Weekly Release
This Week
The UNO Mavericks make their first trip to Houghton, Mich. in almost 13 years this weekend when they visit the Michigan Tech Huskies for games on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 10 and 11. Friday's game begins at 7:07 p.m. ET, and Saturday's game starts at 5:07 p.m. ET from the MacInnes Student Ice Arena on the MTU campus. UNO's last trip to Michigan Tech was Feb. 26 & 27, 1999, the second year of the program.
The Teams
The Mavericks are 12-11-5 overall and 9-7-4 in the WCHA, putting them in a tie with Michigan Tech and North Dakota for fifth place with 22 points. They trail fourth-place Denver by one point and lead eighth-place St. Cloud State by one point. UNO swept its first-ever WCHA series with Michigan Tech in December of 2010. The Mavericks lead the all-time series between the two schools, 4-2-0. They are 2-0-0 all-time at Michigan Tech.
The Huskies are 13-13-2 overall and 10-8-2 in the WCHA. They are just two wins away from equaling their overall win total from the last three years combined, and they have already surpassed their WCHA win total from each of the last three years combined. Michigan Tech is 8-4-1 on home ice this year.
Last Time Out
The Mavericks tied and lost to visiting Bemidji State last weekend, dropping their record to 1-6-3 against the Beavers since the two teams joined the WCHA. On Friday,
Bryce Aneloski scored with 3:40 remaining in regulation to give the Mavericks a 1-1 tie. Radoslav Illo scored in the second to stake BSU to the lead.
Ryan Massa stopped 27 shots for UNO while Dan Bakala turned aside 37 for Bemidji State.
On Saturday, the Beavers scored three goals in the third period to beat the Mavericks, 6-4.
Terry Broadhurst had two goals and two assists, snapping a 12-game goal-scoring drought in the process. Matt White had a goal and an assist while
Jaycob Megna had UNO's other tally. The Beavers built three separate two-goal leads, the final one on an empty-net goal by David Boehm which held up. Bakala made 36 saves in the win while Massa stopped 21 for the Mavs.
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 315-158-44 (.652) and has guided the Mavericks to a mark of 53-43-11 (.547). In 2010-11, he was named the WCHA Coach of the Year, the fourth time he's earned the honor. He recently completed his second stint as the head coach of the U.S. World Junior Team at the 2012 IIHF World Junior Championship.
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 UND 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.
Mel Pearson is in his first season as head coach at Michigan Tech. The 1981 graduate of MTU and long-time assistant at Michigan is 13-13-2 in his first year. He is assisted by Bill Muckalt and Damon Whitten.
Media
Both 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 iHeartRadio channel, “Mavericks Radio.” Streaming audio, video and live stats are available at OMavs.com.
Up Next For the Mavericks
The Mavericks finish their regular season road slate next weekend when they visit Colorado College for games on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 17 and 18. Friday's game begins at 9:07 p.m. CT and will air on CBS Sports Network. Saturday's game begins at 8:07 p.m. CT. Both games will be played at World Arena in Colorado Springs. The two teams split a pair of games in Omaha in November. UNO won 7-5 in the opener but dropped a 5-2 decision the following night.
