Big Ten Men's Hockey Tournament 2015: Final Results and Twitter Reaction

On Saturday night, Minnesota knocked off Michigan 4-2 to guarantee its spot in the NCAA tournament. The Golden Gophers will be making their 36th appearance in the field of 16 and looking for their first national title since 2003.  

There was a proper team celebration on the ice once the clock reached zero, which the official Minnesota hockey Twitter account tweeted out:

The victory resonated with people all over Minnesota, such as current Wild forward Erik Haula, who offered congratulations on Twitter:

Travis Boyd was the star of the show for the Golden Gophers, scoring two goals in the game and putting the cherry on top with an empty-net shot when there were less than 30 seconds to play. 

Yet there was no lack of tremendous performances from the entire team in making this Big Ten title happen. After all, Boyd's effort wouldn't work without the continued excellence of Adam Wilcox, who stopped 24 shots in the victory. 

Per Paul Driscoll of the Tampa Bay Times, Wilcox's heroics in the Big Ten tournament led to his being named the Most Outstanding Player:

In fact, Wilcox made history in the semifinal against Ohio State by posting a shutout for the 13th time in his career, tying a school record, per Big Ten Network:

If fans know anything about hockey, whether at the professional or amateur level, it's that goaltending can carry teams a long way in the postseason. 

Kyle Rau also deserves to be singled out for his efforts, tallying a goal and an assist. He found the net at a crucial time for Minnesota halfway through the second period after Michigan had taken a 2-1 lead, thanks to a lovely give-and-go with Hudson Fasching, per Michigan Hockey:

This has been a steep climb for the Gophers to reach this particular pinnacle, as they had to win 11 of their final 14 games and culminated with a regular season and conference tournament title. They finished the year with a 23-12-4 record. 

After the conference tournament title, Minnesota head coach Don Lucia told Jason Gonzalez of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune that the late-season surge speaks to the mental toughness of his team:

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I’m just proud of how the guys have responded and what they’ve been able to accomplish. This season has been a bit of a roller coaster, and we’ve kind of ridden it out. We knew going in that had we not won on Friday, that in all likelihood our season would end,’’ the coach added. “… We wanted to come here and try and earn our way in, and that’s what we really did here the last few weeks.

"

On the losing side, Michigan missed out on the NCAA tournament for the third consecutive season and a conference tournament title for the fifth straight year. 

Wolverines senior Zach Hyman tried to lift his team after scoring its first goal and assisting on Alex Kile's in the second period. 

Usually, Michigan has been money when Hyman found the net. Per the Big Ten Network, the Wolverines were 15-1-0 this season in games the star senior had scored a goal:

Even though Hyman's college career ends in heartbreaking defeat—he will move on to the Florida Panthers after being taken by the team in the fifth round of the 2010 draft—no one can accuse him of going down without a fight. That's all anyone can ask of a star in the year's biggest game. 

Momentum is a principle that gets talked about too much in sports. After all, it's not like Minnesota isn't a talented team after finishing the year ranked 13th in RPI, so the idea that this group simply caught fire undersells the accomplishment. 

However, there is something to be said for talent figuring out how to play together. Minnesota has hit its stride at the right time and will be a dangerous tournament team starting with Friday's opening game against Minnesota Duluth.