Quinnipiac Bobcats 2026-27 - Cherry Blossom Special

[MarkEagleUSA]

One week until the season opener. Will we be celebrating amongst the cherry blossoms in April?

Taking to the ice as the #7 team in the country and picked #1 in the ECAC. High expectations for sure.

Lots of new faces with lots of skill. Starting in net we have what appears to be a formidable set of experience and skill. A lot of skill added up front and as usual a stout looking defense.

The only concern would be how quickly they come together on the ice. The first month is going to be tough and will show what they're made of.

Looking forward to another exciting season of Bobcats hockey!

Go Q!

 

[ZYanksRule]

Very excited for the season and there are super-high expectations.

If the goaltending is better, there is absolutely no reason we shouldn't be knocking on the door of the Frozen Four this year.

 

[cinnamoroll]

unsure if it was intentional or not, but nice touch to have one of the new goalies nicknames in the title Kirsch means Cherry in German so people call him that, usually he puts a cherry somewhere on his goalie helmet too...

was looking at the schedule and noticed this- we get the Frasca Bowl in game 2 of the season. Gabriel's older brother Jacob is on Merrimack

 

[MarkEagleUSA]

unsure if it was intentional or not, but nice touch to have one of the new goalies nicknames in the title Kirsch means Cherry in German so people call him that, usually he puts a cherry somewhere on his goalie helmet too...

was looking at the schedule and noticed this- we get the Frasca Bowl in game 2 of the season. Gabriel's older brother Jacob is on Merrimack

Not intentional... the Cherry Blossom reference is because the Frozen Four is in DC on 4/10 and the National Cherry Blossom Festival ends 4/11.

Home

March 20 - April 11, 2027. Celebrate spring in Washington DC. Four weeks of iconic events, live music, and breathtaking blooms await you.

nationalcherryblossomfestival.org

I will definitely look for the cherry on Kirsch's helmet!

 

[sezenack]

Agree with all of you who think Quinnipiac can make it to DC this year. They'd be in my top 3-4 teams to win it all right now. I also think there's a clear gap between them and even Dartmouth and Cornell who both are pretty good. Pasting my ECAC preview below for those interested

ECAC Preview 2026-27

A strong group at the top, some programs on the rise, and a few starting rebuilds should make for an exciting year

www.rpifieldhouse.com

 

[MarkEagleUSA]

Agree with all of you who think Quinnipiac can make it to DC this year. They'd be in my top 3-4 teams to win it all right now. I also think there's a clear gap between them and even Dartmouth and Cornell who both are pretty good. Pasting my ECAC preview below for those interested

ECAC Preview 2026-27

A strong group at the top, some programs on the rise, and a few starting rebuilds should make for an exciting year

www.rpifieldhouse.com

Excellent write-up.

This is the most excited I've been to start a season since 22-23 with the swarm of 5th years we had. This year's team has the numbers so it's just matter of achieving those numbers once the puck drops. I think our biggest difference over the past few seasons is in net. Two strong goalies should bode well for the team.

I can't wait for Friday!

 

[QU_Paul]

Thanks for starting the new thread. Looking forward to tomorrow night and the season. Hockey is back!

 

[QUAlum2004]

That was a statement game to the rest of the country tonight.

 

[JSAE]

That was a statement game to the rest of the country tonight.

About how bad UNH is Looking forward to seeing you guys in Orono next weekend! Always seem to be great games when the two play

 

[.Nectar]

That was fun

 

[MarkEagleUSA]

That was a statement game to the rest of the country tonight.

It was a good opening night game but hardly a statement considering how weak UNH was.

Overall we played well. The new guys were awesome and seemed to fit right in. There wasn't any glaring weaknesses at either end of the ice. Marcellus, Wyttenbach and Pelosi have really improved. And we are a team with size that they aren't afraid to use.

I am so glad Stockfish came to Hamden. He's got size, speed and a ton of skill. He and Wytty are going to be great together. Edwards looks to be everything he was said to be.

An impressive start to the season.

 

[QUAlum2004]

It was a good opening night game but hardly a statement considering how weak UNH was.

Overall we played well. The new guys were awesome and seemed to fit right in. There wasn't any glaring weaknesses at either end of the ice. Marcellus, Wyttenbach and Pelosi have really improved. And we are a team with size that they aren't afraid to use.

