Friday, October 10
Columbus, Ohio
6:30 p.m.
Ohio State
vs
Northern Michigan
No. 16/16t Buckeyes Open Campaign at Home against Wildcats
10/8/2025 12:23:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey
Series features Youth Weekend, Cup giveaway
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The No. 16/16t Ohio State men's hockey team opens the 2025-26 campaign at home this weekend. The Buckeyes will host Northern Michigan at 6:30 p.m. Friday and 5 p.m. Saturday in Value City Arena. Both games will be streamed through B1G+, with Ohio State Radio also carrying the action and live stats available on OhioStateBuckeyes.com.
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Promos, Tickets and Parking
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Promos, Tickets and Parking
- It is Youth Weekend and youth (ages 12 and under) can take advantage of a complimentary ticket to each game of the series. (Secure your youth tickets) Parents/guardians will be able to purchase discounted tickets that are seated next to their respective complimentary youth ticket.Â
- Friday, there is a schedule cup giveaway, with free fountain drink refills, for the first 500 fans in attendance.
- Saturday there will be a postgame skate with the Buckeyes. Fans must bring their own skates and will need to fill out a safety waiver before taking the ice.
- Season tickets, Power Play mini plans, group tickets and single game tickets are all available now. Ticket Information
- Parking is free for all home games in Value City Arena.
- Ohio State and Northern Michigan competed together in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association from 1977-78 through 1983-84 and from 1997-98 through 2012-13.
- The Wildcats have been in the current iteration of the CCHA since 2021-22.
- All-time, Ohio State is 37-38-3 vs. Northern Michigan.
- The first games between the teams were a split Jan. 14-15, 1977 in Columbus and the last series was Jan. 18-19, 2013, with the Wildcats posting a home sweep.
- In Columbus, Ohio State is 25-9-1 all-time against NMU.
- Ohio State is 32-25-5 all-time in the first game of the season. Under Steve Rohlik, the team is 6-4-2 in season openers. Last year the Buckeyes kicked off the season with a 3-3 tie at home against American International.
- Four Buckeyes have been selected to serve as captains for the 2025-26 squad. Davis Burnside will wear the 'C' and Adam Eisele, Nathan McBrayer and Riley Thompson will don the 'A.' Burnside is in his second year as a captain and is the 19th Buckeye to wear the captain's 'C' at least twice. McBrayer is the second Central Ohio native to wear a letter for the Buckeyes, joining Austin Pooley (A in 2019-20, C in 2020-21), and is the ninth Ohio native to serve as a captain for the Scarlet and Gray.
- Burnside enters the season tied for fourth in goals (37) and tied for eighth in points (80) among current Division I players while standing tied for second in games played (118). Adam Eisele is tied for third overall with nine gamewinning tallies and Broten Sabo is tied for third among defensemen in gamewinning goals with four.
- The Buckeyes returned 15 players and added 11 newcomers to the program this year. The new players include six freshmen and five transfers (one sophomore, three juniors and a senior/graduate).
- The 26-player roster includes four fourth-year players (three seniors and a graduate), 10 juniors, six sophomores and six freshmen.
- Six #ProBucks started the season on NHL rosters, including Mason Lohrei (Boston), Dakota Joshua (Toronto) and Jakub Dobes (Montreal). Three others – Damien Carfagna (Edmonton), Carson Meyer (Buffalo) and Max McCormick (Seattle) – are on the nonroster/injured list with their respective teams.
- Ohio State will hit the road for a series at No. 13 UConn next weekend. The teams will meet at 7 p.m. Oct. 17 in Storrs, Conn., and at 4 p.m. Oct. 18 in Hartford.
- The Buckeyes will then host a four-game homestand, taking on Sacred Heart Oct. 24-25 and No. 4 Penn State Oct. 30-31.
- Three road series follow in November (at No. 18 Wisconsin, at No. 9/7 Michigan, at No. 15 Arizona State) before the first half ends with a home series against No. 12 Minnesota Dec. 4-5.
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's Ice Hockey No videos available.
