2025–26 Alaska Nanooks men's ice hockey season

The 2025–26 Alaska Nanooks men's ice hockey season was the 76th season of play for the program and 41th at the Division I level. The Nanooks represented the University of Alaska Fairbanks in the 2025–26 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season, playd their games at the Carlson Center and were coached by Erik Largen in his 7th season.

With a high degree of roster turnover (sixteen new faces), Alaska was unknown quantity entering the season. While Lassi Lehti was expected to remain the starting netminder, team captain Chase Dafoe was the only one of the top five scorers who remained on the team. The degree of unfamiliarity was born out in the early part of the season as Alaska won just twice in its first eleven games. While it can't be discounted that the Nanooks played some of the top teams in the country during this time, the club's lack of offense left them unable to take advantage of several solid performances in goal.

By the middle of January, Alaska's season was teetering on the brink. Already eight games below .500, the Nanooks had no chance to make the NCAA tournament but that didn't mean their season was over. With their final twelve games all coming against fellow independent teams, Alaska had a chance to redeem itself from its poor start. After holding arch-rival Alaska Anchorage to a tie in the first game of the season series, Alaska's offence finally woke up. Over a six-game stretch, the Nanooks scored at least four goals and continued that torrid pace for the remainder of the season. Michael Citara, a graduate transfer who recovered from two separate season-ending injuries, led the offense with 16 goals on the season. Due primarily to Alaska winning six of eight games against the Seawolves, the Nanooks received the top seed for the inaugural United Collegiate Hockey Cup.

Alaska played its first postseason game in six years when they faced Stonehill in the semifinal round. While the Nanooks started strong and built a 2-goal lead less than four minutes into the game, the Skyhawks would not go quietly. With Alaska leading 3–1 early in the second, Stonehill scored three straight goals to completely change the tenor of the match. With time winding down at the end of regulation, Alaska was forced to pull their goaltender to try and tie the game. Time slowly ticked away on Alaska's championship hopes and it looked like they had missed their chance until Braden Birnie scored with just 1.2 seconds to play. Overtime was rather muted with just 4 shots being recorded and none finding the twine. The game finished in a shootout and both goaltenders were flawless through the first three rounds. After Lehti stopped Stonehill's fourth attempt, Tommy Cronin fired home the winning tally and sent Alaska to the championship game.^[1]

In their final game of the season, Alaska got off to a slower start but still possessed a lead after both the first and second periods. Lindenwood, much like Stonehill, refused to knuckle under and fired a barrage of shots on goal in the third. Lehti did yeoman's work to keep Alaska in the game, stopping 21 of 23 shots in the period. When the dust settled, overtime was again required to settle the match. Just 24 seconds into the extra frame, two players who were playing in their final college game proved to be the heroes. Birnie intercepted a pass and swiftly found Dafoe who netted the winner, ending Alaska's season on a high note.^[2]

As of August 20, 2025.^[3]

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Note: USCHO did not release a poll in week 12.^[6]
Note: USA Hockey did not release a poll in week 12.