s academic career.

Michigan

Zach Hyman, So., Torono, Ontario, history major

Luke Moffatt, Sr., Paradise Valley, Ariz., business administration major

Stanley Cup Dreams and NHL Hopefuls

Future Wolverine Dylan Larkin was selected 15th overall in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft

Future Pros

The Big Ten was fully represented in Philadelphia June 27 and 28 for the 2014 NHL Entry Draft. In total, 13 current and future Big Ten players were selected. Minnesota's four-chosen players was the third-highest total for any NCAA school with Hockey East's Boston College leading the way. Another interesting note: only two players of the 13 selected were chosen by the same team.

Dylan Larkin -- Michigan commit 

Defenseman, USNTDP, 1st Rd., (15) by Detroit Red Wings

Joshua Jacobs -- Michigan State commit

Defenseman, USAH Indiana Ice, 2nd Rd., (41) by New Jersey Devils

Ryan Collins -- Minnesota commit

Defenseman, USNTDP, 2nd Rd., (47) by Columbus Blue Jackets

Jack Doughty -- Wisconsin commit

Defenseman, USNTDP, 2nd Rd., (51) by Nashville Predators

Jack Glover -- Minnesota commit

Defenseman, USNTDP, 3rd Rd., (69) by Winnipeg Jets

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.