Thirteen of the 16 college hockey teams which earned a berth in the 2026 NCAA Men's Division I Hockey Tournament include at least one Waterloo Black Hawk on their roster.
The bracket of contenders was announced Sunday. Competition begins at regional sites on Thursday. The national championship game will be played on April 11th in Las Vegas.
The 2025/26 Minnesota State Mavericks include the most former Black Hawks (three). Reid Morich - the Black Hawks 2024/25 captain - is a freshman for the Mankato-based school. Five other Waterloo players who were on the Hawks' roster for the 2025 Clark Cup Final are also freshman for NCAA Tournament qualifiers.
Eight of the former Hawks in contention for a title this spring are NHL Draft picks: Garrett Brown (Winnipeg, 2022), Emmett Croteau (Montreal, 2022), Patrick Geary (Buffalo, 2024), David Klee (San Jose, 2023), Matthew Lansing (Vancouver, 2025), Brendan McMorrow (Los Angeles, 2025), John Mustard (Chicago, 2024), and Aaron Pionk (Minnesota, 2023).
In addition, four coaches or staff members on qualifying teams have ties to Waterloo: Reid Cashman (Head Coach, Dartmouth), Cody Chupp (Assistant Coach, Minnesota-Duluth), Bryn Chyzyk (General Manager, North Dakota), and Matt Smaby (Associate Head Coach, North Dakota).
The complete list of former Hawks in the 2026 NCAA Tournament follows:
Connecticut – Kam Hendrickson
Dartmouth – Emmett Croteau [Reid Cashman]
Denver – Garrett Brown, Brendan McMorrow
Michigan – Ben Robertson, Garrett Schifsky
Michigan State – Patrick Geary, Gavin O'Connell
Minnesota-Duluth – Aaron Pionk, Ryan Zaremba [Cody Chupp]
Minnesota State – Easton Hewson, Reid Morich, Fin Williams
North Dakota – David Klee [Matt Smaby, Bryn Chyzyk]
Penn State – Nicholas DeGraves, Nick Fascia
Providence – John Mustard
Quinnipiac – Matthew Lansing
Western Michigan – Zach Bade, Sam Huck
Wisconsin – Grady Deering
Just since 2016, 22 Waterloo alumni have won an NCAA title, and five of those skaters have been part of two championship squads.
Where Are They Now updates are presented by Karen's Print Rite, 2515 Falls Avenue in Waterloo.
