It's been a hard-fought season, but at long last we have a national champion. For the 7th time in the last 9 tournaments, that champion hails from the National Collegiate Hockey Conference.
Congratulations to Pat Ferschweiler and the Western Michigan Broncos on a dominant run throughout the season, finishing the job with a 6-2 win over the Boston University Terriers. With that being said, let's step back in time and see how all 9 members stacked up to their preseason poll from September.
DENVER PIONEERS
Predicted: 1st place (24 first place votes)
Actual: 3rd place (31-12-1, 15-8-1 NCHC play)
Postseason Result: NCHC runner up, NCAA Frozen Four, lost to Western Michigan in National Semifinal
The defending national champions entered the season as favorites to repeat and started the season on fire, winning their first 12 games. Despite a hiccup around the holiday break, the Pioneers continued their strong play and secured home ice advantage on the final weekend of the regular season.
After taking two of three games in the NCHC quarterfinals against in-state rival Colorado College, they were on the verge of clinching a #2 seed in the tournament before losing to Western Michigan in a double overtime classic in the NCHC final. Ultimately their goal of extending their record national championships to 11 fell short in another double overtime loss to those same Broncos.
Looking ahead to 2025-26, the Pioneers are losing a lot of talent at the top. They have lost their top four scorers to the professional ranks (Jack Devine, Aidan Thompson, Zeev Buium, Carter King), with Jared Wright also signing early and losing senior goaltender Matt Davis to graduation.
Historically, the Pioneers are not a team to hit the transfer portal hard under head coach David Carle. The recruiting pipeline to Magness Arena is strong, and aside from the occasional finishing touch, they won't gain or lose many players to the portal. Don't be surprised to see Coach Carle put together yet another team poised for a deep postseason run next year.
NORTH DAKOTA
Predicted: 2nd place (4 first place votes)
Actual: 5th place (21-15-2, 14-9-1 NCHC play)
Postseason result: Won NCHC quarterfinal series (Omaha) 2-0, Lost NCHC semifinal (Western Michigan)
A disappointing season by the standards of the Fighting Hawks faithful, their home ice hopes were still alive and riding on a final series at Ralph Engelstad Arena against the Omaha Mavericks. An inconsistent start to the season was their undoing.
A solid 11-7-1 start was undone by a 2-3-1 January, keeping Brad Berry's seat increasingly warmer as the season went along. After sweeping Omaha in the NCHC quarterfinals, they were thoroughly outplayed by Western Michigan in a 4-2 loss, and ushering Brad Berry out the door.
As new head coach Dane Jackson takes the reins, there's a mix of optimism and loss in Grand Forks. Sacha Boisvert and Owen McLaughlin both transferred to Boston University, Jayden Perron is headed off to Michigan, and Caleb MacDonald signed early with the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Playing in the Ralph is always a major recruiting factor, and incoming transfers in Anthony Menghini (Minnesota-Duluth) and Gibson Homer (Arizona State) give hope that next year's Hawks can return to the national tournament.
COLORADO COLLEGE
Predicted: 3rd place (1 first place vote)
Actual: 6th place (18-18-1, 11-12-1 NCHC play)
Postseason result: Lost NCHC quarterfinal series (Denver) 2-1
Kris Mayotte's Tigers were on the cusp of making the national tournament in 2024, missing out on being the final at-large team by just .0004 in the RPI. An 8-0-0 start had them well on the way to overcoming that barrier and making their first tournament since 2011, but they just couldn't keep up the excellent level of play.
A 3-10-0 stretch in December and January, including a 4 game losing streak to open the new year, put the Tigers on the outside looking in for home ice in February. Settling for 6th place in the conference they would record their final win in Game 1 of the NCHC quarterfinals against Denver, but 6-3 and 9-2 losses ended their season and extended their NCAA tournament drought.
Starting with the outgoing players, Gleb Veremyev and Noah Laba signed early with the New York Islanders and New York Rangers respectively, and Zaccharya Wisdom transferring to Western Michigan is a huge loss from their blue line.
He will be replaced by Travis Shoudy coming in from Ferris State, and the offensive addition from Arizona State in Ryan Alexander should help to offset the losses of Veremyev and Laba. Incoming transfer Seth Constance (Northeastern) should develop well under Mayotte and keep the Tigers in the coversation in a competative NCHC.
