Big Ten Hockey Weekly – December 26

OFFICIAL NOTICE

In the final week of 2022, five Big Ten teams will play, with two appearing in holiday tournaments. Well. 11/11 Michigan State travels to Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids for the 57th annual Great Lakes Invitational, college hockey’s longest-running tournament. The Spartans, winners of 12 GLI titles, will face Ferris State on Dec. 27 and either No. 17/16 Michigan Tech or No. 18/19 Western Michigan on Dec. 28. Wisconsin is looking to defend its title with another Kwik Trip. The Holiday Face-Off will be held at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee. Head coach Tony Granato will look for his 100th career win when the Badgers face Lake Superior State on Dec. 28 and either Clarkson or 15/15. Massachusetts the following night. Well. 5/5 Penn State participates in home-and-home series No. 20/20 RIT 30-31. December, while Notre Dame hosts Alaska Fairbanks on December 31st and January 31st. 1. No. 3/1 Minnesota travels to Bemidji State for an exhibition game on New Year’s Eve. Well. 7/8 Michigan and No. 14/14 Ohio State are idle this week.

Entering this week’s event, the Big Ten holds the best record against non-conference competition with a .758 winning percentage (44-13-3) against five other leagues and independents. The Big Ten led all conferences with a .699 percentage last season.

The Big Ten is well represented in the Pairwise Rankings, a statistical formula that mimics the selection process for at-large bids to the 16-team NCAA Tournament. The latest Pairwise has six Big Ten teams in the Top 16 in Minnesota (No. 1), Penn State (No. 5), Michigan State (No. 8), Ohio State (No. 10), Michigan (No. 11) and Notre Dame (No. 16 ).

Ten players from the Big Ten will play for the United States in the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship, which began Dec. 26 and runs through Jan. 5 in Moncton, New Brunswick and Halifax, Nova Scotia. Michigan sophomore Luke Hughes is the team captain and is joined by Wolverine teammates Gavin Brindley, Seamus Casey, Dylan Duke and Rutger McGroarty. Minnesota has four players on the team in Ryan Chesley, Logan Cooley, Luke Mittelstadt and Jimmy Snuggerud, and Wisconsin is represented by Charlie Stramel. Cooley, Hughes and Stramel played for Team USA at last summer’s WJC. Michigan freshman Adam Fantilli is the only collegiate player skating for Canada, which won gold in the event last summer.

The Big Ten schedule includes 57 games over national and regional networks this season, including 23 games on the Big Ten Network. Michigan-Michigan State Series 9-10 December offered strong viewership, according to Nielsen estimates. The series opener drew 81,000 viewers, a season high to that point, and topped 113,000 the following night, the second-most watched regular season hockey game in BTN history.