The 2023–24 Big Ten Conference ice hockey season was the 34th season of play for the Big Ten Conference's men's ice hockey division and took place during the 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season. The season began on October 7, 2023 and concluded on April 11, 2024.
Head coaches Coaching changes Wisconsin On March 6, 2023, Wisconsin announced that Tony Granato was fired after seven seasons. On March 30, 2023, Mike Hastings was named as the new head coach for the Badgers.
Records Team Head coach Season at school Record at school Big Ten recordMichigan 2 26–12–3 12–10–2Michigan State 2 18–18–2 10–12–2Minnesota 6 113–60–12 73–34–11Notre Dame 19 392–247–71 76–53–13Ohio State 11 183–143–39 90–87–20Penn State 13 181–154–25 88–103–16Wisconsin 1 0–0–0 0–0–0
Standings
Non-Conference record The Big Ten continued to outperform the other conferences. Every single league member had a winning non-conference record with the lowest (Michigan State) being .650. Only Hockey East had a winning record against the Big Ten but that was dwarfed by the overwhelming totals against four other leagues.
Regular season record Team TotalMichigan 0–0–0 0–0–0 0–0–0 2–2–0 4–0–0 1–0–1 7–2–1Michigan State 3–1–0 3–0–1 0–0–0 0–2–0 0–0–0 0–0–0 6–3–1Minnesota 2–0–0 2–0–0 0–0–0 0–0–0 0–0–0 3–2–1 7–2–1Notre Dame 2–1–0 2–0–0 1–1–0 1–2–0 0–0–0 0–0–0 6–4–0Ohio State 2–0–0 2–0–0 2–0–0 0–0–0 1–0–1 1–0–1 8–0–2Penn State 2–1–0 0–0–0 2–0–0 0–0–0 4–1–0 0–0–0 8–2–0Wisconsin 1–0–0 5–0–0 0–0–0 1–0–0 2–1–1 0–1–0 9–2–1Overall 12–3–0 14–0–1 5–1–0 4–6–0 11–2–2 5–3–3 51–15–6
Statistics Leading scorers GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes Player Class Team GP G A Pts PIM Sophomore 23 12 17 29 16 Sophomore 21 10 17 27 6 Junior 24 14 12 26 16 Junior 23 14 10 24 6 Graduate 23 9 15 24 14 Freshman 24 6 18 24 34 Sophomore 24 9 13 22 10 Sophomore 20 7 15 22 4 Sophomore 24 7 15 22 6 Sophomore 24 7 14 21 27 Sophomore 24 8 13 21 28
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 Senior 23 1354:23 15 7 1 52 2 .923 2.30 Graduate 24 1434:34 9 13 2 59 1 .931 2.47 Senior 24 1391:47 13 6 4 58 2 .920 2.50 Freshman 24 1448:22 16 6 2 66 3 .922 2.73 Graduate 23 1340:54 10 11 2 64 1 .911 2.86
Results Note: All game times are local. Regional Semifinals East
Game summary Midwest
Game summaryMichigan State got on its horses straight away and put pressure on the WMU cage. Cameron Rowe had to stop the first six shots of the game and the Broncos didn't get the puck on Trey Augustine until the 5-minute mark. MSU dominated play through the first seven minutes but when Western finally got set up in the offensive zone, Matteo Costantini was able to use a screen by several players to beat Augustine from the top of the right circle for the first goal. The Broncos started getting the puck down low, behind the Michigan State goal line, and tried to win the puck with a combination of speed and board battles. The Spartans counterattacked with a solid backcheck and generated several chances off of the rush. The play between the two teams was fairly even for several minutes with both squads getting scoring chances though neither was able to sustain a continual attack. Both teams played physically throughout the period but Western seemed to get the better of the exchange.
Western Michigan got off to a quick start in the second and attacked the MSU net. Augustine and the defense were able to turn them away and allow the Spartan offense to take their turn in the offensive zone. At about the 3-minute mark, Wyatt Schingoethe got the puck at the top of the blue paint from a cross-crease pass but Augustine managed to slide over and make the save on the one-timer. Two minutes later, a stretch pass from Matt Basgall found Daniel Russell at center ice and gave the Spartan forward a 100-foot break away. Just as he got to the slot, Russell fired the puck through Rowe's six-hole to tie the game. The pace picked up afterwards and both gets got back to their speed game. After a few minutes, a shot from Daniel Hilsendager was stopped by Augustine but the puck squeaked through his arms and fell to the ice in the crease. Fortunately for Michigan State, a Spartan defender was first on the scene and he helped his goaltender freeze the puck for a faceoff. Coming out of the mid-period TV timeout, MSU won the offensive zone faceoff and David Gucciardi blasted the puck past Rowe from the blue line. Western went on the attack following the goal but MSU was able to clear the puck after a couple of chances. As the Broncos continued to press, Gavin O'Connell was called for a hooking penalty and give Western the first power play of the night. WMU won the faceoff and moved the puck around the Michigan State zone until it came to Alex Bump to the left of the goal He tried to pass the puck across the net but it deflected off of a defender's skate into the net. After tying the game, Western continued to pressure the Spartans and after a bouncing puck eluded an MSU player at center ice, Bump found a streaking Sam Colangelo who wired the puck into the goal past Augustine's Blocker. Michigan State tried to match the Broncos' effort but instead they could only watch as Zak Galambos scored a marker that was a mirror-image of the earlier Gucciardi goal, again, to Augustine's blocker-side. With the game starting to get away from them, MSU attacked the Western end vigorously and forced Galambos into a hooking penalty. Western challenged the play for a dive by Russell but the officials did not see enough evidence for a matching minor. Western was able to kill off the rest of the period but still left them with a minute more on the PK to start the third.
