The Big Ten finished an okay weekend in non-conference play. But it’s what happened off the ice that is tremendous not only for Big Ten hockey, but for college hockey as a whole. The conference proposed a legislation to the NCAA that would penalize players who entered their freshman year of college aged 21 or older.

The players would forfeit a year of eligibility, a rule the Big Ten is pushing to limit the age of college hockey. This, unsurprisingly, was met with discontent by many across college hockey from teams to coaches and fans, and even some alumni. The proposal is something that would benefit maybe a dozen teams in college hockey, most notably the Big Ten, which has struggled since its inception.

On the ice, Michigan State registered a winless weekend against Michigan Tech with a tie and a loss. The Wolverines split with Boston University, Wisconsin also played Denver to a tie and a loss while Penn State earned a tie and a win against Alaska Anchorage.

(After the jump: The Big Ten’s proposal, a different Michigan State and Wisconsin isn’t who we thought they were.)

The Big Ten’s age limit proposal is bad for college hockey

On Tuesday, CHN learned the Big Ten had submitted a proposal that would take away a year of eligibility for freshmen players older than 20. Regardless of if you think the Big Ten’s concerns are genuine (like trying to get the age of college hockey players in line with other sports) it’s very alarming the conference didn’t introduce this in Naples.

And when the news broke, my first reaction was: The Big Ten can’t win so they want everyone else to struggle too. The timing of the proposal really makes it seem that way.

This proposal is bad for two reasons – it hurts college hockey as a whole and it hurts the players. Some players do develop later, and it isn’t fair to those players. It’s also really not fair to smaller programs who don’t have the advantages big schools like Minnesota have. Some schools, like the Ivies, don’t even offer athletic scholarships. Because even if smaller programs can recognize good talent early, larger schools will take those players later anyway.

And for the non-traditional schools that don’t have a chance at the best, young talent in the country have to rely on older players to compete and win. It’s what helped Yale, Union and Providence win the last three championships. If anything, this rule would hurt the chances other programs have of competing, hurt the parity and hurt college hockey as a whole. Especially because a large portion of college hockey is comprised of smaller programs.

That said, the rule would actually only affect a few players, as 21 isn’t a common age for incoming freshmen. What this seems like is a power move by the Big Ten conference just to show they can do whatever they want.

A different Michigan State

A quick glance at the Spartan schedule shows Michigan State still has a lot of losses. But it shows a team that averages 3.36 goals per game, which is 14th in the country. The Spartans have long been known as a team with good defense but difficult scoring, so this is certainly a surprise – especially because Michigan State lost one of its top scorers last year.

But the Spartans allow 3.09 goals per game, which ranks 44th in the country. Jake Hildebrand’s save percentage isn’t first in the Big Ten anymore. It’s actually fifth and stands at .904. That’s a really different look for the Spartans, who’ve scored four goals or more in their last five games.

Wisconsin isn’t who we thought they were

Last week I wasn’t sure if the Badgers’ win over North Dakota was a fluke or an indication of legitimate improval for Wisconsin. Thanks to that win, the Badgers were on a three-game winning streak (with two wins over Arizona State). Wisconsin was off for a week before facing Denver, where it played the Pioneers to a 3-3 tie on Friday night.

I said earlier that this Badgers team is much better than last year’s. I stand by that, and I think the win over North Dakota is an indication the Badgers are headed in the right direction as opposed to a fluke. There’s still a long way to go before Wisoncsin rises back to the NCAA tournament, but this team has looked a lot better than they did last season.

Wednesday, November 25th, 2015 - 5:25 pm | Big Ten, Blogs, Notes, Thoughts, Ramblings