# 2020–21 Big Ten Conference ice hockey season

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

2020–21 Big Ten ice hockey Standingsvte :
| | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record |
| | GP | W | L | T | OTW | OTL | 3/SW | PTS | PT% | GF | GA | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA |
| #8 Wisconsin † | 24 | 17 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 52 | .722 | 92 | 52 | 31 | 20 | 10 | 1 | 118 | 80 |
| #7 Minnesota * | 22 | 16 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 48 | .727 | 69 | 44 | 31 | 24 | 7 | 0 | 117 | 64 |
| #9 Michigan | 20 | 11 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 32 | .550 | 69 | 45 | 26 | 15 | 10 | 1 | 91 | 51 |
| #17 Notre Dame | 24 | 12 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 41 | .542 | 65 | 53 | 29 | 14 | 13 | 2 | 84 | 78 |
| Penn State | 18 | 7 | 11 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 20 | .389 | 48 | 68 | 22 | 10 | 12 | 0 | 65 | 81 |
| Ohio State | 22 | 6 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 20 | .273 | 39 | 82 | 27 | 7 | 19 | 1 | 53 | 101 |
| Michigan State | 22 | 5 | 16 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 15 | .250 | 32 | 70 | 27 | 7 | 18 | 2 | 40 | 77 |
| Championship: March 16, 2021 † indicates conference regular season champion * indicates conference tournament champion Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll |||||||||||||||||||

## Coaches
### Records

| Team | Head coach | Season at school | Record at school | Big Ten record |
| Michigan | Mel Pearson | 4 | 53–45–14 | 30–30–10 |
| Michigan State | Danton Cole | 4 | 39–60–9 | 25–39–8 |
| Minnesota | Bob Motzko | 3 | 34–30–11 | 20–18–10 |
| Notre Dame | Jeff Jackson | 16 | 334–206–64 | 37–26–7 |
| Ohio State | Steve Rohlik | 8 | 133–95–33 | 66–67–17 |
| Penn State | Guy Gadowsky | 10 | 145–120–23 | 59–57–14 |
| Wisconsin | Tony Granato | 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 |
| Cole Caufield | Sophomore | Wisconsin | 24 | 24 | 19 | 43 | 2 |
| Linus Weissbach | Senior | Wisconsin | 24 | 9 | 24 | 33 | 8 |
| Dylan Holloway | Sophomore | Wisconsin | 18 | 11 | 20 | 31 | 4 |
| Alex Steeves | Junior | Notre Dame | 24 | 14 | 15 | 29 | 8 |
| Thomas Bordeleau | Freshman | Michigan | 18 | 7 | 18 | 25 | 10 |
| Ty Pelton-Byce | Senior | Wisconsin | 19 | 11 | 14 | 25 | 2 |
| Graham Saggert | Junior | Notre Dame | 22 | 6 | 18 | 24 | 8 |
| Kent Johnson | Freshman | Michigan | 20 | 7 | 12 | 19 | 2 |
| Roman Ahcan | Junior | Wisconsin | 21 | 7 | 12 | 19 | 22 |
| Sampo Ranta | Junior | Minnesota | 22 | 12 | 7 | 19 | 6 |
| Sammy Walker | Junior | Minnesota | 22 | 9 | 10 | 19 | 8 |
| Ben Meyers | Sophomore | Minnesota | 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 |
| Cameron Rowe | Freshman | Wisconsin | 11 | 555 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 1 | .947 | 1.73 |
| Jack LaFontaine | Senior | Minnesota | 22 | 1272 | 16 | 6 | 0 | 38 | 4 | .932 | 1.79 |
| Dylan St. Cyr | Senior | Notre Dame | 18 | 1067 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 38 | 3 | .930 | 2.14 |
| Strauss Mann | Junior | Michigan | 16 | 894 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 33 | 3 | .924 | 2.21 |
| Robbie Beydoun | Senior | Wisconsin | 16 | 884 | 10 | 6 | 0 | 34 | 3 | .927 | 2.31 |

