2026-27 College Hockey

[Millsy]

The NCHC released their conference schedule today. On top of that, UND and UMD released their full schedules.

UND at BSU October 9
BSU at UND October 10
UMD at Augustana October 9 and 10
BSU at UMD October 23
UMD at BSU October 24

[Millsy]

There is a pending proposal with the NCAA, the "Five in Five" eligibility for D-I. It would allow athletes to compete for five seasons within a five-year period, starting at high school graduation or age 19, whichever occurs first. This would also eliminate most waivers/redshirts. Hockey would fall under this as it is proposed right now.

Hockey has always kind of been the "red-headed step child" when it comes to NCAA regulations. Everyone focuses on the major sports, which makes sense since those are the money makers and the sports most fans follow. Niche sports are always an after thought, and proposals in front of the NCAA for a vote always seem to not take niche sports into account.

If passed (vote is possible in May), what do you see happening with hockey, especially in the High School ranks in Minnesota? Will Juniors cease to exist, or will they get younger? Will high school players in Minnesota bolt for Juniors earlier?

If passed, it could be interesting as I would think the NCAA would have to "grandfather" in the current players. You could end up with a 19 year old freshman (possibly 18 depending on birthday and grasuation) playing against 25 year old seniors for a few years (not that it couldn't happen now, but it is few and far between with the Junior Hockey structure).

I have said that since the Wild, Wild West of the portal/NIL/money has happened, the pendulum was eventually going to swing the other direction and possibly become too restrictive. I think it is going to take some time and probably several proposal passings to get everything into the so called "sweet spot".

[laker]

Eric Rud Named New Coach at Alaska-Anchorage : College Hockey News

[Millsy]

NCAA's eligibility proposal could blow up college hockey

By Matt Wellens
Today at 9:01 AM

DULUTH — The NCAA is on the verge of granting all Division I student-athletes five years of athletic eligibility, no redshirts or hardship waivers necessary.

But there’s a catch, as there always is with the NCAA.

The clock for those five years will begin the academic year after high school graduation or after the athlete turns 19, whichever comes first.

The proposal is working its way through the NCAA’s multi-layer bureaucracy, with NCAA president Charlie Baker pushing to get it passed in May and for it to go into effect immediately.


If approved, there would be no more redshirts — even medical ones — and no more hardship waivers of any kind. Everyone would get five seasons of eligibility, assuming you jump right from high school to college, and never take a season off, even to play in the Olympics.

NCHC commissioner Heather Weems said last week in an email to the News Tribune that the Hockey Commissioners Association has been in discussions internally, with schools and with NCAA representatives, including Baker.

She said the rule change will be an important conversation this week as the NCHC meets in Bonita Springs, Florida, ahead of the annual American Hockey Coaches Association convention.

“While we acknowledge the NCAA’s need for rules consistency and clarity to slow litigation and create understanding, I have significant concerns about the unintended consequences of the proposal in our hockey ecosystem,” Weems said. “Without intentional consideration and implementation, the decision could render many youth and prospective student-athletes as collateral damage.”

The policy change will not apply to student-athletes who are exhausting their eligibility in 2025-26, the NCAA clarified in its news release Monday. So, Bulldogs seniors like Joey Pierce or Tova Henderson will not be allowed back for a super senior season in 2026-27.

However, the NCAA has left many other questions unanswered.

How many seasons of eligibility will current athletes have? The NCAA said nothing Monday in its release about grandfathering current NCAA Division I athletes who have at least one (and now maybe more?) season of eligibility remaining.

What will happen to athletes who did not make the jump right from high school to college, like hockey players who went to juniors for one or more seasons after graduating high school?

What about athletes from Europe or Quebec, whose educational system isn’t the same as the United States’ traditional kindergarten through 12th grade system?

How many seasons of eligibility will the incoming freshmen classes have? Some athletes began signing on with schools back in November, thinking they had four seasons of eligibility — or five with a redshirt — but are now facing a potentially shorter college career.

In its release Monday, the NCAA touted how the new rule “makes a world of sense in football for coaches and players alike,” but failed to mention the impact it could have on any of the other 23 sports it sponsors.

“There are real issues we need to discuss and problem-solve as advocates and leaders in the sport of hockey,” Weems said, “and the expected timeline makes this difficult.”

How could this impact the Bulldogs?

Who knows what the NCAA will classify UMD’s men’s and women’s hockey players as next season, or how many will gain an extra season of eligibility?

UMD coaches Scott Sandelin and Laura Schuler both have players on their rosters next season who came to college a year or more removed from high school, and both coaches have incoming freshmen between the ages of 19 and 21 who are not coming straight from high school in 2026-27.

