| No. |
Team |
Circle
The Dates |
| 1. |
 North
Dakota |
A crucial four-week stretch of October and
November for the Sioux has home series with Denver and
UMD sandwiched between trips to Maine and Wisconsin. |
| 2. |
 Boston
College |
The defending national champs will be tested
early, with five of their first six on the road including
a two-game set at Denver and a single road game at Notre
Dame. |
| 3. |
 Miami |
The RedHawks started fast last season with
a 3-0-1 mark in non-league series with St. Cloud State
and New Hampshire. Guess who they open with this season? |
| 4. |
 Michigan |
Lots of eyes – about 110,000 pairs
of ’em – will gravitate to the Dec. 11 outdoor
match against Michigan State at Michigan Stadium. We think
an early November road trip to Fairbanks is a better indicator
of the Wolverines’ fortunes. |
| 5. |
 Minnesota
Duluth |
Good luck getting a ticket for the Bulldogs’
Dec. 30 contest against North Dakota – it’s
the night UMD christens the 6,600-seat Amsoil Arena. |
| 6. |
 St.
Cloud State |
We say it every year, but the Florida College
Classic in Estero Dec. 29-30 once again has an NCAA Regional
vibe with the Huskies joined in the field by Cornell,
Maine, and Miami. |
| 7. |
 Yale |
Yale's non-conference schedule is highlighted
by a Nov. 13 game at Colorado College and Dec. 8 home
tilt against Vermont. |
| 8. |
 Maine |
An action-packed October highlights Maine's
slate, with a pair at Michigan State followed by a two-game
visit from North Dakota. |
| 9. |
 New
Hampshire |
UNH will play 10 games against teams that
made the NCAA Tournament last season, including four of
its first five – two at Miami, a home game against
Michigan, and a trip to Cornell. |
| 10. |
 Alaska |
Good tests for the Nanooks right out of
the chute – they’ll play Air Force and North
Dakota at the Kendall Hockey Classic in Anchorage, then
welcome Union and Colorado College to Fairbanks for the
Brice Alaska Goal Rush. |
| 11. |
 Denver |
Imagine Alabama starting a football season
with Texas A&M, Ohio State, LSU, Florida, and Auburn.
That would resemble the Pioneers’ start with series
against Vermont, Boston College, Wisconsin, North Dakota,
and Colorado College. |
| 12. |
 Union |
The Dutchmen will play regular-season games
in nine different states this season – New York,
Alaska, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut,
Michigan, Minnesota and New Jersey. |
| 13. |
 Rensselaer |
Kudos to RPI for helping out the nation's
only independent get some games. Huntsville visits for
the RPI holiday tournament, and the Engineers go to UAH
for two games Dec. 30-31. Yale visits for Freakout! on
Jan. 29. |
| 14. |
 Boston
University |
Three in-season tournaments will test the
Terriers. They'll be in the IceBreaker next weekend, the
Shillelagh Tournament in Chicago and the Beanpot in February. |
| 15. |
 Cornell |
The Big Red's opening weekend includes home
games against UNH and RIT. Maybe Denver can stop by and
make it a reunion of last spring's NCAA Regional at Albany. |
| 16. |
 Notre
Dame |
The Irish are arguably the country’s
biggest mystery. We’ll know a lot more after a four-week
stretch that includes a home series with Michigan State
and road trips to Michigan, North Dakota, and Miami. |
| 17. |
 Michigan
State |
Graduations and early departures have left
the Spartans with a lot of holes to fill. Maine and Alaska,
visitors to East Lansing to start the season, are the
kinds of teams with the ability to expose them. |
| 18. |
 Minnesota |
The Gophers are scrutinized more than any
other team in the country, so the opponent is often irrelevant.
