The earliest regular season start in program history, a return to the North Star College Cup and 14 bouts with clubs that qualified for last spring's NCAA Tournament highlight the University of Minnesota Duluth's 2016-17 men's hockey schedule.

NCAA Division teams cannot officially hit the ice until Oct. 1 and that's when UMD will launch its 73rd year of intercollegiate competition with a two-game home series against long-time rival Michigan Tech University of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. The next two weekends have the Bulldogs taking on a pair of Hockey East powers and 2016 NCAA Tournament participants in the University of Massachusetts-Lowell (Oct. 7-8 in Lowell, Mass.) and the University of Notre Dame (Oct. 14-15 at AMSOIL Arena).  Following an Oct. 22 exhibition engagement with the U.S. National Under-18 Team, UMD will remain at AMSOIL Arena to open National Collegiate Hockey Conference play against the University of North Dakota, the defending NCAA national champions, on Oct. 28-29.  During the course of the 2016-17 regular season, the Bulldogs will also play host to Western Michigan University (Nov. 11-12), Bemidji State University (on Dec. 16 in the front end of a home-and-home series), Colorado College (Jan. 6-7) St. Cloud State University (Jan. 13-14), the University of Nebraska-Omaha (Feb. 3-4) and Miami University (Feb. 23-24) as part of their 18-game home slate. The regular season home finale series versus Miami has been bumped to Thursday and Friday to accommodate and support the Minnesota State Section 7AA and 7A boys' hockey playoff semifinals, which are schedule for Feb. 25 at AMSOIL Arena. 

In addition, UMD and the University of Minnesota will meet for the 231st time in their storied rivalry on Jan. 27 in the opening round of the North Star College Cup at the Xcel Energy Center. They'll be joined at that event by Bemidji State and St. Cloud State University.

The Bulldogs, who closed out the 2015-16 season holding down the No. 9 spot in the final USCHO.com Poll, posted a 19-16-5 overall record while advancing to the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in six seasons.

2016-17 UMD Men's Hockey Schedule

All men's hockey season ticket holders will be receiving 2016-17 season ticket renewal information and invoice in the mail shortly. Beginning this year, season ticket holders will be able to renew and pay for tickets online. For directions on how to access your online account,  visit www.umdbulldogs.com/account or contact the UMD Ticket Office at (218) 726-8595 or umdtix@d.umn.edu.