This Week
The No. 20 Omaha hockey team returns home for the first time in almost a month, hosting No. 12 Wisconsin of the Big Ten on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 8-9. Both games start at 7:07 p.m. from Baxter Arena.
The Teams
Omaha is 4-1-1 following a win and a tie at Alaska Anchorage last week. The Mavericks are 2-0-0 at home this season after opening with a sweep of Alabama Huntsville on Oct. 11-12. UNO is 4-8-1 all-time against Wisconsin including a record of 2-4-0 at home. The Mavericks have not played the Badgers since December of 2016 when they picked up a tie and a win in Madison, Wis.
Wisconsin is 4-4-0 overall and 0-2-0-0/0 in the Big Ten, putting it in a tie for fifth place. The Badgers are coming off a pair of losses at Penn State last weekend to open league play. So far this season, Wisconsin has gone 1-3-0 on the road including 1-1-0 in non-conference road games.
Last Time Out
Last week, the Mavericks picked up a 4-3 win at Alaska Anchorage before settling for a 3-3 tie in the series finale the following night. In the opener,
Joey Abate scored the game-winner with 3:56 to go in the third to give the Mavericks the win.
Taylor Ward,
Tristan Keck and
Brandon Scanlin also scored for UNO, and
Isaiah Saville stopped 19 shots for the win.
The following night, the Mavericks built three one-goal leads but each time, the Seawolves battled back to forge a 3-3 tie.
Tyler Weiss had his first two goals of the season, and
Zach Jordan also scored for the Mavericks. Saville made a game-high 31 saves to finish off the week in his hometown.
The Coaches
Mike Gabinet is in his third season as head coach of the Mavericks, posting a 30-42-6 record all-time at his alma mater. The 2004 graduate of Omaha served as an associate head coach during the 2016-17 season before being elevated to the head coach position in 2017-18.
Gabinet returned to Omaha 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
Paul Jerrard (Lake Superior State, 1987).
Tony Granato is in his fourth season as head coach at Wisconsin. The 2017 graduate of UW is 52-56-10 at his alma mater. He is assisted by Mark Osiecki (Wisconsin, 1994) and Mark Strobel (Wisconsin, 1996).
Media
Both games can be heard live on 1180 The Zone 2. Donny Baarns will have the play-by-play, Terry Leahy provides analysis and Lester St. James reports. Coverage begins 30 minutes before game time with the First National Bank Pre-Game Show.
Live video is available on NCHC.tv while audio and stat links are available at OMavs.com.
Up Next
The Mavericks will open NCHC play next weekend, visiting Western Michigan on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 15-16. Both games will begin at 6 p.m. CT from Lawson Arena in Kalamazoo, Mich.
