Full disclosure: I’m a Big Ten guy. I grew up in Michigan. I remember watching Michigan State win the 1986 National Championship. I had season tickets to University of Michigan hockey as a high school senior before attending Michigan State. I moved to Minnesota, traditionally one of the nerve-centers of college hockey.
But this weekend I will not be spending my time in St. Paul at the Xcel Energy Center watching the Big Ten hockey tournament. I’ll be on the west side of the Mississippi River at Target Center watching the National Collegiate Hockey Conference’s Frozen Faceoff.
The two conferences are in relative infancy, born out of Penn State creating a varsity hockey program. That meant six of the Big Ten schools — 12 at the time, now 14 — had programs, the minimum needed for an at-large bid.
To accomplish a Big Ten hockey conference, it would mean breaking up two long-established hockey powers. Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State would come from the CCHA, while Minnesota and Wisconsin came from the WCHA.
The NCHC was a puzzle built from parts of the CCHA and WCHA, and created what may be the second best conference in America, behind Hockey East. Miami and Western Michigan joined Colorado College, Denver, Minnesota-Duluth, Nebraska-Omaha, North Dakota and St. Cloud State. In Minneapolis this weekend, teams ranked No. 1 (North Dakota), 4 (St. Cloud State), 6 (Denver) and 13 (Minnesota-Duluth) will face off, with the possibility of all four getting into the NCAA Tournament.
“If you look at the old WCHA teams that transferred over and the rivalries alive and well,” said first-year North Dakota coach Brad Berry. “All four are rivalries from the old league, but Miami and Western Michigan are creating rivalries too. Parity is tight each and every weekend.”
St. Cloud State, despite hammering Western Michigan 31-8 in four regular season matchups, swept the Broncos 4-3 and 4-2, but needed overtime last Friday to take an edge in the series. Miami got swept by Minnesota-Duluth 5-4 and 3-1, but rallied from a two-goal deficit on Friday night.
Back across the river in St. Paul, only Michigan is likely assured of an NCAA bid. The Wolverines are ranked 7th in the RPI, as well as the USA Today and USCHO.com polls, and unless another team wins the tournament, the Big Ten will be just like the Atlantic Hockey Association or the newly-reconfigured WCHA: a one-bid league.
“It’ll be a tremendous weekend for hockey in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area,” said University of Minnesota-Duluth coach Scott Sandelin. “Everyone I’ve talked to they want to watch our games at Target Center. Hopefully that’s the case and they’ll be excited about the games they’ll see this weekend.
Said Berry: “Yes, two different leagues are having their post-season tournaments at the same time in same area. Our fans are looking forward to the Minneapolis weekend. Both tournaments will be good tournaments and I know our fans are looking forward to the Target Center.”
Like Berry, I’m looking forward to Target Center as well.
National Collegiate Hockey Conference Frozen Faceoff
Who: No. 1 North Dakota vs. No. 4 Minnesota-Duluth; No. 2 St. Cloud State vs. No. 3 Denver.
Where: Target Center, Minneapolis
When: Friday, March 18 starting at 4:08 CDT; Championship game is Saturday, March 19 at 7:38 p.m. CDT
Follow Lonny on Twitter @lonny_goldsmith and you can always reach him at Lonny.Goldsmith@prohockeynews.com
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