That said, an early three-week stretch of games against
St. Cloud State, Colorado College, and Wisconsin will
serve as a measuring stick. |
| 19. |
 Wisconsin |
Rebuilding the Badgers won’t be an
overnight job. November’s slate (Minnesota, North
Dakota, UMD, Michigan, and Michigan State) will indicate
whether the project is a minor fixer-upper or a complete
overhaul. |
| 20. |
 RIT |
The Tigers' annual early-season home game
at Blue Cross Arena is a matchup with UMass-Lowell. They'll
face Robert Morris Dec. 30 at the Pittsburgh Penguins'
new rink. |
| 21. |
 Colorado
College |
The Tigers’ m.o. in recent years has
been start fast, slump late. The trend could continue
with a backloaded slate that includes series with North
Dakota, Denver, UMD, and Wisconsin over the last six weeks
of the regular season. |
| 22. |
 Northeastern |
Six straight January home games, including
five against conference foes, will be a big stretch for
the Huskies before the final weeks of the regular season. |
| 23. |
 Vermont |
The Catamounts start and end the season
at The Gut. Denver visits this weekend and Vermont closes
the Hockey East regular season with a pair against UMass
Lowell. |
| 24. |
 Lake
Superior State |
Challenging Miami, Michigan, and Alaska
for the CCHA title is unlikely, but the Lakers have the
veteran leadership and goaltending to get into the league’s
second tier. They can take a big step in that direction
in November series against like-minded Northern Michigan
and Ferris State. |
| 25. |
 Nebraska-Omaha |
UNO’s first-ever WCHA home series
against Minnesota State is fairly mundane, since the two
schools have played non-conference games a million times.
WCHA series no. 2, however, pits Dean Blais’s Mavericks
against North Dakota, the school he led to two NCAA titles. |
| 26. |
 Merrimack |
Merrimack meets Alabama-Huntsville for a
pair of mid-January games in Nashville after consecutive
home contests against Maine and Boston University. |
| 27. |
 Harvard |
Five of Harvard's first eight games in league
play are on the road. They'll visit alum Kevin Sneddon
for the New Year as the Crimson compete in Vermont's Catamount
Cup. |
| 28. |
 Northern
Michigan |
Another team looking to emerge from the
CCHA pack, the Wildcats have a fairly favorable first-half
league slate. Visits to Miami and Alaska will be difficult,
but there are home series with Ohio State, Bowling Green,
and Western Michigan and a trip to Lake Superior. |
| 29. |
 Bemidji
State |
If St. Cloud State is the WCHA’s
Jan Brady, does that make BSU Cousin Oliver? The Beavers
open their new arena – the Bemidji Regional Events
Center – Oct. 15-16 against North Dakota. |
| 30. |
 Brown |
A four-game November road swing takes the
Bears to Colgate, Cornell, UNH and BU in what will be
an early test to see how much Brown's program continues
to grow. |
| 31. |
 Mercyhurst |
Four of Mercyhurst's last five games are
at home, and the only road game is a short trip to Canisius.
They opened by scoring the last four goals of the game
in a 4-4 tie at Michigan. |
| 32. |
 UMass
Lowell |
UMass Lowell plays six of eight at home
late in the year before a season-ending road trip to Vermont. |
| 33. |
 Air
Force |
The Falcons wrap up an early-season, six-game
home stand with a quartet of intriguing games. A pair
of Atlantic Hockey tilts against league preseason faves
RIT and Mercyhurst are followed by non-conference dates
with Colorado College and Yale. |
| 34. |
 Ohio
State |
The Buckeyes’ sked is typically chock
full of general quirkiness, mostly due to their status
as third-class citizens in their home rink, Value City
Arena. This season is no different; OSU’s first
league series at the VCA is Dec. 3-4 against Michigan. |
| 35. |
 Massachusetts |
The Minutemen are a rare case, in that they
won't play in a single in-season tournament this year,
however, they do visit Wisconsin for a pair in the weekend
formerly inhabited by the Badger Showdown. |
| 36. |
 Ferris
State |
A stick salute to the Bulldogs for being
one of the five teams willing to make the trip to Alabama-Huntsville
this season. The hockey gods reward Ferris with a favorable
first-half schedule. Following the UAH foray, the Bulldogs
play 12 of their next 17 at home. |
| 37. |
 Dartmouth |
The Big Green won't leave the state between
a Nov. 26 game at Harvard and a Jan. 21 trip to Unioin.
Seven home games and the annual Riverstone game against
UNH in Manchester line the schedule in between. |
| 38. |
 St.
