Non-UND College Hockey 2025-26

[brianvf]

9 minutes ago, cberkas said:

This will either be a genius move or backfire miserably. Have to expect some school watching Omaha closely next season to see if it pays off or not.

Yes for sure.
They're gonna be older, which definitely helps for experience over some of the much younger teams...but after watching years of Canadian USports teams get easily handled by NCAA teams in exhibitions, it's really hard to gauge how good some of these players will be.
Just crazy to me watching UNO bet their entire season(s) on a path that no other college seems willing to go into.

[fightingsioux4life]

20 minutes ago, cberkas said:

This will either be a genius move or backfire miserably. Have to expect some school watching Omaha closely next season to see if it pays off or not.

It's unlikely they'll finish below Miami.

[atxsioux]

43 minutes ago, nascar99 said:

Does anyone know if Tennessee State is actually going to play in 2025-26? No tweets from their official Twitter account nor from their head coach's account since early/mid May...

I know that BU released their schedule and there was a game in October where BU plays a non conference game. It was supposed to be Tennessee state on that date according to their head coach, but that’s NOT who BU is playing
 

so doesn’t look good haha

[scpa0305]

16 hours ago, brianvf said:

Is UNO going to be the oldest team in the NCAA?
This is just wild.

 

Very smart strategy for them. Some of those Usports teams are decent. And these are their all stars. Teams like Duluth, SCSU etc should have jumped on this earlier.

[nascar99]

28 minutes ago, scpa0305 said:

Very smart strategy for them. Some of those Usports teams are decent. And these are their all stars. Teams like Duluth, SCSU etc should have jumped on this earlier.

Agreed. Nebraska Omaha lost a ton in the portal this year, so why wait on lower tier recruits coming from the BCHL/AJHL/USHL/QMJHL when you can add older guys who produced at very solid rates in the Dub and the Q, plus were solid producers in USports. They're retooling on the fly without having to go full Miami esque rebuild. It'll be interesting to see how it plays out.

[cberkas]

 

[siouxfaninseattle]

3 hours ago, cberkas said:

 

I vote for Fighting Sioux Trophy.

[NoiseInsideMyHead]

5 hours ago, cberkas said:

 

Specimen Cup, sponsored by Quest Diagnostics

Nut Cup, sponsored by Planters

Pup Cup, sponsored by Starbucks

Solo Cup, sponsored by SOLO Cup Company

Measuring Cup, sponsored by PYREX

Padded Cup, sponsored by Maidenform

 

[hockeytherapy13]

3 hours ago, siouxfaninseattle said:

I vote for Fighting Sioux Trophy.

We have to start actually coming close to winning the trophy if we want dibs on that kind of name haha. Winning it once in 11 years plus playing only one other championship game has been tough.

[cberkas]

Bucci is going to be insufferable next season with his glazing Penn State all year. Not looking forward to that at all. 

[KSSioux]

Just wanted to put this link up for those that want to watch the McKenna saga on ESPN tonight:

McKenna, projected No. 1 pick in 2026, to make college decision tonight on ESPN | NHL.com

I cannot get over what people are calling "generational" talents.  This kid is an extremely good hockey talent, but is not 6ft tall and under 165lbs.  Bedard is having his bumps and bruises in the National, which he needs others around him to help out.  I hope McKenna will gain a few pounds and I do believe the college hockey schedule will fit him very well.  Fewer games and an opportunity to weight train and build muscle.  People can argue his choice if it is Penn State, which is a pretty done deal.  I will say the Big Ten fits his style.  I doubt he would find it as easy in the NCHC.  I wish him well and we will see who ends up being the better get Verhoeff or McKenna.

[Blackheart]

1 hour ago, cberkas said:

Bucci is going to be insufferable next season with his glazing Penn State all year. Not looking forward to that at all. 

He's insufferable every year.

[brianvf]

21 minutes ago, KSSioux said:

I doubt he would find it as easy in the NCHC.  

+1

It's good that someone of his caliber is going the NCAA route.  The tears coming from the pro-CHL crowd are humorous. 

That said, I hope PSU has an early exit from the NCAA tourney.    

[hockeytherapy13]

8 minutes ago, brianvf said:

+1

It's good that someone of his caliber is going the NCAA route.  The tears coming from the pro-CHL crowd are humorous. 

That said, I hope PSU has an early exit from the NCAA tourney.    

Strongly add BU to the list of schools I'd like to see clipped early on. 

[brianvf]

9 minutes ago, hockeytherapy13 said:

Strongly add BU to the list of schools I'd like to see clipped early on. 

I'd love to see UND knock BU out of the tourney and end Boisvert's and OMac's college careers with a flair.    

