2025–26 Ohio State Buckeyes men's ice hockey season

2025–26 Ohio State Buckeyes
men's ice hockey season
2025–26 Ohio State Buckeyes; men's ice hockey season
Conference	Big Ten
Home ice	Value City Arena
Record
Overall	11–16–1
Conference	4–10–0
Home	6–8–1
Road	5–8–0
Neutral	0–0–0
Coaches and captains
Head coach	Steve Rohlik
Assistant coaches	J. B. Bittner; Paul Kirtland; Carter Krier
Captain	Davis Burnside
Alternate captain(s)	Adam Eisele; Nathan McBrayer; Riley Thompson
	Ohio State Buckeyes men's ice hockey seasons; « 2024–25 2026–27 »

The 2025–26 Ohio State Buckeyes men's ice hockey season is the 63rd season for the program and 13th season in the Big Ten Conference. The Buckeyes represent the Ohio State University in the 2025–26 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season, play their home games at Value City Arena and are coached by Steve Rohlik in his 13th season.

Departures

Player	Position	Nationality	Cause
Caden Brown	Forward	United States	Graduate transfer to Ferris State
Damien Carfagna	Defenseman	United States	Signed professional contract (Edmonton Oilers)
Joe Dunlap	Forward	United States	Graduation (signed with Laval Rocket)
Gunnarwolfe Fontaine	Forward	United States	Graduation (signed with Iowa Wild)
Dylan Godbout	Forward	United States	Transferred to St. Thomas
Patrick Guzzo	Forward	United States	Graduation (signed with Manitoba Moose)
Aiden Hansen-Bukata	Defenseman	Canada	Graduation (signed with Syracuse Crunch)
Reilly Herbst	Goaltender	United States	Graduation (retired)
Brent Johnson	Defenseman	United States	Graduation (signed with Wheeling Nailers)
John Larkin	Defenseman	United States	Left program (retired)
Logan Terness	Goaltender	Canada	Graduation (signed with Florida Everblades)
Theo Wallberg	Defenseman	Sweden	Transferred to Western Michigan

Recruiting

Player	Position	Nationality	Age	Notes
Félix Caron	Forward	Canada	20	Terrebonne, QC; transfer from Rensselaer
Niall Crocker	Forward	Canada	21	Delta, BC
Adam Eisele	Forward	United States	24	Lake Elmo, MN; transfer from Minnesota State
Landen Gunderson	Forward	United States	20	Plymouth, MN
Sam Hillebrandt	Goaltender	United States	20	Port Huron, MI
Bryce Ingles	Defenseman	United States	20	Clyde, MI
Jake Karabela	Forward	Canada	21	Guelph, ON; selected 149th overall in 2022
Dawson Labre	Goaltender	Canada	21	Les Cèdres, QC; selected 193rd overall in 2022
Sam McGinley	Defenseman	Canada	22	Calgary, AB; transfer from New Brunswick
Broten Sabo	Defenseman	United States	22	Rosemount, MN; transfer from Alaska
Ethan Straky	Defenseman	United States	22	Walnut Creek, CA; transfer from Colorado College

Roster

As of August 18, 2025.^[1]

