It’s a home heavy non-conference slate for the University of Minnesota men’s hockey team as it announced dates and opponents for the 2025-26 season. The Golden Gophers will play eight of their 11 regular season contests outside of Big Ten Conference action at 3M Arena at Mariucci against a mix of traditional NCAA powerhouses and newcomers, totaling a combined 34 NCAA Championships, along with an early January exhibition matchup.
The Maroon and Gold open the 105th edition of “Pride on Ice” at home Oct. 3-4 versus former WCHA-foe Michigan Tech. It’ll be the first meeting between the two programs in more than a decade as they last battled to a series split in October of 2012 in Houghton, Mich.
The early homestand ends Oct. 9-10 with a rare Thursday, Friday series as Minnesota welcomes the Eagles of Boston College to 3M Arena at Mariucci for the first time since 2013. The Gophers hit the road Oct. 17-18 to begin the first of a four-year series against rival North Dakota with the action starting at Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D.
The non-conference slate continues Oct. 24-25 when Minnesota Duluth makes the trek to Dinkytown for an in-state showdown. After taking on a historic rival, Minnesota faces off against Long Island for the first time ever on Nov. 14-15 as the Sharks begin just their sixth season of NCAA Division I men’s hockey.
The final non-conference matchup of the regular season will take place either Nov. 28 or Nov. 29 (depending on the upcoming NHL schedule announcement) at Ball Arena in Denver, Colo. The Maroon and Gold will battle Denver in the annual U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame game as they meet for the first time since March of 2013.
While hosting the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championships on campus, the Gophers will travel to face the Beavers of Bemidji State for an exhibition contest Jan. 2 at the Sanford Center before returning to league play for the remainder of the regular season.
(info courtesy of Gopher Sports)
