Men's Hockey | 10/8/2026 5:00:00 PM

The York University Lions men's hockey team enters the 2026-27 season, which begins Friday night in Waterloo against the Warriors, with renewed optimism as they return a veteran group to the fold looking to return to the postseason for the first time since 2022.

At the bottom end of this recruiting cycle in 2023-24, the Lions had only seven players in their third years of eligibility or higher. Conversely, they enter 2026-27 with 17 players who fit that criteria.

"This was a year we were targeting as a year where we hoped our team would mature and be more competitive on a nightly basis," said Lions head coach Russ Herrington, who enters his 10th season at the helm of the program.

"A positive we have taken from the last three years is the resilience of our group and the willingness to play to our identity, represent York the right way and present the Lion brand with pride every night."

A key area of focus for the new iteration of the Lions will be to understand the identity and characteristics with which they want to play.

"Playing with pace, grit and depth has been our theme since day one of training camp," Herrington said, noting that being consistent in that style of play will help the team get off to stronger starts in games, another focal point for the team.

"We need to play on our toes, play on our front foot and be a team that's going to rely on forechecking as a hallmark of our game."

While results in the win-loss column have at times been missing in recent years, Herrington believes his team – now a more veteran-laden squad – has taken plenty of lessons from the last three years he hopes will translate into on-ice success this season.

"The players realized it has probably been better for us to have gone through what we have than if we had been .500, even," he said. "We've understood we have to have a better sense of key moments in games and make plays in those moments."

That is another facet Herrington feels growth and maturity play a key factor.

"That comes with age and experience," he said. "Dan (Poliziani, Lions associate coach) and I can sense those things because we've been around the game longer than we care to admit," he joked, "but the players have to go through it."

The biggest area of emphasis from Herrington and his staff to the group this season: self-belief.

"Just having some confidence we can get it done," he said, looking to the second half of the 2024-25 season where the team went 5-6-1 over their final 12 games.

"We're going to come with the attitude of the underdog with the confidence and swagger of someone who's done it before," he continued, pointing to the Canadian men's soccer team as motivation for his team.

As for some of the new additions, a big need for the team was right-handed defencemen. The Lions secured the services of two in Spencer Thompson and Easton Penna.

Thompson, a Russell, Ont., native comes to York after splitting last season between the Nepean Raiders of the Central Canada Hockey League and the Charlottetown Islanders of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League. Meanwhile, Penna, who hails from the village of Coboconk, Ont., an hour north of Peterborough, joins the Lions after spending 2025-26 with Concordia University Wisconsin, an NCAA Division III school based in Mequon, half an hour outside Milwaukee.

"He had a great junior career in Pembroke (CCHL) and played big minutes at Concordia," Herrington said of Penna. "He's fit in really well so far.

"Spencer has played well as well and brings that major junior experience, and has a lot of jump back there."

In addition to Penna and Thompson, York's crop of rookies also includes Swiss native and former HC Davos U21 forward Zacharia Stäenz, forward Josh Penney, forward Jadon Iyogun, defenceman Thomas Phillips, goaltender Adam Manji and walk-on forward Zennon Edwards.

Iyogun comes to York after twice committing to Tennessee State before having the program fold, while Stäenz brings strong hockey genes, namely from his sister Phoebe, a three-time Swiss Olympian who scored the game-tying goal in the 2014 bronze medal game, which the Swiss eventually took 4-3 over Sweden.

"We've been really happy with all the guys," Herrington said. "Thomas has done really well, brings a winning pedigree, Zach's fit in really well, Josh is really smart and has won championships and Jadon's a supremely good athlete.

"He's reminiscent of Michael Horon (2022-25, who put up 17 points in 22 games as a rookie in 2022-23), skates really well, and goes to the hard areas," he continued on Iyogun, who hails from Calgary.

Manji, meanwhile, joins the Pride after spending time playing professionally in the Southern Professional Hockey League, having previously played at American International College (NCAA DII) in Springfield, Mass., and was invited to the Toronto Maple Leafs Development Camp in 2025.

"He's investing in changing some things in his game, so we know it may be a slower process," Herrington said on his new 6'5 netminder, "but it's a longer-term investment, so if it pays off for us this year, great."

Edwards enters his second year of study in the kinesiology and health science program and was used as a practice player last season, who Herrington said has more than earned his opportunity.

"It was a nice surprise," he said. "He had a great camp as a walk-on and plays with a lot of spunk, so he kind of forced our hand to add him to the mix."

As for the Lions leadership group, which will be headed by captain David Mabey and assistants Ethan Strik and Harry Clark, Herrington is working with them – and all the upperclassmen – to expand their reach, and spent time watching clips from Los Angeles Kings captain Drew Doughty on what he learned from his predecessor, Anze Kopitar, on joining forces as leaders and the qualities each one brings.

"A lot of them aren't naturally extroverted," he said of his veterans. "It will be interesting to see how they grow as leaders while being the guys we lean on in key moments.

"It will be successful, it will be uncomfortable for some of them at times, but they're set up to really surprise themselves with the impact they can make."

Back on the ice, the team enters the season with only a single exhibition game under their belt, but have laid some strong foundations for what they hope is a solid 2026-27 campaign.

"We've had four really lively intrasquad games," Herrington said. "When we watch what goes on, we see the principles of how we want to approach the game, so our approach is going to be to do whatever we can do to make ourselves 1-0 each day."

The Lions will look to go 1-0 on Friday when they battle the Waterloo Warriors from the Columbia Icefield Arena before heading to Laurier on Saturday to visit the Golden Hawks. Puck drop for both games set for 7:00 p.m., and you can watch both contests live on OUA TV.