The 2020–21 Big Ten men's ice hockey season was the 31st season of play for the Big Ten Conference's men's ice hockey division and took place during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season. The start to the regular season was delayed until November 13, 2020, and concluded on March 6, 2021. The conference tournament was held at the Compton Family Ice Arena in Notre Dame, Indiana.
Season Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Big Ten season did not begin until mid-November, 6 weeks later than usual. As a result of the pandemic, the Big Ten only scheduled conference opponents during the regular season with one exception. Arizona State, an independent program, entered into a scheduling alliance with the Big Ten for this season. The group consented to play the full season on the road and forfeit its right to compete in the Big Ten tournament.
The regular season was highlighted by the prominence of Minnesota for most of the year and the scoring exploits of Cole Caufield. Caufield averaged a goal per game pace for the year and led both the Big Ten and the nation in both goals and points. The conference was able to earn 3 at-large bids for member schools, resulting in more than half of the Big Ten making the NCAA tournament. Unfortunately, while the conference was able to avoid too much trouble from COVID during the regular season, both Michigan and Notre Dame had players test positive just before their regional semifinal games and were forced to withdraw. As a result, their matchup with Boston College was ruled a no-contest and the Eagles automatically advanced to the Northeast Regional final. Similarly, on March 26, the NCAA announced Michigan was forced to withdraw as well due to COVID protocols. Minnesota provided the conference with its only tournament victory, defeating Omaha 7–2 before losing in the quarterfinals to in-state rival Minnesota State.
After the season, Michigan made national headlines by having 3 players be drafted in the first five selections of the 2021 NHL entry draft. The Wolverines had an incoming freshman taken 4th overall as well.
Standings
Coaches
Records Team Head coach Season at school Record at school Big Ten recordMichigan 4 53–45–14 30–30–10 Michigan State 4 39–60–9 25–39–8Minnesota 3 34–30–11 20–18–10 Notre Dame 16 334–206–64 37–26–7Ohio State 8 133–95–33 66–67–17 Penn State 10 145–120–23 59–57–14Wisconsin 5 62–72–12 36–46–10
Statistics
Leading scorers GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes Player Position Team GP G A Pts PIM Sophomore 24 24 19 43 2 Senior 24 9 24 33 8 Sophomore 18 11 20 31 4 Junior 24 14 15 29 8 Freshman 18 7 18 25 10 Senior 19 11 14 25 2 Junior 22 6 18 24 8 Freshman 20 7 12 19 2 Junior 21 7 12 19 22 Junior 22 12 7 19 6 Junior 22 9 10 19 8 Sophomore 22 9 10 19 12
Leading goaltenders Minimum 1/3 of team's minutes played in conference games.
GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average Player Class Team GP Min W L T GA SO SV% GAA Freshman 11 555 7 0 1 16 1 .947 1.73 Senior 22 1272 16 6 0 38 4 .932 1.79 Senior 18 1067 9 8 1 38 3 .930 2.14 Junior 16 894 8 8 0 33 3 .924 2.21 Senior 16 884 10 6 0 34 3 .927 2.31
Conference tournament
Note: * denotes overtime periods.
NCAA tournament
Regional semifinal
East
West
Regional final
West
Ranking
USCHO Team Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 FinalMichigan 12 6 4 7 5 6 7 8 9 9 8 7 7 8 7 7 7 6 7 8 N/A 9 Michigan State NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR N/A NR Minnesota 14 11 8 5 4 1 1 1 1 1 4 4 2 5 4 4 3 4 4 2 N/A 7Notre Dame 20 NR NR 16 15 16 18 18 18 NR 16 NR NR NR NR NR NR 19 20 18 N/A 17Ohio State 10 9 10 13 14 18 NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR N/A NR Penn State 9 10 15 NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR N/A NR Wisconsin NR 14 14 14 12 14 13 14 12 12 12 13 11 7 5 5 5 5 5 4 N/A 8 USCHO did not release a poll in week 20.
USA Today Team Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 FinalMichigan 12 6 3 7 5 6 7 8 9 10 9 7 7 8 6 7 7 7 6 8 9 9 Michigan State NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR Minnesota 13 11 7 5 4 1 1 1 1 1 4 4 2 5 4 4 3 5 4 2 6 7Notre Dame NR NR NR 13 15 NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR Ohio State 10 10 10 14 NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR Penn State 9 9 14 NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR Wisconsin NR 13 15 NR 13 14 15 15 14 14 12 13 12 6 5 5 5 4 5 4 8 8
Awards
NCAA Award Recipient Hobey Baker Award Cole Caufield, WisconsinTim Taylor Award Thomas Bordeleau, MichiganMike Richter Award Jack LaFontaine, MinnesotaAHCA All-American Teams West First Team Position TeamJack LaFontaine G MinnesotaCameron York D MichiganCole Caufield F WisconsinSampo Ranta F Minnesota West Second Team Position TeamJackson LaCombe D MinnesotaDylan Holloway F WisconsinLinus Weissbach F Wisconsin
Big Ten Award RecipientPlayer of the Year Cole Caufield, WisconsinDefensive Player of the Year Cameron York, Michigan Goaltender of the Year Jack LaFontaine, MinnesotaFreshman of the Year Thomas Bordeleau, MichiganScoring Champion Cole Caufield, WisconsinCoach of the Year Tony Granato, WisconsinAll-Big Ten Teams First Team Position Second TeamJack LaFontaine, Minnesota GStrauss Mann, MichiganCameron York, Michigan DOwen Power, MichiganJackson LaCombe, Minnesota DSpencer Stastney, Notre DameSampo Ranta, Minnesota FThomas Bordeleau, MichiganCole Caufield, Wisconsin FAlex Steeves, Notre DameDylan Holloway, Wisconsin FLinus Weissbach, Wisconsin Freshman Team Position Cameron Rowe, Wisconsin GOwen Power, Michigan DBrock Faber, Minnesota DMatty Beniers, Michigan FThomas Bordeleau, Michigan FKent Johnson, Michigan F
Conference tournament
Tournament MOP Jack LaFontaine Minnesota All-Tournament Team Player Pos Team Jack LaFontaine G Minnesota Mike Koster D Minnesota Ty Emberson D Wisconsin Cole Caufield F Wisconsin Sampo Ranta F Minnesota Sammy Walker F Minnesota
2021 NHL entry draft
1 1 Owen Power Michigan Buffalo Sabres 1 2 Matty Beniers Michigan Seattle Kraken 1 4 Luke Hughes† Michigan New Jersey Devils 1 5 Kent Johnson Michigan Columbus Blue Jackets 1 18 Chaz Lucius† Minnesota Winnipeg Jets 1 24 Mackie Samoskevich† Michigan Florida Panthers 1 25 Corson Ceulemans† Wisconsin Columbus Blue Jackets 2 57 Matthew Knies† Minnesota Toronto Maple Leafs 2 58 Tristan Broz† Minnesota Pittsburgh Penguins 3 66 Sasha Pastujov† Notre Dame Anaheim Ducks 4 104 Brody Lamb† Minnesota New York Rangers 4 126 Dylan Duke† Michigan Tampa Bay Lightning 7 195 Justin Janicke† Notre Dame Seattle Kraken 7 206 Owen McLaughlin† Penn State Philadelphia Flyers 7 215 Daniel Laatsch† Wisconsin Pittsburgh Penguins † incoming freshman
References
External links official website