Weekly Release
Brice Alaska Goal Rush
This Week
The No. 15/16 UNO Mavericks play in their second consecutive tournament this weekend when they travel to Alaska for the Brice Alaska Goal Rush. The Mavericks will take on Alaska Anchorage on Friday, Oct. 14 at 8:05 p.m. CT and then play host Alaska on Saturday, Oct. 15 at 10:05 p.m. CT. Both games will be at the Carlson Center in Fairbanks.
The Teams
The Mavericks are 1-1-0 following the first weekend of the regular season. They will open the WCHA schedule on Oct. 21 and 22 when they host Alaska Anchorage for the first time ever. The Mavs host just three home WCHA series in the first half of the season. UNO is 1-1-1 all-time against Alaska Anchorage and 16-22-11 all-time against Alaska.
Alaska Anchorage is 1-0-1 entering this weekend's action. The Seawolves, like the Mavericks, hosted their own season-opening tournament last weekend, the Kendall Hockey Classic at Sullivan Arena.
Alaska also played in the Kendall Hockey Classic last weekend and came out with a 1-1-0 record. The Nanooks kick off the CCHA regular season schedule next weekend at home against Western Michigan.
Last Time Out
UNO split the first two games of the regular season, beating Mercyhurst 5-1 before losing 4-3 to Colgate in the championship game of the Mutual of Omaha Stampede.
On Friday,
Brock Montpetit had two goals and three players had two assists each as the Mavs dispatched Mercyhurst.
Josh Archibald, Mike Young and
Johnnie Searfoss also scored for UNO which outshot the Lakers, 44-18.
John Faulkner made 17 saves in the win.
The following night,
Terry Broadhurst had a pair of goals and Archibald lit the lamp again, but Colgate hung on for a 4-3 win in the championship game. Montpetit added a pair of assists, and Faulkner finished with 19 saves.
The Coaches
Dean Blais is in his third year as the head coach of the Mavericks, having led UNO to back-to-back 20-win campaigns. The 1973 graduate of Minnesota has posted a career record of 304-148-41 (.658) and has guided the Mavericks to a mark of 42-33-8 (.554) since coming to Omaha. In 2010-11, he was named the WCHA Coach of the Year, the fourth time he's earned the honor. He will serve as the head coach of the 2012 U.S. World Junior Team in December.
Blais is a two-time Spencer Penrose Memorial Award winner as the Division I coach of the year. He spent 10 years as head coach at North Dakota where he led the Fighting Sioux to national championships in 1997 and 2000. He is assisted by third-year associate head coach Mike Hastings and first-year assistant coach Brian Renfrew who joins the UNO staff after eight seasons at Michigan State.
Dave Shyiak is in his seventh season as the head coach at Alaska Anchorage. The 1993 Northern Michigan grad is 68-127-25 behind the Seawolves bench. He is assisted by Campbell Blair and T.J. Jindra.
Dallas Ferguson is leading Alaska for the fourth season. He has led the Nanooks to a record of 57-46-20 in that time and was named the CCHA's Coach of the Year in 2009. He is assisted by Lance West and Brian Meisner.
Media
Both UNO games this weekend can be heard live on 96.1 The Brew.
Dave Ahlers will call the play-by-play while Terry Leahy will provide analysis. Coverage begins 30 minutes before game time online at UNO's IHeart Radio channel, “Mavericks Radio.”
Streaming audio,
video and
live stats are available at OMavs.com.
Up Next For the Mavericks
The Mavericks return home to host Alaska Anchorage in the first WCHA games of the season for both teams. The two schools will square off on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 21 and 22 at the CenturyLink Center. Friday's game starts at 7:37 p.m., and Saturday's game faces off at 7:07 p.m.
