DUDLEY, Mass. (2/24/2026) - The No. 5 seeded Nichols College men's ice hockey program (10-14-1, 7-12-1 CNE) and head coach Alex Gacek will start their postseason play on Wednesday night, when they will travel to the Canton Ice House to face No. 4 Curry College (16-8-1, CNE 13-6-1) in the first round of the 2026 Conference of New England Men's Ice Hockey Tournament. Puck drop is set for 6 PM in Canton, Massachusetts. The Bison's 2025-26 postseason appearance marks the third-straight, with last year's outing against No. 4 Suffolk University (2/26/2025) and their 2023-24 appearance against No. 3 University of New England (2/21/2024).
Around The Bracket
The winner of the game on Wednesday night will travel to Biddeford, Maine, to face No. 1 University of New England on Saturday, February 28th, for a 7 PM puck drop.
On the other side of the bracket, No. 2 Endicott College (19-3-3, CNE 14-3-3) will be playing the winner of No. 3 Suffolk University (16-8-1, CNE 15-4-1) versus No. 6 Johnson & Wales University (8-14-3, CNE 6-12-2) on Saturday, February 28th, at 1 PM.
By The Numbers
CJ Zezima and Jeremy Tremblay are forwards to watch for Wednesday's game, with both juniors contributing to the Bison's success up front. Zezima played all 25 games this season, ending with 9 goals and 11 assists for 20 points, which is the most points earned by any Bison this season. Zezima also won 215 of 386 faceoffs taken for a .557 faceoff win percentage. Tremblay finished his first season with the Bison scoring 9 goals and 8 assists for 17 points, ending the regular season with a plus/minus of +3.
On defense, sophomore Luca Ricci will look to make an impact after scoring 3 goals and providing 15 assists (9th most in the CNE) for 18 points in the regular season. On January 5th, 2026, Ricci earned CNE Player of the Week for a 4 point weekend to guide the Bison to their first Boston Landing Collegiate Invitational win since 2023.
In net, Ryan Henry will look to build on an impressive freshman campaign, which saw him play in 15 games this season, going 7-6-1. Henry posted 434 saves, a .929 SV% (2nd in the CNE), 2.30 GA (5th in the CNE), and averaged 28.93 saves per game (4th in the CNE). Henry earned CNE Goaltender and Rookie of the Week on 1/5/26 for his Boston Landing Collegiate Invitational Most Valuable Player performance that weekend.
The Bison finished the regular season strong, posting a 3-2-1 record in the last three weeks of the season while facing three nationally ranked opponents in that timeframe.
The Bison went 0-2-1 in the regular season against the Colonels, with the most recent result being a 3-3 tie, in which the Bison won in a five-round shootout 2-1 to earn the extra conference point. In the shootout, Jeremy Tremblay and Aaron Hamel scored, and freshman goaltender Ryan Henry made four saves.
