The 2025–26 Ferris State Bulldogs men's ice hockey season was the 51st season of play for the program and the 40th in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA). The Bulldogs represented Ferris State University in the 2025–26 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season, played their home games at Ewigleben Arena and were coached by Brett Riley in his 1st season.
Season Following the retirement of Bob Daniels at the end of the '25 season, Ferris State hired Brett Riley as the program's 7th head coach. Riley brought several players with him from Long Island and filled in the rest of the roster of incoming players with transfers. As a result, Ferris State became the first college ice hockey team to play without a true freshman on its roster since the NCAA began permitting first year students on varsity rosters in 1970. Under a new head coach, there was hope that the team's recent string of poor seasons would be reversed. When Ferris State recorded a surprising win over defending national champions, Western Michigan, in the second week of the season, it appeared that the Bulldogs were primed to turn the corner. Unfortunately for FSU, the club was unable to follow up on the signature win. Poor goaltending from the team's two transfers left Martin Lundberg as the best option in goal, however, none of the team's three goalies got much goal support.
Until the end of January, Ferris state averaged exactly 2 goals per game from their offense. However, once February arrived, the team suddenly found its footing. Over the final month of the regular season, Ferris State piled goals into the net, more than doubling their goals per game. While there wasn't enough time left in the campaign to change their position in the standings, the Bulldogs went into the playoffs with momentum on their side. Despite their newfound scoring touch, FSU ran head-first into one of the nation's top defensive teams and were stymied by Minnesota State in the first game. Unwilling to just lay down, Ferris recovered with an outstanding defensive effort in the rematch. Caden Brown's overtime winner gave FSU its second victory of the year over the Mavericks and extended the season for another game. Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, they couldn't hold off MSU for a second match and were overwhelmed by the Mavs in game three.
Departures Cole Burtch Forward Transferred to Augustana Matt Corbet Forward Transferred to Calgary Nico DeVita Defenseman Graduation (retired) Jacob Dirks Forward Graduation (retired) Kaleb Ergang Forward Graduation (signed with Adirondack Thunder) Zach Faremouth Forward Graduation (signed with Reading Royals) Caiden Gault Forward Transferred to Northern Michigan Nick Grimaldi Forward Graduation (retired) Connor McDonough Goaltender Transferred to Massachusetts Boston Nick Nardecchia Forward Graduation (signed with Wichita Thunder) Andrew Noel Defenseman Signed professional contract (Cincinnati Cyclones) Travis Shoudy Defenseman Transferred to Michigan State Noah West Goaltender Graduation (signed with Kansas City Mavericks)
Recruiting Nic Belpedio Defenseman 23 Skokie, IL; graduate transfer from Colgate Caden Brown Forward 22 St. Louis, MO; transfer from Ohio State; redshirt Max Dukovac Forward 23 Aurora, IL; transfer from Miami Hobie Hedquist Goaltender 22 Heron Lake, MN; transfer from North Dakota John Lundy Forward 24 Brooklyn, NY; transfer from American International Jack Mesic Defenseman 22 Plymouth, MI; transfer from Western Michigan Brian Morse Defenseman 22 Fresno, CA; transfer from Maine; redshirt Valtteri Piironen Defenseman 24 Pyhäselkä, FIN; transfer from Long Island Carter Rapalje Forward 24 Burlington, VT; transfer from Long Island; redshirt Tanner Rowe Forward 23 Calumet, MI; transfer from Michigan Noah Rupprecht Goaltender 23 Thief River Falls, MN; transfer from Long Island Riley Wallack Forward 24 South Surrey, BC; transfer from Long Island Josh Zary Forward 23 Nanaimo, BC; transfer from Long Island
Roster As of August 30, 2025.
Standings
Schedule and results
!colspan=12 style=";" | Regular season
!colspan=12 style=";" |
!colspan=12 style=";" | Regular season
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Scoring statistics F 37 12 14 26 18 F 36 13 7 20 28 F 37 11 9 20 6 F 28 6 12 18 14 D 37 1 16 17 10 F 36 6 10 16 37 D 37 5 10 15 23 C 31 5 9 14 2 F 27 5 6 11 23 F 37 6 4 10 24 D 37 2 8 10 22 C 31 2 7 9 16 F 23 5 3 8 8 F 25 3 4 7 10 D 29 1 6 7 14 F 25 3 3 6 8 D 37 1 5 6 64 C/W 15 2 2 4 6 F 39 1 3 4 12 D 29 0 4 4 10 D 32 0 4 4 24 LW 21 1 2 3 6 D 12 0 1 1 8 D 2 0 0 0 0 C 2 0 0 0 0 G 5 0 0 0 0 D 12 0 0 0 6 G 13 0 0 0 0 G 23 0 0 0 0 Total 91 145 236 409
Goaltending statistics 13 674:10 1 10 0 45 328 0 .879 4.12 23 1247:37 6 13 2 56 530 2 .904 2.74 5 277:58 1 4 0 23 130 0 .850 4.96 Empty Net - 37:47 - - - 14 - - - - Total 37 2236:59 8 27 2 138 1008 2 .880 3.70
Rankings
PollWeekPre 1 23456789101112131415161718192021222324252627 (Final) USCHO.comNRNRNRRVNRNRNR NR NR NR NR NR–NRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR USA HockeyNRNRNRNRNRNRNR NR NR NR NR NR –NRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR Note: USCHO did not release a poll in week 12.Note: USA Hockey did not release a poll in week 12.
References