Report: Big Ten to play neutral site postseason games in 2014

The Big Ten Conference is expected to announce its plans Monday for a men’s hockey playoff for when the conference goes live for the 2013-14 season.

According to a story in Monday’s Wisconsin State Journal, league officials will join athletic directors from the six schools that sponsor the sport on a conference call and multiple college hockey sources indicate that a new playoff format will be adopted.

Instead of assigning all postseason games to campus sites, the report states that all games will be played at a neutral site.

“Good chance it will pass,” an anonymous Big Ten source told the paper.

Another anonymous source with knowledge of the talks said approval of the format is a certainty and that the Big Ten is looking to finalize a deal this month with the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn.