COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. – Union College men's hockey senior Tyler Dunbar was chosen as one of the first six players on the 2026 U.S. Collegiate Selects roster that will head to Switzerland in December for the Spengler Cup announced Thursday. All six players are returning AHCA/CCM All-Americans from last season and represent four Division I men's hockey conferences.

"I'm pretty excited to be able to represent something a little bit bigger than myself," Dunbar said. "It's a new experience for me, and something I hopefully grow from and bring back here when it's over."

The Spengler Cup is the oldest invitational hockey tournament in the world, with the first edition held in 1923. The annual competition is held each December between Christmas and New Year's and traditionally features men's club and national teams from Europe and North America. It is hosted by the Swiss professional team HC Davos at the Eisstadion Davos.

In 2025, for the first time in the Spengler Cup's 102-year history, a team of college hockey players represented NCAA Division I hockey at the prestigious tournament, officially named the U.S. Collegiate Selects (USCS). That inaugural USCS team won its group and earned a bye into the semifinal round with a 2-2 record before falling 6-3 to HC Davos, a roster that boasted more than 1,800 games of NHL experience.

On the 2026 squad, Union's All-American defenseman Dunbar will be joined by University of Minnesota Duluth junior Ty Hanson, University of Minnesota senior Evan Murr, UMD junior Max Plante, Dartmouth College junior Hayden Stavroff, and Northeastern University senior goaltender Lawton Zacher. The USCS roster will ultimately feature 25 student-athletes from all six NCAA Division I conferences and will continue to be announced in the coming months. In July, the USCS announced its coaching staff with University of New Hampshire head coach Mike Souza selected as the Collegiate Selects head coach. Cornell University head coach Casey Jones and Minnesota Duluth head coach Scott Sandelin will be the assistant coaches for the USCS. More information on the U.S. Collegiate Selects can be found here.

The U.S. Collegiate Selects open play at the 2026 Spengler Cup on Saturday, Dec. 26 against Frölunda HC of Sweden before facing host HC Davos on either Dec. 27 or Dec. 28.

Dunbar played some of his best hockey last December and was recognized by ECAC Hockey as the Defender of the Month after tallying three goals and three assists in four games that month. 

"I think it's an opportunity to stay fresh, and it's an opportunity to pick up a couple things from different levels of hockey, like it's not every day you get the opportunity to play against pro hockey players and pro hockey teams," Dunbar said. "It's going to be pretty helpful to bring back to Union."

Dunbar emerged as one of the top defensemen in the country last season after transferring to Union from Colorado College. The Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. native set Union's single-season goals record by a defensemen with 12 and had the fifth-most points among defensemen in the country with 33. Dunbar was also a finalist for ECAC Hockey's Player of the Year award in 2025-26, a first-team all-conference defender, and tabbed as an ECAC Hockey Preseason All-League Team member ahead of his senior year. 

Union's last game in December this season is on Friday, Dec. 12 in Fairbanks, Alaska against the Nanooks. The Garnet Chargers pick things back up on Friday, Jan. 1 at home against Bentley.