Week 13 Hockey Release

Photos courtesy of Wisconsin Athletics / Michigan State Athletics

OFFICIAL RELEASE

• The second half of the 2024-25 season begins this weekend with all seven conference teams in action. No. 3/3 Minnesota will host a nonconference series against Mercyhurst in addition to three Big Ten conference series, highlighted by outdoor games at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Ill. The Frozen Confines: Big Ten Hockey Series will include No. 1/1 Michigan State, No. 9/9 Michigan, No. 13/13 Ohio State, rv/rv Wisconsin, Notre Dame and Penn State. The two-day event also features a Western Collegiate Hockey Association women’s game between No. 1/1 Wisconsin and No. 2/2 Ohio State that is expected to challenge the all-time NCAA single-game women’s attendance record (15,359). The Frozen Confines schedule:

Friday, January 3
No. 13/13 Ohio State vs. No. 9/9 Michigan — 4:00 p.m. CT — Big Ten Network
Penn State vs. Notre Dame — 7:30 p.m. CT — Big Ten Network

Saturday, January 4
#2/2 Ohio State vs. #1/1 Wisconsin (WCHA) — 4:30 p.m. CT — Big Ten Network
rv/rv Wisconsin vs. #1/1 Michigan State — 8:00 p.m. CT — Big Ten Network

In addition to the games at Wrigley Field, Michigan State will host Wisconsin on Thursday in East Lansing while on Sunday Ohio State meets Michigan in Ann Arbor and Penn State encounters Notre Dame in South Bend. The Spartans, Wolverines and Fighting Irish are the designated home teams for the neutral site games in Chicago.

• Big Ten teams are returning outdoors for the first time since February 18, 2023 when Michigan clashed with Ohio State at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio. All told, there have been 15 outdoor games involving Big Ten schools (see list on page 5), including three played in the Windy City at Soldier Field. Wisconsin is undefeated outdoors with a 3-0-0 mark.

• Wisconsin and Michigan State came away with holiday tournament titles this past week as the Big Ten improved to 45-15-4 (.734) against nonconference competition on the season. The Badgers defeated Ferris State and Connecticut to defend their Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Off title, winning for the third time in the tournament’s four-year existence. Quinn Finley was named the tournament’s most outstanding forward, Zach Schulz chosen as most outstanding defenseman and Tommy Scarfone cited as most outstanding goaltender. Michigan State won its first Great Lakes Invitational title since 2009 with wins over Northern Michigan and No. 4/4 Western Michigan. It was the 13th GLI championship for the Spartans, who were making their 50th GLI appearance. MSU goaltender Luca Di Pasquo was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player and joined on the all-tournament team by Joey Larson and Isaac Howard. Di Pasquo, who stopped 45 of 46 shots during the GLI, was also named Big Ten First Star of the Week.