ST. CLOUD STATE
Predicted: 4th place
Actual: 8th place (14-21-1, 7-16-1 NCHC play)
Postseason result: Lost NCHC quarterfinal series (Western Michigan) 2-0
The second biggest surprise of the NCHC season was the fall of the St. Cloud Huskies. Semifinalists in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff in 2024, Brett Larson's team was ready to ride the performance of goaltender Isak Posch to a postseason run.
A freak injury at home in December that separated the tendon in his big toe sidelined him until February, and the Huskies sorely missed him in net. A 2-11-1 record sank the Huskies to 8th place in the standings. A pair of 6-2 losses at Lawson Arena gave the offseason an early start in St. Cloud.
The Huskies are losing a pair of defensemen to the transfer portal in Colin Ralph (Michigan State) and Warren Clark (Northern Michigan), in addition to Posch signing with the Colorado Avalanche.
Incoming defensemen Max Smolinski (RPI) and Finn Loftus (Massachusetts) will fill the holes on the blue line, but rising sophomore goaltender James Gray will be in for a tough test as the top netminder unless Coach Larson is able to attract a recruit from the portal.
OMAHA
Predicted: 5th place
Actual: 4th place (18-17-1, 14-9-1 NCHC play)
Postseason result: Lost NCHC quarterfinal series (North Dakota) 2-0
Coming off an appearance in the NCAA tournament in 2024, Mike Gabinet looked to improve on that finish and push for the program's second ever Frozen Four appearance (2015). After winning the Ice Breaker Tournament, the Mavericks hit a 6 game losing streak before righting the ship and splitting their first road series of the conference schedule at Arizona State.
A 7-1-1 record in January had Omaha in position to threaten for the #1 spot in the NCHC, but a late season 3 game losing streak settled them into a dogfight for the final home ice spot, ultimately claiming that in the season final series at North Dakota. The only home team to get upset in the quarterfinals, the season came to an abrupt end at home with a pair of 3-2 losses to North Dakota.
The Mavericks have a tough recruiting road in the offseason, losing seven players in the transfer portal already. Giving hope to the Omaha faithful is the announcement that goaltender Simon Latkoczy will be returning for his senior season, giving continuity in net. Losing Tanner Ludtke (Minnesota) and Kevin Reidler (Penn State) to the Big Ten, among the other five transfers will be a challenge for Coach Gabinet to replace.
WESTERN MICHIGAN
Predicted: 6th place (1 first place vote)
Actual: 1st place (34-7-1, 19-4-1 NCHC play)
Postseason result: NCHC tournament champions, National champions
Whichever NCHC writer voted for the Broncos to win the conference (not me) is a genius. In his 4th season at the helm, Pat Ferschweiler led the Broncos to the top of every mountain they could climb. The first regular season, NCHC tournament, and NCAA tournament championships in program history, and the hardware doesn't stop there.
In addition to the team awards, Ferschweiler was named the Herb Brooks NCHC Coach of the Year and ACHA Spencer Penrose National Coach of the Year. There can't be enough said about the best team in the nation, emerging from a "down year" for the NCHC to add to the conference's trophy cabinet.
Even allowing for a period of celebration, it's already on to next year and keeping up business as usual for the Broncos. Only a couple of losses to note, as Tim Washe signed with the Anaheim Ducks this week, and Ethan Wolthers is the only transfer portal entrant at the time of this writing.
Coming to Kalamazoo next season, we will already see forwards Zaccharya Wisdom (Colorado College) and William Whitelaw (Michigan), as well as defensemen Theo Wallberg (Ohio State) and Zach Bookman (Merrimack). The NCHC media at large didn't have respect for the Broncos to open last season, but that mistake will not be made twice.
MINNESOTA-DULUTH
Predicted: 7th place
Actual: 7th place (13-20-3, 9-13-2 NCHC play)
Postseason result: Lost NCHC quarterfinal series (Arizona State) 2-0
One of two NCHC teams to finish where the media expected them to, it was a challenging season for Scott Sandelin's Bulldogs. Finishing in 7th place in the conference for the second consecutive season, this team found themselves punching above their weight class for most of the season.
