The 2025–26 ECAC Hockey men's season was the 65th season of play for ECAC Hockey and took place during the 2025–26 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season. The season began on October 3, 2025, and the conference tournament concluded on March 21, 2026.

Season

Coaches Prior to the previous season, Mike Schafer announced that he would be retiring following the '25 campaign. The school quickly decided to hire Cornell alum Casey Jones as an associate coach with the intent of promoting him to head coach for this season.

After finishing with a losing record in six of seven season, Rensselaer decided to move on from Dave Smith as head coach. Soon thereafter, the school hired former American International head coach Eric Lang for the position.

Shortly before the beginning of the academic year, Keith Allain announced his retirement effective immediately. Due to short time constraints, assistant coach Joe Howe was promoted to interim head coach for this year with a national search set to begin following the season.

Records Team Head coach Season at school Record at school ECAC Hockey recordBrown 16 145–275–59 94–190–46Clarkson 2 24–12–3 15–6–1Colgate 3 34–31–7 26–14–4Cornell 1 0–0–0 124–96–35Dartmouth 5 43–69–12 30–47–11Harvard 21 318–276–75 214–173–64Princeton 2 12–15–3 7–12–3Quinnipiac 31 666–359–107 253–130–54Rensselaer 1 0–0–0 0–0–0St. Lawrence 7 61–116–23 38–71–15Union 4 49–51–8 29–35–6Yale 1 0–0–0 0–0–0

Standings

Non-Conference record

Regular season record Team TotalBrown 0–2–0 0–0–0 0–0–0 0–3–0 1–1–0 0–0–0 1–6–0Clarkson 2–2–0 1–1–0 1–1–0 1–0–0 0–1–0 1–1–0 6–6–0Colgate 1–3–0 0–2–0 0–0–0 2–3–1 0–0–0 0–0–0 3–8–1Cornell 0–0–0 0–0–0 0–0–0 1–2–0 2–0–0 2–0–0 5–2–0Dartmouth 1–0–0 0–0–0 0–0–0 2–1–0 1–0–0 1–1–0 5–2–0Harvard 0–0–0 0–2–0 0–0–0 2–2–1 1–0–0 0–0–0 3–4–1Princeton 0–1–1 0–0–0 0–2–0 0–0–0 3–0–0 0–0–0 3–3–1Quinnipiac 3–0–0 1–0–0 0–0–0 4–2–1 1–1–1 0–0–0 9–3–2Rensselaer 2–0–0 0–0–0 0–2–0 1–4–0 0–0–0 0–2–0 3–8–0St. Lawrence 0–2–0 0–2–0 0–1–1 1–2–0 0–2–1 0–0–0 1–9–2Union 5–0–1 0–0–0 0–0–0 2–0–0 2–0–0 0–1–0 9–1–1Yale 0–1–0 0–0–0 0–1–0 0–2–0 0–0–0 1–2–0 1–6–0Overall 14–11–2 2–7–0 1–7–1 16–21–3 11–5–2 5–7–0 49–58–8

Statistics Leading scorers GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes Player Class Team GP G A Pts PIM Sophomore 22 22 15 37 22 Freshman 22 15 21 36 12 Sophomore 22 11 18 29 31 Freshman 22 12 16 28 10 Junior 22 11 14 25 21 Junior 22 11 13 24 4 Senior 22 8 16 24 14 Senior 22 10 13 23 23 Graduate 22 6 16 22 10 Senior 22 7 14 21 4

Leading goaltenders Minimum 1/3 of team's minutes played in conference games. GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average Player Class Team GP Min W L T GA SO SV% GAA Sophomore 10 552:30 6 2 1 18 1 .916 1.95 Freshman 19 1102:33 13 6 0 37 0 .919 2.01 Junior 13 761:56 11 2 0 27 1 .906 2.13 Junior 15 914:10 8 3 4 36 0 .904 2.36 Freshman 11 575:06 5 3 0 23 2 .914 2.40

ECAC tournament

NCAA tournament

Regional semifinals

Game summary

Game summary The game began with Dartmouth getting the first rush up the ice but the Wisconsin defense was able to prevent a good shot on goal. The Badgers then began to take control and establish some offensive zone time. Just past the 2-minute mark, Joe Palodichuk put a solid shot on goal but Emmett Croteau made the save. A few seconds later, Dartmouth was called for too-many men and gave Wisconsin the first power play of the night. Off of the faceoff, Quinn Finley put a hard shot on goal that Croteau snatched with his glove. Wisconsin won the next faceoff as well and after passing the puck around the outside, put it to the front of the net. Finley's pass to Simon Tassy was partially deflected by Eric Charpentier and forced Croteau to make a desperation save with his toe. However, the netminder could not control the rebound and Tassy poked the puck beneath his leg for the opening tally. Wisconsin continued to pressure after scoring and forced several turnovers at center ice. The Big Green were eventually able to even out play and force an offensive zone faceoff but Wisconsin, who had an early edge in the dot, was swiftly able to work the puck up the ice. After the 5-minute mark, Finley nearly doubled his team's lead when he hit the crossbar from the high slot. When the game was paused for its first TV timeout around the 7-minute mark, Wisconsin was in complete control of the match and had credit for all 6 shots to that point. After the ensuing faceoff, Dartmouth finally got the puck on goal and nearly scored on a follow up attempt when Cam MacDonald's one-timer hit the post instead of a wide-open net. After turning over the puck in their own zone, Dartmouth got on an odd-man rush just after the midway point of the period and Hank Cleaves threw a shot against the grain to tie the score. Both teams probed for their chances afterwards but were unable to get a good look on goal for the next several minutes. Dartmouth appeared to have trouble staying on its skates as several players fell to the ice without any help from a Badger. Wisconsin was finally able to get some time in the Dartmouth end after an icing but even then, the Big Green defense was able to hold them to the outside. At the 15-minute mark, it was Wisconsin's turn to take an administrative penalty when Vasily Zelenov was called for a faceoff violation. On the ensuing power play, Dartmouth turned the puck over in its own end and gave a tremendous chance to Finley but Croteau stopped the shot with his blocker. After killing off the penalty, Wisconsin was able to force Dartmouth into another turnover in the Big Green's end but they could not get a good shot on goal. With less than 100 seconds to play, the Badgers' attack put the puck on goal and nearly got a lucky bounce past Croteau but the goaltender managed to get a whistle while sitting on the ice. The defenses held firm over the final moments and allowed the period to end with the score still tied.

