This Week
The Omaha hockey team wraps up 2019 back at home hosting No. 14/16 Arizona State on Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 21-22. Saturday's game begins at 7:07 p.m., and Sunday's game starts at 4:07 p.m. from Baxter Arena. These will be the only Division I games in the country this weekend.
The Teams
Omaha is 7-7-2 overall and 2-5-1-0/0 in the NCHC, putting it in a tie with Colorado College for seventh place. The Mavericks are coming off a split at St. Cloud State last weekend in St. Cloud, Minn. UNO is 5-2-1 all-time against Arizona State including a record of 5-0-1 at home. The Mavericks have played the Sun Devils in all but one of their five seasons. Last year, the Mavericks split four games with ASU, winning 6-4 and 4-0 at home. This season, the Mavericks are 3-4-1 at from home and 3-6-1 in their last 10 games.
Arizona State is 9-5-2 this season after putting up 21 wins and earning an NCAA tournament berth last year. The Sun Devils are coming off a 4-3 win and a 1-0 overtime loss at Michigan State last weekend. ASU is 4-4-0 on the road this year and 6-2-2 in its last 10 games.
Last Time Out
The Mavericks split a road series with St. Cloud State last weekend in the only meetings between the teams this season. On Friday, the Huskies built a four-goal lead and surrendered only a goal to
Martin Sundberg with 20 seconds remaining to pick up a 4-1 win over the Mavericks.
Isaiah Saville made 24 saves.
The next night, the Mavericks amassed a 3-1 lead after the first period on goals by
Jason Smallidge,
Nolan Sullivan and
Teemu Pulkkinen. SCSU battled back with goals in the second and third period to tie it at three. Just 11 seconds into overtime,
Zach Jordan fired home a pass from Sundberg to give the Mavericks a 4-3 win. Saville earned his sixth victory with 29 saves.
The Coaches
Mike Gabinet is in his third season as head coach of the Mavericks, posting a 33-48-7 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).
Greg Powers is in his fifth season as head coach at Arizona State. The 1999 graduate of ASU is 53-80-13 in his Division I career in the desert. He is assisted by Alex Hicks (Wisconsin-Eau Claire, 1992) and Mike Field (American International, 2008).
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 live audio and stat links are available at OMavs.com.
Up Next
The Mavericks kick off 2020 with a non-conference series at Maine on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 3-4. The series will be a split-site affair with Friday's game beginning at 5:07 p.m. CT at Alfond Arena in Orono, Maine. The series finale will be played on Saturday at 11 a.m. CT at Cross Insurance Arena in Portland, Maine.