[beastandco]

Unpopular opinion but the national media having Penn State as the favorites  is hilarious. To me, they are in the 3-6 range and aren’t at the level of MSU or BU. McKenna, Fink, and Smith are great players but a lot of teams have high end guys. Luke Misa and Gadowski are good pieces but they have some question marks. 

I think they are closer to North Dakota than they are to Michigan State, imo.

 

[cberkas]

49 minutes ago, KSSioux said:

Just wanted to put this link up for those that want to watch the McKenna saga on ESPN tonight:

McKenna, projected No. 1 pick in 2026, to make college decision tonight on ESPN | NHL.com

I cannot get over what people are calling "generational" talents.  This kid is an extremely good hockey talent, but is not 6ft tall and under 165lbs.  Bedard is having his bumps and bruises in the National, which he needs others around him to help out.  I hope McKenna will gain a few pounds and I do believe the college hockey schedule will fit him very well.  Fewer games and an opportunity to weight train and build muscle.  People can argue his choice if it is Penn State, which is a pretty done deal.  I will say the Big Ten fits his style.  I doubt he would find it as easy in the NCHC.  I wish him well and we will see who ends up being the better get Verhoeff or McKenna.

Don’t tell me that Bucci is going to be on SportsCenter to do a one of those football commits with him grabbing a hat to put on (this would be a Bucci idea). 

[nascar99]

7 minutes ago, beastandco said:

Unpopular opinion but the national media having Penn State as the favorites  is hilarious. To me, they are in the 3-6 range and aren’t at the level of MSU or BU. McKenna, Fink, and Smith are great players but a lot of teams have high end guys. Luke Misa and Gadowski are good pieces but they have some question marks. 

I think they are closer to North Dakota than they are to Michigan State, imo.

 

Augustine and Yegorov means that Michigan State and Boston University are my top 2. Until Penn State shows they can either outscore all of their problems or get great goaltending with whomever is starting for them this season, they aren't ahead of State or Boston University

[nascar99]

1 minute ago, cberkas said:

Don’t tell me that Bucci is going to be on SportsCenter to do a one of those football commits with him grabbing a hat to put on (this would be a Bucci idea). 

Guessing it'll just be Buccigross or Emily Kaplan doing the normal remote interview on SportsCenter where McKenna tells everyone he's officially going to Penn State.

[SIOUXFAN97]

12 minutes ago, brianvf said:

I'd love to see UND knock BU out of the tourney and end Boisvert's and OMac's college careers with a flair.    

would love to see omac flying thru the air like when frattin and tj sent gophers flying.....please 

[atxsioux]

1 hour ago, KSSioux said:

Just wanted to put this link up for those that want to watch the McKenna saga on ESPN tonight:

McKenna, projected No. 1 pick in 2026, to make college decision tonight on ESPN | NHL.com

I cannot get over what people are calling "generational" talents.  This kid is an extremely good hockey talent, but is not 6ft tall and under 165lbs.  Bedard is having his bumps and bruises in the National, which he needs others around him to help out.  I hope McKenna will gain a few pounds and I do believe the college hockey schedule will fit him very well.  Fewer games and an opportunity to weight train and build muscle.  People can argue his choice if it is Penn State, which is a pretty done deal.  I will say the Big Ten fits his style.  I doubt he would find it as easy in the NCHC.  I wish him well and we will see who ends up being the better get Verhoeff or McKenna.

Decided to look up some recent top draft eligible players that have came through college recently for comps.

The guys that tore it up definitely were pretty big from the jump entering college so he's got his work cut out for him.

• Eichel - 6'2" - 194lbs (71 pts in 40gp)
• Celebrini - 6'0" - 199lbs (64 pts in 38gp)
• Fantilli - 6'2" - 190lbs (65 pts in 36gp)
• Beniers - 6'1" - 175lbs (24 pts in 24gp)

[nascar99]

Not surprising, hope they get their s*** together in order to start in 2026-27.

 

[nascar99]

How many points do we think McKenna is going to put up for Penn State? While many may disagree with me, I think he's in the 55-60, maybe up to 65 points range. I think he'll feast on the power play but take some time to adjust to defenses really keying in on him at 5v5, I think his 5v5 production will be modest, especially at the start of the season.

[brianvf]

4 minutes ago, nascar99 said:

How many points do we think McKenna is going to put up for Penn State? While many may disagree with me, I think he's in the 55-60, maybe up to 65 points range. I think he'll feast on the power play but take some time to adjust to defenses really keying in on him at 5v5, I think his 5v5 production will be modest, especially at the start of the season.

I’m thinking comparable or a bit higher points per game than Celebrini. 

[atxsioux]

I'd guess around 60ish. If he were in the NCHC I'd hammer the under on that total. The Big 10 being more up and down in pace will definitely help.