Year-in and year-out, ever since their conference held its first games in 2013, coaches and players from NCHC member schools have talked about the meat-grinder that is their league.
It might be even tougher now, and it’s certainly as difficult as ever to predict who will end up where.
The conference boasts the defending national champion in Western Michigan, maybe not a college hockey blueblood, but unquestionably a program that has been on the rise under coach Pat Ferschweiler. Speaking of coaches, there’s a new one at North Dakota (or a new head coach, anyway, as Dane Jackson was previously an assistant there), and Denver’s David Carle, coming up on a decade in charge, always has his team among the nation’s best.
There are also well-known coaches in the NCHC whose teams have something to prove. Expectations were high last season for St. Cloud State, but veteran coach Brett Larson’s Huskies missed the mark. So, too, did Minnesota Duluth in Scott Sandelin’s 25th season, a milestone in itself for a coach who has delivered three national titles to the Twin Ports.
Passing through a NCHC regular-season slate with flying colors puts you in very good shape nationally. Just ask Western, and seven national champion teams over the past dozen years. Could we see a NCHC team win the natty again this year? Very possible, but just as it’s a bear to get through any campaign in this conference, it’s getting increasingly hard to say with much confidence how it will all pan out.
And, honestly, we like it that way.
ARIZONA STATE
HEAD COACH: Greg Powers (entering 11th NCAA Division I season at ASU)
LAST SEASON: 21-14-2 overall, (14-9-1, second in NCHC)
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS: F Kyle Smolen (Jr., 12-18-30); F Cullen Potter (So., 13-9-22); D Sam Court (So., 3-8-11)
KEY LOSSES: F Ryan Kirwan (26-13-39); F Artem Shlaine (17-21-38); D Noah Beck (5-28-33)
KEY ADDITIONS: F Jack Beck (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (AHL)/Wheeling (ECHL); F Noah Powell (Ohio State transfer); F Johnny Waldron (Miami transfer)
2025-26 PREDICTION: You know how we picked Arizona State to finish eighth in its first season in the NCHC, but said we weren’t terribly confident about that pick and that the Sun Devils might well finish higher than that? That could be the case again this year, even with more generally expected from Powers’s squad. They are without their top three scorers from last season, and they’ll enter the new campaign with three fresh faces vying for time in the goaltender’s crease, but when ASU had its winningest season as a NCAA program two years ago, then did what it did last season in its first campaign as a conference member, overlooking this program is becoming a worse idea all the time.
2025-26 PREDICTED FINISH: Fourth
COLORADO COLLEGE
HEAD COACH: Kris Mayotte (entering his fifth season at CC)
LAST SEASON: 18-18-1 (11-12-1, sixth in NCHC)
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS: F Owen Beckner (So., 7-20-27); D Max Burkholder (Jr., 6-20-26); G Kaidan Mbereko (Sr., 15-15-1, 2.65 GAA, .905 SV%)
KEY LOSSES: F Noah Laba (10-16-26); D Ty Gallagher (9-17-26); F Gleb Veremyev (9-8-17)
KEY ADDITIONS: F Tomas Mrsic (Prince Albert, WHL), Wilson Bjorck (Djurgardens IF, Sweden); D Colton Roberts (Vancouver, WHL)
2025-26 PREDICTION: Mbereko is one of the best goaltenders in a conference that has quite a few top-tier folks in that department, and he can steal you a game or six. But I’m really curious about what CC will do this season as a unit. They’re quite young, with only two seniors, and it’ll be interesting to see how they make up for the production they’ve lost in the likes of Laba and Gallagher. Fifth in the NCHC could be promising for what’s to come from the Tigers over the next couple of years, but of course they’ll be aiming higher than that.