No.	Player	Class	Pos	Height	Weight	DoB	Hometown	Previous team	NHL rights
1	Dawson Labre	Freshman	G	6' 3" (1.91 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2004-06-22	Les Cèdres, Quebec	West Kelowna Warriors (BCHL)	—
2	Chris Able	Sophomore	D	6' 1" (1.85 m)	198 lb (90 kg)	2004-11-04	Libertyville, Illinois	Chicago Steel (USHL)	—
5	Ethan Straky	Senior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	181 lb (82 kg)	2003-04-18	Walnut Creek, California	Colorado College (NCHC)	—
7	Chris Romaine	Sophomore	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	196 lb (89 kg)	2004-02-21	Boston, Massachusetts	Green Bay Gamblers (USHL)	COL, 193rd overall 2022
8	Nathan McBrayer (A)	Junior	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	173 lb (78 kg)	2004-05-11	Dublin, Ohio	Muskegon Lumberjacks (USHL)	—
9	Riley Thompson (A)	Junior	F	6' 3" (1.91 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	2002-08-17	Orleans, Ontario	Alaska Anchorage (NCAA)	—
10	Thomas Weis	Junior	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	2002-02-08	Madison, Wisconsin	Madison Capitols (USHL)	—
11	Jake Rozzi	Sophomore	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	183 lb (83 kg)	2004-01-27	Kirkland, Quebec	Tri-City Storm (USHL)	—
13	Félix Caron	Sophomore	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	168 lb (76 kg)	2004-12-01	Terrebonne, Quebec	Rensselaer (ECAC)	—
15	Adam Eisele (A)	Graduate	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	2001-07-11	Lake Elmo, Minnesota	Minnesota State (CCHA)	—
16	Max Montes	Junior	F	5' 8" (1.73 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	2003-09-01	Hartland, Wisconsin	Dubuque Fighting Saints (USHL)	—
17	Landen Gunderson	Freshman	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	2004-11-28	Plymouth, Minnesota	Sioux City Musketeers (USHL)	—
19	James Hong	Sophomore	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	168 lb (76 kg)	2004-07-02	Seoul, South Korea	Madison Capitols (USHL)	—
21	Bryce Ingles	Freshman	D	5' 9" (1.75 m)	181 lb (82 kg)	2005-06-08	Clyde, Michigan	Sioux Falls Stampede (USHL)	—
23	Davis Burnside (C)	Senior	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	176 lb (80 kg)	2003-09-22	Scottsdale, Arizona	Dubuque Fighting Saints (USHL)	—
24	Niall Crocker	Freshman	F	6' 4" (1.93 m)	196 lb (89 kg)	2004-07-31	Delta, British Columbia	Prince Albert Raiders (WHL)	—
25	Sam Deckhut	Junior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	186 lb (84 kg)	2002-04-02	San Diego, California	Sioux City Musketeers (USHL)	—
27	Sam McGinley	Junior	D	6' 3" (1.91 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	2002-12-03	Calgary, Alberta	New Brunswick (AUS)	—
28	William Smith	Junior	D	6' 1" (1.85 m)	193 lb (88 kg)	2003-03-29	Toronto, Ontario	Omaha Lancers (USHL)	—
29	Ryan Gordon	Junior	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2002-05-05	Duluth, Georgia	Sioux Falls Stampede (USHL)	—
30	Sam Hillebrandt	Freshman	G	6' 1" (1.85 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	2005-02-21	Port Huron, Michigan	Barrie Colts (OHL)	—
49	Jake Karabela	Freshman	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	187 lb (85 kg)	2004-03-07	Guelph, Ontario	Guelph Storm (OHL)	WSH, 149th overall 2022
60	Kristoffer Eberly	Junior	G	6' 4" (1.93 m)	208 lb (94 kg)	2002-12-10	Pinckney, Michigan	Green Bay Gamblers (USHL)	—
63	Nathan Lewis	Sophomore	F	6' 6" (1.98 m)	209 lb (95 kg)	2004-07-27	Chicago, Illinois	Youngstown Phantoms (USHL)	—
73	Broten Sabo	Junior	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	194 lb (88 kg)	2002-08-09	Rosemount, Minnesota	Alaska (NCAA)	—
91	Jake Dunlap	Senior	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	2001-12-05	Windham, New Hampshire	New Hampshire (HEA)	—

Standings

2025–26 Big Ten ice hockey Standings
	Conference record										Overall record
	GP	W	L	T	OTW	OTL	3/SW	PTS	GF	GA	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA
#1 Michigan State	20	15	5	0	2	2	0	45	74	42	30	24	6	0	115	59
#2 Michigan	21	15	5	1	4	0	1	43	87	59	31	24	6	1	142	75
#6 Penn State	19	11	7	1	0	2	0	36	70	59	29	19	9	1	111	84
#13 Wisconsin	21	12	9	0	3	0	0	33	82	76	31	19	10	2	116	93
Ohio State	19	7	12	0	1	2	0	22	59	82	29	11	17	1	87	106
Minnesota	20	6	13	1	0	2	1	22	51	63	31	10	19	2	85	103
Notre Dame	20	2	17	1	0	2	0	9	49	91	32	6	22	4	86	132
Championship: March 21, 2026 † indicates conference regular season champion * indicates conference tournament champion Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll; updated February 20, 2025

