Week #1 Hockey Release

Photo courtesy of MSU Athletics

• The puck drops for the 12th season of Big Ten Hockey this weekend with all seven teams in action — three participating in nonconference games and four taking part in exhibitions. The season opens Friday with No. 4/4 Michigan State visiting Lake Superior State, No. 7/8 Michigan hosting Minnesota State and No. 19/19 Notre Dame entertaining the U.S. National Team Development Program. Rv/rv Penn State will take part in a Saturday-Sunday series at Alaska Fairbanks, a homecoming for Head Coach Guy Gawdowsky who started his collegiate coaching career with the Nanooks. No. 6/5 Minnesota travels to No. 16 St. Cloud State and No. 10/10 Wisconsin encounters No. 15/17 Omaha in exhibition action on Saturday. Rv/rv Ohio State meets Niagara in an exhibition game on Sunday. Big Ten squads will take part in nonconference contests the first two weeks of the season before conference play begins the weekend of October 18-19.

• Four Big Ten teams are ranked in the Top 10 in preseason polls conducted by USCHO.com and USA Hockey. No. 4/4 Michigan State leads the way just ahead of No. 6/5 Minnesota, No. 7/8 Michigan and No. 10/10 Wisconsin. All four schools took part in the 2024 NCAA Tournament. No. 19/19 Notre Dame has broken into the Top 20 while Ohio State and Penn State have received votes.

• It was an eventful summer for Big Ten Hockey, which started with 12 present and future players were selected in the 2024 NHL Draft, held June 28-29 in Las Vegas. Michigan State defenseman Artyom Levshunov was chosen second overall by the Chicago Blackhawks and later signed with the team. Incoming freshman Michael Hage of Michigan went 21st overall in the first round. Five schools had players selected as the Big Ten featured multiple first-round picks for the 10th-straight year. Since forming a hockey conference in 2013-14, the Big Ten has attracted 34 first-round selections, including eight top-five recipients.

• A busy offseason continued August 15 as the Big Ten Conference and the Chicago Cubs held a news conference at Wrigley Field to announce the Frozen Confines: A Big Ten Hockey Series. Six Big Ten schools will take part in outdoors games at Wrigley Field the weekend of Jan. 3-4, 2025. A women’s game between Western Collegiate Hockey Association rivals Ohio State and Wisconsin will also be part of the two-day doubleheader. Tickets are on sale at Cubs.com/BigTenHockey.

• Michigan State is favored to defend its Big Ten Championship according to the 2024 Big Ten Hockey Preseason Coaches Poll. It marked the first time the Spartans have topped the preseason survey. Minnesota earned the second-most votes followed by Michigan (third), Wisconsin (fourth), Notre Dame (fifth), Penn State (sixth) and Ohio State (seventh). The Big Ten head coaches also selected 12 players for preseason All-Big Ten accolades. Earning first team recognition were Michigan State forwards Karsen Dorwart and Issac Howard along with Minnesota forward Jimmy Snuggerud. On defense, Minnesota’s Sam Rinzel and Wisconsin’s Ben Dexheimer were honored with Michigan State’s Trey Augustine chosen in goal.