The 2025–26 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season began on October 3, 2025, and concluded with the NCAA championship on April 11, 2026. This was the 78th season in which an NCAA ice hockey championship was held and US college hockey's 132nd year overall.
This season was only the second time in history that the NCAA championship was held in the Pacific Time Zone. The first occurred in 1999 when the finals were held in Anaheim, California.
Eligibility rules In September of 2024, Arizona State received a commitment from a Canadian Hockey League player when Braxton Whitehead agreed to join the program for the 2025-26 season. Due to the new student athlete compensation rules the NCAA was forced to implement, major-junior players could no longer be excluded for having received a financial stipend during their tenure in the three CHL leagues. As a result, it took less than two months for the NCAA to remove the long-standing prohibition and allow former major-junior players to play college hockey in the United States once more.
Program downgrade During the previous season, American International announced that they would be downgrading their program to Division II beginning with this season.
Delayed start In July, Tennessee State, which had originally planned on playing their first varsity games this season, announced that they would be pushing back the start of the program until 2026–27.
Mercyhurst Three weeks after Mercyhurst was eliminated from their conference tournament, the university announced that they were terminating their men's ice hockey program effective immediately. Mercyhurst and American International had two of the worst attendance figures for Division I programs over the past several years.
Polls
Regular season Season tournaments NamesDatesLocationTeamsChampionRunner-upIce Breaker TournamentOctober 10–11, 2025Mullett Arena(Tempe, Arizona)4Arizona StateNotre DameAdirondack Winter InvitationalNovember 28–29, 2025Herb Brooks Arena(Lake Placid, New York)4AlaskaClarksonFriendship FourNovember 28–29, 2025SSE Arena Belfast(Belfast, Northern Ireland)4MiamiUnionHoliday Face–OffDecember 27–28, 2025Fiserv Forum(Milwaukee, Wisconsin)4Western MichiganWisconsinGreat Lakes InvitationalDecember 28–29, 2025Van Andel Arena(Grand Rapids, Michigan)4Michigan StateMichigan TechCoachella Valley Cactus CupJanuary 2–3, 2026Acrisure Arena(Thousand Palms, California)4St. Cloud StateMassachusetts LowellDesert Hockey ClassicJanuary 2–3, 2026Mullett Arena(Tempe, Arizona)4Arizona StateAir ForceConnecticut IceJanuary 23–24, 2026Ingalls Rink(New Haven, Connecticut)4ConnecticutQuinnipiacBeanpotFebruary 2, 9 2026TD Garden(Boston, Massachusetts)4Boston CollegeBoston University
Standings
Postseason Main tournament
Independent tournament In May 2025, the five active independent Division I teams (Alaska, Alaska Anchorage, Lindenwood, Long Island and Stonehill) came to an agreement about a hosting a postseason tournament beginning with this season. The series, which was named the "United Collegiate Hockey Cup", held its inaugural meet from March 5–7, 2026 and was hosted by Lindenwood and the Centene Community Ice Center. The series was born in part due to a few teams (notably Alaska in 2023) losing ground in the national ranking during the conference playoffs and missing out on at-large bids to the NCAA tournament. The schools also wanted a forum to showcase their programs on a larger scale which could help improve both recruiting and fundraising.
NPI Rankings During the previous season, the NCAA announced that they would stop using the PairWise rankings for determining at-large bids to the NCAA tournament in favor of the NCAA Power Index (NPI).
Just prior to the start of the season, the methodology was announced as follows:
Win percentage / Strength of Schedule – 25%/75% Home-Away Win/Loss – 1.2/0.8 (regular season), 1.0/1.0 (postseason) Quality Win Base – 51 Quality Win Multiplier – 0.5 Overtime – 60/40 (regular season), 100/0 (postseason) Minimum Wins – 12
The final criteria, minimum wins, refers to the number of wins that must be retained in a team's ranking. According to the new system, games that are rated as being below a certain value threshold (e.g. defeating a club 40 places lower in the rankings) are removed from the calculations in order to prevent the numbers from becoming too skewed. Rather than being rewarded or punished for losing to a far stronger or defeating a far inferior opponent, the game is simply not counted in the rankings for one or both teams.
As part of the change, the NCAA selection committee eliminated several criteria that had been use by the PairWise: Ratings Points Index (a measurement of success against opponents weighted by strength of schedule), common opponents and head-to-head matches. Additionally, the committee did not retain the requirement that the teams must have at least a .500 record in order to be considered for an at-large bid.
