MINNEAPOLIS — The Michigan hockey team had already gone to its locker room in Mariucci Arena after a 3-1 loss to No. 15 Minnesota on Sunday. But the Gophers stayed on the ice. With Minnesota lined up across the blue line, captain Jay Barriball skated to the scorers' table and lifted the three-tiered wooden trophy.

There was a smattering of applause from the half-full crowd when Barriball brought the trophy to his teammates. In a strange way, it was a fitting end to the College Hockey Showcase. Minnesota’s win made it 1-1 in the 18th and final College Hockey Showcase but they hoisted the trophy anyway, even as Wisconsin went 1-0-1, to bring to an end the imperfect tournament for the perfect rivals.

The goal of the showcase was to bring Big Ten rivals Michigan, Michigan State, Wisconsin and Minnesota together every year. While the Showcase did this over Thanksgiving weekend for nearly two decades, the prime matchups usually played out before half-full crowds since many students were on Thanksgiving break. Three out of four schools wanted to continue but Wisconsin pulled out.

No. 8 Michigan ended the tournament with a loss Sunday, but it still holds the best record among the four teams at 20-14-2 throughout the tournament history. Minnesota finished one win behind the Wolverines. But this tournament wasn’t exactly about winning the tournament to hoist a trophy. It was about beating Big Ten teams.

Michigan did neither Sunday night.

“It hurts to lose, period,” Michigan coach Red Berenson said. “We like the competition, we like the games against Big Ten programs and it’s disappointing that we won’t have as many.”

MAKING SPARKS: After being a healthy scratch for the last nine games, sophomore forward Lindsay Sparks found his way into the lineup for Sunday’s night’s game against Minnesota. Sparks registered a shot in the first period, but as the teams had eight power play opportunities between them in the final two periods, his ice time diminished.

“I thought he had a good jump,” senior forward Louie Caporusso, his linemate, said. “You can’t ask much from him, he hasn’t been (in) the lineup for over a month. He did all he can do. Unfortunately, he came in at a bad time where we didn’t play great for him.”

Sparks, who hadn’t played since Oct. 23, saw a little faith from Berenson as he was out on the ice for a power play late in the game, but he didn’t do anything to turn around an 0-for-4 performance from the unit.

He played alongside Caporusso and junior Luke Glendening, a pair that had formerly been with junior David Wohlberg, who was moved to a new line as Ben Winnett came out of the lineup after playing in Madison on Friday.

NOTES: Michigan’s overtime game with Wisconsin was its fourth of the year. It played in just two overtime games in the past two years … Former Michigan hockey player Billy Jaffe called Sunday’s game for the Big Ten Network. Jaffe played under Berenson from 1987-1989. He will also call Michigan’s game next weekend against Ohio State for the Big Ten Network … The College Hockey Showcase usually has a Friday-Saturday format, but due to a Minnesota home football game, the Wolverines were forced to wait until Sunday to play the Gophers.