The following story has been updated to reflect an announced schedule change on July 10.
 
DENVER – The University of Denver hockey program has announced its full 2025-26 regular-season schedule, which features 35 games and includes the Pioneers hosting the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game at Ball Arena and NCAA West Regionals at Blue Arena in Loveland, Colorado.
 
Denver hockey is serving as hosts of the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game for the third time in its history and this year's matchup with the University of Minnesota will mark the program's fourth time in the event. DU previously hosted USHHOF games at Magness Arena on Oct. 11, 2008 against Notre Dame (5-2 win) and Dec. 29, 2012 versus Boston University (6-0 win) and also played Minnesota previously on Oct. 9, 2004 at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn. (5-2 loss).
 
The 2025 meeting against Minnesota will take place at the home of the NHL Colorado Avalanche over U.S. Thanksgiving Weekend. The exact date and time will be announced later this summer and public on-sale tickets go on sale in the coming weeks. Pioneer hockey season ticket holders receive priority access and the best-seat locations for the game. For more information call 303-871-4625 or email duticket@du.edu.
 
The last time that Denver and Minnesota faced off was when both teams were members of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, with the programs splitting a series in Minneapolis on March 1-2, 2013. The Gophers will be making their first trip to the Mile High City since Feb. 10-11, 2012 when the Pioneers swept the WCHA series at Magness Arena.
 
Denver will be playing its second-ever regular-season game at Ball Arena since the building first opened in 1999.  The Pioneers defeated in-state rival Colorado College 2-0 in their first game on Jan. 27, 2023 in front of a crowd of 17,952—the highest attended indoor DU hockey game in the state of Colorado in school history.
 
The Pios are serving as the host for the NCAA West Regionals in Loveland for the fourth time in the last seven years, after also previously doing so in 2020 (cancelled due to COVID-19), 2021 and 2022. The Pioneers defeated UMass Lowell and Minnesota Duluth in 2022 at the home of the American Hockey League's Colorado Eagles to springboard the program to the Frozen Four in Boston and its eventual ninth national championship. Should Denver qualify for its fifth-straight NCAA Tournament, the Pioneers will play their regional games at Blue Arena.
 
The Pios host UNLV in an exhibition at Magness Arena on Saturday, Oct. 4 and will officially open the 2025-26 regular season on Friday, Oct. 10 at the Air Force Falcons, as they play down I-25 at the Academy for the first time since Oct. 15, 2021. DU hosts Bentley University in the home opener at Magness Arena the next night on Saturday, Oct. 11. Boston-based Bentley is the defending Atlantic Hockey America champions and was also at the 2025 NCAA Northeast Regional in Manchester, New Hampshire, with Denver.
 
After finishing last season at the NCAA Frozen Four in St. Louis, Missouri, DU heads back to the "Gateway to the West" to begin a season-long four-game road trip. Denver will make its first-ever trip at  Lindenwood University in nearby St. Charles to play the Lions on Oct. 17-18. These games were previously scheduled for Oct. 4-5.
 
The Pioneers will play 11 overall non-conference outings this season and wrap up their road non-league schedule in Boston on Oct. 24-25. DU faces Boston College in a rematch of the 2025 Regional Final that Friday night before heading to Northeastern to play in legendary Matthews Arena—the oldest hockey arena in the world that is in its final season before the NU Huskies move to a new facility. DU last visited Mathews Arena on Oct. 16, 2004.
 
Homecoming Weekend and the first two-game home series of the year is Oct. 31-Nov. 1 against Alaska Anchorage. The Pioneers will be playing the Seawolves for the second straight season after starting last year in America's Last Frontier, and former WCHA-foe UAA will be making its first visit to Magness Arena since March 10, 2013. The matchup with Alaska Anchorage was previously announced for Oct. 17-18 and was changed to accommodate a scheduling issue by Lindenwood.
 
Denver's final home non-conference games will take place after the New Year as it faces a third Hockey East foe in Maine on Jan. 2-3. The teams split a top-10 matchup this past January in Orono, and the Black Bears will be visiting the Mile High City for the first time since playing in the Ice Breaker Tournament at Magness Arena on Oct. 8, 2022.
 
DU begins its 24-game National Collegiate Hockey Conference slate on Nov. 7-8 in Kalamazoo, Michigan, with a two-game series against the defending national champion Western Michigan Broncos. The conference opener is a rematch of the teams' meeting in this past year's NCAA Frozen Four and NCHC Frozen Faceoff Championship Game.
 
The Pioneers are once again in a three-team pod with Colorado College and Arizona State, with the teams each playing four games against one another during the year—twice at home and twice on the road. DU begins the first of two home-and-home series versus the rival CC Tigers on Nov. 14 before traveling to Ed Robson Arena on Nov. 15. The season series wraps up on Feb. 6-7 in Colorado Springs and Denver.
 
DU heads to the Tempe, Arizona, to take the Sun Devils the weekend before Thanksgiving and the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game on Nov. 21-22. The squads will end the season against one another on Feb. 27-28 at Magness Arena.
 
The Pioneers will also play home and road series during the year against Western Michigan and St. Cloud State, while the NCHC schedule matrix has them playing two-game home series versus Miami (Dec. 5-6) and Minnesota Duluth (Jan. 30-31) and road sets at North Dakota (Jan. 16-17) and Omaha (Feb. 13-14).
 
Following the showdown at Ball Arena against the Gophers, DU stays at home to take on Miami on Dec. 5-6 for Alumni Weekend before heading to St. Cloud State on Dec. 12-13 to wrap up the first part of the season.
 
The Pioneers have a road-heavy schedule in the fall as 10-of-the-first-14 and 12-of-the-first-19 games will be played outside of the Mile High City. That road stretch features nine-of-12 away contests from Oct. 17-Nov. 22 and two sets of five-of-six on the road: Oct. 10-25 and Nov. 7-22.
 
Eight of the Pioneers' first 10 contests of 2026 will be on home ice, with the only trip in that time being two games at rival North Dakota on Jan. 16-17. Overall, DU will play 11 of its last 16 games at Magness Arena, including eight in a 10-game stretch from Jan. 2-31.
 
After taking on Maine following the New Year, Denver hosts Western Michigan on Jan. 9-10 to conclude its first of two season-long, four-game homestands. The Pioneers will also host a pair of Minnesota schools in their other four-game homestay with outings against St. Cloud State on Jan. 23-24 for Hockey Parents Weekend and Minnesota Duluth on Jan. 30-31.
 
Denver's final road series is Feb. 13-14 at Omaha, marking the squad's first visit to Nebraska's largest city since Jan. 19-20, 2024.
 
For the first time in NCHC history, the entire conference tournament will be held at the campus site of the higher seed. The league tourney begins a week earlier to accommodate the schedule, with the best-of-three quarterfinal series set for March 6-8. The NCHC Semifinals will be Saturday, March 14 and the NCHC Final will be held on either March 20 or 21, with the exact date to be announced later this summer.
 
NCAA Regionals will be held from March 26-29, with Albany, N.Y., Sioux Falls, S.D., and Worcester, Mass., also serving as neutral sites along with Loveland. The 2026 NCAA Frozen Four is April 9-11 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, with the University of North Dakota as hosts for next season's national championship.
 
The 2025-26 season will mark the 77th of Denver hockey. The Pioneers have won at least 20 games in each of their last 23 straight full seasons and have won 30 games in each of the last four years—both the longest stretches in program history.
 

TICKETS: Full and half-season tickets are on sale now. Single game, group and mini ticket plans will be available later this summer. Click here for more information.