Annika Morris
The Boston University men’s hockey team’s 2025-26 season will be largely defined by 10 days in late January and early February.
How’s this for a gauntlet? Arch-rival Boston College for a standalone matchup at Agganis Arena on January 30, then Northeastern at TD Garden for the Beanpot semifinal three days later, then defending Hockey East champion Maine at home in the Beanpot trap game before, potentially, the Beanpot final (likely versus BC again) on February 9.
Not that February gets much easier after that, either. Two weeks after the Beanpot, BU will play its annual home-and-home series against the Eagles in its final weekend set of the year. Late January and February is always the culmination of a BU men’s hockey regular season — but in 2025-26, it couldn’t get much tougher.
The start of the season is friendlier, with the Terriers playing their first seven games at home starting October 4 against LIU, but the homestand still includes a series against Michigan State. And once it’s over, BU dives right into Hockey East play.
The full 2025-26 schedule breakdown for BU men’s hockey:
The schedule
The biggest games to watch
Vs. Michigan State, October 17 and October 18
Last season’s standout non-conference series was also at Agganis Arena, also in October, also against a Big Ten power from Michigan… and it didn’t go great, with BU imploding in the opener against the Wolverines before losing the finale in overtime. That turned out to be the lowest point of a rough start to the year, and things got better from there.
Still, head coach Jay Pandolfo and Co. would like to avoid that fate against Michigan State in 2025-26. But the Spartans, the reigning Big Ten champions, will be an even tougher test. Reigning Hobey Baker Award winner Issac Howard is gone, but he’s being replaced by Porter Martone, Cayden Lindstrom and Ryker Lee — all first-round picks from the past two NHL Drafts. And for a BU team that will be more talented but even younger and less experienced than last season, MSU will be a telling early-season measuring stick.
Vs. UConn, October 24 and October 25
Super interesting kickoff to BU’s Hockey East schedule here. The Terriers played their first league game against the Huskies last season, too, and left with a frustrating 4-2 standalone victory at Agganis.
That was when everyone thought UConn would be in the cellar of Hockey East. The Huskies were not. They wound up defeating BU in the Hockey East semifinal in March, after which Jay Pandolfo was livid with the Terriers’ performance. UConn played a style that gave BU issues all three times the teams matched up last year — if this series in late October goes well for the Terriers, it’ll be a big sign of growth.
Vs. Cornell, Red Hot Hockey, November 29 (at Madison Square Garden)
Red Hot Hockey is always fun; for many of the players, it’s their first time playing at the Mecca. But in 2025-26, it will arguably be BU’s second-toughest non-conference test, and a rematch of last year’s NCAA regional final.
Cornell is entering a Mike Schafer-less world, so it’s hard to know what the Big Red will look like. But if it’s anything similar to Schafer’s slow, hyper-physical brand, the defending ECAC champions will be a challenge.
Vs. Boston College, January 30
Anyone remember BU’s last standalone matchup with BC? When the Terriers conceded nine goals at Conte Forum to a team that finished eighth in the league?
Wasn’t great, but then again, none of BU’s non-Beanpot matchups with the Eagles have went well lately. The Terriers are 0-4 in such games the last two seasons, but in 2025-26, they’ll get an added crack at their hated rivals. Also, BC, which was voted fifth in the Hockey East preseason poll, doesn’t project to be as good this season as it was the previous two.
Vs. Maine, February 6
This is a fascinating one. The game between each Beanpot Monday is always tough, but it’s at least been against lowly Merrimack each of the last two years.
This year? Defending league champion Maine. That’s a huge game independent of the Beanpot’s schedule, but with this context? This matchup at Agganis will be a telling test — not just of how BU matches up against the Black Bears on the ice, but of how a young and ultra-talented group can keep its focus away from the Beanpot for what will likely be a huge game in the Hockey East standings.
Other games to pay attention to
At/vs. Northeastern, November 21 and November 22
Not the greatest time to schedule one of BU’s two rivalry series of the year — the weekend before Thanksgiving break — but the Huskies love miserable starts to the season, so it could benefit the Terriers. Not that NU has been very good at any point of the season (besides the Beanpot, of course) the past couple years.
But it’s still Northeastern, so it’s automatically a critical part of the schedule. And to be fair to the Huskies, they always play BU tough — they’ve taken a regular-season, non-Beanpot game from BU in each of the last six seasons (excluding 2020), despite only finishing ahead of BU in Hockey East in one of them.
At Quinnipiac, November 15
Two seasons after the Bobcats won their first national championship, Rand Pecknold’s program doesn’t figure to be as dominant as they once were. Still, Quinnipiac won 24 games in 2024-25 and took the ECAC regular season title before losing to UConn in the first round of NCAAs.
This mid-November trip to Hamden, Conn. is a legitimate test for BU; arguably the Terriers’ second-toughest in non-conference play. It’s the type of game that will have PairWise implications, too.