Ready or Not, the 2025-26 College Hockey Season is Here: Puck Drop
Did you know that the 2025-26 college hockey regular season begins tonight for a number of teams? Actually, a lot of teams have already played scrimmages and exhibitions, and there have been a couple of regular season games already, but the Boston College women get officially under way this evening. There are three other games around the country, including a top-10 showdown and two other ranked teams in action.
The top-10 meeting, according to the preseason USCHO.com rankings, features No. 9 at No. 8 Penn State at Pegula Ice Arena. Penn State The Nittany Lions returns their top five scorers including Tessa Janecke, while St. Lawrence lost its top five scorers from last season.
However, St, Lawrence defeated Colgate in an exhibition game last weekend, 1-0, thanks to Kassidy Lawrence making 48 saves. The teams have met the in the last two NCAA tournaments, with the Saints ending Penn State's season both times. Overall, The Nittany Lions are 0-9-1 in the series and they'll get two chances here as the teams will play again on Friday,
Meanwhile, No. 3 Minnesota hosts Boston College, and Mercyhurst visits New Hampshire.
On Wednesday, Penn State celebrated adding to its ring collection after winning its third straight Atlantic Hockey Association last seaosn.
𝟑𝟏-𝟔-𝟏. 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐧, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥. 💍
— Penn State Women’s Hockey (@PennStateWHKY) September 24, 2025
Let the new era begin. #WeAre pic.twitter.com/5clmB1M5bx
Puck Drop: Thursday, September 25, 2025
A full schedule and results will be posted each day, men's and women's. Speaking of which ...
Thursday's Games
Men
No Games Scheduled
Women
St. Lawrence at Penn State, 6 p.m.
Minnesota Duluth at Syracuse, 6 p.m.
Mercyhurst at New Hampshire, 6 p.m.
Boston College at Minnesota, 7 p.m.
Wednesday's Scores
No Games Scheduled
Countdown to 2025-26 Men's Hockey Season Opener:
8 days
Did You Notice?
• The ECAC announced that the league’s women’s championships are moving to Herb Books Arena in Lake Placid, N.Y. effective this season. The top four teams will play in the semifinals on March 6, with the title game a day later and the winner earning the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Cornell defeated Colgate in last year's championship game in Ithaca, N.Y.
• The Friendship Four in Belfast, Ireland, announced the participating teams for the next three tournaments. The 2026 event will see Connecticut, Providence, Minnesota Duluth and Colgate make the trip across the pond, followed by Northeastern, Quinnipiac, North Dakota and Wisconsin in 2027, and Notre Dame, Omaha, Dartmouth and Maine in 2028. Playing in this year's tournament on Nov. 28-29 are Rochester Institute of Technology, Sacred Heart, Miami and Union. The next women’s Friendship Series tournament will feature Boston University, Harvard, Quinnipiac and Minnesota Duluth in January 2026.
• Preliminary invitations are set to go out for the U.S. Collegiate Selects Team that will play at the annual Spengler Cup from Dec. 26-31 in Davos, Switzerland. The roster will not include any players on the roster for the World Junior Championships (Dec. 26-Jan. 5 in the Twin Cities) or freshmen. Penn State’s Guy Gadowsky will serve as head coach, with Mike Souza (New Hampshire) and Jason Lammers (Niagara) the assistants. Other teams participating include Team Canada (made up of professionals playing in Europe), IFK Helsinki (Finland), HC Fribourg-Gottéron (France), HC Sparta Praha (Czechia), and HC Davos. Check out the Grand Forks Herald for more info.
MSU Hockey Starts 2025-26 Season with Stellar Ranking
On This Date in Hockey History:
September 25, 1926: Chicago and Detroit were granted NHL franchises.
September 25, 1929: Hall of Fame administrator Walter Bush, who was president of USA Hockey for nearly two decades, was born in Minneapolis.
September 25, 1974: St. Lawrence center Joel Prpic was born in Sudbury, Ontario.
September 25, 1984: Denver defenseman Matt Carle was born in Anchorage, Ak.
September 25, 1984. The Hall of Fame inducted Bernie Parent, Phil Esposito, Jacques Lemaire, Punch Imlach and Jake Milford.
September 25, 2019: The Seattle Kraken hired Cammi Granato as the first female pro scout in NHL history.
Hockey Quote of the Day
"I've got to admit I'd never heard of the guy, but he was really impressive right away. By that, I mean immediately. He played like a European. Skill. Size. Smart. Great, great hands. Amazing touch. I can't begin to remember how many pucks he deflected into the net. I probably can't count that high."Hakan Loob on Joe Nieuwendyk (Cornell)
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We'll Leave You With This ...
"We're better than we've ever been. We're deeper than we've ever been. But so is everybody else."
— Gabriella Chernoff (@GabbyJChernoff) September 23, 2025
Greg Powers talked about how the NCAA's rule changes, which now permit CHL players to play college hockey, impacted roster building for this season: @SunDevilSource pic.twitter.com/4qgBcqlaBu
Christopher Walsh is the founder and publisher of Alabama Crimson Tide On SI, which first published as BamaCentral in 2018, and is also the publisher of the Boston College, Missouri and Vanderbilt sites . He's covered the Crimson Tide since 2004 and is the author of 27 books including “100 Things Crimson Tide Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die” and “Nick Saban vs. College Football.” He's an eight-time honoree of Football Writers Association of America awards and three-time winner of the Herby Kirby Memorial Award, the Alabama Sports Writers Association’s highest writing honor for story of the year. In 2022, he was named one of the 50 Legends of the ASWA. Previous beats include the Green Bay Packers, Arizona Cardinals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, along with Major League Baseball’s Arizona Diamondbacks. Originally from Minnesota and a graduate of the University of New Hampshire, he currently resides in Tuscaloosa.
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