I am so glad Stockfish came to Hamden. He's got size, speed and a ton of skill. He and Wytty are going to be great together. Edwards looks to be everything he was said to be.

An impressive start to the season.

I don’t care if it was UNH. They scored 10 goals which is eye opening on night one. Scoring 10 on anyone is not easy. Another fact is no ECAC team since 2002 until tonight put up 10 goals on a Hockey East team either. They addressed the two biggest flaws in my opinion with size/toughness and goaltending.

 

[JSAE]

I don’t care if it was UNH. They scored 10 goals which is eye opening on night one. Scoring 10 on anyone is not easy. Another fact is no ECAC team since 2002 until tonight put up 10 goals on a Hockey East team either. They addressed the two biggest flaws in my opinion with size/toughness and goaltending.

I don’t care if it was UNH. They scored 10 goals which is eye opening on night one. Scoring 10 on anyone is not easy. Another fact is no ECAC team since 2002 until tonight put up 10 goals on a Hockey East team either. They addressed the two biggest flaws in my opinion with size/toughness and goaltending.

Just hurry up and join Hockey East, we can give ECAC UNH

 

[RENCEB]

Merrimack fan here (with QU as my secondary rooting interest). Very interested to see how the Warriors match up today. They should be solid this year, but Bobcats could be downright frightening. UNH is not very good, but as said above, putting a 10 spot on anyone is impressive.

 

[QUAlum2004]

Another 6 goal effort though one was an empty net goal. They missed some easy chances as I think they could have had more. Definitely things to clean up on.

 

[RENCEB]

Nice win for you guys. A stiffer test than UNH (not a high bar) but about what I would expect from the #7 team at home against the # 20 team (looks like it was a pretty clean game too). ECAC is yours for the taking, and it will not surprise anyone if you get to DC. Good luck this year.

 

[QUAlum2004]

Nice win for you guys. A stiffer test than UNH (not a high bar) but about what I would expect from the #7 team at home against the # 20 team (looks like it was a pretty clean game too). ECAC is yours for the taking, and it will not surprise anyone if you get to DC. Good luck this year.

I think this was a game Quinnipiac needed. Merrimack is a big heavy type team and it was good to see Quinnipiac play well against those types of teams especially after getting their lunch money taken last year against them.

 

[ZYanksRule]

If we have good goaltending this year, this is one of the best teams in the country. 16 goals in the first weekend of the season is incredibly impressive, I don't care who the opponents are. Amazing start.

I'm not comparing the teams because that's incredibly unfair, but the 2022-23 team tied LIU 2-2 in the first weekend of the season. This team scored 16 goals in two games. It's a hell of a start.

 

[QU/UM]

I did not watch many games last season, just personal circumstances. I plan to watch more this season and really enjoyed the 2 games this weekend (missed the first period vs. Merrimack).

Especially considering that there are a good number of new players on the roster, I was very impressed. And we should only get better. I understand that New Hampshire is not good (to be kind) but this was complete and total domination from beginning to end. And Merrimack is likely to be at least a decent team, if not better than decent, and we were clearly the superior team.

This has the possibility to be a special season!

 

[cinnamoroll]

Congrats Gabriel on winning the battle of the Frascas in both the result and by getting his first collegiate goal! Jacob was even on the ice for it... he can lord this over him for forever. cute piece on their first collegiate battle from Q30

goaltending seems pretty solid for now. while UNH is not great, they have some offensive talent that forced Kirsch into tricky saves. seems like Applebee did solidly in his bobcat debut vs a much more dangerous team than he's seen in his college career, outdueling a world junior-tested freshman goalie. Merrimack's goalie is the kid who helped Latvia beat Canada in the shootout that one year. while a lot of their Hockey East title came from Lundgren, nearly everyone returned and Feldbergs should be a good college goalie in time, probably he isn't making his college debut against a buzzsaw. talk about baptism by fire...

also, rip to Mike McMahon who got his car rear-ended on his way out of Quinnipiac- if you saw a car flipped over on Whitney Ave, that was the one that crashed into him. hes the College Hockey Insider guy, but his main gig is covering Merrimack. seems he's ok, but his car is not. stay safe folks