MONTREAL — The 2025–26 schedule has been released for the men's hockey team at McGill University, with the Redbirds set to play 28 regular season games and host 14 of them at the new-look McConnell Arena, which will reopen this fall after a year-long renovation project.
The campaign opens with four exhibition contests in September, including the opener at UQTR (Sept. 19) and a pair of home games against UPEI and Ottawa. The preseason slate wraps up with a neutral-site matchup against UQTR on Sept. 30 in Mashteuiatsh, Que., near Chicoutimi, in honour of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. The Redbirds will also play a couple of non-conference road games early in the new year, with confrontations at UNB (Jan. 3) and Moncton (Jan. 4).
McGill, which played its first official game on Jan. 31, 1877 and is the oldest operating hockey club in the world, officially begins the new Ontario University Athletics regular season on Oct. 3, when the Redbirds travel to North Bay, Ont., to face the Nipissing Lakers.
Among the highlights of the schedule is an extended six-game homestand spanning mid-October, featuring the official regular season home opener against Concordia (Oct. 8), followed by visits from Queen's, UQTR (twice), RMC, and Nipissing. The Redbirds will also host back-to-back games against Carleton and Ontario Tech in early January, and three consecutive home games in mid-January (Queen's, Concordia, Nipissing), before closing out the regular season at home against Ottawa on Valentine's Day.
McGill will face all OUA East Division opponents at least twice during the season, including several marquee matchups against long-standing rivals like Queen's, UQTR, Concordia and Ottawa, the defending national champs.
Following the regular season, the OUA playoffs are scheduled to begin the week of Feb. 16, with the Queen's Cup championship set for March 14, 2026. McGill has won 18 Cup banners, which ranks second to Toronto's 41 titles. The 2026 U SPORTS national championship, hosted by Saint Mary's University, is slated for Mar. 19-22 at the Scotiabank Centre in Halifax.
The Redbirds are coming off an 18-9-1 fourth-place finish in the nine-team OUA East.
The full 2025–26 schedule, including preseason and postseason dates, is available on the men's hockey page of the McGill Athletics website.
SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
Communications Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-983-7012 (cell)
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca
