Coaches: “Big Ten hockey is something to be excited about”

By Alyssa Girardi and Nick Barnowski –

DETROIT — The six coaches of Big Ten hockey will soon be battling it out on the ice, but at the league’s annual media day on Wednesday at Joe Louis Arena, they all found something to agree on:

Big Ten hockey is something to be excited about.

“I think what this league does, when you look around the room and you see the other five coaches, you know every day you’re forced to be a better coach,” said Ohio State head coach Steve Rohlik. “And then you look around the room and you look at the rosters, and you’re forced to make your players better. I think that’s what this league is all about, and I think that’s what separates this league.”

Minnesota finished first in the Big Ten’s inaugural season, and competed in the Frozen Four before falling to Union, 7-4, in the National Championship game. They joined Wisconsin as the only two teams from the league to advance to the NCAA postseason.

Thirty-five points separated the Golden Gophers from the league’s last-place team, Penn State, but as Wisconsin head coach Mike Eaves pointed out, many Big Ten games were much closer than the standings showed.

The Spartans, who finished fifth, took Minnesota to overtime twice, and the Nittany Lions were victorious in three of its five meetings with Michigan.

“If you take a look at the year-end stats and the numbers, you’re going to say, well, there’s a space there,” Eaves said. “But if you had watched those games and played in those games, they were fought tooth and nail until the end. I think it’s just going to be even tighter this year.”

Michigan State head coach Tom Anastos does not expect the competition level to drop heading into the league’s second season. With strong goaltending and solid defensive play, league play guarantees consistently high competition level.

Four Big Ten teams — Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin, and MSU — finished in the top-20 nationally in goals against per game.

“All of our teams have different dynamics, but I think even last year you look at the competition, on every given night it was very difficult to win games, whether you’re at the top of the standings or the bottom of the standings,” Anastos said. “I don’t expect that to change.”

Though the conference is relatively new, the schools are familiar with each other because of storied athletic program histories, helping grow the league with coaches, players and fans enjoying the opportunity to take Big Ten rivalries on the ice.

“You know, the one thing I’ve always said, and this is years ago, is I like to play like schools,” Michigan head coach Red Berenson said. “And I think our fans do, too. I mean, they’d rather come to a game — and no offense to some of the nearby schools — but they’d much rather see us play a Big Ten school or an Ivy school, whether that’s just the attitude of our fans, our university, but they love those games.”

The Big Ten hockey season begins on Nov. 20 with Michigan State taking on Ohio State.

All six Big Ten teams will return to Joe Louis Arena for the Big Ten Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament on March 19-21. The tournament will be a single-elimination, with the winner receiving an automatic berth to the NCAA Championship.

Notes: The Big Ten released its preseason poll, with Minnesota topping the list. The Golden Gophers are followed by Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio State, MSU and Penn State. The Big Ten Preseason Players to Watch list features six unanimous selections: JT Compher (Michigan), Ann Arbor native Andrew Copp (Michigan), Kyle Rau (Minnesota), Mike Reilly (Minnesota), Adam Wilcox (Minnesota) and Joel Rumpel (Wisconsin). The full list is below.

JT Compher, Michigan

Andrew Copp, Michigan

Matt Berry, MSU

Jake Hildebrand, MSU

Kyle Rau, Minnesota

Mike Reilly, Minnesota

Brady Skjei, Minnesota

Sam Warning, Minnesota

Adam Wilcox, Minnesota

Drew Brevig, Ohio State

Christian Frey, Ohio State

Tanner Fritz, Ohio State

Nick Schilkey, Ohio State

Luke Juha, Penn State

Joseph LaBate, Wisconsin

Joel Rumpel, Wisconsin