Big Ten Hockey Preseason Honors
Ohio State selected as the preseason favorite by coaches
ROSEMONT, Ill. – Ohio State was tabbed the favorite in the 2018-19 Big Ten hockey preseason coaches’ poll, the conference announced on Monday. The coaches also selected a 15-member Preseason Watch List, including six unanimous honorees.
Last season, Ohio State finished second in the regular-season standings with 45 points and a conference record of 14-8-2-1 (26-10-5 overall). The Buckeyes’ record-breaking campaign cumulated with the program’s second Frozen Four berth and first since 1998. Michigan was selected second in the preseason poll, with defending Big Ten Champion Notre Dame capturing third, Minnesota taking fourth, Penn State placing fifth, Wisconsin earning sixth and Michigan State rounding out the poll in seventh.
The Preseason Watch List features 15 standouts due to ties, with six unanimous selections in Michigan’s Quinn Hughes, Michigan State’s Taro Hirose, 2018 Big Ten Player of the Year Cale Morris from Notre Dame, Ohio State’s Tanner Laczynski and Mason Jobst, and Wisconsin’s Wyatt Kalynuk.
All seven schools were represented on the Preseason Watch List, led by Michigan and Michigan State with three honorees each.
Michigan State’s Mitch Lewandowski, the 2018 Big Ten Freshman of the Year, is one of three members of last year’s All-Freshman team to earn preseason recognition along with Michigan’s Hughes and Wisconsin’s Kalynuk.
The list also includes nine students who were Academic All-Big Ten honorees last season in Michigan’s Jake Slaker, Michigan State’s Patrick Khodorenko and Hirose, Minnesota’s Rem Pitlick and Tyler Sheehy, Notre Dame’s Morris, Ohio State’s Dakota Joshua and Laczynski, and Penn State’s Denis Smirnov.
The complete Preseason Watch List, as well as the preseason poll, can be found below.
2018-19 BIG TEN PRESEASON WATCH LIST#
QUINN HUGHES, MICH
Josh Norris, MICH
Jake Slaker, MICH
TARO HIROSE, MSU
Patrick Khodorenko, MSU
Mitch Lewandowski, MSU
Rem Pitlick, MINN
Tyler Sheehy, MINN
CALE MORRIS, ND
MASON JOBST, OSU
Dakota Joshua, OSU
TANNER LACZYNSKI, OSU
Denis Smirnov, PSU
Nate Sucese, PSU
WYATT KALYNUK, WIS
Unanimous selections in ALL CAPS
# Additional honorees due to ties
2018-19 BIG TEN PRESEASON POLL
1.    Ohio State
2.    Michigan
3.    Notre Dame
4.    Minnesota
5.    Penn State
6.    Wisconsin
7.    Michigan State
