This Week
The UNO Mavericks are on the road for a pair of netural site games this week as they take on Alabama-Huntsville on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 2 and 3.  Friday's game begins at 7 p.m. and Saturday's game starts at 1 p.m.  Both games will be played at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., home of the National Hockey League's Nashville Predators.  This is the third of four non-conference weekends for the Mavericks this season.

The Teams
The Mavericks are 7-6-3 overall and 6-3-3 in the WCHA, putting them in a tie with Minnesota Duluth for second place, a point behind league-leading Minnesota.  Both Minnesota and Minnesota Duluth have played two fewer games.  UNO is 7-1-2 all-time against Alabama-Huntsville.  Last year, the teams split a two-game series in Omaha with UNO winning 4-0 before losing 2-1 in overtime.  The two schools have never played a neutral site game.

The Chargers are struggling through an 0-14-1 campaign, their second as the NCAA's only independent Division I men's ice hockey team.  Alabama-Huntsville recently announced that the team would reclassify to club status following this season.

Last Time Out
The Mavericks earned a 4-3 win and a 2-2 tie at home last week against St. Cloud State.  On Saturday, the Mavericks spotted the Huskies a 1-0 first-period lead but rallied in the second with goals from Jayson Megna and Terry Broadhurst to take the lead.  Ben Hanowski evened the game at two before Alex Hudson restored the one-goal lead at intermission.  Cam Reid tied the game again for SCSU with a goal early in the third, but Broadhurst scored again with 2:18 remaining to deliver the win.  Ryan Massa made 25 saves.

The following afternoon, the Huskies again opened the scoring when Brooks Bertsch tallied at 6:23.  Brock Montpetit tied it on a powerplay goal late in the first.  Matt White gave UNO the lead midway through the second, but Hanowski knotted the game at two late in the stanza.  Dayn Belfour made 22 saves to earn his second straight tie.

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 310-153-44 (.655) and has guided the Mavericks to a mark of 48-38-11 (.552) 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.

Chris Luongo is in his second season as the head coach at Alabama-Huntsville.  The 1989 graduate of Michigan State is 4-40-3 in his first head coaching job.  He was an assistant at UAH prior to being elevated to the head coach's position.  He is assisted by Gavin Morgan.

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 and live stats are available at OMavs.com.   

Up Next For the Mavericks
The Mavericks conclude their first semester schedule with a WCHA road series at North Dakota.  The games will be Friday, Dec. 9 at 7:37 p.m. and Saturday, Dec. 10 at 7:07 p.m. from Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D.