2021–22 Big Ten Conference ice hockey season

2021–22 Big Ten Conference
ice hockey season
Season2021–22
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
DivisionDivision I
Sportice hockey
DurationOctober 2, 2021–
April 7, 2022
Number of teams7
2022 NHL Entry Draft
Top draft pickDavid Gucciardi
Picked byWashington Capitals
Regular season
Season championsMinnesota
Season MVPBen Meyers
Top scorerMatty Beniers
Big Ten tournament
Tournament championsMichigan
  Runners-upMinnesota
Tournament MVPErik Portillo
Top scorerNick Blankenburg (6)
NCAA tournament
Bids3
Record5–3
Best FinishNational semifinal
Team(s)Michigan,
Minnesota
Big Ten Conference ice hockey seasons
« 2020–21 2022–23 »

The 2021–22 Big Ten Conference ice hockey season was the 32nd season of play for the Big Ten Conference's men's ice hockey division and will take place during the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season. The regular season is set to begin on October 2, 2021, and conclude on February 26, 2022.[1] The conference tournament is scheduled to begin in early March, 2022.

Coaches

Records

Team Head coach Season at school Record at school Big Ten record
Michigan Mel Pearson 5 68–55–15 41–39–10
Michigan State Danton Cole 5 46–78–11 30–55–9
Minnesota Bob Motzko 4 58–37–11 36–24–10
Notre Dame Jeff Jackson 17 348–219–66 49–36–9
Ohio State Steve Rohlik 9 140–114–34 66–67–17
Penn State Guy Gadowsky 11 155–132–23 72–83–14
Wisconsin Tony Granato 6 82–82–13 53–52–11

Standings

2021–22 Big Ten ice hockey Standings
Conference record Overall record
GP W L T OTW OTL 3/SW PTS GF GA GP W L T GF GA
#5 Minnesota † 24 18 6 0 1 2 0 55 90 50 39 26 13 0 138 91
#2 Michigan * 24 16 8 0 0 3 0 51 91 59 42 31 10 1 167 94
#9 Notre Dame 24 17 7 0 5 1 0 47 74 55 40 28 12 0 122 75
#16 Ohio State 24 13 9 2 1 1 1 42 76 59 37 22 13 2 125 87
Penn State 24 6 17 1 1 1 1 20 63 92 38 17 20 1 117 122
Wisconsin 24 6 17 1 1 2 0 20 53 96 37 10 24 3 76 132
Michigan State 24 6 18 0 1 0 0 17 51 87 36 12 23 1 76 119
Championship: March 19, 2022
† indicates conference regular season champion * indicates conference tournament champion
Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll; updated April 7, 2022

Non-Conference record

Of the sixteen teams that are selected to participate in the NCAA tournament, ten will be via at-large bids. Those 10 teams are determined based upon the PairWise rankings. The rankings take into account all games played but are heavily affected by intra-conference results. The result is that teams from leagues which perform better in non-conference are much more likely to receive at-large bids even if they possess inferior records overall.

As a conference, the Big Ten had a tremendous non-conference season. Only one of the seven league members (Wisconsin) had a losing record in non-league games. Four teams had at least an 80% winning percentage. On the whole, only one conference possessed a winning record against the Big Ten (NCHC), however, they did so by only one victory.

Regular season record

Team Atlantic Hockey CCHA ECAC Hockey Hockey East Independent NCHC Total
Michigan 2–0–0 3–0–1 0–0–0 2–0–0 0–0–0 2–1–0 9–1–1
Michigan State 1–1–0 3–0–0 0–0–0 0–1–1 0–0–0 2–1–0 6–3–1
Minnesota 2–0–0 0–0–0 0–0–0 0–0–0 1–1–0 2–4–0 5–5–0
Notre Dame 4–2–0 2–0–0 0–0–0 1–0–0 1–0–0 0–0–0 8–2–0
Ohio State 2–2–0 2–0–0 0–0–0 2–0–0 2–0–0 0–0–0 8–2–0
Penn State 3–1–0 2–0–0 1–0–0 0–0–0 2–0–0 1–0–0 9–1–0
Wisconsin 2–0–0 0–2–0 1–1–1 0–0–1 0–0–0 0–2–0 3–5–1
Overall 16–6–0 12–2–1 2–1–1 5–1–2 6–1–0 7–8–0 48–19–4

