The No. 9-ranked Ohio State men’s hockey team heads to Ann Arbor, Mich., to face No. 4 Michigan in a Big Ten Tournament semifinal game. The teams will meet at 6:30 p.m. Saturday in Yost Ice Arena for a spot in next Saturday’s Big Ten Championship game, hosted by the highest remaining seed.
The game will be televised by BTN and available on the Fox Sports app, with the broadcast on Ohio State Radio.
Ohio State is the tournament’s No. 3 seed and topped No. 6 Penn State in three games in the quarterfinals. No. 2 Michigan swept No. 7 Wisconsin in its first-round series.
Ohio State is 20-13-3 on the year and was 11-11-2-0-0-1 in Big Ten play. Michigan is 22-11-3 overall and had a 12-10-2-3-3-0 B1G ledger.
Buckeye Notes to Know
Ohio State and Michigan are meeting for the third time in the Big Ten Tournament. Ohio State won a semifinal game in overtime in Columbus in 2018 and Michigan won a neutral site single-elimination quarterfinal game in 2021.
The Buckeyes were 2-1-1 vs. Michigan in the regular season (with a shootout win). In the series in Ann Arbor this season, Ohio State took the opener 7-2 before a 4-2 Wolverine win.
Ohio State is first nationally on the penalty kill (133/149, .893) and in shorthanded goals (10).
The Buckeyes are one of two teams (Michigan State) to not yet win the Big Ten Tournament. The squad has reached the title game twice (2014, ’18).
This season, 22 Buckeyes have posted at least one point. Eighteen have scored a goal, with 22 notching an assist. Two Buckeyes have hit the 30-point mark, with three more at 20 points or better. In all, 14 have reached double-digit points.
Rookies lead Ohio State in goals, assists and points. Stephen Halliday has a team-best 30 assists and 39 points and Davis Burnside is first with 14 goals. Four other Buckeyes – Cam Thiesing, Joe Dunlap, Tate Singleton and Wise – have 10+ goals.
Halliday, Mason Lohrei and Wise each have 20+ assists.
Buckeyes in the B1G Tourney
The Buckeyes are 13-10 all-time in Big Ten Tournament action, with an 0-1 road record. The other road game in B1G tourney play was a 3-2 overtime loss at Notre Dame in the 2018 championship game.
In the semifinals, Ohio State is 2-4. The squad has semifinal wins over Minnesota in 2014 and Michigan in 2018, with losses to Minnesota in 2015 and ’16, Wisconsin in 2017 and Penn State in 2019.
The Buckeyes’ last nine Big Ten Tournament games have all been in the quarterfinals. The 2020 team swept a quarterfinal series before the remainder of the tournament (and season) was canceled, lost a single-elimination game in 2021, dropped a three-game series last year and then won a three-game series this season.
Ohio State has never won the Big Ten Tournament, reaching the title game twice (2014, 2018). The squad has advanced to the semifinals seven times (with the 2020 game canceled).
The program has two conference postseason tournament titles, winning the CCHA in 1972 and 2004.
This is the second time Ohio State is the tournament’s No. 3 seed. The squad was a 6-3 winner vs. Michigan State in the 2017 quarterfinals in Detroit before a 2-1 loss to Wisconsin in the semis.
Of the current Buckeyes, CJ Regula and Tate Singleton are first with nine Big Ten Tournament games played and five others have played seven. Cole McWard has a team-best three goals in B1G tourney play. Stephen Halliday had a five-point series last week to rank second in points through his first three games. Singleton is first with six points, including four assists.
Buckeyes vs. Wolverines
Ohio State and Michigan faced off for the first time in 1964 and after games in 1969-70, 1974-75 and 1978-79, have met at least once each season since 1981-82 when Michigan joined Ohio State in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association.
The Wolverines lead the all-time series, 92-51-15, including 47-20-8 in Ann Arbor.
Both regular season series between the Buckeyes and Wolverines this year were in the second half of the campaign. Ohio State was 2-1-1 vs. Michigan.
The first series was in Ann Arbor Jan. 13-14, with a 7-2 Ohio State win and 4-2 Wolverine victory. In Columbus Feb. 16 the teams tied, 3-3, and Ohio State won the shootout. Outside in Cleveland Feb. 18, the Buckeyes were 4-2 winners.
Ohio State is 3-11 all-time vs. Michigan in the postseason but 1-1 since the start of Big Ten play. The Buckeyes won in the semifinals in Nationwide Arena in 2018, 3-2 in overtime. In 2021, the Wolverines were 4-0 winners in a quarterfinal single elimination game in South Bend, Ind.
