This Week
The postseason begins for the Omaha hockey team this week as the Mavericks travel to No. 4 (No. 4 Pairwise) Minnesota Duluth for an NCHC Quarterfinal series on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, if necessary, March 15-17. Each game will begin at 7:07 p.m. CT from AMSOIL Arena in Duluth, Minn. This is the first playoff meeting between the two schools.
The Teams
Omaha is 9-22-3 overall and finished 5-17-2-0/1 in the NCHC, putting it in a tie with Miami for seventh place. The Mavericks won the tiebreaker with the RedHawks based on goals for and against between the two teams in the four-game season series (12-11), making them the seventh seed.
The Mavericks are coming off a pair of one-goal losses at North Dakota last weekend. UNO lost 2-1 in the opener and bowed 5-4 in overtime the next night. All time, the Mavericks are 11-19-2 against Minnesota Duluth including a mark of 3-10-3 in Duluth. The Mavericks are 2-13-1 on the road this year and 2-7-1 in the last 10 games. They have lost three straight to the Bulldogs dating back to last season.
Minnesota Duluth is 21-11-2 overall and finished 14-9-1-0/0 in the NCHC, putting it in second place. Like the Mavericks, the Bulldogs are coming off a pair of one-goal road losses, dropping a 4-3 overtime and 4-3 regulation decision to No. 1 St. Cloud State last weekend. UMD is 11-3-1 at home this season and 5-5-0 in its last 10 games.
Last Time Out
The Mavericks finished the regular season with two narrow losses at North Dakota last weekend. On Friday,
Zach Jordan had a power play goal in the second period, helping the Mavericks tie the game at one early in the second period. But Nick Jones scored early in the third for UND to deliver a 2-1 win.
Evan Weninger made 38 saves.
The following night, the Mavericks battled back from a 4-2 deficit with two goals late in the third period, only to see the Fighting Hawks win 16 seconds into overtime on Jordan Kawaguchi's second goal of the night.
Tyler Weiss scored for the Mavericks in the first period, and Jordan tallied another power play goal in the second. UND broke open the 2-2 game with a pair of goals in the first half of the third, but UNO knotted the game on a goal by
Nate Knoepke and another by
Tristan Keck with 1:07 to go in regulation. Weninger again was busy, making 41 saves.
The Coaches
Mike Gabinet is in his second season as head coach of the Mavericks, posting a 26-39-5 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 last season.
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).
Scott Sandelin is in his 19th season as the head coach of Minnesota Duluth. The 1986 graduate of North Dakota is 361-311-87 in his time at UMD, a record that includes two NCAA championships including 2018. He is assisted by Jason Herter (North Dakota, 2005) and Adam Krause (Minnesota Duluth, 2015).
Media
The games 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.
Live video is available on NCHC.tv, and audio and stat links are available at OMavs.com.
Up Next
If the Mavericks win the series against Minnesota Duluth, they will advance to the NCHC Frozen Faceoff for the first time in school history. The conference's crowning event will be held on March 22-23 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn.
