OMAHA, Neb. – Omaha hockey, in conjunction with the National Collegiate Hockey Conference, released a new schedule for the 2020-21 season, a schedule adjusted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The updated slate of games will feature the season-opening 10-game pod to be held at Baxter Arena on Dec. 1 followed by 16 games at home and road sites. The 26-game schedule will be exclusively against NCHC teams.
"All of the member schools have worked very hard to come up with a composite schedule that allows everyone to play as close to a typical season as possible," said
Mike Kemp, senior associate athletic director. "Beginning with the pod and concluding with a traditional home/road schedule, our student-athletes will be playing in meaningful games every night.
"While we were sorry to lose some of the outstanding non-conference games we had on our schedule this year, we will work to reschedule those opponents in coming seasons," Kemp added.
On Oct. 16, the NCHC announced that it would begin the season with a 40-game pod featuring all eight teams playing at Baxter Arena. For this season only, the NCHC will be divided into and East and West Divisions with Miami, Minnesota Duluth, St. Cloud State and Western Michigan in the East and Omaha, North Dakota, Colorado College and Denver in the West.
In the pod, teams will play two games against the four teams in the other division and then two against one of the teams in its own division. Teams will alternate as the home team so each school will play five games as the home team and five as the road team.
The Mavericks will kick off the pod by playing Colorado College on Tuesday, Dec. 1. In fact, their first week of the three-week event will be the busiest. They'll take on Western Michigan on Thursday, Dec. 3 and then play two games on the weekend, facing Miami on Saturday, Dec. 5 and St. Cloud State on Sunday, Dec. 6.
The second week of the pod will feature games against Colorado College (Dec. 9), Miami (Dec. 12) and St. Cloud State (Dec. 13). The Mavericks will close the pod with Minnesota Duluth (Dec. 16 and 20) and Western Michigan (Dec. 18).
In the second half of the season, the NCHC will resume traditional home/road play with teams playing exclusively within their division.
The Mavericks will have six games against North Dakota and Denver and four against Colorado College. They open at home, hosting North Dakota on Thursday, Dec. 31 and Friday, Jan. 1. They'll then travel to UND for games on Jan. 8-9.
Omaha will play three games in four days against Denver at home on Jan. 21, 23 and 24 and visit the Pioneers on Feb. 11, 13 and 14. In addition, the Mavericks will travel to CC (Jan. 15-16) and host the Tigers (Feb. 4-5).
The regular season will conclude with single games against UND – Feb. 26 at home and March 5 in Grand Forks.
