2020-21 BIG TEN HOCKEY POSTSEASON RELEASE - MARCH 24, 2021 Primary Contact: Megan Rowley, Assistant Director, Communications • Office: 847-696-1010 ext. 129 • E-mail: [email protected] • Twitter: @B1GHockey Secondary Contact: Leigh McGuirk, Bob Hammel Communications Intern • Office: 847-696-1010 ext. 142 • E-mail: [email protected] 2020-21 STANDINGS Conference Games All Games Win% Pts GP W L T OW-OL SW GF GA GP W L T Win% GF GA 1. Wisconsin^ .729 52 24 17 6 1 1-1 0 92 52 30 20 9 1 .683 115 74 2. Minnesota# .727 48 22 16 6 0 0-0 0 69 44 29 23 6 0 .793 110 58 3. Michigan .550 32 20 11 9 0 1-0 0 69 45 26 15 10 1 .596 91 51 4. Notre Dame .542 41 24 12 10 2 1-2 2 65 53 29 14 13 2 .517 84 78 5. Penn State .389 20 18 7 11 0 2-1 0 48 68 22 10 12 0 .455 65 81 6. Ohio State .273 20 22 6 16 0 0-2 0 39 82 27 7 19 1 .278 53 101 7. Michigan State .250 15 22 5 16 1 2-1 0 32 70 27 7 18 2 .296 40 77 ^ Big Ten Champion # Big Ten Tournament Champion Postseason Teams in Bold NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE BIG TEN. BIG NEWS. FARGO REGIONAL • Four Big Ten teams were selected to participate in the 2021 NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Championship, with Scheels Arena, Fargo, N.D. Michigan, Minnesota, Notre Dame and Wisconsin earning bids. Both the Golden Gophers and Badgers received No. 1 FRIDAY, MARCH 26 seeds in their respective regionals, marking the first time the Big Ten has earned two No. 1 seeds since 2014. NO. 2 MICHIGAN vs. No. 3 Minnesota Duluth 4 p.m. • Big Ten Tournament Champion Minnesota returns to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2017 and the 38th ESPNU/WatchESPN time in program history. The Golden Gophers will be the No. 1 seed in the Loveland Regional in Loveland, Colo., and will face No. 4 seed Omaha on ESPNU at 10 p.m. ET on Saturday, March 27 at the Budweiser Events Center. Minnesota has SATURDAY, MARCH 27 reached the Frozen Four 21 times. Fargo Regional Championship 6:30 p.m. • Big Ten Champion Wisconsin is the No. 1 seed in the Bridgeport Regional in Bridgeport, Conn., and will face No. 4 seed ESPNU/WatchESPN Bemidji State on ESPN2 at 1 p.m. on Friday, March 26 at Webster Bank Arena. Wisconsin is making its 26th NCAA Tournament appearance and its first since 2014. The Badgers have reached the Frozen Four 11 times. BRIDGEPORT REGIONAL Webster Bank Arena, Bridgeport, Conn. • Michigan is the No. 2 seed in the Fargo Regional in Fargo, N.D., and will face No. 3 seed Minnesota Duluth on ESPNU at 4 p.m. on Friday, March 26 at Scheels Arena. The Wolverines are making their 38th NCAA Tournament appearance and FRIDAY, MARCH 26 their first since 2018. Michigan has reached the Frozen Four 25 times, including its most recent appearance in 2018. NO. 1 WISCONSIN vs. No. 4 Bemidji State 1 p.m. ESPN2/WatchESPN • Notre Dame returns to the NCAA Tournament for the fifth consecutive season and the 12th time in program history. The Fighting Irish will be the No. 4 seed in the Albany Regional in Albany, N.Y., and will face No. 1 seed Boston College on ESPNEWS at 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 27 at the Times Union Center. Notre Dame has reached the Frozen Four twice in SATURDAY, MARCH 27 the last three seasons, finishing as the runner-up in 2018. Bridgeport Regional Championship 4 p.m. ESPNU/WatchESPN • The Hobey Baker Award Committee announced its top 10 finalists for the 2021 Hobey Baker Memorial Award, naming Minnesota’s Jack LaFontaine along with Wisconsin teammates Cole Caufield and Dylan Holloway to the group. The Hobey LOVELAND REGIONAL Baker Award is given annually to the top NCAA Division I men’s ice hockey player in the nation. LaFontaine currently leads the nation with 21 wins (21-6-0) and ranks second nationally with a .936 save percentage and a goals-against average of Budweiser Events Center, Loveland, Colo. 1.74. Caufield leads the nation with 28 goals and 49 points in 30 games. The unanimous Big Ten Player of the Year paces SATURDAY, MARCH 27 the country at 1.63 points and 0.93 goals per game, the highest goal-scoring average in the country since the 2005-06 NO. 1 MINNESOTA vs. No. 4 Omaha 10 p.m. season. Tied for fourth in the nation with 34 points on 11 goals and 23 assists, Holloway ranks third in the nation with a 1.55 points-per-game scoring