MSU was unable to get much going once play resumed and squandered their man-advantage. Western continued to carry the play and Luke Grainger nearly scored when his chip-shot from the low slot clanked off of the post and stayed out. Michigan State tried to get something going to cut into the Broncos' lead but every time they touched the puck a Western player was there to force the issue. Tim Washe was very conspicuous with several hard hits in the third but the Spartans refused to quit. Near the middle of the period, a turnover by Western at the own blue line allowed Michigan State to finally establish some zone time and eventually Nash Nienhuis was able to fire the puck past a screened Cameron Rowe to cut the lead to 1. WMU got right back to its high-pressure game after the goal and tried to regain their 2-goal lead but the Spartans had regained their footing and the two teams started exchanging scoring chances. With about six minutes to play, Bump got on a partial break from center ice but Augustine stood tall and made the save. After the play, an earlier hit by Washe was reviewed for a major penalty (contact to the head) but the officials decided against leveling an infraction. Once play resumed, the two goaltender both committed turnovers after handling the puck that led to scoring opportunities but neither surrendered a goal. With under three minutes to play, a second goal got behind Augustine after a save but MSU managed to clear the puck away. Moments later, after Augustine was pulled for an extra attacker, Rowe made a save but could not freeze the puck. The loose biscuit dribbled just to the side before being cleared by Western. Michigan State managed to prevent an attempt on their open goal and then raced up the ice. With less than a minute left, Artyom Levshunov skated the puck up the right side of the ice and, as he was approaching the goal line, he found Karsen Dorwart alone in front of the goal for the tying marker. The final 55 seconds passed to no effect and overtime was needed to settle the game.
The play settled down once overtime began with both teams playing a bit more hesitantly on their forechecking. The result was that though each team could now get into the offensive zone, much of the play was restricted to the perimeter. However, as play wore on, Michigan State began to turn zone time into scoring opportunities and Rowe was forced to stop several good chances. Western, conversely, was unable to get anything going offensively and didn't get a single shot on goal through eight minutes of play. Near the middle of the period, a Jeremy Davidson took a seemingly harmless shot on goal from the half wall but it deflected off of Hilsendager's stick past Rowe for the winning goal.
Game summary West
Game summary
Regional finals Midwest
Game summary West
Game summaryBoston University began the game on offense, getting several shots on Justen Close in the first few minutes. Minnesota's defense kept the Terriers from getting a great chance for a goal and then started matching BU's effort level. After several near-misses, the Gophers finally got their first shot just before the 5-minute mark. Shortly afterwards, Boston University set up for an extended period in the offensive zone and had several scoring chances but Close kept the game scoreless. Minnesota responded with an attack of their own and Jaxon Nelson twisted his body to fire a sharp-angle shot into the far corner of the goal for the opening score. The pace slowed down afterwards and little occurred over the next several minutes. Coming out of the TV timeout, Minnesota won a defensive zone faceoff and moved the puck up the ice. BU was first on the rubber but they turned the puck over and the Gophers got two great shots on goal. A minute later, the Terriers got their own high-percentage shot after a turnover but Sam Stevens could not get the puck into the goal. The near-miss appeared to reawaken Boston University and the Terriers got back to the same pace they had at the start of the period. The Gopher defense soon recovered and shut down a pair of Terrier rushes. Near the end of the period, Aaron Huglen forced Case McCarthy into a turnover along the wall. The puck was quickly moved to Bryce Brodzinski who shot the puck past Mathieu Caron's glove. After the ensuing faceoff, Quinn Hutson brought puck up the right side into the Minnesota zone and directed the puck towards the Gopher cage. The slow-motion puck seemed to catch Close off-guard and somehow slipped beneath the netminder's pad and was directed into the goal. The Gophers attacked after the fluky goal and were nearly able to regain their 2-goal edge but Caron made several saves to keep his team within one.