From MTSU Sidelines
By Geo Finnamore
Middle Tennessee State University men’s ice hockey has produced a winning culture over the past two seasons and is aiming to find new paths to continue its success.
MTSU lost six of its top seven-point scorers from the 2025-26 squad, leading the team to add 10 commits and make a change to its style of play for the 2026-27 season. Despite their high roster turnover, expectations remain high for the Blue Raiders.
Middle Tennessee ended its 2025-26 campaign after a pool play loss to Grand Valley State University, falling one win short of reaching its second straight Frozen Four at the ACHA National Tournament.
Among the 12 total players departing from the Blue Raiders, are team captain Linden Palmer and assistant captain Matthew Siciliano. After serving as an assistant captain during the 2025-26 season, junior forward Tommy Chunchukov will take over as team captain. Chunchukov, MTSU hockey’s leading returning scorer, is expecting a triumphant ending to this year’s saga.
“It’s national championship or bust,” Chunchukov said. “We see last year as a bust. We were ranked number one for 16 straight weeks, but we didn’t hold the trophy at the end. That’s our goal.”
Chunchukov is the only returning top six forward and the only returner who produced double-digit goals and assists last season.
MTSU lost significant offensive firepower with the departures of Palmer and Siciliano, two of College Hockey South’s top five scorers in the 2025-26 season, making for a change in the way Middle Tennessee takes the ice from a skill-based group to a more physical grinding style of play.
“It’s a grittier group,” MTSU head coach JJ Murray said. “It’s a more blue-collar, hard-working group and they’re buying into the new style of play that we’re going to have to buy into in order to win a national championship.”
The loss of production has not lowered confidence for Blue Raider Staff that the team will achieve its championship aspirations.
“We preach in our team meetings that we still have skilled guys and that if our effort is there, we can still beat anyone in the country” assistant coach Tom Murphy said.
Transfer defenseman Cole Matthews and forward Tomas Midkiff are projected to make an impact immediately for MTSU. Still, there is no shortage of expectations for the 17 returning players to continue the Blue Raiders’ success.
Senior goalies Ayden Kopec and Grant Williams, who split the starting goaltending job during the 2025-26 season, will return for another year.
“This year is going to be a big year for the guys who’ve been here to step up, even the younger guys,” club president Zach Giblin said. “They’ve had a year or two to get comfortable, and now it’s time for them to fill those shoes.”
MTSU hockey opens its season in a two-game series against West Virginia University at the Ford Ice Center in Antioch, Tennessee, Sept. 4-5, with an 8:45 p.m. puck drop.
(Originally published at https://mtsusidelines.com/2026/09/01/new-look-same-goal-mtsu-hockey-seeks-national-championship-in-2026-27/)