For Sandelin, the only players on next season’s roster who entered the NCAA as 18-year-olds out of high school were sophomore wing and Hobey Baker Memorial Award winner Max Plante, sophomore defenseman Adam Kleber and junior transfer defenseman Brady Cleveland.

Forward Victor Plante of the USA Hockey National Team Development Program — where Max Plante and Cleveland also both played as high school juniors and seniors — will be the only one among the UMD men’s five incoming freshmen to be an 18-year-old that’s a year removed from high school graduation next season.

For Schuler, junior defenseman Ida Karlsson and freshman defenseman Linnea Natt och Dagg both came to the UMD women’s program as 19-year-olds from Sweden.

Junior French Canadian, All-American goaltender Eve Gascon of Quebec was a 20-year-old freshman at UMD in fall 2023 after spending three years in a pre-university program at Cegep de Saint-Laurent in Montreal.

The NCAA has not said how it will treat athletes from the CEGEP schools in Quebec, where students in the province attend for 2-3 years following 11th grade.

Schuler has four incoming freshmen in 2026-27 from Sweden, Finland and Quebec who will be between the ages of 19-21 at the start of next season, including another French Canadian goaltender, 19-year-old Marilou Grenier of Quebec, who has spent the past two seasons at CEGEP Limoilou in Quebec City.

[njmav1]

This is really all about football- specifically players being pushed by their agents to play another year in an attempt to get in better position for the draft.

[Millsy]

The NCHC released their conference schedule today. On top of that, UND and UMD released their full schedules.

UND at BSU October 9
BSU at UND October 10
UMD at Augustana October 9 and 10
BSU at UMD October 23
UMD at BSU October 24

St. Cloud and Bemidji opening the season October 2 and 3. Sites to be announced, depending on how the renos go at St. Cloud.

St. Thomas and Bemidji will play home and home, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and the Saturday after, not sure on the order.

[Millsy]

St. Cloud and Bemidji opening the season October 2 and 3. Sites to be announced, depending on how the renos go at St. Cloud.

St. Thomas and Bemidji will play home and home, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and the Saturday after, not sure on the order.

SCSU told their season ticket holders that the BSU home and home will now be split. One game in Bemidji the first weekend of October (assuming Saturday the 3rd), and then in St. Cloud a weekend in December.

[Millsy]

Throwing what we know about the schedule for Bemidji State. Still some questions with the SCSU series with renos at the National Hockey Center, some are reporting the games will be October 2 and 3, some are reporting a split with October 3 and December 16. I put the split in the schedule.
.
October 3 St. Cloud (?)
October 9 UND
October 10 at UND
October 23 at Duluth
October 24 Duluth
October 30-31 Ferris State
November 6-7 at Bowling Green
November 13-14 Mankato
November 20-21 at Lake Superior
November 25 w/@ St. Thomas
November 28 w/@ St. Thomas
December 4-5 at Augustana
December 11-12 Michigan Tech
December 16 at St. Cloud (?)
January 8-9 at Northern Michigan
January 15-16 Bowling Green
January 29-30 at Mankato
February 5-6 Lake Superior
February 12-13 at Ferris State
February 19-20 Augustana
February 26-27 at Michigan Tech
March 5-7 CCHA Quarterfinals
March 13 CCHA Semifinal
March 19 CCHA Final

[Millsy]

I have kind of warmed up on the "five for five" amendment that may get passed in regards to hockey.

I had "sky is falling" thoughts on this, especially living in MN and HS hockey being king, but after listening/reading comments from some D-I college coaches (remember this only affects D-I), I have come around. A lot of coaches are saying they are still going to push kids to do one year of Juniors after HS to get stronger and more experience. They realize that if they bring in a true freshman at 18, they are most likely going to be a healthy scratch because they aren't ready physically, yet. They would then have a chance of losing that player to the portal due to lack of playing time.

If they do get a kid that is ready at 18, they most likely won't have that kid for the full five years as the pros will be calling.

Basically, this will just speed the clock up a year, from a kid entering at 20 to a kid enter at 19 (or whatever year if their birthday falls just right). And players will be able to play four years, which is what it was before COVID. Yes, the new rules eliminate a lot of the red shirt waivers, but they were getting ridiculous in some cases, anyway (I saw one scenario post COVID where a player could essentially get 11 years if granted all the possible red shirts). Where things may get bumpy is with the next couple of years and sorting out the grandfathered players, as you could still see a 24/25 year old senior playing against an 18/19 year old freshman.

