The 105th season of Terrier hockey begins tonight about as far as one can get from the site of Boston Arena, where BU first played in 1918. The #16/15 Terriers are in Fairbanks for a two-game series with the University of Alaska, the first-ever meetings between the programs.
Having a road series in Alaska has enabled the Terriers to have a 36-game schedule this year. BU will also play an exhibition game against Brown at Agganis Arena next Saturday.
Photo credit Dan Koerner
After three consecutive Frozen Four appearances—and one national championship game—BU had a decidedly down season by program standards, finishing at .500 with a 17-17-2 mark.
Note: Both Alaska games will stream on FloHockey.tv, which offers a monthly subscription for $39.99. Subscribers can watch full game archives and replays anytime via FloHockey or the FloSports app.
Head Coach Jay Pandolfo's squad, featuring 18 returnees, two portal transfers and six freshmen, will look to establish an identity for consistently playing fast, smart and direct hockey.
The Terrier offense is expected to get a boost from its two first-round draft pick centers, Tynan Lawrence and Caleb Malhotra. However, substantial step-ups from sophomore wings Jack Murtagh, Ryder Ritchie and Conrad Fondrk also will be needed if BU is to return to having a top D1 offense. Look for first-year wings Niklas Aaram Olsen and Viktor Norringer to be contributors as well. Senior captain Jack Harvey is the top returning goal scorer with 13 and 21 points.
For the first time in four seasons, there is no Hutson on the BU blueline. Returnees Aiden Celebrini, Charlie Trethewey and Mick Frechette are joined by transfers Adam Barone (LSSU) and Jaxon Wismer (UVM), returnee from the USHL Carter Amico and freshmen Xavier Villeneuve (Hutson 3.0?) and Haoxi Wang.
Junior Mikhail Yegorov, back for a third season, is regarded as one of the NCAA's top netminders despite the team's struggles last year. Senior Max Lacroix returns as Big Mike's back-up.
The Nanooks also are coming off a .500 season, posting a 15-15-3 record and finishing 35th in the NPI. UA, who had wins over Clarkson, Providence and Quinnipiac as well as a tie with the Bobcats, have been slotted at #37 by CHN's Mike McMahon in his preseason ranking.
UA lost four players to D1 transfers and several of its top scorers to graduation, as well. They welcomed seven transfers and eight freshmen. Sophomore forwards Rylen Roersma and Jhett Larson had 22 and 14 points respectively. Transfers Joel Lehtinen (Stonehill) and Domenick Bartecko (Mercyhurst) should bolster the offense.
A veteran and large defense led by junior Nathan Rickey (16 points) and sophomore Jackson Anderson grew even bigger with the addition of transfers 6'4" Grady Gallatin (WMU) and 6'2" Lukas Klemm (Mercyhurst).
Tyler Shea, a transfer from Brown ( 3.26, .911), takes over in goal for the Nanooks. Last weekend, he authored a pair of shutouts in exhibition games with ACHA schools.
UA's Atlas Rink is 200 x 100, the same size as UMass's Mullin Center prior to renovations.
There are two names on the UA roster that BU fans may remember, one of them painfully. Jack Plandowski's dad is Oscar Plandowski, who scored the triple overtime goal that denied BU the 1991 national championship. Back-up goalie Calvin Vachon is the son of Terrier forward Nick Vachon who played for the 90-91 and 91-92 squads.
CHECK BACK FOR TONIGHT'S BU LINEUP
● GoTerriers.com preview, game notes, Live Stats, BU All-Access (audio), Live stream (subscription); BU Men’s Hockey Twitter
● BU Hockey Stats: First Game, Last Frontier
● Boston Hockey Blog NOTEBOOK: BU looks to turn the page as the new season begins
● Boston Hockey Blog Opening Weekend Preview Terrier Hockey Talk
● College Hockey News Tale of the Tape
● College Hockey Inc. Men’s Notes: Top 2026-27 Preseason Storylines
►The Athletic's ranking of the top 40 freshmen features four Terriers:
3. Caleb Malhotra, C, Boston U. (Canucks — No. 3, 2026)
Malhotra is the top freshman forward in this class. He was Brantford’s best player between the regular season and playoffs as a rookie last year in the OHL, a standout at the CHL-USA Prospects Challenge, and you can expect him to be one of the Terriers’ best players as a freshman. He needs to fill out and get stronger, and that’s going to show up in some games, but he has all of the rest (smarts, skill, skating, feel, detail, intangibles) and doesn’t have the off games most players his age do.
