Week 13 Hockey Release
Photo courtesy of Notre Dame Athletics
OFFICIAL RELEASE
• Big Ten Conference play resumes this weekend with three series on tap. Top-ranked Michigan, the highest scoring team in the country with 96 goals in 20 games, plays host to Notre Dame, which is looking for its first conference win. The Irish sport the top power play unit in conference play, operating at a 35.3 percent clip (6-for-17). The series will be the second between the schools this season. Michigan won twice at Notre Dame the weekend of Oct. 31-Nov. 1. No. 2/2 Michigan State, coming off a Great Lakes Invitational title, encounters Ohio State in Columbus. The Buckeyes stand seventh nationally in faceoff percentage (53.8). Penn State’s return to conference play comes against Minnesota, the last team it faced in Big Ten action before the holiday break. Tied for fourth place in the standings, the teams split a pair of one-goal games in Minneapolis on Nov. 21-22. The No. 9/9 Nittany Lions swept Big Ten Three Stars of the Week honors on Tuesday. Both games of the Minnesota-Penn State series will be carried by the Big Ten Network. No. 3/3 Wisconsin will meet independent Alaska Anchorage, the start of a six-game homestand for the Badgers.
• Big Ten schools continue to occupy the top three spots in the USCHO.com and USA Hockey polls. Michigan is the consensus No. 1 team for the sixth-straight week while Michigan State has slid into the No. 2/2 position just ahead of No. 3/3 Wisconsin. The presence of No. 9/9 Penn State gives the Big Ten four teams in the Top 10. Coincidentally, Big Ten institutions sponsoring women’s hockey — Wisconsin, Ohio State, Minnesota, and Penn State — rank one through four respectively in the national polls as members of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association and Atlantic Hockey America.
• Michigan State freshman forward Eric Nilson won a gold medal skating for Team Sweden at the IIHF World Junior Championship, which took place Dec. 26-Jan. 5 in Minnesota. A second round NHL Draft pick of Anaheim, Nilson appeared in all seven games for the Swedes, including the 4-2 win over Czechia Monday in the championship game. Four Big Ten players earned bronze medals for Team Canada: Michigan’s Michael Hage and Jack Ivankovic, Michigan State’s Porter Martone and Penn State’s Gavin McKenna. Hage was named to the All-Star Team as the tournament’s leading scorer, compiling 15 points (2-13) in seven games, a point ahead of McKenna (4-10—14). Martone led all goal scorers with six tallies while Ivankovic paced goaltenders with a 2.33 goals-against average and .918 save percentage.
• Six Big Ten alumni are slated to compete at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics. Those earning spots on Olympic rosters as of Jan. 7 are:
USA (5)
MICH: F Kyle Connor (WPG), D Quinn Hughes (NJD), F Dylan Larkin (DET), D Zach Werenski (CBJ); MINN: D Brock Faber (MIN)
FINLAND (1)
MINN: F Erik Haula (NSH)