+ NCAA Division I Men's Hockey NPI Rankings Rank Team Conference 1 59.193* 53.081 0.902 Big Ten 2 58.579* 52.958 0.931 NCHC 3 58.469* 52.108 0.634 NCHC 4 57.918* 52.362 0.813 Big Ten 5 57.642 53.202 0.706 NCHC 6 56.173 53.508 0.580 NCHC 7 55.958 53.565 0.810 Big Ten 8 55.545 49.362 0.200 ECAC Hockey 9 55.512 51.769 0.374 Hockey East 10 55.249 50.472 0.308 ECAC Hockey 11 55.159 52.991 0.498 Big Ten 12 54.669 50.400 0.223 ECAC Hockey 13 54.027 49.764 0.340 CCHA 14 54.014 49.727 0.282 CCHA 15 53.874 51.211 0.310 CCHA 16 53.741 51.649 0.337 Hockey East 17 53.658 51.110 0.298 Hockey East 18 53.231 51.718 0.235 Hockey East 19 53.000 49.749 0.229 CCHA 20 52.980 53.658 0.693 Big Ten 21 52.935 50.182 0.298 ECAC Hockey 22 52.898 51.065 0.279 Hockey East 23 52.661 50.043 0.323 CCHA 24 52.546 51.966 0.454 Hockey East 25 52.464 49.257 0.065 AHA 26 52.188 48.924 0.160 ECAC Hockey 27 52.030 53.105 0.453 NCHC 28 51.896 51.547 0.381 Hockey East 29 51.815 52.182 0.329 Hockey East 30 51.749 53.501 0.467 NCHC 31 51.745 49.112 0.061 AHA 32 51.699 52.456 0.166 NCHC 33 51.301 50.895 0.173 ECAC Hockey 34 50.763 50.706 0.407 ECAC Hockey 35 50.599 50.011 0.221 Independent 36 50.587 49.886 0.111 Independent 37 50.533 49.814 0.183 AHA 38 50.331 49.957 0.076 AHA 39 50.310 54.831 0.656 Big Ten 40 49.847 54.018 0.413 NCHC 41 49.592 52.412 0.394 Hockey East 42 49.578 54.270 0.359 NCHC 43 49.405 48.868 0.067 Independent 44 49.041 48.870 0.048 AHA 45 48.677 49.855 0.106 AHA 46 48.570 49.217 0.017 AHA 47 48.521 51.547 0.222 Hockey East 48 48.335 48.080 0.000 AHA 49 48.323 51.336 0.268 CCHA 50 48.192 50.619 0.172 ECAC Hockey 51 48.108 54.275 0.242 Big Ten 52 47.735 51.463 0.189 Hockey East 53 47.513 50.259 0.135 CCHA 54 46.657 50.418 0.079 ECAC Hockey 55 45.894 52.105 0.246 CCHA 56 45.890 48.952 0.067 AHA 57 45.399 49.261 0.037 Independent 58 44.807 50.850 0.136 ECAC Hockey 59 43.857 50.653 0.133 ECAC Hockey 60 43.232^ 52.050 0.113 CCHA 61 43.065 49.868 0.024 ECAC Hockey 62 42.864^ 50.338 0.120 Independent 63 42.623^ 50.285 0.013 AHA * A team's NPI has been adjusted to remove negative effect from defeating a weak opponent ^ A team's NPI has been adjusted to remove positive effects from losing to a strong opponent Note: A team's record is based only on games against other Division I hockey schools which are eligible for the NCAA TournamentUpdated April 13, 2026
Player stats Scoring leaders Player Class Team GP G A Pts PIM Freshman Quinnipiac 40 25 34 59 20 Senior Michigan 40 22 35 57 22 Sophomore Minnesota Duluth 40 25 27 52 23 Sophomore Michigan 39 13 39 52 14 Sophomore Minnesota Duluth 40 20 31 51 2 Freshman Penn State 35 15 36 51 36 Freshman Michigan State 35 25 25 50 78 Sophomore Dartmouth 35 29 19 48 34 Senior Sacred Heart 39 25 23 48 87 Sophomore Boston College 34 23 24 47 24 As of April 9, 2026
Goaltending leaders The following goaltenders lead the NCAA in goals against average, minimum 1/3 of team's minutes played. GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average
Player Class Team GP Min W L T GA SO SV% GAA Freshman Denver 21 1112:56 16 0 1 22 3 .957 1.19 Senior Minnesota State 39 2365:05 21 11 7 71 5 .927 1.80 Freshman North Dakota 27 1602:15 20 5 1 51 6 .919 1.91 Junior Dartmouth 24 1464:32 15 5 4 47 2 .922 1.93 Junior Massachusetts 29 1721:06 19 9 1 56 4 .937 1.95 Junior Augustana 35 2111:36 20 11 4 70 5 .938 1.99 Freshman Providence 19 1084:31 13 5 0 37 2 .922 2.05 Freshman Cornell 28 1636:18 18 10 0 56 1 .915 2.05 Sophomore Sacred Heart 22 1260:57 13 7 1 44 2 .928 2.09 Sophomore Quinnipiac 18 975:43 10 6 1 34 2 .912 2.09 As of April 11, 2026
