By: Neil Simmons | Follow me on Twitter / X: @NSimmz
The 2026-27 college hockey season is just around the corner. Two weeks from Friday, teams all across the country will open their new campaign, intent on hoisting the national championship in the nation’s capital. Of all 64 teams in Division I, Bruins fans should have a vested interest in the eight that roster at least one of their 13 prospects. Who they play, when they’re playing, and which matchups to circle for appointment viewing.
Boston College (Dean Letourneau, Will Moore, Kristian Kostadinski, & Roberto “Leo” Henriquez): For the second straight season, the Eagles will open their schedule with a nonconference home game, hosting Alaska Anchorage at Conte Forum on Friday, October 9th. The headliner of their early slate will double as their first road test of the year, heading west to face reigning national champions Denver on October 23rd and 24th.
Back east, BC has four guaranteed matchups against BU. The Eagles will host the Terriers on January 29th, meet again in the first round of the Beanpot on February 1st, then play a home-and-home on February 26th-27th on the back end of their conference schedule.
Boston University (Jonathan Morello): BU will get a head start on their arch rivals by opening their season on Friday, October 2nd, venturing to the Last Frontier for a weekend series against Alaska Fairbanks before their home opener against Brown the following Saturday.
The Terriers did not shy away from early challenges, stacking their non-conference schedule with marquee matchups: hitting the road for Michigan State (11/6-7) and Cornell (12/4), hosting Denver (11/27-28) and, most notably for Bruins fans, Quinnipiac on November 18th.
Quinnipiac (Chris Pelosi & Elliott Groenewold): The Bobcats have never been shy about loading up their non-conference schedule either. They’ll host New Hampshire to open the season on Friday, October 2nd, then a pair of long-haul road trips to Maine (10/9-10) and Penn State (10/16) within a week, before their aforementioned matchup against BU.
Their conference schedule features a few matchups against Ivy League opponents: Cornell, Dartmouth, and Harvard. The Big Red (@11/6, vs 1/16) are their only conference rivals with another Bruins prospect in their ranks, while the Big Green (11/13, @1/9) could be considered the biggest threat to snapping QU’s six straight ECAC regular-season titles. The Crimson offer Bruins fans the best chance to see their guys up close after the new year, when they’ll host the Bobcats on January 8th.
Cornell (Ryan Walsh): Cornell gets a delayed start to the season, as Ivy League schools often do, opening at home against Sacred Heart on Halloween weekend. They’ll get their first test with the aforementioned Quinnipiac matchup on November 6th, then host Maine (11/28) and BU (12/4), interspersed with their conference schedule towards the end of the fall semester.
A stacked January will see the Big Red play 10 games, including six straight on the road, before their first home weekend against Harvard and Dartmouth on the 22nd and 23rd. Like the Bobcats, Bruins fans will get a chance to see Walsh up close on February 20th when Cornell plays Harvard in Allston.
North Dakota (Will Zellers & Cooper Simpson): Without a doubt, the most interesting Bruins prospect team outside of the Northeast, North Dakota’s nonconference is headlined by a pair of matchups against Big Ten Schools. After hosting Minnesota at The Ralph last season, the Fighting Hawks will return the favor against their longtime rival by heading to Minneapolis for a weekend series on October 22nd and 23rd. Then, an unorthodox but certainly high-profile neutral-site matchup against Michigan State in Austin, Texas, on Halloween, where the two sides could potentially ice a combined 13 first-round picks.
Their conference schedule is relatively light, considering the meatgrinder that is the NCHC. North Dakota will open conference play by hosting Western Michigan for two (11/6-7), and only face them and Denver (@12/4-5) in one series each.
Western Michigan (Cole Spicer): The Broncos schedule is headlined by three Frozen Four teams from last season. They’ll face the Wolverines in a spread-out home-and-home, heading to Ann Arbor on October 23rd, then waiting until January 30th to complete the set. Their road series against Zellers, Simpson, and North Dakota will open their NCHC conference schedule, and they’ll open their second half by hosting the reigning champion Pioneers on January 8th and 9th.
Minnesota (Beckett Hendrickson): Hendrickson and the Golden Gophers will open their season by rekindling old WCHA rivalries. They’ll start with a pair of road series against Michigan Tech (10/2-3) and Minnesota Duluth (10/16-17), before their home opener against North Dakota. In Big Ten play, they’ll play two series each against Michigan (1/8-9,@ 2/26-27), Michigan State (@12/11-12, 1/29-30), and last year’s national runner-up Wisconsin (11/6-7, @2/5-6).
Lake Superior State (Casper Nassen): Nassen will make his Laker debut a bit later than most, opening the season on October 23rd against Bowling Green. They’ll get an early crack at the two-time defending CCHA conference champs with a road weekend against Minnesota State over Halloween weekend.
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