Statistics

Leading scorers

GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes[2]

Player Class Team GP G A Pts PIM
Matty Beniers Sophomore Michigan 20 13 14 27 10
Ben Meyers Junior Minnesota 19 13 11 24 4
Luke Hughes Freshman Michigan 24 13 9 22 10
Jackson LaCombe Junior Minnesota 24 1 21 22 6
Matthew Knies Freshman Minnesota 18 6 14 20 4
Georgii Merkulov Freshman Ohio State 23 11 9 20 8
Mackie Samoskevich Freshman Michigan 24 5 14 19 6
Jake Wise Senior Ohio State 24 7 12 19 0
Owen Power Sophomore Michigan 16 2 16 18 4
Thomas Bordeleau Sophomore Michigan 22 7 11 18 14

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[3]

Player Class Team GP Min W L T GA SO SV% GAA
Justen Close Junior Minnesota 15 750 10 2 0 21 2 .938 1.68
Matthew Galajda Graduate Notre Dame 14 728 9 4 0 25 1 .926 2.06
Erik Portillo Sophomore Michigan 24 1403 16 8 0 54 2 .924 2.31
Ryan Bischel Junior Notre Dame 16 716 8 3 0 28 1 .921 2.34
Jakub Dobeš Freshman Ohio State 24 1299 13 9 2 53 1 .928 2.45

Conference tournament

Main article: 2022 Big Ten men's ice hockey tournament
Quarterfinals
March 4–6[4] 		Semifinals
March 12 		Championship
March 19
           
1 Minnesota 3
5 Penn State 2
2 Michigan 4 8 —
7 Michigan State 1 0 —
1 Minnesota 3
2 Michigan 4
3 Notre Dame 1 3 4
6 Wisconsin 3 2 2
2 Michigan 2
3 Notre Dame 1
4 Ohio State 4 2 1
5 Penn State 3 3 2

Note: * denotes overtime periods. Note: * denotes overtime periods.

NCAA tournament

Main article: 2022 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament

Regional semifinal

Midwest

March 25, 2022
3:00 PM		(1) Michigan5 – 3
(2–1, 3–1, 0–1)		(4) American InternationalPPL Center
Attendance: 2,155
Game reference
Erik PortilloGoaliesAlec CalvarusoReferees:
Cameron Lynch
Brad LeBlanc
Linesmen:
Patrick Dapuzzo
Steve Drain
(Hughes, Moyle) Garrett Van Wyhe (5) – 03:371–0
(Brisson, Beniers) Ethan Edwards (3) – 04:162–0
2–112:32 – Brian Rigali (13) (Bennett, Galambos)
(Power, Johnson) Brendan Brisson (20) – PP – 20:433–1
(Brisson, Johnson) Matty Beniers (20) – GW – 22:434–1
4–226:15 – Justin Young (12) (Theodore)
(Power, Samoskevich) Dylan Duke (10) – 26:435–2
5–353:48 – PP – Blake Bennett (19) (Barriga, Young)
8 minPenalties6 min
31Shots32

Northeast

March 25, 2022
6:00 PM		(2) Minnesota4 – 3 (OT)
(1–2, 1–1, 1–0, 1–0)		(3) MassachusettsDCU Center
Attendance: 6,002
Game reference
Justen CloseGoaliesMatt MurrayReferees:
Ryan Hersey
Nick Krebsbach
Linesmen:
John Grandt
Tyler Liffrig
0–114:09 – EA – Reed Lebster (8) (Kiefiuk, Ufko)
0–215:05 – PP – Garrett Wait (13) (Ufko, Trivigno)
(Meyers, Knies) Ryan Johnson (3) – 18:021–2
1–321:24 – Reed Lebster (9) (Kiefiuk, Del Gaizo)
(Nelson, Pitlick) Tristan Broz (6) – 37:092–3
(unassisted) Matthew Knies (13) – PP – 53:173–3
(Huglen, Nelson) Ben Meyers (17) – GW – 68:314–3
2 minPenalties4 min
24Shots23

