It’s midseason, and here’s what we know about the Big Ten. Overall, it’s pretty impressive – but that may not matter next March.
The league is 36-14-4 against nonconference foes for the best (.704) winning percentage among all leagues in interconference play.
More good news: the Big Ten is 4-2-3 against the NCHC (.681) and 2-2-0 against Hockey East (.669), the two other conferences seeing lots of success in nonconference play.
The bad news: Wisconsin and Michigan State are the only B1G teams among the top 10 in the PairWise Rankings. The Badgers are sixth, the Spartans are seventh, with Minnesota (13) and Michigan (15) the other B1G teams currently above 16th in the PWR.
As good as B1G teams are, the midseason PWR is concerning as there won’t be much of a chance for teams to move up in the second half. In holiday tournaments and early January play, Big Ten teams won’t be facing opponents strong in the PWR, and the league will beat up on itself throughout the second half.
Big Ten fans may be disappointed next March, as there is a very real possibility that only two B1G teams make the NCAA tournament.
What else do we know?
Playing the portal
The Spartans and the Badgers, separated by a point at the top of the standings, are outpacing the rest of the league so far. In second place with 24 points, Wisconsin is seven points ahead of third-place Minnesota and both the Spartans and Badgers have two games in hand on the Golden Gophers.
While there are several reasons for the success of each team so far, one piece that stands out is how well each program has used the portal to plug some gaps.
After two seasons at Miami, forward Red Savage transferred to Michigan State where he has six goals in 18 games. Savage, a fourth-round 2021 draft pick of the Detroit Red Wings, adds to Michigan State’s balanced offense, which is third in the nation averaging 4.22 goals per game and first (4.20) in B1G play.
A year ago, the Spartans convinced goaltender Trey Augustine to decommit from Michigan and pledge to join this year’s Michigan State squad. Augustine, a second-round 2023 draft pick of the Detroit Red Wings, has the second-best save percentage (.928) in conference play and third-best (2.55) league goals-against average.
Adam Nightingale, now in his second season behind the Michigan State bench, has history with both Savage and Augustine, having coached each at different points in his tenure with the U.S. Developmental Program.
Mike Hastings’ connection to three transfers is even more direct. When Hastings came to Wisconsin from Minnesota State, he brought three dynamic players with him.
Christian Fitzgerald (3-12—15), David Silye (2-10—12) and Simon Tassy (5-7—12) have been integral to a revitalized Wisconsin offense now averaging 3.80 goals per game in conference play. Two of Fitzgerald’s three goals have been game winners – one shorthanded – and four of Tassy’s five are on the power play.
The Badgers finished the 2022-23 season averaging 2.25 goals per game in B1G play.
Looking for some consistency
Six points separate the third-place Golden Gophers from the sixth-place Nittany Lions at the midseason mark. The four teams bunched together in the middle of the standings are looking for more consistency in their play, each in different ways.
Since beginning the season 4-0, the second-place Golden Gophers have put together back-to-back wins just once and they have yet to sweep a weekend in Big Ten play.
Here’s a telling stat: in conference play, the Gophers are allowing as many goals as they are allowing (3.17).
Fourth-place Notre Dame is 2-4-0 in its last B1G contests and 2-5-0 to end the first half when you count a 6-1 loss to Boston College Nov. 24. The Fighting Irish were held to one goal in four of those five losses in that span. The two wins in their last seven games were 4-2 over Minnesota and 6-1 over Michigan.
Since sweeping Lindenwood Oct. 27-28, fifth-place Michigan has yet to put together back-to-back wins in spite of the Wolverines’ ability to score. Michigan has the fourth-best offense nationally (4.00 goals per game) … and the fourth-best offense in the Big Ten (3.10).
In their last series in the first half, the Wolverines split with Notre Dame on the road Dec. 1-2, a 6-1 loss and 2-1 win.
Sixth-place Penn State has two conference wins – 5-3 over Michigan Nov. 18 and 6-3 over Minnesota Dec. 2 – and the Nittany Lions have been on the wrong side of some lopsided scores several times this season.
On the road against Wisconsin last weekend, Penn State lost 6-3 and 4-1 and the Nittany Lions – who average more than 40 shots per game – were held to less than 30 each night.
On the bottom, looking up
In last place, Ohio State has yet to win a conference game. The four points the Buckeyes have earned come from ties and shootout wins.
Through their first 10 conference games this season, the Buckeyes scored an average of 1.40 goals per game while allowing 4.30. Logan Terness (4.48 GAA, .878 SV%) has been Ohio State’s starter for most of the first half, and while he has struggled, he hasn’t had a lot of help from an inconsistent overall team defense.
Last weekend, though, the Buckeyes ended the first half on a semi-high note, and freshman goaltender Kristoffer Eberly had something to do with that. After losing 5-4 to Minnesota at home Friday night, the Buckeyes tied the Golden Gophers 1-1 Saturday and earned the extra shootout point.
Eberly made his first collegiate start Saturday, stopping 23-of-24 through regulation and overtime, and shutting down the Gophers in the shootout. In 123 minutes of play through three games this season, Eberly has a 1.47 GAA and .935 SV%.
Holiday tournaments
Only two Big Ten teams are playing in traditional midseason tournaments.
Michigan State as always cohosts the Great Lakes Invitational with Michigan Tech (Grand Rapids, Mich., Dec. 28-29). The Spartans face off against Ferris State the first night and will play either Tech or Alaska the second night.
Wisconsin returns to action Dec. 28 against Air Force in the Kwik Trip Holiday Faceoff in Milwaukee. The Badgers will take on either Minnesota Duluth or Northeastern the following night.
World Junior preliminary rosters
Fourteen Big Ten players have been named to the 2024 U.S. National Junior Team preliminary roster for the IIHF World Junior Championship. The tournament takes place Dec. 26, 2023 to Jan. 5, 2024 in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Trey Augustine, G, Michigan State
Gavin Brindley, F, Michigan
Seamus Casey, D, Michigan
Ryan Chesley, D, Minnesota
Quinn Finley, F, Wisconsin
Patrick Geary, D, Michigan State
Isaac Howard, F, Michigan State
Rutger McGroarty, F, Michigan
Oliver Moore, F, Minnesota
Frank Nazar, F, Michigan
Denny Nelson, F, Notre Dame
Sam Rinzel, D, Minnesota
Jimmy Snuggerud, F, Minnesota
William Whitelaw, F, Wisconsin
Minnesota associate head coach Steve Miller will be an assistant coach for Team USA.
Additionally, two Spartans have been invited selection camps in their home countries, forward Tommi Mannisto (Finland) and defenseman Maxim Strbak (Slovakia).
Big Ten in 2024
While a number of Big Ten teams will play see nonconference action the last weekend of December and first weekend of January, the first league series of the new year is Notre Dame hosting Wisconsin, Jan. 5-6.
