Weekly Release
CCHA Weekly Release

This Week:  The UNO hockey team welcomes clustermate Northern Michigan for a pair of games at Qwest Center Omaha this weekend.  The two teams will play Friday and Saturday, Jan. 22 and 23.  Friday's game begins at 7:35 p.m. while Saturday's game starts at 7:05 p.m.

Last Week:  The Mavericks lost a pair of one-goal games at Lake Superior State last weekend.  On Friday, the Lakers won, 2-1, getting the go-ahead goal from Rick Schofield with 90 seconds remaining in regulation.  UNO could not convert on a powerplay to close the game.  #Jeric Agosta# had UNO's goal.  On Saturday, Schofield provided the winner again as the Lakers won in overtime, 5-4.  #Matt Ambroz#, #JJ Koehler#, #Brandon Richardson# and Agosta all tallied for the Mavs.

The Records:  The Mavericks are now 10-11-5 this season and 6-10-2-1 in the CCHA, putting them in tenth place.  The Wildcats are 10-8-6 overall and 6-6-4-1 in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association, putting them in a tie with Ohio State for eighth place.

The Series:  The Mavericks trail the all-time series with Northern Michigan, 13-15-2, but they've posted a record of 9-4-0 against the Wildcats in Omaha.  The two teams have already played each other twice.  Northern won by scores of 5-1 and 6-3 on Nov. 20 and 21 in Marquette, Mich.  Last season, the two teams split a pair of one-goal games in Omaha.  UNO won the first night, 4-3, and the Wildcats responded with a 3-2 win the next night.

The Coaches:  #Dean Blais# is in his first year as the head coach of the Mavericks.  He brings an impressive resume to Omaha, having led the University of North Dakota to national titles in 1997 and 2000.  He won five WCHA regular season titles with UND and two playoff championships.  He is a two-time winner of the Spencer Penrose Memorial Award given to Division I hockey's top coach.  The native of International Falls, Minn. has a career record of 271-125-36.  He coached Team USA to a gold medal in the 2010 IIHF World Junior Championship in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan on January 5, 2010.  Blais is assisted by former Omaha Lancer head coach and first-year associate head coach Mike Hastings and third-year assistant coach Nick Fohr.  Walt Kyle is in his seventh year guiding Northern Michigan.  The 1981 NMU graduate is 151-129-42 in his career as a college coach.

Media:  Both games will be broadcast live on “The Voice of Omaha's Team”, KVNO 90.7 FM.  Dave Ahlers will call the action while Terry Leahy will provide analysis.  Coverage begins 20 minutes before the face-off.  Live audio is available at kvno.org and live stats at omavs.com.

Coming Up:  The Mavericks travel to Notre Dame for games on Friday and Saturday, January 29 and 30 at the Joyce Center in South Bend, Ind.  Both games begin at 7:05 p.m. CT and will be broadcast live on CBS College Sports.