East

March 24, 2022
6:00 PM		(2) North Dakota1 – 2 (OT)
(1–0, 0–1, 0–0, 0–1)		(3) Notre DameMVP Arena
Attendance: 2,345
Game reference
Zach DriscollGoaliesMatthew GalajdaReferees:
Geno Binda Jr.
Jeremy Tufts
Linesmen:
Kevin Briganti
Bill Kingdon
(Ness) Brent Johnson (2) – 18:431–0
1–121:03 – Landon Slaggert (12) (G. Slaggert)
1–261:38 – GW PP – Graham Slaggert (12) (Leivermann, L. Slaggert)
6 minPenalties6 min
24Shots25

Regional final

Midwest

March 27, 2022
6:30 PM		(1) Michigan7 – 4
(2–0, 2–0, 3–4)		(2) QuinnipiacPPL Center
Attendance: 3,256
Game reference
Erik PortilloGoaliesYaniv Perets out 40:00
Dylan St. Cyr in 40:00		Referees:
Geoff Miller
Steve Rouillard
Linesmen:
Jeff McCorkle
Kyle Richetelle
(Power, Lambert) Nolan Moyle (6) – 00:331–0
(Hughes) Jimmy Lambert (5) – 14:362–0
(Brisson, Power) Thomas Bordeleau (11) – PP – 26:063–0
(Blankenburg) Garrett Van Wyhe (6) – SH – 38:544–0
4–144:12 – Jayden Lee (6) (Brind'Amour, van Nes)
4–249:01 – Wyatt Bongiovanni (16) (de Jong)
4–351:02 – Desi Burgart (8) (Smilanic, Quillan)
(Bordeleau, Estapa) Michael Pastujov (11) – GW EN – 56:235–3
(Power) Nolan Moyle (7) – EN – 58:376–3
(Bordeleau, Power) Brendan Brisson (21) – PP – 59:257–3
7–459:38 – Zach Metsa (10) (Quillan, Leyh)
6 minPenalties4 min
30Shots34

Northeast

March 27, 2022
4:00 PM		(1) Western Michigan0 – 3
(0–1, 0–0, 0–2)		(2) MinnesotaDCU Center
Attendance: 2,848
Game reference
Brandon BussiGoaliesJusten CloseReferees:
Joe Carusone
C.J. Hanfin
Linesmen:
Brian Oliver
Ryan Knapp
0–110:10 – GW – Matthew Knies (14) (Faber, Meyers)
0–240:33 – PP – Aaron Huglen (7) (Meyers, LaCombe)
0–358:03 – SH EN – Blake McLaughlin (13) (unassisted)
2 minPenalties4 min
24Shots26

East

March 26, 2022
6:30 PM		(1) Minnesota State1 – 0
(1–0, 0–0, 0–0)		(3) Notre DameMVP Arena
Attendance: 3,449
Game reference
Dryden McKayGoaliesMatthew GalajdaReferees:
Geno Bindo
Jeremy Tufts
Linesmen:
Kevin Briganti
Bill Kingdon
(Furry) Nathan Smith (19) – GW – 19:441–0
6 minPenalties2 min
33Shots23

