This Week
The No. 17 Omaha hockey team returns home to host No. 20 Miami on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 12-13. Both games begin at 7:07 p.m. from Baxter Arena. These will be the only regular-season meetings of the two teams.
The Teams
Omaha is 10-9-1 this season and 3-7-0-0/0 in the NCHC, tying it with Minnesota Duluth for seventh place. The Mavericks are coming off a split at North Dakota last weekend. The Mavericks are 6-3-1 at home this season including a mark of 1-3-0 in conference games. All time, UNO is 15-20-6 against Miami including a record of 8-9-1 at home. The Mavericks were 3-0-1 against the RedHawks last season including a mark of 1-0-1 at Baxter Arena. They are 6-4-0 in their last 10 games.
Miami is 9-9-2 overall and 4-5-1-0/0 in conference play, good for fifth place. The RedHawks are coming off a split at home against Denver last weekend. MU is 3-3-2 on the road this season including a mark of 1-2-1 in conference games. The RedHawks are 5-4-1 in their last 10 games.
Last Time Out
Omaha split a pair of games at then No. 6 North Dakota last weekend. On Friday, the Mavericks broke open a tie game with two power play goals in the second period on their way to a 4-1 win.
Fredrik Olofsson opened the scoring in the first, only to see UND tie the game on a penalty shot goal by Shane Gersich later in the period. In the second,
Luke Nogard and
David Pope both scored during a man advantage, and
Zach Jordan added the fourth goal in the third.
Evan Weninger made a game-high 34 saves for the win.
On Saturday, the Fighting Hawks scored three goals in the second period, turning a 1-0 lead into a 4-0 advantage, and cruised to a 7-0 win.
Kris Oldham stopped 25 shots for the Mavericks who were shutout by UND for the second time in the all-time series.
The Coaches
Mike Gabinet is in his first season as head coach of the Mavericks, posting a 10-9-1 record. The 2004 graduate of Omaha served as an associate head coach under
Dean Blais last season and was elevated to the head coach position following Blais' departure after eight years at the helm.
Gabinet returned to his alma mater after four seasons at NAIT in Edmonton, Alberta, the last as its head coach. That season, he led the Ooks to a 36-0-0 record and the ACAC Championship. He was named the conference Coach of the Year and became the first rookie head coach in Canadian college hockey to guide his team to an undefeated record.
Gabinet, a standout defenseman for the Mavericks from 2000-04, is assisted by
Dave Noel-Bernier (Omaha, 2001) and
Peter Mannino (Denver, 2008).
Enrico Blasi is in his 19th season as head coach of Miami. The 1994 graduate of MU is 384-277-69 all-time leading the RedHawks. He is assisted by Brent Brekke and Nick Petraglia.
Media
Friday's game will be televised live on NET.
Dave Ahlers will call the game, former Maverick
David Brisson will have the analysis, and Larry Punteney will report. Fox College Sports Central also will pick up the broadcast with the game on Dish channel 452 and DirecTV channel 608. Saturday's game can be seen on YurView (Cox channel 13/1013 in Omaha) with Baarns as studio host.
Both games also can be heard live on 1180 The Zone 2. Donny Baarns will have the play-by-play on Friday, and Ahlers will handle the duty on Saturday. Terry Leahy provides analysis both nights, and Lester St. James will report on Friday. Coverage begins 30 minutes before game time with the First National Bank Pre-Game Show.
Live video of the games can be found on NCHC.tv with audio and stat links at OMavs.com.
Up Next
The Mavericks are back on the road to face defending national champion Denver on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 19-20. Both games begin at 8:05 p.m. CT from Magness Arena in Denver, Colo.