2025-26 PREDICTED FINISH: Fifth
DENVER
HEAD COACH: David Carle (entering his eighth season at DU)
LAST SEASON: 31-12-1 (15-8-1, third in NCHC)
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS: F Sam Harris (Jr., 23-12-35); D Erik Pohlkamp (Jr., 11-24-35); D Boston Buckberger (9-21-30)
KEY LOSSES: F Jack Devine (13-44-57); F Aidan Thompson (21-34-55); D Zeev Buium (13-35-48)
KEY ADDITIONS: F Kristian Epperson (Saginaw, OHL); D Eric Jamieson (Everett, WHL); G Quentin Miller (Chilliwack, BCHL)
2025-26 PREDICTION: Denver loses its top four scorers from last season, including another forward in Carter King, and the Pioneers will have a new starting goaltender with the departure of Matt Davis. But there’s a lot to like about Denver’s 10 incoming freshmen, as well as with what returns. Harris and Pohlkamp are deserved preseason All-Conference selections, and it’s a fool’s errand to overlook a Denver team that’s been a Frozen Four contender three of the last four seasons. The Pios will be firmly in the hunt again.
2025-26 PREDICTED FINISH: Second
MIAMI
HEAD COACH: Anthony Noreen (entering second season at Miami)
LAST SEASON: 3-28-3 (0-23-1, ninth in NCHC)
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS: D Michael Quinn (So., 2-10-12); F Casper Nassen (Jr., 6-4-10); F Blake Mesenberg (Sr., 4-3-7)
KEY LOSSES: F Colby Ambrosio (7-13-20); F Johnny Waldron (4-8-20); F Matt Choupani (6-10-16)
KEY ADDITIONS: F David Deputy (Muskegon, USHL); D Charlie Michaud (Madison, USHL); D Shaun McEwan (Tri-City, USHL)
2025-26 PREDICTION: Last season was a bit of a free hit for Noreen, who was jumping aboard a program that never hit the 10-win mark in five seasons under his successor. Noreen’s first year in charge was obviously rough, with the RedHawks finishing 19 points adrift at the bottom of the NCHC standings. There’s a part of me that gets sleeping-giant vibes with Miami, and I really like Noreen’s approach, but this is a multi-year building job.
2025-26 PREDICTED FINISH: Ninth
MINNESOTA DULUTH
HEAD COACH: Scott Sandelin (entering his 26th season at UMD)
LAST SEASON: 13-20-3 (9-13-2, seventh in NCHC)
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS: F Max Plante (So., 9-19-28); F Jayson Shaugabay (So., 12-14-26); D Aaron Pionk (Jr., 3-23-26)
KEY LOSSES: F Dominic James (14-16-30); D Owen Gallatin (4-11-15); D Aiden Dubinsky (4-10-14)
KEY ADDITIONS: F Daniel Shlaine (Lincoln, USHL); D Grayden Siepmann (Saskatoon, WHL); G Ethan Dahlmeir (Miami transfer)
2025-26 PREDICTION: Minnesota Duluth was one of the NCHC’s lesser-known quantities coming into last season, and this time, the Bulldogs aren’t a whole lot different in that regard. Eighteen underclassmen make up the bulk of UMD’s roster, and while there are some very good returners like Plante and Pionk, I don’t know that I’m ready to predict that the Bulldogs will make a major jump this season.
2025-26 PREDICTED FINISH: Sixth
NORTH DAKOTA
HEAD COACH: Dane Jackson (entering first head coaching season at UND)
LAST SEASON: 21-15-2 (14-9-1, fifth in NCHC)
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS: D Jake Livanavage (Jr., 4-24-28); D Abram Wiebe (Jr., 4-20-24); F Dylan James (14-8-22)
KEY LOSSES: F Sacha Boisvert (18-14-32); F Owen McLaughlin (5-25-30); G TJ Semptimphelter (18-11-2, 2.68 GAA, .910 SV%)
KEY ADDITIONS: F David Klee (Muskegon, USHL); F Cole Reschny (Victoria, WHL); D Sam Laurila (Fargo, USHL); Keaton Verhoeff (Victoria, WHL)
2025-26 PREDICTION: Expectations among Fighting Hawks fans are always high, which helps explain why national championship-winning coach Brad Berry was dismissed after UND missed the NCAA tournament two of the past three years. Most prognosticators, myself included, were off in terms of where we expected the Hawks to stack up last season, but while they’ve lost some key pieces, they always reload and have a lot of promising newcomers. Oh, and the last time they had a new head coach, they won it all in his first season. No pressure, then.
