• Six teams will take the ice this week for a trio of conference series. No. 7/8 Minnesota will visit the conference leader No. 8/7 Ohio State, No. 11/11 Notre Dame will travel to Wisconsin, and Michigan State travels to No. 4/4 Michigan on Friday, with the two teams squaring off Saturday in Detroit. Penn State is idle this week.

• Both games of the Minnesota-Ohio State series will be carried on Big Ten Network, with the remaining contests available to stream. The complete schedule can be found to the right.

• The 2022 Big Ten Tournament begins March 4-6 with best-of-three series at campus sites. The top seed will earn a first-round bye and the No. 2-4 seeds will host the first-round series. The No. 1 seed and the other highest remaining seed will host single-game semifinals on March 12 and the highest remaining seed will host the championship contest on March 19.

• The winner of the Big Ten Tournament receives an automatic berth into the NCAA Championship, which culminates at the Frozen Four, April 7-9 at TD Garden in Boston.

• Ohio State has compiled 42 points to stand in first place through 20 games in the race for the Big Ten Championship and the accompanying first-round bye in the Big Ten Tournament. Michigan enters the weekend in second place with 39 points in 18 games, Minnesota is in third place with 37 points in 18 games and Notre Dame sits in fourth place for the final home ice spot for the first-round, best-of-three series in the Big Ten Tournament, with 32 points in 18 games.

• Four 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. 4 in both polls, while Minnesota follows at No. 7/8, Ohio State checks in at No. 8/7 and Notre Dame rounds out the list at No. 11/11.

• 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 174 times, with at least one top-five team in 135 out of 215 weeks.

• Notre Dame continues to lead the nation on the penalty kill, stopping 93.3 percent of opponent opportunities (97-of-104). The Fighting Irish are one of three teams above 90 percent nationally.

• Big Ten teams currently occupy five of the top 20 positions on the national team scoring list, including three of the top 10 spots. Michigan leads the conference and ranks fifth nationally with 3.86 goals per game, followed by Ohio State in sixth (3.73), Notre Dame in seventh (3.54), Minnesota in 13th (3.36), and Penn State in 18th (3.20).

• Five Big Ten goalies find themselves among the top 20 nationally in save percentage, including three of the top 10. Ohio State’s Jakub Dobeš leads the conference and ranks third nationally with a .938 save percentage, followed by Michigan State’s Drew DeRidder (4th, .934), Notre Dame’s Ryan Bischel (6th, .930), Michigan’s Erik Portillo (11th, .926) and Notre Dame’s Matthew Galajda (18th, .922).

• The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games opened this week with 14 players from Big Ten schools representing their countries on the ice, including nine for the United States, four for Canada and one for China. Michigan’s Matty Beniers, Brendan Brisson, Steven Kampfer and Strauss Mann, Michigan State’s Justin Abdelkader, and Minnesota’s Brock Faber, Matthew Knies, Ben Meyers and Aaron Ness are skating for the U.S., while Michigan’s Owen Power and Kent Johnson, Ohio State’s Matt Tomkins and Wisconsin’s Ben Street are representing Canada. Michigan State’s Jake Chelios is playing for China.

• In addition, Big Ten official Andrew Bruggeman is working the men’s Olympic tournament, Penn State’s Alex Dawes is assisting as video coach for the US squad and Wisconsin’s Nate LaPoint is serving as a US equipment manager.

• Ten standouts representing five Big Ten programs are among the 77 nominees for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award, given annually to the top NCAA Division I men’s ice hockey player in the nation. The list of nominees includes Michigan’s Matty Beniers, Kent Johnson and Owen Power; Michigan State’s Drew DeRidder; Minnesota’s Ben Meyers; Notre Dame’s Max Ellis and Matthew Galajda; and Penn State’s Connor MacEachern, Clayton Phillips, and Kevin Wall. The Hobey Baker Memorial Award will be presented to the winner on April 8 during the NCAA Frozen Four in Boston.

• Michigan’s Erik Portillo, Michigan State’s Drew DeRidder, Notre Dame’s Ryan Bischel and Matthew Galajda, Ohio State’s Jakub Dobeš and Wisconsin’s Jared Moe were among the 28 players named to the watch list for the 2022 Mike Richter Award, which annually honors the most outstanding goaltender in NCAA Division I men’s hockey and is named after former Wisconsin netminder Mike Richter. This year’s honoree will be announced at the 2022 NCAA Men’s Frozen Four in Boston.

• Notre Dame’s Graham Slaggert was named among the 11 nominees for the 2022 Hockey Humanitarian Award on Jan. 25. The award, which is celebrating its 27th year, is presented annually to college hockey’s finest citizen — a student-athlete who makes significant contributions not only to his or her team but also to the community at large through leadership in volunteerism. Finalists for the 2022 Hockey Humanitarian Award will be announced in February.

• Big Ten teams finished the non-conference slate with a mark of 48-19-4. With a winning percentage of .704, the Big Ten paces all Division I conferences.

2021-22 Big Ten Hockey Standings