The second began much in the way the first ended with both teams looking for their opportunities. About a minute in, Brock Cummings was charging at a loose puck near the Wisconsin cage when Palodichuk hooked him and the Big Green received its second power play of the match. Dartmouth were far better with their second man-advantage and were able to move the puck to Jack Silverberg in the slot but the puck fluttered into Daniel Hauser's belly. Wisconsin got an odd-man rush afterwards but Jack Phelan's shot went wide. Shortly after the penalty was over, Tassy got a open shot off of the rush from the right circle but Croteau's trapper captured the puck. Wisconsin continued to pressure and get looks at the Dartmouth cage but the Big Green defense did not break and several attempts were either blocked or deflected away. Wisconsin hit its second crossbar of the night when a crazy bounce from behind the goal jumped right on Grady Deering's tape but his rushed shot missed an open cage. After a TV timeout, Dartmouth upped their forecheck and were able to get a few good looks on goal. On the ensuing counterattack from the Badgers, Luke Osburn hit the post over Croteau's left shoulder for another near-miss. Moments later, Nathan Morin intercepted a blind pass behind the Wisconsin goal and was almost able to slip a wraparound through Hauser's legs but the score remained unchanged. After a faceoff shortly afterwards, Christian Fitzgerald chipped the puck into the Dartmouth end before being checked by Colin Grable. The referee ruled that the puck had been gone long enough and whistled Grable for an interference penalty. Wisconsin got several chances to score on its power play but they were unable to convert. About halfway through the man-advantage, Hauser nearly turned the puck over behind his own cage but the Badgers were able to retain possession and clear the puck out of their zone. Almost immediately after the penalty expired, a poor change resulted in a too-many men penalty for Wisconsin and Dartmouth got its turn on the power play. Despite keeping the puck in the Wisconsin end for the majority of the time they didn't get a single shot on goal. After killing off the penalty, Wisconsin went on the attack and Tassy got another wide-open chance on goal thanks to a turnover. This time, he tried to slide the puck between Croteau's legs but the Big Green goalie kept his stick on the ice and pushed the puck away. Wisconsin's final chance came as the period was expiring but another block from the Dartmouth defense prevented the puck from getting on goal. By this point the Dartmouth offense was mostly ineffectual with just 8 shots on goal, however, Wisconsin was only able to muster 17 of their own after 40 minutes.

Dartmouth jumped out to a fast start in the third and nearly got an open look at the net but a cross-crease pass went wide. A moment later, Hayden Stavroff broke in on the Wisconsin cage but Aiden Dubinsky was able to wrestle him down. Dubinsky was somehow able to escape without a penalty but the pair did end up crashing into Hauser, causing the goalie to need a moment before continuing. The two sides then exchanged attacks but both had trouble locating the net with their shots. At the 5-minute mark, Tassy got a pass from behind the net and had a clean look at the Dartmouth cage; however, Croteau came out to challenge the deflected the shot over the net. A minute later, a shot in close by Deering was absorbed by Croteau and kept Dartmouth in the game despite the wide disparity in shots. Near the middle of the period, Alex Krause was able to turn the puck over inside the Wisconsin blueline. He was able to get a good bounce off of the end boards to the far side of the net but Dartmouth failed to get a shot on goal. On the ensuing rush up the ice, Zelenov was able to find a wide-open Jack Horbach down low and the senior backhanded the puck under Croteau's blocker for Wisconsin's second lead of the game. With the Big Green now behind, they could no longer sit back and wait for their chances. Dartmouth tried to turn up the pressure but Wisconsin was not accommodating and continued to attack the Badger net. With under six minutes to play, Ryan Botterill threw a puck on goal and the shot was deflected in by Tassy. Wisconsin kept Dartmouth at bay for the next couple of minutes until they iced the puck with about 4 minutes to play. In order to give his team a rest, Mike Hastings called a timeout and Reid Cashman responded by pulling his goaltender. Just 20 seconds later, Fitzgerald was able to beat Stavroff to a loose puck in the Big Green's end and he deposited the puck into the empty net. With nothing to lose, Dartmouth pulled Croteau again and all that did was allow Finley to add another tally to the Badgers' total. The final two minutes passed without much fanfare as both sides understood that the match had already been decided and Wisconsin was able to skate away with the victory.

Game summary

Regional finals

Game summary

Ranking

USCHO