Week 19 Hockey Release
Photo courtesy of Michigan State Athletics
OFFICIAL RELEASE
• Three teams are in contention for the Big Ten Championship as the final weeks of the season wind down. Michigan, in pursuit of its first Big Ten regular season title, holds a four-point lead over second-place Michigan State, which controls its destiny having two games on hand. The Spartans are looking to three-peat, a milestone accomplished only once before when Minnesota claimed four titles in a row from 2013-14 to 2016-17. Third-place Penn State is 10 points back and would need help to win its first championship since 2019-20. Teams are also battling for home ice for the Big Ten Tournament Quarterfinals, which has schools finishing second, third and fourth in the standings hosting teams placing seventh, sixth, and fifth, respectively for single-elimination games on March 11. The regular season champion receives a bye for the quarterfinals.
• This week’s action begins Thursday as No. 1/1 Michigan State plays host to Notre Dame on the Big Ten Network. Notre Dame, coming off a four-point weekend, takes on a Spartans squad that has won seven of eight contests. No. 2/2 Michigan travels to No. 13/14 Wisconsin in a rematch of a November series that produced 15 goals and a split in Ann Arbor. No. 6/6 Penn State encounters Ohio State in Hockey Valley with both games being carried by BTN. The Nittany Lions can reach 20 wins on the season with a sweep while the Buckeyes look to avenge a pair of one-goal losses that occurred in October.
• The Big Ten has held down the No. 1 spot in the USCHO.com and USA Hockey polls for 17-straight weeks. Michigan State is the top-ranked team for the seventh week after Michigan held the position for 10 weeks. The latest NCAA Power Index (NPI) finds four teams ranked in the top 15: Michigan State (first), Michigan (second), Penn State (fifth) and Wisconsin (15th).
• Michigan State junior Trey Augustine and Michigan freshman Jack Ivankovic were among 10 goalies named last week as semifinalists for the Mike Richter Award, presented to the top goaltender in college hockey. Augustine is a semifinalist for the third-straight year, sporting a 20-6-0 record, 1.96 goals-against average and .932 save percentage. Ivankovic, one of the top goalies to come out of the Canadian Hockey League, owns an 18-5-1 record, 2.13 goals-against average and .922 save percentage. Richter Award finalists will be announced in early March and the winner revealed in April at the NCAA Frozen Four.
• As the regular season enters its final weeks, several Big Ten teams and individuals are vying for NCAA statistical crowns. Michigan leads the NCAA in four categories: winning percentage (.817), scoring offense (4.70), power play percentage (30.6), and power play goals (34). Individual leaders include Michigan’s Michael Hage (1.00 assists per game), Michigan’s Will Horcoff and Michigan State’s Charlie Stramel (7 game-winning goals), Minnesota’s Brodie Ziemer (11 power play goals), and Penn State’s Dane Dowiak (4 short-handed goals).