The University of Notre Dame will leave Hockey East after next season to join the Big Ten Conference, according to reports by the College Hockey News and U.S. College Hockey Online.
Hockey East Commissioner Joe Bertagna said he had no comment on the move because Notre Dame hadn’t officially notified him about its decision.
“It isn’t official yet,” Bertagna said to the BDN on Tuesday night. “There will be an announcement [Wednesday]. Our concern right now is finishing the season.
“We have six teams in the NCAA Tournament, and we want to win another national championship,” Bertagna added.
Notre Dame, located in South Bend, Indiana, had been in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association. But when Penn State added varsity hockey, the Big Ten was formed, and that resulted in the dissolution of the CCHA.
So Notre Dame joined Hockey East in the 2013-14 season.
Big Ten schools Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State had also been in the CCHA. Penn State became the Big Ten’s sixth team, and leagues must have at least six teams to earn an automatic qualifier to the NCAA Tournament.
Hockey East currently has 12 teams, with the addition of the University of Connecticut in 2014-15, while the Big Ten has just six teams: Penn State, Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Wisconsin and Minnesota. Those six are in the Big Ten in other sports.
Wisconsin and Minnesota had previously been in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association.
The WCHA survived and added several teams from the CCHA.
The move to the Big Ten will reduce Notre Dame’s travel and save the institution money. The Fighting Irish chartered planes to play its road games.
Hockey East has more teams than any other conference in the 16-team NCAA Tournament field, and one of those teams is Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish will be facing off against future conference opponent Michigan at the Midwest Regional in Cincinnati on Friday night.
It will be Notre Dame’s second NCAA Tournament appearance in three seasons in Hockey East. The Fighting Irish qualified in their first season, but lost to St. Cloud State in the first round.
Notre Dame had its best finish in Hockey East this season when it wound up third with a 15-5-2 record, including a two-game sweep over the University of Maine. The Fighting Irish were 19-10-7 overall but were swept in a best-of-three series by Hockey East tournament champ Northeastern in the quarterfinals.
They are 34-21-9 in league play in three seasons and had a 4-1-1 record against UMaine.
Bertagna has long been an advocate of having an even number of teams in the league so all teams are playing league games on weekends.
If Hockey East looks to add a team to replace Notre Dame, speculation revolves around ECAC teams Quinnipiac University from Hamden, Connecticut; Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute from Troy, New York; and Atlantic Hockey member Holy Cross from Worcester, Massachusetts.