(Photo courtesy/Huskies Athletics)

By Ben Tompkins

Off to Europe

Huskies to begin 2025/26 exhibition schedule overseas

Aug 9, 2025 | 12:33 PM

The University of Saskatchewan Huskie Men’s Hockey Team will begin its 2025/26 preseason games in very unfamiliar territory… overseas, in Europe.

Starting August 31, the U of S will be in Hungary and Slovakia, each for two games, to compete against European pro teams.

“This has been in the works for a couple of years as a way to continue to enhance our program. Knowing the future goals that a lot of our players have, we have a lot of guys who are capable of playing professional hockey after they graduate, so I think it’s a great way to expose our older guys to what it’s like over there. The other part is the recruiting process, and we want to have the best program we possibly can, so having opportunities like this just makes us better,” said Huskie head coach Brandin Cote.

“There have been a few U Sports teams that have gone over there the last couple of years to play similar calibre teams, so I think we’re going to be right there with all the teams that we’re going to play. We have a high-end team, and it’s more about the experience than anything, but having that good, quality competition is something that we’re looking for as well.”

Saskatchewan will begin in Budapest, Hungary, to play UTE Budpest, before travelling to Nitra, Slovakia, on Sept. 2nd to face off against HK Nitra.

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That will be followed up by a return to Budapest on Sept. 3rd for a date with Ferencvarosi TC-Telekom Budapest, before ending in Spisska Nova Ves, Slovakia for a contest with HK Spisska Nova Ves.

“It’ll be busy and an adjustment off the bat, but we’ve got a plan in place for our guys to get acclimated. The guys will be excited, and we’ve got lots of bodies, so we’ll have opportunities to get everyone in and keep guys fresh. We’ll definitely have some downtime built in as well, so guys can enjoy the culture. It’s gonna be some great team building, so that’s gonna really lend itself to a great experience all around,” Cote added.

“We’ve got a highly competitive group who want to win every game we play, we had that mentality last season, and it translated to some pretty good results, so I think our guys are really chomping at the bit to get back playing. The preseason is also used to see where everybody fits and fine-tune some things, so I think all of it put together is really what we’re looking for.”

A trip like this does not go without financial support, as the European teams have pitched in to make it feasible, as well as some Huskie alumni.

Cote said their future opponents are excited to welcome the U of S and are expecting some really competitive games.

The plan is that everything goes well, so hopefully the Huskies can do something like this again in just a couple of years, maybe even making it a regular occurrence.

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Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com

On X @BenTompkins_8