Awards
NCAA Award RecipientHobey Baker Award Max Plante, Minnesota DuluthSpencer Penrose Award Reid Cashman, DartmouthTim Taylor Award Ethan Wyttenbach, QuinnipiacMike Richter Award Trey Augustine, Michigan StateDerek Hines Unsung Hero Award Kevin Anderson, PrincetonTournament Most Outstanding Player Johnny Hicks, Denver East First Team Position West First Team Michael Hrabal, UMass G Trey Augustine, Michigan State Brandon Holt, Maine D Jake Livanavage, North Dakota Cole Hutson, Boston University D Eric Pohlkamp, Denver James Hagens, Boston College F T.J. Hughes, Michigan Hayden Stavroff, Dartmouth F Porter Martone, Michigan State Ethan Wyttenbach, Quinnipiac F Max Plante, Minnesota Duluth East Second Team Position West Second Team Lawton Zacher, Northeastern G Josh Kotai, Augustana Tyler Dunbar, Union D Ty Hanson, Minnesota Duluth Chris Hedden, Air Force D Evan Murr, Minnesota State Dylan Hryckowian, Northeastern F Tyson Gross, St. Cloud State Jack Musa, Massachusetts F Gavin McKenna, Penn State Felix Trudeau, Sacred Heart F Charlie Stramel, Michigan State
Atlantic Hockey America Award RecipientPlayer of the Year Félix Trudeau, Sacred HeartForward of the Year Félix Trudeau, Sacred HeartBest Defenseman Chris Hedden, Air ForceGoaltender of the Year J. J. Cataldo, ArmyBest Defensive Forward Kellan Hjartarson, BentleyRookie of the Year Zach Wigle, RITIndividual Sportsmanship Award Mack Oliphant, Holy CrossCoach of the Year Andy Jones, BentleyTournament Most Outstanding Player Michael Mesic, Bentley First Team Position Second Team J. J. Cataldo, Army G Jakub Krbecek, RIT Chris Hedden, Air Force D Mack Oliphant, Holy Cross Mikey Adamson, Sacred Heart D Dominic Elliott, Robert Morris Félix Trudeau, Sacred Heart F Tanner Klimpke, Robert Morris Jack Stockfish, Holy Cross F Jack Ivey, Army Jake Black, Bentley F Stephen Castagna, Bentley Third Team Position Rookie Team Dominik Wasik, Air Force G Lukas Swedin, Bentley Jack Dalton, Bentley D F. J. Buteau, Canisius Nolan Cunningham, Air Force D John Babcock, Robert Morris Grant Porter, Canisius F Zach Wigle, RIT Walter Zacher, Canisius F Evan Konyen, RIT Killian Kiecker-Olson, Canisius F Maxim Muranov, Niagra
Big Ten Award Recipient Player of the Year T. J. Hughes, MichiganDefensive Player of the Year Matt Basgall, Michigan StateGoaltender of the Year Trey Augustine, Michigan StateFreshman of the Year Gavin McKenna, Penn StateScoring Champion Gavin McKenna, Penn StateCoach of the Year Adam Nightingale, Michigan StateTournament Most Outstanding Player T. J. Hughes, Michigan First Team Position Second Team Trey Augustine, Michigan State G Jack Ivankovic, Michigan Matt Basgall, Michigan State D Tyler Duke, Michigan Ben Dexheimer, Wisconsin D Jackson Smith, Penn State T. J. Hughes, Michigan F Michael Hage, Michigan Porter Martone, Michigan State F Brodie Ziemer, Minnesota Charlie Stramel, Michigan State F Gavin McKenna, Penn State Freshman Team Position Jack Ivankovic, Michigan G Jackson Smith, Penn State D Luke Osburn, Wisconsin D Porter Martone, Michigan State F Jake Karabela, Ohio State F Gavin McKenna, Penn State F
CCHA