average. The Hobey Hat Trick will be announced on April 1, 2021 and the Hobey Baker ESPNU/WatchESPN Award winner will be announced on Friday, April 9, 2021. SUNDAY, MARCH 28 • Senior goaltender Jack LaFontaine of Minnesota was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Big Ten Tournament Loveland Regional Championship 8 p.m. after going 3-0-0 in postseason action with 196:35 minutes, 103 saves and a .936 save percentage. A full list of all-tourna- ESPN2/WatchESPN ment honors and tournament results can be found on Page 2. • Four Big Ten teams appear in the USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls this week. Minnesota leads ALBANY REGIONAL the conference at No.2/2, followed by Wisconsin at No. 4/4 and Michigan at No. 8/8. Notre Dame is No. 18 in the USCHO. Times Union Center, Albany, N.Y. com poll and is receiving votes in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll. SATURDAY, MARCH 27 • The Big Ten Conference announced the hockey All-Big Ten teams and individual award winners on March 16 as selected No. 1 Boston College vs. NO. 4 NOTRE DAME 1 p.m. by the conference’s coaches and a media panel. Wisconsin’s Cole Caufield was named the unanimous Big Ten Player of ESPNews/WatchESPN the Year, while also earning Scoring Champion honors with 43 points in 24 conference games. Minnesota’s Jack LaFontaine was named the Goaltender of the Year, while Michigan’s Cam York was tabbed the Defensive Player of the SUNDAY, MARCH 28 Year, which is awarded to a defenseman or forward. The Wolverines’ Thomas Bordeleau collected Freshman of the Year laurels, while Wisconsin’s Tony Granato was selected as the Coach of the Year. The full list of honorees can be found on Albany Regional Championship 5:30 p.m. Page 3. ESPN2/WatchESPN • Michigan’s Strauss Mann and Minnesota’s Jack LaFontaine were named among the nine finalists for the 2021 Mike All times are ET Richter Award, which honors the most outstanding goaltender in NCAA men’s hockey. The eighth annual award winner will be announced at the 2021 NCAA Men’s Frozen Four in Pittsburgh. • Five Big Ten skaters were named finalists for the 2020-21 Senior CLASS Award: Minnesota’s Jack LaFontaine, Brannon FOLLOW THE BIG TEN McManus and Scott Reedy, Notre Dame’s Matt Hellickson, and Penn State’s Alex Limoges. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Senior CLASS Award honors the attributes of senior students in four areas: community, classroom, character and competition. The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the The Big Ten hockey page on bigten.org will feature sched- 2021 NCAA Men’s Frozen Final Four in April. ules, statistics, standings and more. You can also keep • Thirty-one Big Ten standouts headline a group of 106 NCAA players and recruits featured in NHL Central Scouting’s track of Big Ten hockey in real-time by following the con- updated “Players to Watch” list for the 2021 NHL Draft. Michigan and Wisconsin tied for the lead among all schools with ference on Twitter @B1GHockey and @BigTen or by be- eight players listed, while Notre Dame followed in fifth with six. Michigan’s trio of freshmen – Matty Beniers, Kent Johnson and Owen Power – all earned “A” ratings as first-round candidates and lead a group of 11 current NCAA fresh- coming a fan of the Big Ten Conference on Facebook and men featured on the list. receive exclusive updates. BIG LIFE. BIG STAGE. BIG TEN. The Big Ten Academic Alliance is an academic consortium of all 14 Big Ten universities, which is widely considered to be the model for effective and voluntary collaboration among top research universities. BIG TEN HOCKEY WEEKLY RELEASE 2 BIG TEN IN THE POLLS USCHO.com Division I Poll - March 22 USA Today/USA Hockey Division I Poll - March 22 Last Last Rank School (Votes) Record Points Poll Rank School (Votes) Record Points Poll 1. North Dakota (36) 21-5-1 795 2 1. North Dakota (34) 21-5-1 510 2 2. Boston College (3) 17-5-1 737 1 2. MINNESOTA 23-6-0 458 4 MINNESOTA (1) 23-6-0 737 4 3. Boston College 17-5-1 456 1 4. WISCONSIN 20-9-1 652 5 4. WISCONSIN 20-9-1 381 5 5. Minnesota State 20-4-1 640 3 5. Massachusetts 16-5-4 359 7 6. Massachusetts 16-5-4 630 6 6. Minnesota State 20-4-1 358 3 7. St. Cloud 17-10-0 548 8 7. St. Cloud State 17-10-0 304 8 8. MICHIGAN 15-10-1 538 7 8.