On a cold, snow-covered weekend in March 2014, six teams met in St. Paul, MN to participate in the inaugural Big Ten Hockey Tournament. The event was equal parts competition and celebration – the Big Ten had survived its first year. The games played on the ice that weekend were full of intrigue and upsets, exactly what Big Ten officials hoped for when the puck dropped for the first season of Big Ten hockey. Ohio State upset the hometown-favorites Minnesota in dominating fashion in the semi-finals before falling to Wisconsin, an unlikely champion.

As the Big Ten’s second decade of hockey starts, we look back at how the conference evolved during the first ten years and what the current decade could have in store.

Much to the surprise of no one, Minnesota dominated the early years of the Big Ten and won the first four regular season titles. This early stronghold atop the standings can be attributed to the Gophers being an established blue-blood, impervious to change. No matter the conference – the Gophers are going to win.

When Penn State promoted their hockey program to Division I, they became the sixth Big Ten member school to do so and opened the door for the conference to form. After finishing last in the standings their first season, they quickly proved they belonged with the more established programs. The Nittany Lions have yet to return to the basement and qualified for their first NCAA tournament in just their fourth season.

Ohio State was drowning in mediocrity and obscurity in their previous conference, the CCHA, and took a few years to establish a foothold in their new home. Through solid recruiting and a new coach to guide them through the new conference, the Buckeyes qualified for the NCAA tournament in their fourth Big Ten season and five out of the last seven campaigns.

Notre Dame joined the conference to start the fifth season of Big Ten play and promptly finished first in the regular season standings and won the first two Big Ten Tournaments in which they played. Since then, they’ve qualified for the NCAA tournament 4 times in the past six years.

The one team that the conference formation has not been kind to is Michigan State. During the first decade, the Spartans have finished the regular season in last place five times and, outside of one anomaly in the second season in which they placed second (narrowly missing the NCAA tournament), have finished in the bottom half every year.

MSU’s in-state rival, Michigan, has enjoyed plenty of success during their Big Ten membership, but have struggled with top accolades. Despite finishing in the top half of the conference eight times, the Wolverines have never finished on top and have only won the conference tournament twice. This has not stopped them from being a national contender, especially as of late, as they have qualified for the NCAA tournament six times.

Since the inaugural season, four different teams have finished the regular season atop the standings and the conference tournament has had five unique winners. All of the teams, with the exception of Michigan State, have received NCAA tournament bids and the conference averages 2.7 tournament bids per year, an impressive number for a seven-team conference.

If this next decade of is anything close to the first, fans are in for a real treat. As rivalries become more intense, parity grows, and the level of competition rises, there is only one clear winner: Big Ten Hockey.

-SJ