2025–26 NCHC season

2025–26 NCHC season
2025–26 NCHC season
Season	2025–26
Conference	NCHC
Division	Division I
Sport	ice hockey
Duration	October 3, 2025–; March 21, 2026
Number of teams	9
NHL Entry Draft
Regular season
Season champions	North Dakota
Top scorer	Bennett Schimek
NCHC Tournament
NCAA tournament
	NCHC seasons; « 2024–25 2026–27 »

The 2025–26 NCHC season will be the 13th season of play for the National Collegiate Hockey Conference and took place during the 2025–26 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season. The season will begin on October 3, 2025, and the conference tournament is set to concluded on March 21, 2026.

Coaches

After 10 seasons at North Dakota, Brad Berry was fired as head coach.^[1] Associate head coach Dane Jackson was promoted first on an interim basis and then as the full-time head coach.^[2]

Records

Team	Head coach	Season at school	Record at school	NCHC record
Arizona State	Greg Powers	11^[a]	153–162–26^[b]	14–9–1
Colorado College	Kris Mayotte	5	61–77–10	37–51–7
Denver	David Carle	8	179–74–17	98–57–12
Miami	Anthony Noreen	2	3–28–3	0–23–1
Minnesota Duluth	Scott Sandelin	26	469–408–104	144–120–25
North Dakota	Dane Jackson	1	0–0–0	0–0–0
Omaha	Mike Gabinet	9	135–131–17	88–91–13
St. Cloud State	Brett Larson	8	137–97–22	84–67–17
Western Michigan	Pat Ferschweiler	5	104–50–4	59–35–4

^ 10th season of NCAA coaching, 16th season overall. Powers was head coach of Arizona State during its last five seasons of club play in the ACHA (2010–2015).
^ NCAA coaching record only.

Preseason

Members of the media were polled prior to the season and asked to both rank member programs as well as vote for an all-conference team, player of the year and rookie of the year.^[3]^[4]

Preseason Poll

Rank	Team
1	Western Michigan (19)
2	Denver (4)
3	North Dakota (5)
4	Arizona State (2)
5	Colorado College
6	Minnesota Duluth
7	Omaha
8	St. Cloud State
9	Miami

Preseason All-NCHC

First Team	Position
Hampton Slukynsky, Western Michigan	G
Jake Livanavage, North Dakota	D
Eric Pohlkamp, Denver	D
Sam Harris, Denver	F
Cullen Potter, Arizona State	F
Max Plante, Minnesota Duluth	F

Standings

2025–26 National Collegiate Hockey Conference Standings
	Conference record										Overall record
	GP	W	L	T	OTW	OTL	SW	PTS	GF	GA	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA
#2 North Dakota †	24	17	6	1	1	4	0	55	96	58	37	27	9	1	142	88
#4 Denver *	24	17	6	1	2	1	1	52	82	51	39	25	11	3	137	84
#5 Western Michigan	24	16	7	1	3	1	1	48	89	65	37	26	10	1	135	88
#6 Minnesota Duluth	24	11	12	1	3	4	1	36	64	66	38	23	14	1	124	94
St. Cloud State	24	9	14	1	1	2	1	30	63	86	36	16	19	1	112	112
Colorado College	24	7	11	6	2	3	1	29	63	66	36	13	17	6	95	98
Miami	24	9	13	2	3	1	1	28	60	74	36	18	16	2	104	108
Omaha	24	8	16	0	0	0	0	24	57	86	36	12	24	0	95	129
Arizona State	24	7	16	1	2	1	1	22	62	94	36	14	21	1	106	132
Championship: March 21, 2026 † indicates conference regular season champion (Penrose Cup) * indicates conference tournament champion (National Cup) Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll; updated March 21, 2026

