This Week
The No. 13 Omaha hockey team makes its penultimate road trip of the regular season, visiting No. 6/4 St. Cloud State on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 2-3. Friday's game begins at 7:37 p.m., and Saturday's game starts at 7:07 p.m. from the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud, Minn.
The Teams
Omaha is 14-11-1 this season and 7-9-0-0/0 in the NCHC, putting it in sixth place. The Mavericks are coming off a sweep of visiting Western Michigan last weekend. The Mavericks are 4-8-0 on the road this season including a mark of 2-6-0 in conference games. All time, UNO is 10-18-2 against the Huskies including a record of 4-11-1 in St. Cloud. The Mavericks lost to SCSU, 7-4 and 5-0, in the first two meetings of the year in December at Baxter Arena and now have lost three straight to the Huskies. UNO is 7-3-0 in its last 10 games.
St. Cloud State is 15-6-3 overall and 9-4-1-0/0 in the conference, good for second place. The Huskies are coming off a split at Minnesota Duluth last weekend, losing 5-1 before bouncing back for a 2-1 victory. SCSU is 11-2-1 at home this year including a mark of 6-1-1 in conference games. The Huskies are 4-4-2 in their last 10 games.
Last Time Out
Omaha picked up its third straight home sweep since the Christmas break, beating Western Michigan 6-2 and 7-3 last weekend. On Friday, six different players scored goals, and
Evan Weninger made 32 saves in the win.
Jake Randolph led all players with three assists while
Teemu Pulkkinen,
David Pope,
Joel Messner,
Zach Jordan,
Cole Pickup and
Luke Nogard all scored. The Mavericks went 3-for-7 on the power play.
On Saturday, the Mavericks spotted the Broncos and early goal but reeled off the next four on their way to a 7-3 win.
David Pope and
Tyler Vesel led the way with two goals and an assist each.
Joel Messner,
Tristan Keck and Jordan each had two assists, and
Evan Weninger made 34 saves.
The Coaches
Mike Gabinet is in his first season as head coach of the Mavericks, posting a 14-11-1 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).
Bob Motzko is in his 13th season leading St. Cloud State. The 1987 graduate of SCSU is 266-189-46 at his alma mater. He is assisted by Mike Gibbons and Garrett Raboin.
Media
Both games also can be heard live on 1180 The Zone 2.
Dave Ahlers will have the play-by-play, and Terry Leahy provides analysis. Coverage begins 30 minutes before game time with the First National Bank Pre-Game Show.
Friday's game also will be shown on Fox Sports North in Minnesota.
Live video of the games can be found on NCHC.tv with audio and stat links at OMavs.com.
Up Next
The Mavericks will have a week off before hosting North Dakota on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 16-17. Friday's game begins at 6:37 p.m., and Saturday's game starts at 7:07 p.m. from Baxter Arena.