National semifinal

April 7, 2022
5:00 PM		(MW1) Michigan2 – 3 (OT)
(0–1, 1–0, 1–1, 0–1)		(W1) DenverTD Garden
Attendance: 17,850
Game reference
Erik PortilloGoaliesMagnus ChronaReferees:
Joe Carusone
CJ Hanafin
Linesmen:
Ryan Knapp
Brian Oliver
0–111:22 – Brett Stapley (17) (Barrow, Lee)
(Moyle, Van Wyhe) Jimmy Lambert (6) – 24:031–1
1–245:36 – Cameron Wright (22) (Benning, Rizzo)
(Pastujov, Estapa) Thomas Bordeleau (12) – 49:092–2
2–374:53 – GW – Carter Savoie (23) (Brink, Benning)
6 minPenalties0 min
21Shots33
April 7, 2022
8:30 PM		(E1) Minnesota State5 – 1
(0–1, 2–0, 3–0)		(NE2) MinnesotaTD Garden
Attendance: 17,850
Game reference
Dryden McKayGoaliesJusten CloseReferees:
Ryan Sweeney
Michael Schubert
Linesmen:
Anthony Valle
Shane Kanaly
0–109:00 – Matthew Knies (15) (Brodzinski)
(Sowder, Pavel) Benton Maass (6) – 27:221–1
(Silye, Livingstone) Reggie Lutz (15) – GW – 33:312–1
(McNeely, Groll) Ondřej Pavel (12) – 41:573–1
(Morton) David Silye (8) – 53:174–1
(unassisted) Brendan Furry (13) – EN – 58:515–1
0 minPenalties0 min
32Shots17

Ranking

Main article: 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey rankings

USCHO

Team Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Final
Michigan 3 3 3 1 2 3 2 1 4 3 3 3 6 4 3 4 3 4 2 2 5 4 4 2 3
Michigan State NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR
Minnesota 4 4 4 4 7 5 6 7 11 11 10 11 9 8 11 10 8 7 5 4 2 2 2 5 4
Notre Dame 18 19 17 13 14 17 15 14 8 8 8 10 13 13 13 11 13 11 12 9 7 8 9 9 8
Ohio State NR NR NR NR NR NR 18 17 17 18 17 17 17 16 15 12 9 8 11 12 12 15 16 16 16
Penn State NR NR NR NR NR 16 19 NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR
Wisconsin 11 13 NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR

[5]

USA Today

Team Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Final
Michigan 2 3 3 1 3 4 2 1 3 2 3 3 7 5 4 4 4 4 2 2 4 4 4 2 2 3
Michigan State NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR
Minnesota 4 4 4 4 7 5 8 7 12 12 11 11 11 8 11 10 10 8 6 4 2 2 3 6 4 4
Notre Dame NR NR NR 12 NR NR 15 15 8 8 8 10 13 13 14 12 12 11 11 8 7 8 9 10 8 8
Ohio State NR NR NR NR NR NR 14 NR NR NR NR NR NR 15 15 11 8 7 12 12 12 15 NR NR NR NR
Penn State NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR
Wisconsin 12 14 NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR

[6]

Pairwise

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Final
Michigan 14 10 1 2 4 5 2 3 2 3 1 6 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 1
Michigan State 14 37 5 25 16 21 23 20 18 20 18 19 24 29 31 30 31 32 35 33 37 37 35
Minnesota 14 25 22 23 11 10 8 18 12 11 11 11 8 11 11 11 8 5 5 3 3 3 6
Notre Dame 14 14 2 7 15 20 9 7 5 8 10 16 15 15 12 12 12 12 11 5 8 6 8
Ohio State 14 30 16 19 21 11 12 16 20 17 16 15 13 14 9 10 10 12 13 13 15 15 15
Penn State 4 7 21 10 7 12 21 22 20 24 24 20 23 28 21 23 24 24 26 25 25 25 25
Wisconsin 14 49 9 37 23 23 31 36 41 40 38 37 38 33 37 39 35 34 36 38 34 35 37

Note: teams ranked in the top-10 automatically qualify for the NCAA tournament. Teams ranked 11-16 can qualify based upon conference tournament results.[7]

Awards

NCAA

AHCA All-American Teams[8]
West First Team Position Team
Matty Beniers F Michigan
West Second Team Position Team
Luke Hughes D Michigan
Owen Power D Michigan
Ben Meyers F Minnesota

