Week 22 Hockey Release

• The Big Ten Hockey Tournament continues this Saturday with semifinals on campus sites. No. 1 seed Michigan State will host No. 7 seed Ohio State at 6:30 p.m. ET and No. 3 seed Minnesota meets No. 4 seed Michigan at 9 p.m. ET in Minneapolis. Both games will be carried on the Big Ten Network. The winners advance to the Big Ten Championship Game on March 23, to be played on the campus of the highest remaining seed. The teams in this year’s semifinals are the same as last year, just different pairings. A look at Saturday’s matchups:

No. 7 Ohio State (14-19-4) at No. 1 Michigan State (22-9-3)
No. 4/4 Michigan State received a bye in the Big Ten Quarterfinals after clinching the Big Ten regular season championship. MSU will be hosting its first-ever Big Ten postseason contest on Saturday, appearing in the semifinals for the second-straight year after losing at Minnesota in 2023. Ohio State became the first No. 7 seed to qualify for the semifinals after defeating No. 2 seed Wisconsin in three games last weekend in Madison, Wis. No. 7 seeds were previously 0-11 all-time in the Big Ten Tournament. OSU has been victorious in Munn this season in a series that saw MSU take three of four games. Ohio State is 5-0 all-time versus Michigan State in the tournament, the last meeting occuring at the 2018 quarterfinals. OSU is 2-5 all-time in the semifinals.

No. 4 Michigan (20-13-3) at No. 3 Minnesota (22-9-5)
A rematch of the last two Big Ten championship games, No. 11/11 Michigan and No. 6/6 Minnesota are meeting for the seventh time in the Big Ten Tournament with the Gophers owning a 4-3 edge. Minnesota also claimed this year’s series, going 2-1-1. Both teams completed sweeps in the quarterfinals with Michigan knocking off No. 5 seed Notre Dame and Minnesota defeating No. 6 seed Penn State. Michigan’s .731 winning percentage (19-7) in the tournament is the best mark all-time, the Wolverines are 4-2 in the semifinals. Minnesota stands 14-9 all-time in the Big Ten postseason and sports a 5-3 record in the semifinals.  

• The quarterfinal series played March 8-10 in Madison, Minneapolis and Ann Arbor drew a total attendance of 48,791, breaking the previous tournament record of 32,981 set last season. The March 9 crowd of 10,837 at the Kohl Center was also a single-game tournament record.

• The Big Ten has announced finalists for postseason individual awards. The top three candidates in five categories are:
Player of the Year: Gavin Brindley, F, MICH; Artyom Levshunov, D, MSU; Kyle McClellan, G, WIS
Defensive Player of the Year: Seamus Casey, D, MICH; Artyom Levshunov, D, MSU; Owen Lindmark, F, WIS
Goaltender of the Year: Trey Augustine, MSU; Ryan Bischel, ND; Kyle McClellan, WIS
Freshman of the Year: Artyom Levshunov, D, MSU; Sam Rinzel, D, MINN, Aiden Fink, F, PSU
Coach of the Year: Adam Nightingale, MSU; Bob Motzko, MINN; Mike Hastings, WIS

• Individual award winners, along with All-Big Ten and Sportsmanship Award recipients, will be revealed on March 19 on the Big Ten Network’s B1G Today.