Non-conference record

Regular season record

Team	AHA	Big Ten	CCHA	ECAC Hockey	Hockey East	Independent	Total
Arizona State	1–0–0	3–2–0	0–2–0	1–1–0	0–0–0	2–0–0	7–3–0
Colorado College	0–0–0	0–0–0	2–2–0	0–0–0	1–1–0	0–0–0	0–0–0
Denver	0–0–0	0–0–0	0–0–0	0–0–0	0–0–0	0–0–0	0–0–0
Miami	0–0–0	0–0–0	0–0–0	0–0–0	0–0–0	0–0–0	0–0–0
Minnesota Duluth	0–0–0	0–0–0	0–0–0	0–0–0	0–0–0	0–0–0	0–0–0
North Dakota	2–0–0	1-1–0	4–0–0	1–1–0	0–0–0	0–0–0	8–2–0
Omaha	0–0–0	0–0–0	0–0–0	0–0–0	0–0–0	0–0–0	0–0–0
St. Cloud State	0–0–0	0–0–0	0–0–0	0–0–0	0–0–0	0–0–0	0–0–0
Western Michigan	0–0–0	0–0–0	0–0–0	0–0–0	0–0–0	0–0–0	0–0–0
Overall	0–0–0	0–0–0	0–0–0	0–0–0	0–0–0	0–0–0	0–0–0

Statistics

Conference Tournament

Teams are reseeded for the semifinals.

Quarterfinals March 6–8					Semifinals March 14			Championship March 21

1	North Dakota	5	5	—

8	Omaha	3	1	—
					4	Minnesota Duluth	5

					1	North Dakota	1
2	Denver	3	6	—

7	Miami	0	2	—
								4	Minnesota Duluth	3
(Teams are reseeded after the quarterfinals)
								2	Denver	4**
3	Western Michigan	5	2*	—

6	Colorado College	2	1	—
					3	Western Michigan	1

					2	Denver	2*
4	Minnesota Duluth	4*	2*	—

5	St. Cloud State	3	1	—

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

NCAA tournament

Ranking

USCHO

Team	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	Final
Arizona State	14	15	15	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	–	–
Colorado College	NR	NR	19	16	15	20	17	NR	NR	20	19	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	–	–
Denver	4	5	5	7	6	9	4	3	4	6	6	6	6	7	9	9	11	8	8	8	8	7	6	4	–	–
Miami	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	19	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	20	20	NR	NR	NR	NR	–	–
Minnesota Duluth	NR	NR	NR	18	10	7	3	4	5	4	5	5	5	5	6	7	7	10	10	9	9	10	8	6	–	–
North Dakota	11	10	8	8	8	8	6	6	6	5	4	4	4	4	5	4	4	3	3	3	3	3	2	2	–	–
Omaha	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	–	–
St. Cloud State	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	20	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	–	–
Western Michigan	1	1	2	2	3	4	9	8	7	7	7	7	7	6	3	3	3	4	4	4	4	4	4	5	–	–

Note: USCHO did not release a poll in week 12.^[5]

USA Hockey

Team	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	Final
Arizona State	14	15	16	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	–	–	–
Colorado College	NR	NR	20	17	16	19	17	NR	NR	NR	19	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	–	–	–
Denver	4	5	5	7	7	11	4	3	4	5	5	6	6	7	10	9	11	9	8	8	8	7	6	4	–	–	–
Miami	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	20	NR	NR	NR	19	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	20	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	–	–	–
Minnesota Duluth	NR	NR	NR	19	11	7	3	4	5	4	4	5	5	5	6	6	8	10	9	9	9	10	8	6	–	–	–
North Dakota	10	11	8	8	8	8	6	6	6	6	6	4	4	4	5	4	4	3	3	3	3	2	2	2	–	–	–
Omaha	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	–	–	–
St. Cloud State	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	19	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	–	–	–
Western Michigan	1	1	2	2	3	4	8	7	7	7	8	8	7	6	4	3	3	4	4	4	4	4	4	5	–	–	–

