Packed arena, band playing and two talented teams battling for a banner will underscore the special nature of college hockey on Saturday when Michigan visits Minnesota for the Big Ten tourney title.
After hanging a conference title banner already, the Minnesota Gophers grabbed three of the Big Ten's five major awards, for the seven-team league's top player, coach and defensive player of 2022-23.
Brock Faber and Bob Motzko both have a chance to repeat as Big Ten award winners in 2023, after at least one Gopher was named a finalist for all five of the conference's year-end awards.
A 2021 Big Ten title and a Hobey Baker Award win were the highlights of the seven seasons Wisconsin alumnus Tony Granato spent behind the Badgers bench.
Notre Dame's dramatic overtime win at Michigan in the regular season's final game means the Irish are at home for round one, which could be critical as they fight to get off the NCAA tourney bubble.
When the dust cleared, Michigan, Ohio State and Notre Dame will be the first round hosts as the 2023 Big Ten tournament gets underway with a trio of best-of-three series next weekend.
The top (Minnesota) and the bottom (Wisconsin) are settled, but there are myriad things that could happen to places two through six in the Big Ten table with just six regular season games to play.
