In the Halloween edition of Three Things I Think, we’ll go over some of the scariest things happening in college hockey/the Big Ten. (Maybe not, but I really love Halloween.) Things aren’t scary for the Big Ten, but probably for everyone else in college hockey who’s slowly watching the Big Ten’s non-conference record grow. It’s the kryptonite that’s kept multiple Big Ten teams out of the NCAA tournament for the past few years, but will most likely be the reason the Big Ten gets more than one team in this year.

Leading the conference is still Ohio State, which is still undefeated. But the Buckeyes did play Niagara and easily defeated the Purple Eagles by scores of 10-2 and 6-2. The Buckeyes are the only undefeated team in the country (not including the Ivies, which just began playing this weekend). That’s a little bit of a flip for the Buckeyes, who usually start the season slowly but end strong. Speaking of the Buckeyes, head coach Steve Rohlik was signed to an extension recently.

Ohio State wasn’t the only team to sweep the weekend, as Wisconsin came back from the North Country with a pair of wins. The Badgers defeated St. Lawrence 5-2 and then Clarkson 5-4. The Saints and Golden Knights are more along the top of the ECAC (although I’m not sure what being at the top of the ECAC actually means right now), so it’s a pretty good showing for the Badgers. Minnesota also took a trip to North Country but left with a split. The Gophers gave up three goals early to Clarkson but came back and won in overtime. They scored twice in roughly 20 seconds on Saturday night to take St. Lawrence into overtime for the tie.

Penn State also swept the weekend, but that’s not surprising with a pair of games against Canisius. The Nittany Lions took the first game 4-1 – and took 65 shots on net. Yes, 65 shots on net. On Saturday they followed with a shameful 47 shots and won 4-2. The Spartans picked up their first win of the season, defeating Princeton 6-2. It’s good the Spartans won, but keep in mind it was Princeton’s first game of the season. It’s always tough for teams to take the ice for the first time against a team that’s already played four times.

Michigan was the only team that didn’t win this weekend. The Wolverines dropped their first game 3-0 to Vermont and then the second 3-2 at Dartmouth. It’s not a good sign when you lose to a team that’s playing their first game of a season, and this weekend showed us Michigan still has a long road ahead. It looks like Zach Nagelvoort has officially been removed from the rotation, as both Hayden Lavigne and Jack LaFontaine took to the net this weekend. I haven’t seen them play, but 39 saves for Lavigne and 32 for LaFontaine isn’t bad.

There might not be anything scary to talk about, except apparently the pairwise is floating around. In the end of October? If that’s not scary I don’t know what is. (Actually I do and it’s Providence’ mascot, the Friar. Also possibly Quinnipiac’s mascot, who proposed to me in Albany last year and I’m fairly certain was going to kidnap me.)

(After the jump: I’m not impressed with Minnesota and Lucia, what’s good for Michigan and who’s going to win the conference)

Nothing impressive about Minnesota and Lucia

Don Lucia just received a contract extension, which is funny to me. I’m not on the fire Don Lucia train, but there’s something wrong/missing with Minnesota that has been since their Frozen Four appearance in 2014. Every year the Gophers have startling talent, but they aren’t able to make it work. Because the Gophers should be one of the top teams in the country, but they just aren’t. And this weekend proved it. You can point to the comebacks Minnesota had – it’s funny because every time I said something bad about the Gophers, they came back and tied the game – this weekend against Clarkson and St. Lawrence, but they shouldn’t be down three goals or two goals to the Golden Knights or the Saints. That’s not a knock on either team, but it’s just not something that should happen to a program like Minnesota when it was the roster it has.

I said this all the time with Wisconsin, although Minnesota is obviously not as bad as the Badgers were the past few years. But at some point you have to wonder why it won’t all come together, and it comes down to the coach.

Why this is a good season for Michigan – maybe

It is, even though the Wolverines are struggling and won’t come close to winning the Big Ten tournament. They’re about to slide back into missing the NCAA tournament again, just after they finally rectified that issue. They lack the firepower that they have in years past and still don’t have the defense to win championships. So why is this a good season for Michigan?

It all comes down to the net. For years, the Wolverines haven’t had the goaltending they need to reach the next level. The saying “defense wins championships” is overused I know, but goaltending really counts in the NCAA tournament. (I went to BU, this I would know). I haven’t been able to watch Hayden Lavigne or Jack LaFontaine yet this year, but I think it speaks highly of them – as freshmen – that their rotation has replaced Zach Nagelvoort. Their numbers aren’t bad, either (although numbers don’t accurately represent goaltenders).

I have to qualify with “maybe,” because I remember thinking the same thing when Nagelvoort and Steve Racine were manning the net for the Wolverines. Back then, everyone thought the goalies may be what Michigan needed. But they weren’t. It’s still early, but so far this is a good sign for the Wolverines.

Who’s going to win the conference

I picked Minnesota in my preseason poll, but I have a habit of changing my first-place choice and I clearly don’t think it will be the Gophers. So then it falls to my No. 2 choice, which was Wisconsin. It’s only beeen a month, but I’m leaning more towards Ohio State to win the conference. They’ve always been my sleeper pick in the tournament (although it’s never worked out) and their good start is promising. It usually takes the Buckeyes half a season to tie things together, but it looks like they’ve already figured it out. If they can somehow stay consitent, this might finally be the year they get back to the NCAA tournament.

Tuesday, November 1st, 2016 - 9:00 am | Big Ten, Blogs, Notes, Thoughts, Ramblings