Michigan’s last remaining hope for entry into this season’s NCAA hockey tournament lies in the quest for a Big Ten conference tourney championship and the automatic NCAA bid that goes to the winner.
The Wolverines' long road toward that goal begins this weekend when they travel to Minnesota for the best-of-three quarterfinal round series against the Gophers on the “big sheet” at 3M Arena at Mariucci.
In an early February regular-season trip to Minnesota, Michigan earned a two-game split with the Gophers by winning the Friday opener, 4-2, and narrowly losing the Saturday series finale, 4-3. The Wolverines also split the December Yost Ice Arena matchup with Minnesota, again winning the series opener in extra time before succumbing to Minnesota in the Saturday re-match by the same 4-3 margin.
The tournament's third seed, Minnesota comes into the series with Michigan on a roll, having won five of their last six games, including a convincing home sweep of 12th-ranked Arizona State last weekend.
All three games of the weekend series will be carried on Fox Sports Detroit Plus, Friday at 6 p.m. CST, Saturday at 4 p.m. CST and, if necessary, Sunday at 4:30 p.m. CST.
Michigan Player To Watch
Sophomore defenseman Quinn Hughes
One of the reasons Hughes returned to Michigan rather than signing a pro contract last fall was to follow up last season’s playoff run with a similar effort this season. That effort starts now for a Michigan hockey team that has no margin for error.
Minnesota Player To Watch
Sophomore forward Rem Pitlick
Pitlick continues to be the offensive catalyst for the Gophers, leading the team in goals with 19 markers and points with 41.
Other Big Ten Hockey Playoff Action
Other Big Ten Playoff action (all best of three series)
Ohio State first round bye due to winning the regular season championship
Michigan State at #16 Notre Dame (Fri-Sun)
Wisconsin at #18 Penn State (Fri-Sun)
---
• Talk about this article inside The Fort
• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes
• Learn more about our print and digital publication, The Wolverine
• Follow us on Twitter: @TheWolverineMag, @BSB_Wolverine, @JB_ Wolverine, @AustinFox42, @Balas_Wolverine, @DrewCHallett and @Qb9Adam.
• Like us on Facebook