Lawrence |
The Saints play 11 road games in the middle
of the year with just one home date in between in what
could be a make-or-break stretch. |
| 39. |
 Minnesota
State |
Twisting a line from Wyclef Jean , the Mavericks
will be gone all November. Between Oct. 23 and Dec. 3,
MSU has four road trips in three time zones – at
Alaska Anchorage, at Nebraska-Omaha, at Denver, and at
UMass Lowell. |
| 40. |
 Colgate |
Colgate's jam-packed schedule includes very
little time off. They play eight straight two-game league
weekends from Jan. 7-9 through the end of the year, and
nine of the 16 games are on the road. |
| 41. |
 Robert
Morris |
Robert Morris hosts Colgate for two in late
December then visits North Dakota for a pair to start
January. |
| 42. |
 Niagara |
It's a new league for Niagara, and they
might have the chance to spoil things for Atlantic Hockey's
defending champs. The Purps have a home-and-home with
RIT on the last weekend of the year. |
| 43. |
 Princeton |
The Tigers wrap up the year with three games
against expected ECAC Hockey heavies Yale, Rensselaer
and Union. |
| 44. |
 Canisius |
The Griffs play two of last year's Frozen
Four reps in a span of four games, at RIT Dec. 17 and
a pair at Wisconsin Jan. 7-8. |
| 45. |
 Quinnipiac |
October series at home against Ohio State
and on the road at St. Cloud State will test Quinnipiac's
mettle before they begin league play at Brown and Yale. |
| 46. |
 Alaska
Anchorage |
The Seawolves and Alaska meet annually for
the Governor’s Cup, a rivalry that’s as fierce
as any in college hockey. This season’s series takes
place Feb. 25-26 with game one in Fairbanks and the finale
at Sullivan Arena. |
| 47. |
 Sacred
Heart |
The Crusaders have seven straight home games
in the middle of the year, five of them against conference
foes. |
| 48. |
 Alabama-Huntsville |
The Chargers are America’s Team, because
they’ll see most of it this season. UAH’s
wanderings will take them to Colorado, Michigan, Nebraska,
New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Tennessee
(a neutral-site series with Merrimack in Nashville). |
| 49. |
 Western
Michigan |
The Broncos were a miserable 2-14-2 on the
road last season. New coach Jeff Blashill will get to
address that issue early – WMU follows a season-opening
home series against Canisius with seven of its next 10
away from home. |
| 50. |
 Providence |
In a scheduling quirk, Providence faces
UNH for three straight games, only interrupted by an exhibition
game against the US NTDP Under-18s. |
| 51. |
 Clarkson |
Golden Knight fans will get to see some
new faces at Cheel this year, as Bowling Green, Bentley
and Minnesota Duluth all visit in non-league series. |
| 52. |
 Holy
Cross |
If Holy Cross meets Wisconsin in the second
day of the IceBreaker, it means the Crusaders will play
against teams from all five conferences within the first
six games of the year. |
| 53. |
 Michigan
Tech |
The bad news is that the Huskies won just
five games last year. The good news is that four of those
wins came against teams Tech will face in six of its first
10 games this season (Minnesota Duluth, Minnesota State,
and Northern Michigan). |
| 54. |
 Army |
Non-league games against Harvard and Ohio
State at Vermont's holiday tournament highlight Army's
out-of-conference slate. |
| 55. |
 Bowling
Green |
In order for new coach Chris Bergeron to
get his first win behind the Falcon bench during the season’s
first weekend, he’ll have to beat Michigan and coach
Red Berenson, who’s one shy of career victory no.
700. |
| 56. |
 Bentley |
Five straight non-league games open Bentley's
campaign, and eight of their first 10 contests are away
from Ryan Arena. |
| 57. |
 Connecticut |
UConn's holiday tournament includes Holy
Cross, Bowling Green and Princeton. The Huskies will also
compete in RPI's tournament with Bowling Green and Alabama-Huntsville. |
| 58. |
American International |
After three straight home games to start
the year, AIC hits the road for seven in a row. Their
first 12 games are league games. |