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This Week
The Mavericks play their first home games of the 2012-13 season this weekend as they welcome old rival Northern Michigan on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 19 and 20. Friday's game begins at 7:37 p.m., and Saturday's game starts at 7:07 p.m. from the CenturyLink Center Omaha. This is also the Mavericks' annual Parents' Weekend.
The Teams
The Mavericks are 1-1-0 overall after opening the season with a second-place finish in the 2012 Icebreaker in Kansas City, Mo. UNO is 15-15-2 all-time versus Northern Michigan and holds an 11-4-0 edge in games played in Omaha. Last season, the Mavs were 7-8-3 at the CenturyLink Center.
Northern Michigan is off to a 2-0-0 start following a sweep of Wisconsin at the Resch Center in Green Bay, Wis. The games counted as home games for the Wildcats. NMU is coming off a season in which it went 17-14-6 overall and 11-11-6-3 in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association, good for sixth place. The Wildcats were picked to finish eighth in the CCHA in both pre-season polls.
Last Time Out
For the second time in three years, the Mavericks took part in the Icebreaker, college hockey's traditional season-opening tournament. After beating Army, 5-1, in the opening round game, the Mavs fell to Notre Dame, 3-2, in the championship.
On Friday against the Black Knights, the Mavs got out to a 2-0 first-period lead on goals by
Zahn Raubenheimer (powerplay) and Nick Seeler. UNO added to its lead in the second on tallies by
Bryce Aneloski and
Johnnie Searfoss, but Army trimmed the advantage to 4-1 on a powerplay marker from Mac Lalor. In the third, Matt White added an insurance tally.
John Faulkner stopped 17 shots to pick up the win.
In the championship game the following night, Notre Dame scored just 1:14 into the game before UNO tied it on a goal by
Michael Young at 11:30. The Fighting Irish retook the lead on a goal by Anders Lee late in the first and stretched it to 3-1 at 12:45 of the second.
Andrej Sustr scored at 17:18 of the period, but the Mavs where held off the board in the third. Anthony Stolarz took the loss in net with 23 saves.
The Coaches
Dean Blais is in his fourth year as the head coach of the Mavericks, having led UNO to two 20-win campaigns in that time. The 1973 graduate of Minnesota has posted a career record of 318-166-45 (.644) and has guided the Mavericks to a mark of 56-51-14 (.521).
Blais is a two-time Spencer Penrose Memorial Award winner as the Division I coach of the year and a four-time winner of the WCHA's Coach of the Year Award. He spent 10 years as head coach at North Dakota where he led UND to national championships in 1997 and 2000.
He is assisted by first-year assistant coaches
Steve Johnson and Troy Jutting who both have extensive coaching experience in the WCHA, Johnson as an assistant at St. Cloud State and Jutting as the head coach and an assistant at Minnesota State.
Walt Kyle is in his 11th season as the head coach at his alma mater. The 1981 grad is 195-167-45 during his time in Marquette, Mich. He is assisted by his brother, John, and Joe Shawhan.
Media
Both games of the Icebreaker can be heard live on 1180 The Zone 2, the new home of Maverick hockey on the radio.
Dave Ahlers will have the play-by-play, and Terry Leahy will provide analysis. Coverage begins with the First National Bank Pre-Game Show 30 minutes before game time. Streaming audio, video through America One and live stats are available at OMavs.com.
Up Next For the Mavericks
The Mavericks begin the WCHA schedule next weekend when they host Bemidji State on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 26 and 27. The games begin at 7:37 p.m. and 7:07 p.m. respectively.
