SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Augustana hockey team is set to kick off its 2025-26 season on Friday night as it heads to St. Cloud State, Minnesota, to play in a lone exhibition game against SCSU. Friday's game will be played at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center at 6 p.m. 

Augustana and St. Cloud State faced off against each other in the 2024-25 season, where the Huskies collected a weekend sweep over the Vikings. SCSU opened up the affair with a 4-3 win and closed out the weekend with a 2-1 win. 

Complete action can be followed on GoAugie.com/Live and the GoAugie app, presented by The Original Pancake House. The app can be downloaded in the App Store or Google Play.

The Huskies
SCSU finished the 2024-25 season with a regular season mark of 14-21-1 and fell in the first round of the NCHC Playoffs to the eventual national champions, Western Michigan. The Huskies were picked to finish eighth in the NCHC preseason Media poll, ranking ahead of Miami with 80 points overall. 

The Huskies returned their top-eight scorers and 82.7 percent of their overall scoring from a season ago. Sophomore Austin Burnevik earned All-NCHC Rookie Team honors and became the first freshman in program history to lead the Huskies in both goals and points in 2024-25. Joining Burnevik is the junior trio of Tyson Gross, Barrett Hall and Verner Miettinen, who each scored 20+ points last season. 

The Vikings
Augustana comes off an 18-13-4 overall record, where it finished second in the CCHA with a conference record of 9-5-2. The 2025-26 season brings a ton of excitement as AU will play a full conference schedule of 26 games.

Augustana hockey was picked to finish tied for third in the coaches' poll and fifth in the media poll. The Vikings garnered 59 votes in the coaches' polls and tied with Michigan Tech, who picked up two first-place votes. St. Thomas leads the way with 72 points and three first-place votes. The defending MacNaughton Cup Champion, Minnesota State University, Mankato, was picked to finish second with 71 points and four first-place votes. Augustana was picked to finish in fifth place in the media polls behind Minnesota State, St. Thomas. Bowling Green and Michigan Tech. The Mavericks garnered first with 127 points with eight first-place votes, while the Tommies earned 115 points and two first-place votes, and the Falcons rounded out the top three with 108 points and four first-place votes.

Head coach Garrett Raboin has announced the addition of seven Vikings ahead of the 2025-26 season. The class newcomers ranged from three Canadians, a Belarusian, a Fin and two Americans, including the first player from South Dakota in program history. Augustana will roster 27 Vikings for the third season in program history.

In mid-September, junior forward Hunter Bischoff was named the third captain in program history and will be joined by assistants Hayden Hennen and Will Svenddal.

Two Vikings spent time this Summer at NHL Development Camps. Hennen headed West and took part in the Los Angeles Kings camp, while Josh Kotai spent time in the Steel City with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Sophomore forward Nace Langus took part in the IIHF World Championships in May 2025 for Team Slovenia.

In June, Raboin was also named to the 2026 IIHF World Juniors Coaching Staff for Team USA for the third consecutive tournament. The bench boss helped lead Team USA to gold in 2024 and 2025. The 2026 tournament will be held in the Twin Cities, Dec. 26 - Jan. 5.

CCHA TV / Midco Sports Plus
The CCHA officially drops the puck on year five of the reconfigured league on Friday, Oct. 3. Eight of the CCHA's nine teams will be in action on opening weekend, with Minnesota State getting its season underway on October 10. Fans can stream all CCHA games live and on demand, on their home televisions, computers, tablets, and mobile devices via Midco Sports Plus. The app is available on mobile/tablet apps (iOS and Android), connected TV device apps (AppleTV, FireTV and Roku) and a web-based browser interface. If you have additional questions or want to see more information about coverage or subscriptions, go to midcosports.com/ccha.