Weekly Release
This Week: The #18 UNO hockey team travels to Big Rapids, Mich. this weekend for the second round of the CCHA playoffs. The Mavericks will play the third-seeded #13 Ferris State Bulldogs in a best-of-three series on Friday, March 12 and Saturday, March 13 at 7:05 p.m. If game three is necessary, it will be played on Sunday, March 14 at 7:05 p.m.
Last Week: The Mavericks swept the Bowling Green Falcons, 2-0, in their first round series at Qwest Center Omaha. The Mavs won by identical 6-1 scores and in each game, six different players scored. On Friday, the Mavs broke open a 2-1 game with four second-period goals. #Joey Martin#, #Terry Broadhurst and Alex Hudson# each had a goal and an assist. #Dan Swanson#, #John Kemp and Mark Bernier# also tallied. On Saturday, UNO snapped a scoreless tie with another four goals in the second and added two in the third to dispatch the Falcons. #Jordan Willert#, #Jeric Agosta#, #Eddie DelGrosso#, Kemp, Hudson and Bernier all scored. #Jeremie Dupont# had 41 saves in recording both victories.
The Records: The Mavericks are 20-14-6 this season. They finished in sixth place in their final season in the CCHA with a record of 13-12-3-2. Ferris State has a record of 19-11-6 overall and finished third in the CCHA with a mark of 13-9-6-4.
The Series: The Mavericks are 16-11-3 all-time against Ferris State including a record of 6-7-3 at Ewigleben Ice Arena in Big Rapids. The Bulldogs won 2-0 and 3-1 at home on Dec. 4 and 5 this season. Last year, the Mavericks swept the Bulldogs in first round CCHA playoff action, winning 3-0 and 5-2 at home. The Mavs are winless in their last five games at Ewigleben Ice Arena (0-4-1-1).
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 281-128-37. 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. Bob Daniels is in his 18th season as the head coach of Ferris State. The 1982 grad of Michigan State is 288-332-69 all time.
Media: All 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 and streaming video at omavs.com.
Coming Up: If the Mavericks win this weekend's series, they'll move on to the CCHA Championship Semifinals at Joe Louis Arena on Friday, March 19.
