BIG TEN HOCKEY
• The Big Ten Hockey schedule hits the halfway mark this weekend with six teams in action. No. 1/1 Michigan State looks to retain its hold of first place traveling to Penn State, which picked up its first conference win on Sunday. No. 3/3 Minnesota, tied with MSU atop the Big Ten standings, takes on No. 11/11 Ohio State, a team just four points out of first. Saturday’s contest will air on the Big Ten Network. No. 9/9 Michigan travels to Notre Dame for a pair of games to be streamed on Peacock. Rv/- Wisconsin, having played a conference-high 14 games, is idle this week.
• The Big Ten is coming off an action-packed week that saw six schools take part in the Frozen Confines: Big Ten Hockey Series, which generated two one-goal decisions and a tie while drawing 50,497 spectators over two days to Wrigley Field. At the same time, six Big Ten players earned gold at the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship in Ottawa, Canada.
• The Frozen Confines produced late-game heroics as Michigan State’s Daniel Russell scored the game-winner with 1.4 seconds left in overtime in MSU’s 4-3 win over Wisconsin on Saturday. In Friday’s opener, Riley Thompson netted the decisive goal with 38 seconds left in regulation in Ohio State’s 4-3 win over Michigan. Notre Dame and Penn State skated to a 3-3 overtime tie with the shootout going eight rounds. All told, there were nine lead changes in the three games involving Big Ten schools. The Western Collegiate Hockey Association women’s game between No. 1 Wisconsin and No. 2 Ohio State resulted in a 3-3 overtime draw and a shootout win for OSU that lasted seven rounds.
• The U.S. National Junior team captured gold at the IIHF World Junior Championships on Sunday, recording a 4-3 overtime win against Finland. It marked the first back-to-back golds at the event for the Americans. Representing the Big Ten were Oliver Moore and Brodie Ziemer from Minnesota, Trey Augustine of Michigan State, Notre Dame’s Paul Fischer and Danny Nelson and Wisconsin’s Logan Hensler. Minnesota Associate Head Coach Steve Miller was part of the coaching staff.
• Ohio State sophomore Kristoffer Eberly was named National Goaltender of the Month by the Hockey Commissioners Association on Jan. 3. Eberly went 4-0-0 in December, stopping 81-of-85 shots for a .953 save percentage. He allowed just four goals in 241:13 of action, resulting in a 0.99 goals-against average. Eberly’s selection marks the third-straight month the Big Ten has received a HCA National Award. Michael Hage of Michigan was chosen National Rookie of the Month for November and Notre Dame’s Owen Say was tabbed Co-Goaltender of the Month for October.
• Big Ten players top the charts in several NCAA statistical categories, including points per game (1.44, Aiden Fink, Penn State), game-winning goals (6, Daniel Russell, Michigan State), power play goals (8, Brody Lamb, Minnesota), short-handed goals (3, Garrett Schifsky, Michigan) and goalie winning percentage (.917, Nathan Airey, Minnesota). On the team side, Big Ten schools lead the country in winning percentage (.875, Michigan State), scoring offense (4.14, Minnesota), scoring margin (2.14, Minnesota) and faceoff percentage (.565, Penn State).
