This Week
The No. 18 Omaha hockey team is back in conference play this weekend, visiting No. 6 North Dakota on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 5-6. Friday's game begins at 7:38 p.m., and Saturday's game starts at 7:07 p.m. from Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D.
The Teams
Omaha is 9-8-1 this season and 2-6-0-0/0 in the NCHC, good for eighth place. The Mavericks are coming off a sweep of visiting Union last weekend. The Mavericks are 3-5-0 on the road this season including a mark of 1-3-0 in conference games. All time, UNO is 8-15-1 against North Dakota including a record of 5-6-1 in Grand Forks. The Mavericks were 1-3-0 vs. the Fighting Hawks last season including a mark of 1-1-0 at Ralph Engelstad Arena.
North Dakota is 10-5-5 overall and 5-3-2-0/2 in the NCHC, putting it in second place. The Fighting Hawks are coming off a 5-2 exhibition win over the U.S. Under-18 Team last Saturday. This season, UND is 6-2-2 at home, including a mark of 3-0-1 in conference games.
Last Time Out
Omaha earned its second sweep of the season last weekend, beating then No. 19 Union, 5-1 and 5-3. On Friday, the Mavericks got out to a 4-0 lead before the game was 24 minutes old and went on to a 5-1 win.
Fredrik Olofsson,
Ryan Jones and
Steven Spinner all scored in the first period, and
Joel Messner added a power play tally early in the second. Union's Cole Maier scored at 8:20 to make it 4-1, but
Tristan Keck restored the four-goal advantage 3:31 later.
Evan Weninger made 18 saves for his seventh win of the year.
On Saturday, the Mavericks used a four-goal second period to pull away for a 5-3 win. Trailing 1-0 after one, Olofsson and Keck scored 1:02 apart during a five-minute power play to put UNO in front to stay.
Luke Nogard and
Riley Alferd added even-strength tallies later. In the third, Union sandwiched a pair of goals around an empty netter by
David Pope.
Kris Oldham stopped 32 for his first win of the year.
The Coaches
Mike Gabinet is in his first season as head coach of the Mavericks, posting a 9-8-1 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).
Brad Berry is in his third season as head coach of North Dakota, having led the Fighting Hawks to a national championship in his first season. The 2002 graduate of UND is 65-27-12 in his time in Grand Forks. He is assisted by Dane Jackson and Matt Shaw.
Media
Friday's game will be televised live on CBS Sports Network. Ben Holden will call the game, Pat Micheletti will have the analysis and Shireen Saski will report.
Both games can be heard live on 1180 The Zone 2.
Dave Ahlers will have the play-by-play, and Terry Leahy provides analysis both nights. Coverage begins 30 minutes before game time with the First National Bank Pre-Game Show.
Live video for Saturday's game only can be found on NCHC.tv while audio and stat links for both games can be found at OMavs.com.
Up Next
The Mavericks return home to host Miami on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 12-13. Both games begin at 7:07 p.m. from Baxter Arena.
