UConn to co-host 2026 Ice Breakers Tournament with Sacred Heart

UConn men’s hockey will co-host the 2026 Men’s Ice Breaker Tournament alongside Sacred Heart next season on Oct. 9-10. The 30th edition of the event will also feature Penn State and Bowling Green.

The Huskies and Pioneers will play one game against the two western schools at their home rinks, though the exact schedule (along with ticket information) will be announced at a later date.

“We are thrilled to partner with Sacred Heart to bring the Ice Breaker Tournament to Connecticut,” UConn Director of Athletics David Benedict said in a release. “This event allows us to showcase our exceptional facilities while highlighting the strength and quality of college hockey right here in Connecticut.”

The Ice Breaker Tournament, organized by College Hockey Inc. on behalf of the Hockey Commissioners Association, brings together four teams from four different conferences to celebrate the start of the college hockey season.

Those games don’t count to UConn’s total limit, so it still has two slots open on its 2026-27 non-conference slate. That doesn’t mean the Huskies will use them, though. The early sense is they’ll keep their options open but don’t want to ram in two extra contests for the sake of it.

Along with the Ice Breaker, the Huskies will host Colorado College for a pair of games, travel to Ohio State for two, head to Belfast for the Friendship Four (with Colgate, Minnesota Duluth and Providence) on Nov. 27-28 and then participate in the annual Connecticut Ice Tournament.

CT Ice is still a question mark. The contract for the tournament is up after this season and the four schools have four difference ideas about how it should proceed. Still, it’d be a surprise if it didn’t continue in some form.