Schedule and results

Date	Time	Opponent^#	Rank^#	Site	TV	Decision	Result	Attendance	Record
Regular Season
October 10	6:30 pm	Northern Michigan*	#16	Value City Arena • Columbus, Ohio		Eberly	W 5–2	3,520	1–0–0
October 11	5:00 pm	Northern Michigan*	#16	Value City Arena • Columbus, Ohio		Eberly	W 3–1	2,976	2–0–0
October 17	7:00 pm	at #12 Connecticut*	#16	Toscano Family Ice Forum • Storrs, Connecticut	ESPN+	Eberly	L 2–3	2,513	2–1–0
October 18	4:00 pm	at #12 Connecticut*	#16	Toscano Family Ice Forum • Storrs, Connecticut	ESPN+	Eberly	W 4–2	5,133	3–1–0
October 24	6:30 pm	Sacred Heart*	#14	Value City Arena • Columbus, Ohio		Eberly	L 1–2 ^OT	3,635	3–2–0
October 25	5:00 pm	Sacred Heart*	#14	Value City Arena • Columbus, Ohio		Eberly	W 3–0	3,071	4–2–0
October 30	6:30 pm	#4 Penn State	#17	Value City Arena • Columbus, Ohio	BTN	Eberly	L 2–3	3,709	4–3–0 (0–1–0)
October 31	6:30 pm	#4 Penn State	#17	Value City Arena • Columbus, Ohio		Hillebrandt	L 3–4	4,986	4–4–0 (0–2–0)
November 14	8:00 pm	at #7 Wisconsin		Kohl Center • Madison, Wisconsin		Eberly	W 5–1	9,255	5–4–0 (1–2–0)
November 15	7:00 pm	at #7 Wisconsin		Kohl Center • Madison, Wisconsin		Eberly	L 5–6 ^OT	10,963	5–5–0 (1–3–0)
November 21	7:00 pm	at #2 Michigan		Yost Ice Arena • Ann Arbor, Michigan		Eberly	L 2–5	5,800	5–6–0 (1–4–0)
November 22	7:00 pm	at #2 Michigan		Yost Ice Arena • Ann Arbor, Michigan		Eberly	L 1–8	5,800	5–7–0 (1–5–0)
November 28	5:00 pm	at Arizona State*		Mullett Arena • Tempe, Arizona		Eberly	L 2–3 ^OT	4,507	5–8–0
November 29	7:00 pm	at Arizona State*		Mullett Arena • Tempe, Arizona	Fox 10	Hillebrandt	L 3–4 ^OT	4,867	5–9–0
December 4	7:30 pm	Minnesota		Value City Arena • Columbus, Ohio	BTN	Eberly	L 3–6	4,297	5–10–0 (1–6–0)
December 5	6:00 pm	Minnesota		Value City Arena • Columbus, Ohio	BTN	Eberly	W 6–5 ^OT	4,484	6–10–0 (2–6–0)
January 2	6:30 pm	Bowling Green*		Value City Arena • Columbus, Ohio	BTN+	Eberly	T 2–2 ^OT	5,779	6–10–1
January 3	6:07 pm	at Bowling Green*		Slater Family Ice Arena • Bowling Green, Ohio	Midco Sports+	Hillebrandt	L 3–5	5,000	6–11–1
January 9	6:30 pm	#2 Michigan State		Value City Arena • Columbus, Ohio		Eberly	L 2–6	4,627	6–12–1 (2–7–0)
January 10	5:00 pm	#2 Michigan State		Value City Arena • Columbus, Ohio		Hillebrandt	W 2–1	5,553	7–12–1 (3–7–0)
January 23	7:05 pm	at Notre Dame		Compton Family Ice Arena • Notre Dame, Indiana	Peacock	Hillebrandt	W 4–2	5,186	8–12–1 (4–7–0)
January 24	5:00 pm	at Notre Dame		Compton Family Ice Arena • Notre Dame, Indiana	Peacock	Eberly	L 1–6	5,087	8–13–1 (4–8–0)
January 30	6:30 pm	#1 Michigan		Value City Arena • Columbus, Ohio		Hillebrandt	L 4–6	7,659	8–14–1 (4–9–0)
January 31	5:00 pm	#1 Michigan		Value City Arena • Columbus, Ohio		Hillebrandt	L 2–3 ^OT	8,188	8–15–1 (4–10–0)
February 6	8:00 pm	at Minnesota		3M Arena at Mariucci • Minneapolis, Minnesota	BTN+, Fox9	Hillebrandt	W 6–2	9,381	9–15–1 (5–10–0)
February 7	9:00 pm	at Minnesota		3M Arena at Mariucci • Minneapolis, Minnesota	BTN	Hillebrandt	W 2–1	8,707	10–15–1 (6–10–0)
February 13	6:30 pm	#13 Wisconsin		Value City Arena • Columbus, Ohio		Hillebrandt	L 2–4	4,874	10–16–1 (6–11–0)
February 14	7:30 pm	#13 Wisconsin		Value City Arena • Columbus, Ohio	BTN	Eberly	W 3–2	5,332	11–16–1 (7–11–0)
February 20	8:30 pm	at #6 Penn State		Pegula Ice Arena • University Park, Pennsylvania	BTN
February 21	8:00 pm	at #6 Penn State		Pegula Ice Arena • University Park, Pennsylvania	BTN
February 27	8:30 pm	at Michigan State		Munn Ice Arena • East Lansing, Michigan	BTN
February 28	8:00 pm	at Michigan State		Munn Ice Arena • East Lansing, Michigan	BTN
March 5	6:30 pm	Notre Dame		Value City Arena • Columbus, Ohio
March 6	6:30 pm	Notre Dame		Value City Arena • Columbus, Ohio
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from USCHO.com Poll. All times are in Eastern Time. Source:^[2]

Rankings

Poll	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27 (Final)
USCHO.com	16	16	16	14	17	19	RV	RV	RV	NR	NR	NR	–	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR
USA Hockey	17	16т	15	15	17	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	NR	NR	–	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR

Note: USCHO did not release a poll in week 12.^[3]
Note: USA Hockey did not release a poll in week 12.

References

^ "2025–26 Roster". Ohio State Buckeyes. Retrieved August 18, 2025.
^ "Men's Ice Hockey Schedule". Ohio State Buckeyes. Retrieved August 30, 2024.
^ "USCHO Division I Men's Poll". USCHO.com. Retrieved November 26, 2019.

External links

[1] "2025–26 Roster". Ohio State Buckeyes. Retrieved August 18, 2025.

[2] "Men's Ice Hockey Schedule". Ohio State Buckeyes. Retrieved August 30, 2024.

[3] "USCHO Division I Men's Poll". USCHO.com. Retrieved November 26, 2019.

[1]

[2]

[3]

Ohio State Buckeyes men's ice hockey
Playing venues	OSU Ice Rink (1963–1998) Value City Arena (1998–present)
Head coaches	Tom Bedecki (1963–1965) Glen Sonmor (1965–1966) Harry Neale (1966–1970) Dave Chambers (1970–1972) Gerald Walford (1972–1975) Jerry Welsh (1975–1995) John Markell (1995–2010) Mark Osiecki (2010–2013) Steve Rohlik (2013–present)
Seasons	1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26
Conference affiliations	CCHA (1971–1973, 1975–2013) Big Ten (2013–present)
Culture & lore	Frozen Tundra Hockey Classic Ohio Hockey Classic Faceoff on the Lake Block O
All-time leaders	Statistical leaders Paul Pooley (270 Points) Paul Pooley (114 Goals) Mike Betz (73 Wins)
Frozen Four appearances	1998 2018
NCAA Tournament appearances	1998 1999 2003 2004 2005 2009 2017 2018 2023 2025
Conference Tournament titles	CCHA: 1972 2004
Ohio State University Columbus, OH