[njmav1]

I like the 5-in5 concept but I'm still not sold on the clock starting on high school graduation or 19th birthday whichever comes first. If a kid graduates at 18 and plays two years of junior hockey, they could start at 20 but would only have 3 years of eligibility.

At least that's how I understand it.

[SW_Mustang]

MSU released their schedule - non-con with Wisconsin at home (return of Mike Hastings), home and home with St. Thomas (fledgling rivalry), and home and home over Thanksgiving weekend with Minnesota (return of Evan Murr). Not to mention a trip to Merrimack, which is interesting for me because I believe Linards Feldbergs joins the roster next year.

It will also be my first year as a season ticket holder - and with road games at Augustana and Bemidji, I'm planning on a whopping 22 games next year. Yeehaw!

Speaking of Murr - I crossed paths with him last weekend at commencement, his ceremony was before mine. I'm sad to see him go, but it's nice to know that his time at MSU meant something to him. He took photos at the fountain too that I saw posted.

Speaking of Feldbergs - I went to Game 5 last night. He's so good. Merrimack is lucky. Fun getting to see a couple Mav recruits play, as well as Mason West, but in the end - the Herd came out on top. They'll host the first two games of the Clark Cup Final. Already heard this morning that there's an effort from the South Dakota hockey community to pack the DSPC... for Muskegon. This is going to be interesting.

[Millsy]

I like the 5-in5 concept but I'm still not sold on the clock starting on high school graduation or 19th birthday whichever comes first. If a kid graduates at 18 and plays two years of junior hockey, they could start at 20 but would only have 3 years of eligibility.

At least that's how I understand it.

Yes, that is correct. But, if college coaches adjust and only "force" the kid to play one year of juniors, they will have four years of eligibility, much like the system was before COVID (five years to play four). And it sounds like that is what a lot of coaches are looking at, a four for four model. What is going to suck is the lack of the medical red shirts as injuries do happen in contact sports.

I really feel this proposal is basically going to force the Junior model of hockey to adjust. I think Juniors will get younger as they will start bringing in more 16 and 17 year olds as the kids will want to get ready for college by the time they are 19. 20 year old Junior players will basically be relegated to D-III and ACHA programs, at least until D-III adopts the rule (they always seem to after a year or two). Probably won't see much of a difference in Minnesota as the MSHSL allows high school players to do the "before and after" with Junior programs, but more around other parts of the US.

I really think once all the grandfathering of the older kids gets filter out in a few years, the playing field will be that same for all. It will just be "bumpy" until then.

[njmav1]

Yes, that is correct. But, if college coaches adjust and only "force" the kid to play one year of juniors, they will have four years of eligibility, much like the system was before COVID (five years to play four). And it sounds like that is what a lot of coaches are looking at, a four for four model. What is going to suck is the lack of the medical red shirts as injuries do happen in contact sports.

I really feel this proposal is basically going to force the Junior model of hockey to adjust. I think Juniors will get younger as they will start bringing in more 16 and 17 year olds as the kids will want to get ready for college by the time they are 19. 20 year old Junior players will basically be relegated to D-III and ACHA programs, at least until D-III adopts the rule (they always seem to after a year or two). Probably won't see much of a difference in Minnesota as the MSHSL allows high school players to do the "before and after" with Junior programs, but more around other parts of the US.

I really think once all the grandfathering of the older kids gets filter out in a few years, the playing field will be that same for all. It will just be "bumpy" until then.

Or the programs with money get their advantages back.

[njmav1]

MSU released their schedule - non-con with Wisconsin at home (return of Mike Hastings), home and home with St. Thomas (fledgling rivalry), and home and home over Thanksgiving weekend with Minnesota (return of Evan Murr). Not to mention a trip to Merrimack, which is interesting for me because I believe Linards Feldbergs joins the roster next year.

It will also be my first year as a season ticket holder - and with road games at Augustana and Bemidji, I'm planning on a whopping 22 games next year. Yeehaw!

Speaking of Murr - I crossed paths with him last weekend at commencement, his ceremony was before mine. I'm sad to see him go, but it's nice to know that his time at MSU meant something to him. He took photos at the fountain too that I saw posted.

Speaking of Feldbergs - I went to Game 5 last night. He's so good. Merrimack is lucky. Fun getting to see a couple Mav recruits play, as well as Mason West, but in the end - the Herd came out on top. They'll host the first two games of the Clark Cup Final. Already heard this morning that there's an effort from the South Dakota hockey community to pack the DSPC... for Muskegon. This is going to be interesting.

Former Maverick Max Beckford transferred to Merrimack. Another reunion of sorts.

[SW_Mustang]

Former Maverick Max Beckford transferred to Merrimack. Another reunion of sorts.

Good point - forgot about that.