14. Xavier Villeneuve, LHD, Boston U. (Blackhawks — No. 34, 2026)
The biggest wild card on this list, Villeneuve is a small but highly skilled offensive defenseman who takes risks, makes plays and will compete, but is quite likely going to face some real practical challenges defending early on in his college career. He’s also coming off a season that was affected by hip issues. He’s going to pull Terriers fans out of their seats, but he may not be Hutson 3.0.
17. Niklas Aaram-Olsen, LW/RW, Boston U. (Canucks — No. 41, 2026)
After leading goal scorer Cole Eiserman turned pro, the Terriers are going to have to replace his goals by committee this season. I expect sophomores Ryder Ritchie and Jack Murtagh to step up, but Aaram-Olsen’s combination of speed, skill, shooting and athleticism should allow him to make an impact on the power play and potentially even flank centers Tynan Lawrence or Malhotra. The Norwegian has the ability to score from distance and attack in cuts.
38. Haoxi Wang, LHD, Boston U. (Sharks — No. 33, 2025)
Wang is one of hockey’s most fascinating case studies as a towering D with excellent skating and overall mobility. Though it didn’t necessarily show up in the stat sheet, he took a step by playing against tougher competition in his second year in the OHL. His decision-making and reads are still very much a work in progress, and he’s going to have some ups and downs this season at BU, but he has a chance to put it all together over time.
Looking back
The newest @TerrierHockey player in the BU Athletic Hall of Fame is Matt Grzelcyk ’16‼️
— BU Athletics (@BUAthletics) September 30, 2026
A two-time First Team All-America honoree, Grzelcyk captained BU to Beanpot and Hockey East regular-season and tournament titles in 2015 en route to the NCAA title game. #ProudToBU pic.twitter.com/OFpADfzUtK
Grzelcyk, now in his 11th NHL season, signed a one-year deal with Buffalo last week. He spent eight years with the Bruins before skating for Pittsburgh and Chicago the past two seasons.
A two-time Terrier captain, he produced 95 points (26G,69A) in 125 games. He fired home the overtime game-winner in the 2015 Beanpot Championship game, his second of the night.
Macklin Celebrini assisted on three scores in San Jose's opening night 4-3 overtime win against the Panthers.
Devlin Kaplan has been traded to the Seattle Kraken by the Flyers. The New Jersey native played for three BU Frozen Four teams and generated 64 points in 115 games. In the 2023-24 Hockey East championship game, he scored the third-period tying goal prior to Lane Hutson's overtime tally.
Last season, Kaplan had 13 points for the AHL Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
DEVIN. KAPLAN.
— BU Men's Hockey (@TerrierHockey) March 19, 2023
Watch on ESPN+: https://t.co/IhMvA0Ntj4@hockey_east | @espn | @NESN pic.twitter.com/lUKaUI9ZJ0
● NHL.com Seattle Kraken Acquire Forward Devin Kaplan from Philadelphia in Exchange for David Goyette
Women's Team
Terriers were blanked, 7-0, by defending champion Wisconsin in the season opener for both teams.
The Badgers took a 1-0 lead near the end of the opening period. They broke the game open with five unanswered goals in the middle period and closed the scoring with one in the third.
Mari Pietersen stopped 24 shots before being relieved by Sydney Fogu who made 16 saves. BU took 22 shots.
Game two of the series is set for 6 p.m. ET. Game Day links are in the recap below.