## Conference tournament

| Quarterfinals March 14 | Quarterfinals March 14 | Quarterfinals March 14 | Semifinals March 15 | Semifinals March 15 | Semifinals March 15 | Championship March 16 | Championship March 16 | Championship March 16 |
| | | | 1 | Wisconsin | 4* | | | |
| | | | 5 | Penn State | 3 | | | |
| 4 | Notre Dame | 3 | 5 | Penn State | 3 | | | |
| 5 | Penn State | 6 | | | | | | |
| 5 | Penn State | 6 | | | | 1 | Wisconsin | 4 |
| | | | | | | 2 | Minnesota | 6 |
| 2 | Minnesota | 2* | | | | | | | 2 | Minnesota | 6 |
| 7 | Michigan State | 1 | | | | | | |
| 7 | Michigan State | 1 | 2 | Minnesota | 3* | | | |
| | | | 3 | Michigan | 2 | | | |
| 3 | Michigan | 4 | 3 | Michigan | 2 | | | |
| 6 | Ohio State | 0 | | | | | | |
Note: * denotes overtime periods.

## Ranking
### USCHO

| Team | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | Final |
| Michigan | 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 | 7 |
| Notre Dame | 20 | NR | NR | 16 | 15 | 16 | 18 | 18 | 18 | NR | 16 | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | 19 | 20 | 18 | N/A | 17 |
| Ohio 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 | Final |
| Michigan | 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 | 7 |
| Notre 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 | Recipient |
| Hobey Baker Award | Cole Caufield, Wisconsin | Cole Caufield, Wisconsin |
| Tim Taylor Award | Thomas Bordeleau, Michigan | Thomas Bordeleau, Michigan |
| Mike Richter Award | Jack LaFontaine, Minnesota | Jack LaFontaine, Minnesota |
| AHCA All-American Teams |||
| West First Team | Position | Team |
| Jack LaFontaine | G | Minnesota |
| Cameron York | D | Michigan |
| Cole Caufield | F | Wisconsin |
| Sampo Ranta | F | Minnesota |
| West Second Team | Position | Team |
| Jackson LaCombe | D | Minnesota |
| Dylan Holloway | F | Wisconsin |
| Linus Weissbach | F | Wisconsin |

### Big Ten

| Award | Award | Recipient |
| Player of the Year | Player of the Year | Cole Caufield, Wisconsin |
| Defensive Player of the Year | Defensive Player of the Year | Cameron York, Michigan |
| Goaltender of the Year | Goaltender of the Year | Jack LaFontaine, Minnesota |
| Freshman of the Year | Freshman of the Year | Thomas Bordeleau, Michigan |
| Scoring Champion | Scoring Champion | Cole Caufield, Wisconsin |
| Coach of the Year | Coach of the Year | Tony Granato, Wisconsin |
| All-Big Ten Teams |||
| First Team | Position | Second Team |
| Jack LaFontaine, Minnesota | G | Strauss Mann, Michigan |
| Cameron York, Michigan | D | Owen Power, Michigan |
| Jackson LaCombe, Minnesota | D | Spencer Stastney, Notre Dame |
| Sampo Ranta, Minnesota | F | Thomas Bordeleau, Michigan |
| Cole Caufield, Wisconsin | F | Alex Steeves, Notre Dame |
| Dylan Holloway, Wisconsin | F | Linus Weissbach, Wisconsin |
| Freshman Team | Position | |
| Cameron Rowe, Wisconsin | G | |
| Owen Power, Michigan | D | |
| Brock Faber, Minnesota | D | |
| Matty Beniers, Michigan | F | |
| Thomas Bordeleau, Michigan | F | |
| Kent Johnson, Michigan | F | |

### Conference tournament

Tournament MOP :
| Jack LaFontaine | 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

| Round | Pick | Player | College | NHL team |
| 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