Big Ten

Award Recipient [9]
Player of the Year Ben Meyers, Minnesota
Defensive Player of the Year Brock Faber, Minnesota
Goaltender of the Year Jakub Dobeš, Ohio State
Freshman of the Year Jakub Dobeš, Ohio State
Luke Hughes, Michigan
Scoring Champion Matty Beniers, Michigan
Coach of the Year Bob Motzko, Minnesota
Tournament Most Outstanding Player Erik Portillo, Michigan
All-Big Ten Teams[9]
First Team   Position   Second Team
Jakub Dobeš, Ohio State G Erik Portillo, Michigan
Owen Power, Michigan D Luke Hughes, Michigan
Brock Faber, Minnesota D Jackson LaCombe, Minnesota
Matty Beniers, Michigan F Brendan Brisson, Michigan
Ben Meyers, Minnesota F Matthew Knies, Minnesota
Georgii Merkulov, Ohio State F Max Ellis, Notre Dame
Freshman Team   Position  
Jakub Dobeš, Ohio State G
Luke Hughes, Michigan D
Mason Lohrei, Ohio State D
Matthew Knies, Minnesota F
Georgii Merkulov, Ohio State F
Mackie Samoskevich, Michigan F

Big Ten tournament

Tournament MOP
Erik Portillo Michigan
All-Tournament Team[9]
Player Pos Team
Erik Portillo G Michigan
Jackson LaCombe D Minnesota
Luke Hughes D Michigan
Mackie Samoskevich F Michigan
Brendan Brisson F Michigan
Matty Beniers F Michigan

2022 NHL Entry Draft

Main article: 2022 NHL Entry Draft
Round Pick Player College NHL team
1 3 Logan Cooley† Minnesota Arizona Coyotes
1 13 Frank Nazar† Michigan Chicago Blackhawks
1 14 Rutger McGroarty† Michigan Winnipeg Jets
1 23 Jimmy Snuggerud† Minnesota St. Louis Blues
1 25 Sam Rinzel† Minnesota Chicago Blackhawks
2 37 Ryan Chesley† Minnesota Washington Capitals
2 46 Seamus Casey† Michigan New Jersey Devils
3 78 Quinn Finley† Wisconsin New York Islanders
4 100 Tyson Jugnauth† Wisconsin Seattle Kraken
4 104 Stephen Halliday† Ohio State Ottawa Senators
4 124 Cruz Lucius† Wisconsin Carolina Hurricanes
6 180 Jack Sparkes† Michigan State Los Angeles Kings
6 192 Connor Kurth† Minnesota Tampa Bay Lightning
7 201 Owen Mehlenbacher† Wisconsin Detroit Red Wings
7 212 Brennan Ali† Notre Dame Detroit Red Wings
7 213 David Gucciardi Michigan State Washington Capitals

† incoming freshman [10]

References

  1. ^ "2021-22 Big Ten Schedule". Big Ten. Retrieved September 2, 2021.
  2. ^ "2021-2022 Men's Ice Hockey Conference Statistics". Big Ten. Retrieved September 14, 2021.
  3. ^ "2020-21 MEN'S COLLEGE HOCKEY NATIONAL STATISTICS DATABASE". Big Ten Conference. Retrieved September 14, 2021.
  4. ^ "Big Ten men's ice hockey tournament Bracket Announced". BigTen.org. Big Ten Conference. February 26, 2022. Archived from the original on February 27, 2022. Retrieved February 26, 2022.
  5. ^ "USCHO Division I Men's Poll". USCHO.com. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
  6. ^ "USA Today Men's Poll". USCHO.com. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
  7. ^ "Men's Division I PairWise Rankings". USCHO.com. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
  8. ^ "Four players return to 2021–22 Division I men's All-American teams, led by three-time pick Dryden McKay". USCHO.com. April 8, 2022. Retrieved April 8, 2022.
  9. ^ a b c "Hockey Postseason Honors Announced". BigTen.org. Big Ten Conference. March 15, 2022. Archived from the original on March 15, 2022. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
  10. ^ "NCAA player rankings, selections in 2022 NHL Draft". USCHO.com. Retrieved July 9, 2022.