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

NPI

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	Final
Arizona State	–	–	34	–	–	44	40	43	41	39	35	25	24	23	28	29	34	37	39	42	41	41	–	–
Colorado College	–	–	16	–	–	28	31	36	34	32	32	34	37	35	35	30	32	31	32	27	32	31	–	–
Denver	–	–	20	–	–	7	3	5	5	6	6	9	11	10	13	11	11	8	9	8	6	5	–	–
Miami	–	–	4	–	–	12	24	29	17	21	26	30	32	24	25	19	21	21	26	26	33	33	–	–
Minnesota Duluth	–	–	7	–	–	4	5	6	4	4	7	4	4	4	6	8	10	9	7	10	8	6	–	–
North Dakota	–	–	14	–	–	5	10	10	7	5	4	2	2	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	2	2	–	–
Omaha	–	–	3	–	–	22	20	33	31	31	38	42	40	45	43	40	39	43	41	41	42	42	–	–
St. Cloud State	–	–	29	–	–	31	25	17	14	24	24	20	19	17	17	25	20	22	23	25	29	30	–	–
Western Michigan	–	–	15	–	–	26	18	12	11	11	12	7	5	5	5	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	–	–

Note: teams ranked in the top-10 automatically qualify for the NCAA tournament. Teams ranked 11-16 can qualify based upon conference tournament results.^[7]

References

^ "Brad Berry out as UND men's hockey coach". Grand Forks Herald. 2025-03-23. Retrieved 2025-03-24.
^ "Dane Jackson named head coach of North Dakota hockey program". University of North Dakota Athletics. 2025-03-23. Retrieved 2025-03-30.
^ "Defending national champion Western Michigan chosen first in 2025 NCHC preseason media poll". USCHO. September 18, 2025. Retrieved September 21, 2025.
^ "NCHC announces six-member preseason all-conference team ahead of 2025-26 season". USCHO. September 17, 2025. Retrieved September 21, 2025.
^ "USCHO Division I Men's Poll". USCHO.com. Retrieved March 16, 2026.
^ "USA Hockey Men's Poll". USCHO.com. Retrieved March 16, 2026.
^ "Men's National Collegiate Percentage (NPI) Index". USCHO.com. Retrieved March 16, 2026.

External links

Official website

[3] 10th season of NCAA coaching, 16th season overall. Powers was head coach of Arizona State during its last five seasons of club play in the ACHA (2010–2015).

[4] NCAA coaching record only.

[1] "Brad Berry out as UND men's hockey coach". Grand Forks Herald. 2025-03-23. Retrieved 2025-03-24.

[2] "Dane Jackson named head coach of North Dakota hockey program". University of North Dakota Athletics. 2025-03-23. Retrieved 2025-03-30.

[5] "Defending national champion Western Michigan chosen first in 2025 NCHC preseason media poll". USCHO. September 18, 2025. Retrieved September 21, 2025.

[6] "NCHC announces six-member preseason all-conference team ahead of 2025-26 season". USCHO. September 17, 2025. Retrieved September 21, 2025.

[7] "USCHO Division I Men's Poll". USCHO.com. Retrieved March 16, 2026.

[8] "USA Hockey Men's Poll". USCHO.com. Retrieved March 16, 2026.

[9] "Men's National Collegiate Percentage (NPI) Index". USCHO.com. Retrieved March 16, 2026.

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National Collegiate Hockey Conference
Current teams	Arizona State Sun Devils Colorado College Tigers Denver Pioneers Miami RedHawks Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs North Dakota Fighting Hawks Omaha Mavericks St. Cloud State Huskies Western Michigan Broncos
Future teams	St. Thomas Tommies (joining in 2026)
Venues	Mullett Arena (Arizona State) Ed Robson Arena (Colorado College) Magness Arena (Denver) Steve Cady Arena (Miami) AMSOIL Arena (Minnesota Duluth) Ralph Engelstad Arena (North Dakota) Baxter Arena (Omaha) Herb Brooks National Hockey Center (St. Cloud State) Lawson Arena (Western Michigan)
Future venues	Lee & Penny Anderson Arena (St. Thomas) Kalamazoo Event Center (Western Michigan; planned to open in 2027)
Seasons	2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26
Awards	Player of the Year Rookie of the Year Goaltender of the Year Herb Brooks Coach of the Year Forward of the Year Defensive Forward of the Year Defensive Defenseman of the Year Offensive Defenseman of the Year Scholar-Athlete of the Year Sportsmanship Award All-NCHC Teams