2025-26 PREDICTED FINISH: Third
OMAHA
HEAD COACH: Mike Gabinet (entering ninth season at UNO)
LAST SEASON: 18-17-1 (14-9-1, fourth in NCHC)
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS: F Cameron Mitchell (Sr., 8-12-20); D Jacob Guevin (Sr., 7-13-20); G Simon Latkoczy (Jr., 14-16-1, 2.70 GAA, .922 SV%)
KEY LOSSES: F Sam Stange (16-18-34); F Brady Risk (13-12-25); F Harrison Israels (10-15-25)
KEY ADDITIONS: F Marcus Nguyen (Brandon, WHL); F Luke Woodworth (Drummondville, QMJHL); D Marc Lajoie (Alberta, U Sports)
2025-26 PREDICTION: Last season saw Omaha take a small step back, after one of the Mavericks’ best campaigns ever. They were led up front last season by three graduate students, as you do, and there’s a good amount of slack to be picked up. This is a fairly young squad with 15 newcomers, but Latkoczy can keep you in any game, and Gabinet will be hoping that an incoming class filled with prior leadership experience will get up to speed quickly. If they do, watch the Mavericks compete for a home-ice playoff spot.
2025-26 PREDICTED FINISH: Seventh
ST. CLOUD STATE
HEAD COACH: Brett Larson (entering eighth season at SCSU)
LAST SEASON: 14-21-1 (7-16-1, eighth in NCHC)
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS: F Austin Burnevik (So., 13-15-28); F Tyson Gross (Jr., 9-16-25); D Josh Zinger (Sr., 4-4-8)
KEY LOSSES: D Josh Luedtke (3-5-8); F Mason Salquist (3-4-7); G Isak Posch (12-10-0, 2.39 GAA, .923 SV%)
KEY ADDITIONS: F Noah Urness (Sioux Falls, USHL); F Nolan Roed (Tri-City, USHL); D Tanner Henricks (Lincoln, USHL)
2025-26 PREDICTION: St. Cloud State is fresh off what’s fair to call a down season, considering the Huskies were picked to finish five spots higher in the NCHC standings than where they ended up. They didn’t lose a ton over the offseason in terms of skaters, but I feel like this might’ve been a different team with a healthy Posch in net. He left early, though, and it’ll be very interesting to see how Larson’s crew looks from the net out.
2025-26 PREDICTED FINISH: Eighth
WESTERN MICHIGAN
HEAD COACH: Pat Ferschweiler (entering fifth season at WMU)
LAST SEASON: 34-7-1 (19-4-1, first in NCHC)
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS: F Owen Michaels (Jr., 18-18-36); F Grant Slukynsky (Jr., 10-16-26); G Hampton Slukynsky (So., 19-5-1, 1.90 GAA, .922 SV%)
KEY LOSSES: F Alex Bump (23-24-47); F Tim Washe (16-22-38); F Matteo Costantini (8-15-23)
KEY ADDITIONS: F Cole Spicer (Dubuque, USHL); F William Whitelaw (Michigan transfer); D Theo Wallberg (Ohio State transfer)
2025-26 PREDICTION: Remember when we picked WMU to finish sixth in its own conference last season? Yeah, whoops. They weren’t even as low as sixth in the country, instead winning their program’s first national championship. Ferschweiler already had a really good thing going in Kalamazoo, and the future looks bright, too, with a new arena coming down the pike. As for this season, even with the likes of Bump and Washe gone, there’s so much firepower returning, as well as several newcomers with prior big-name college experience. If you think we’re taking the Broncos anywhere lower than first this time around, keep dreaming.
2025-26 PREDICTED FINISH: First
