Apr. 21—GRAND FORKS — If UND fans are looking to plan hockey road trips for next season, there are plenty of intriguing options.
UND opens the regular season at Bemidji State on Oct. 9. The Fighting Hawks play at rival Minnesota on Oct. 22-23, a Thursday-Friday series due to a Gophers home football game.
A week later, UND plays its first destination game in four years — a showdown against Michigan State in Austin, Texas, on Halloween night. That game is currently scheduled to feature at least 10 NHL first-round picks.
In mid-November, UND plays at St. Thomas and the year-old Lee and Penny Anderson Arena for the first time.
And for golf fans, UND plays at Arizona State the same weekend as the Waste Management Open, an annual rowdy tournament in Scottsdale. The hockey series is Feb. 12-13 in Tempe. The golf tournament runs Feb. 11-14.
UND's 2026-27 schedule features 19 home games, 15 road games and the neutral-site contest in Austin.
The Fighting Hawks also will play a pair of preseason exhibitions — one against Augustana (Oct. 3) and one against Manitoba (Oct. 4).
The National Collegiate Hockey Conference is adding St. Thomas for next season, expanding the league to 10 members.
Under the 10-team schedule format, UND will play three teams both at home and on the road each season. One will always be Minnesota Duluth. This season, the others are St. Thomas and Miami.
UND opens NCHC play against Western Michigan on Nov. 6-7 in Ralph Engelstad Arena. It closes the regular season at Minnesota Duluth on Feb. 26-27.
UND plays at Denver on Dec. 4-5 in a marquee series between the defending Penrose Cup champions (UND) and defending NCAA national champions (Denver). Both teams played in the 2026 Frozen Four.
There will be a few series featuring players against their old teams.
UND's Kasper Magnussen will play against Bemidji State, where he spent three seasons, on Oct. 9-10 to open the regular season. The series opener is in Bemidji. The series finale is in Grand Forks.
Omaha's Jayden Jubenvill will host UND, where he played for two seasons, on Jan. 22-23 in Baxter Arena.
UND's Gavin Lindberg will play against Colorado College, where he spent two seasons, on Feb. 5-6 in Grand Forks.
UND's Brasen Boser will return to Arizona State, where he played two seasons, on Feb. 12-13. Arizona State's Cade Littler, who spent two seasons at UND, will take on his old squad that weekend, too.
The NCHC also will debut a new playoff format with the 10-team league.
Everyone will compete in a first-round, best-of-three series March 5-7.
A week later, No. 4 will play No. 5 in a single game at the site of the No. 1 seed. The winner will play the No. 1 seed the next day, March 13, in a semifinal game. The No. 2 seed will host the No. 3 seed in the other semifinal on March 13.
The championship game is scheduled for March 20 at the higher seed's home arena. The NCAA bracket will be revealed the next day.