Balanced scoring with 4 skaters registering at least 25 points was not enough to overcome a plug-and-play lineup in goal. Blackhawks prospect Adam Gajan received the majority of the playing time, but an ankle injury in November that sidelined him for two months combined with an adjustment period to college in the United States forced Sandelin to make some adjustments.
Klayton Knapp and Zach Sandy both performed well in their limited roles, but both have entered the transfer portal, leaving Gajan as the only permanent option going forward. Following the two game sweep in the quarterfinals at the hands of Arizona State, the exodus began. 7 players entered the portal, including the aforementioned Knapp and Sandy, with 4 of them already finding homes.
Scott Sandelin is a master of his craft, and will be able to leverage his yeas in college hockey to attract the talent to replace them. It may be another year of growing pains, but the Bulldogs are a relatively recent blue blood with three national championships in the 2010's. The pedigree that comes with playing for Sandelin is something that won't go unnoticed.
ARIZONA STATE
Predicted: 8th place
Actual: 2nd place (21-14-2, 14-9-1 NCHC play)
Postseason result: Won NCHC quarterfinal series (Minnesota-Duluth) 2-1, lost NCHC Semifinal (Denver)
Without a doubt, the Sun Devils were the surprise of the NCHC in their debut season. Sitting at 3-7-1 on November 16th, the Devils proceeded to go on an incredible run, going 13-2-0 between November 16th and February 1st, including an 8 game winning streak highlighted by the incredible sweep of then-#1 ranked Denver at Magness Arena.
A 3-4-1 record down the stretch took away the Devils hopes of winning the Penrose Cup in their first season, but was still enough to maintain a narrow 2 point margin in the conference standings over Denver and clinch the #2 seed in the conference tournament.
Playoff hockey returned to the Valley of the Sun, and fans were treated to an overtime classic that saw the Devils come back from down 3-0 in the first period to win 6-5. A 4-2 loss to the Pioneers left the Devils as the second team out of the NCAA tournament, but still exceeding all expectations and setting high standards for the future. We'll get in to the losses and additions in a more detailed article later on, but the broad numbers have the Devils losing 10 players to graduation and 8 more to the transfer portal.
Coach Powers has a strong core with Kyle Smolen, Bennett Schimek, and Cullen Potter, all of whom should be wearing letters on their jerseys this season. The challenge will be how the Devils can respond with what looks to be a much younger team than has been on the ice for the last two seasons. With the recruiting power of Tempe winters, the Devils will remain competitive into next season.
MIAMI
Predicted: 9th place
Actual: 9th place (3-28-3, 0-23-1 NCHC play)
Postseason result: N/A
First year head coach Anthony Noreen faced a herculean task when stepping behind the bench in Oxford, OH. The RedHawks were coming off the worst record in NCHC history, winning just one game and recording only 7 points in the standings. A 3-5-1 record in non-conference play looked promising, and then the wheels completely fell off.
After claiming a point in an overtime loss at St. Cloud, Miami embarked on a 16 game regulation losing streak. You have to hand it to the RedHawks, they never let the frustration get the better of them as this historic (for the wrong reasons) season rolled on.
Eleven RedHawks entered the transfer portal at the end of the season, with 8 of them still looking for homes. The task isn't too large for Coach Noreen, himself a two-time Anderson Cup winner as head coach of the Tri-City Storm of the USHL.
Rome wasn't built in a day, and this was never going to be an overnight turnaround in Miami. Incoming seniors Max Helgeson (Alaska-Anchorage) and Kyle Aucoin (Harvard) will immediately step into leadership roles with their new program as they look to put this season firmly behind them.
LOOKING AHEAD
Not much is known yet for the Sun Devils 2025-26 schedule. What we do know is the Ice Breaker Tournament will be hosted at Mullett Arena on October 1-11th, with Alaska, Notre Dame, and Quinnipiac coming to take part.
In addition, the Devils first road trip of the season was announced last week, traveling to South Dakota for the first time ever to take on the Augustana Vikings. The rest of the non-conference schedule should become clearer in the coming weeks, and if recent trends hold true, look for the full NCHC schedule to be released on or around April 22nd.
Stay tuned here and to Let's Mullett Over for every breaking update for the schedule, and be on the lookout for a detailed transfer portal and recruiting breakdown this week! As always, Forks Up and Be The Tradition!