• Six schools will be in action this weekend, highlighted by a top-20 conference series as No. 3/3 Michigan travels to No. 17/- Ohio State for a Friday-Saturday series.
• Every game will appear live on television this weekend, with both games of the Michigan-Ohio State series being carried by Big Ten Network, the Michigan State-Notre Dame series on NBCSN and the Penn State-Wisconsin series airing on Bally Sports Wisconsin channels. The complete schedule can be found to the right.
• Ten Big Ten standouts were selected as hockey candidates for the 2021-22 Senior CLASS Award: Michigan’s Nick Blankenburg, Michigan State’s Adam Goodsir, Minnesota’s Sammy Walker, Notre Dame’s Graham Slaggert and Spencer Stastney, Ohio State’s Quinn Preston, Will Riedell and Gustaf Westlund, Penn State’s Oskar Autio and Wisconsin’s Tarek Baker. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Senior CLASS Award honors the attributes of senior students in four areas: community, classroom, character and competition. The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the 2022 NCAA Men’s Frozen Four in April.
• Twenty-five Big Ten standouts headline a group of 101 NCAA players and recruits featured in NHL Central Scouting’s Nov. 18 updated “Players to Watch” list for the 2022 NHL Draft. Notre Dame and Wisconsin tied for the Big Ten lead with six players listed, while Michigan and Minnesota followed in second with five each. Five current NCAA recruits all earned “A” ratings as first-round candidates, highlighted by Michigan’s Frank Nazar, Minnesota’s Ryan Chesley and Notre Dame’s Logan Cooley.
• Through 10 weeks of play, Big Ten teams have recorded a non-conference mark of 36-16-2. With a winning percentage of .685, the Big Ten paces all Division I conferences.
• Six Big Ten teams are receiving votes in the USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls this week. Michigan leads the conference at No. 3 in both polls, while Notre Dame follows at No. 8/8, Minnesota checks in at No. 10/11 and Ohio State rounds out the list at No. 17 in the USCHO.com poll. Michigan State and Penn State are receiving votes in the USCHO.com poll, while the Buckeyes are receiving votes in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll.
• Since the 2013-14 season, six Big Ten programs (Michigan, Minnesota, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Penn State and Wisconsin) have been ranked in the top five of the USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls. Those six teams have combined to be ranked in the top five of both polls a total of 168 times, with at least one top-five team in 129 out of 208 weeks.
• Big Ten teams currently occupy five of the top 20 positions on the national team scoring list, including two of the top 10. Michigan leads the conference and ranks fourth nationally with 4.17 goals per game, followed by Notre Dame in eighth (3.67), Penn State in 13th (3.47), Minnesota in 16th (3.39) and Ohio State in 18th (3.29).
• Five Big Ten goalies find themselves among the top 25 nationally in save percentage, including two of the top 10. Michigan State’s Drew DeRidder leads the conference and ranks sixth nationally with a .941 save percentage, followed by Notre Dame’s Matthew Galajda (9th, .932), Ohio State’s Jakub Dobeš (13th, .924) and Wisconsin’s Jared Moe (13th, .924), along with Notre Dame’s Ryan Bischel (23rd, .916).
• Three active Big Ten coaches have amassed at least 200 wins in their careers, led by one who has more than 500 career victories. Notre Dame’s Jeff Jackson is the conference’s active wins leader with 541 career victories. He is followed by Minnesota’s Bob Motzko (344) and Penn State’s Guy Gadowsky (339). Jackson currently ranks fourth among active Division I coaches in career victories, while Motzko and Gadowsky rank 14th and 15th, respectively. Michigan head coach Mel Pearson has 199 career victories and could reach the 200-win milestone this weekend with a win.
• Nine Big Ten students earned spots on the 31-player preliminary roster for the 2022 U.S. National Junior Team. Michigan’s Matty Beniers, Thomas Bordeleau, Luke Hughes, Mackie Samoskevich and Jacob Truscott; Minnesota’s Brock Faber, Matt Knies and Chaz Lucius; and Notre Dame’s Landon Slaggert have all been named to the roster and will be attending the U.S. National Junior Team’s pre-tournament camp at USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth, Mich., starting Dec. 12, as part of the selection process. The International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship is scheduled for Dec. 26, 2021, to Jan. 5, 2022, in Edmonton and Red Deer, Alberta. Ohio State associate head coach Steve Miller will serve as an assistant coach for the U.S. squad, which will look to defend its gold medal from 2021.
• An additional two Big Ten standouts were named to the Canadian preliminary roster for the World Junior Championship. Michigan’s Kent Johnson and Owen Power will look to represent their country by earning a spot on the final roster for the event.
• This season, teams will be awarded three points in the conference standings for a win in regulation. If the game is tied following regulation, both teams will receive one point, with a second point being awarded to the team that wins in either the 3-on-3 overtime period or the shootout.
• The 2021-22 Big Ten hockey regular season will feature the most extensive slate of television coverage in college hockey, with more than 60 total games. The lineup is highlighted by a package of 25 national broadcasts to be carried on Big Ten Network, five broadcasts on NBCSN and three on ESPNU. An additional 28 games will be carried on the Bally Sports Regional Networks.
• Every televised game on the Big Ten Network can be streamed nation-wide via the web, smartphones, tablets and connected devices on the FOX Sports app. B1G+ will stream all of the games broadcast on the Bally Sports Regional Networks, in addition to all other non-televised games played in Big Ten arenas.