The Nevada men’s hockey team approaches their third year. After finding much development in their first year, this newer team looks to continue that growth.The season starts on Oct. 9 and 10, playing at home against the UCLA Bruins at Reno Ice.
This will be Nevada’s second season playing in the American Collegiate Hockey Association’s (ACHA) West Coast Hockey Conference (WCHC) M3, after the association rejected the team’s bid to move to M2 for the 2026-27 season.
The first season for Nevada was spent as an independent team, developing the team before joining a conference and playing an independent schedule against teams such as Utah Valley University and Idaho State University.
Nevada made a big jump between the 2024-25 and 2025-26 seasons by joining the WCHC, when their games played went from six to 17, including a two-game playoff run.

The team also made big moves on their roster, with more players from outside the local area committing to Nevada for the hockey team, including players like incoming sophomore forwards Christopher Lai and Cecil Belda from United States Premiere Hockey League teams.
These signings proved to be very important to Nevada’s 2025-26 season, with Lai leading the team in goals (20) and overall points (27). Belda tied team captain and incoming junior forward Franky Griffin for assists with 9. Griffin and Belda sat at second and third in overall points for the season as well.
As a whole, the team played a solid 9-8-0 season, including a 5-1-0 home record. Nevada brought a lot of excitement in their games, winning with massive margins for home fans, and reaching the playoff semifinals during their first competitive year, losing 4-0 to the eventual WCHC M3 champs Arizona State University.
This season, Nevada has made an even bigger jump with a 24-game season coming up for the Wolf Pack. The team will finish off with a two-game series against the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, one of the top-rated ACHA programs in the country. UNLV made a lot of noise in the college hockey world in December 2024 after beating reigning NCAA champions University of Denver.
This past spring into the summer was Nevada’s biggest recruiting season so far, with 11 players committing to the team for 2026-27. With many players from the past two seasons now having graduated, this new wave of students should make a big impact for the Wolf Pack.















