Penn State gets first round matchup, location for NCAA men’s hockey tournament
Gavin McKenna and Penn State men’s hockey have their destination for the first round of the 2026 DI Men’s Ice Hockey Championship.
They are unseeded and will play Minnesota-Duluth in the first round in Albany, New York at 9 p.m. Friday.
The program is in the midst of its most anticipated season in its brief history, led by the hype surrounding McKenna, the projected No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft. He led the team to a 21-13-2 record overall and a 12-10-2 record in Big Ten play. Penn State sputtered at the end of the season, losing three straight to end the regular season before defeating Minnesota in the first round of the conference tournament.
The Nittany Lions then fell to the Michigan Wolverines, who are the No. 1 seed in the bracket, in the semifinals. They are entering this year’s tournament for the second year in a row for the second time in program history, accomplishing the feat in 2017 and 2018 as well.
Last year, they made a deep run to the Frozen Four, their first appearance in the national semifinals in program history.
This story was originally published March 22, 2026 at 3:44 PM.
