DENVER — With the Frozen Four loss still fresh in the in the minds of the DU Pioneers, the new schedule is already on the horizon. Last season was an amazing year despite a disappointing result for the Pios. They put together an amazing 29–11–1 record, opening the season with a 12-game winning streak. DU also opened the year topping the national polls for eight straight weeks, only falling after back-to-back losses to Arizona State. They would never recover the number one spot after that, but remained in the top ten all season long finishing ranked sixth in the polls.

Non-Conference Play

The Pios will start with three games on the road. Two of the games will be against Lindenwood, a heavy team they played last season. DU will head down the interstate to the Air Force Academy for one game before heading home against Bentley.

DU plays 11 non-conference games with classic battles like Alaska-Anchorage, Boston College, and Minnesota. Five of the non-conference games will be on the road, making for an easy first part of the schedule. The Minnesota game will take place at Ball Arena in late November. It will be the first time that the two have played each other since they were members of the WCHA and left the conference in 2013.

Key Conference Matchups

DU will play the defending National Champion Western Michigan four times this upcoming season. WMU is one team that the Pios struggled with last season. The Pios took three out of the four games they played against WMU to overtime, losing three of them.

The Gold Pan Series against Colorado College will take place on November 14–15 and February 6–7. This will be a home at home series, with the two games split between CC and DU over the two-day span.

They will not see their old conference rival, North Dakota, until January when they head to Fargo to play in their barn.

Blue Arena in Loveland, Colorado will serve as one of the four sites for the NCAA Regionals running March 26–29, 2026.

Make sure to check the entire schedule here!

Key Departures

The Pioneers will have six key players leaving school to move on to their professional careers. All six of them had a hand in the last national championship that the school in 2024. Goaltender Matt Davis, who was an invite to the Colorado Avalanche development camp last summer, has signed with the San Jose Barracuda (SJS). Senior and captain Carter King landed with the Calgary Flames. All-American Jack Devine has moved on to the Florida Panthers organization, while line mate Aidan Thompson signed with the Rockford IceHogs (CHI). The biggest impact will be Zeev Buium. The sophomore defenseman was vital to the Pios’ blue line and is now playing for the Minnesota Wild. Jared Wright started his pro career with the Ontario Reign (LAK) earlier this month. Every player has at least one point since joining their pro teams.