The Notre Dame Fighting Irish will join the B1G Hockey Conference as affiliate members this fall. Notre Dame was previously a member of the WCHA with Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, and Wisconsin as well as a member of the CCHA with Michigan, Michigan State, and Ohio State.
The conference schedule has been expanded from 20 to 24 games and will start earlier in the year. Notre Dame has made the NCAA Tournament 9 times in the last 14 seasons including three trips to the Frozen Four and one 2nd place finish. The Irish lost to the eventual champion in each of their three Frozen Four trips.
Welcome to #B1GHockey, @NDHockey! The Fighting Irish officially join the conference as a sport affiliate member. https://t.co/sbwBckygK1 pic.twitter.com/C9pEr2XIWP
— Big Ten Hockey (@B1GHockey) July 1, 2017
Notre Dame spent the last 4 seasons in Hockey East and will be an immediate contender in the B1G conference. The Irish finished 1 pt out of a tie for first in 2017 and never finished below .500 in conference play. Hopefully this will make the regular season more interesting as only Minnesota has won the conference (sorry Penn State, winning the conference tourney is not the same as winning the conference. Try winning more than half of your conference games some time).
B1G Hockey had an improved 2016-17 season placing 3 teams into the Tournament. Notre Dame defeated Minnesota in the first round, en route to a Northeast Regional Championship. This addition will help strengthen the conference and give fans another team to watch helping what has been an uninspired conference slate.