The Florida Ice Hockey Club will finish up the 2025-26 season at the Florida Panthers IceDen in Coral Springs with hopes to clinch a championship.
To achieve that goal, they have two opportunities. UF will compete in both the Collegiate Hockey South (CHS) and American Collegiate Development Conference (ACDC) playoffs.
CHS playoffs start on Thursday and Florida will play in the Division Two tournament. Florida’s first opponent is Florida Atlantic, before it plays again on Friday against the University of Tampa.
Of the three, the two teams with the best records will match up for the Men’s Division Two Championship Game on Sunday.
Florida will also participate in the ACDC playoff games.
The ACDC is the newest tier of collegiate hockey under the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA). The ACHA aims to structure new hockey operations, grow college hockey nationwide and provide stability for already established programs.
Florida holds the first seed in the ACDC playoff games. There are six participating teams, and the ACDC playoff games begin on Saturday.
The first (Florida) and second (Jacksonville University) seeds received byes for the quarterfinal matchups and will go straight to the semifinals. Florida will play Saturday, facing the winner of Florida Tech and the University of South Florida’s game.
The Men’s ACDC Championship winner will be revealed on Sunday.
The Gators come into the tournament looking to rebound from their last contest. Florida was eliminated in round one of the Southeast Regional Tournament on Feb. 21, falling 5-4 to Ohio State University. That snapped UF’s five game winning-streak.
OSU then matched with Florida Atlantic University – a recurring UF opponent – and the Owls defeated the Buckeyes 4-2.
Ironically, three out of four of the teams that qualified for nationals from the Southeast Regional Tournament are Florida schools. One of those is FAU, which will face off against Penn State.
The Gators are 4-2 against the Owls this year. In their most recent matchup, the Gators took home the win 6-4.
They will look to echo that result.
At the forefront of its efforts, freshman forward Brian Pine remains Florida’s highest scorer with 28 points, followed by junior winger Michael Katz with 25.
Sophomore defenseman Brady Baehser (47) and junior forward Jackson Nieuwendyk (44) still lead FAU’s roster in points this season.
Puck drop for the Gators' matchup against the Owls Thursday is set for 9:15 p.m. at the Florida Panthers IceDen in Coral Springs.
Contact Nicole Scura at nscura@alligator.org. Follow her on X @NicoleScuraa.
Nicole is a sophomore journalism student in her first semester with the Alligator and she is the beat reporter for the University of Florida Ice Hockey Club. In her free time, Nicole enjoys figure skating, watching football (Go Bucs!), traveling and linedancing.
