Minnesota's men's hockey team will make a conference switch from the WCHA to the Big Ten in 2013-14 and it was announced Thursday that the Xcel Energy Center will play host to the inaugural Big Ten hockey tournament in 2014. It will alternate host sites between the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn., in 2014 and 2016 and Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Mich., in 2015 and 2017. 

The new Big Ten conference consists of Minnesota, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State and Wisconsin. Every team from the conference will make the single-elimination Big Ten tournament and whichever team wins the tourament will receive an automaitc bid to the NCAA tournament. 

Penn State was the last Big Ten school to add hockey as a collegiate sport to make the six-team conference a reality.