The squads were set to meet in Columbus in the 2020 semifinal round before the remainder of the season was canceled because of Covid-19.
Tate Singleton leads the current Buckeyes with 17 games played vs. Michigan and has a team-best seven goals and 12 points vs. the Wolverines. Jake Wise is first with seven assists (in eight games) and ranks second with nine points. Travis Treloar has a 4-4-8 line in 13 career games vs. U-M.
Five Buckeyes – Scooter Brickey (Burtchville), Patrick Guzzo (Marysville), John Larkin (Northville), Dalton Messina (Macomb) and CJ Regula (Bloomfield Hills) call Michigan home. Tyler Duke’s brother, Dylan, plays for the Wolverines.
Michigan is second nationally in scoring offense (4.03 goals per game) and 14th in the NCAA on the power play (.236), allowing 3.19 goals a game and stopping 77.4 percent of its opponents’ chances with the man advantage. Freshman Adam Fantilli is first nationally in goals, assists and points per game.
In the Rankings
This week, the Buckeyes are ninth in the DCU/USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls.
Ohio State started the year No. 16 in the DCU/USCHO.com preseason poll and was No. 18 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine preseason rankings. The squad has been ranked in the Top 20 all season and in the Top 10 since Jan. 9.
Ohio State is one of five Big Ten teams in the USCHO Top 20 this week, joining No. 1 Minnesota, No. 4 Michigan, No. 11 Penn State and No. 18 Michigan State, with Notre Dame receiving votes.
Top 3 and Ones to Watch
For the second year in a row, Jakub Dobeš is a finalist for the Big Ten Goaltender of the Year award, Mason Lohrei is a Best Defensive Player award finalist and Steve Rohlik is among the Top 3 for the league coach of the year honor.
Freshman Stephen Halliday was named to the Tim Taylor Award watch list for the nation’s freshman of the year honor.
Dobeš, Lohrei and Jake Wise are all among the candidates for the 2023 Hobey Baker Award. In the fan voting as of Tuesday, Wise was seventh among all players. VOTE BUCKEYE FOR HOBEY
A Richter Award Semifinalist Again
For the second year in a row Jakub Dobeš was a semifinalist for the Mike Richter Award, the honor given annually to the top goalie in Division I men’s hockey.
He was one of nine semifinalists (one of two sophomores) after 41 were on the original watch list.
Dobeš started the first 37 games in net and has a 2.25 goals-against average and .920 save percentage, with 20 wins.
Last week against Penn State he had a 1.26 goals-against average and .959 save percentage, allowing four goals in three games combined.
Dobeš is in the Top 5 in program history in career save percentage (.927) and goals-against average (2.26). With two wins last weekend, he moved into ninth in program history in career wins with 41.
He leads the NCAA in minutes played (2185:57), a mark that is the seventh-most in school history for a single season.
Special Teams
The Buckeyes were 7-for-8 on the penalty kill against Penn State last weekend, allowing a goal in game one. The squad is now 133-for-149 (.893) this season, leading the NCAA.
Ohio State is first nationally with 10 shorthanded goals, ahead of Northern Michigan with eight. Davis Burnside and Patrick Guzzo each have two shorthanded goals to lead the Buckeyes and tie for sixth in the NCAA. Ohio State also has man-down tallies from Cam Thiesing, Dominic Vidoli, Tate Singleton, Kamil Sadlocha, Joe Dunlap and Tyler Duke.
The 10 shorthanded goals are the most for the Buckeyes since the 2006-07 squad had 11. The previous best since that year was five in 2012-13 and 2015-16.
The squad has allowed four shorthanded goals – vs. Wisconsin Oct. 8, Bentley Oct. 20, LIU Nov. 26 and Penn State Dec. 3.
Overall, Ohio State is 33-for-153 (.216) with the man advantage and has put 263 shots on goals while a man up. The squad was 2-for-13 (.154) vs. Penn State.
Jake Wise is second in the Big Ten and is tied for eighth nationally with eight power play goals. Stephen Halliday is second on the team and tied for 14th in the NCAA with seven power play tallies and Travis Treloar has six. Cole McWard (with two last weekend) and Cam Thiesing each have three power play goals and Michael Gildon has two. Scooter Brickey, Tyler Duke and Mason Lohrei have also scored on the power play.
Halliday has a team-best 23 power play points and 16 power play assists. Mason Lohrei is second with 16 assists with the man advantage and he and Wise (8g, 9a) are tied for second in points with 17 each.
