Tonight
The Omaha hockey team returns to action, facing Western Michigan for its second game of the NCHC Pod. Game time is 7:35 p.m. CT from Baxter Arena. UNO is the designated away team. This weekend, the Mavericks will face Miami on Saturday, Dec. 5 and St. Cloud State on Sunday, Dec. 6.
The Teams
Omaha is 0-1-0 overall and 0-1-0-0/0 in the NCHC, putting it in a tie for fourth place. The Mavericks lost to No. 3 Minnesota Duluth, 5-3, to open the pod on Tuesday. Last season, the Mavericks were 2-2-0 against Western Michigan, including a mark of 1-1-0 at home. All time, the Mavericks have played the Broncos more than any other team, posting a record of 28-21-6 in 55 all-time meetings.
Western Michigan enters tonight's game with a record of 0-1-0 and 0-1-0-0/0 in the conference following a 4-3 loss to St. Cloud State on Tuesday night. Last season, the Broncos were 18-13-5 overall and 12-9-3-0/2 in the NCHC, good for fourth place. They were poised to host St. Cloud State in the NCHC Playoffs when the coronavirus shut down the season. Last season, WMU was 5-7-4 in road games and 1-0-1 in neutral site contests.
The Coaches
Mike Gabinet is in his fourth season as head coach of the Mavericks, posting a 40-59-10 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).
Andy Murray is in his 10th season behind the bench at Western Michigan. The 1972 graduate of Brandon University has compiled a record of 157-145-40 while in Kalamazoo. He is assisted by J.J. Crew (Western Michigan, 2012) and Pat Ferschweiler (Western Michigan, 1993).
Media
All Omaha games can be heard live on 1180 The Zone 2. Donny Baarns will have the play-by-play, and Terry Leahy provides analysis. Coverage begins with the First National Bank Pre-Game Show.
Streaming video is available on NCHC.tv. Midco Sports Network will produce all 38 games in the pod for digital distribution. Ben Holden and Dave Starman of CBS Sports Network will have the call of the game.
Live audio and stat links are available at OMavs.com.
Up Next
The Mavericks will face Miami in the first of two meetings in the pod on Saturday, Dec. 5 at 4:05 p.m. Omaha is the designated home team for this contest.
Briefly
• Both
Martin Sundberg and
Jack Randl had a goal and an assist for the Mavericks in their game against Minnesota Duluth on Tuesday. It was Randl's first career goal in 23 career games.
• Senior
Kevin Conley played in his 100th career game on Tuesday against UMD.
• Four of Omaha's six freshmen made their collegiate debuts on Tuesday including
Brock Bremer,
Jimmy Glynn,
Nolan Krenzen and
Matt Miller.
• Omaha went 1-for-6 on the power play against UMD while killing off three of five UMD power plays.
• The Mavericks outshot the Bulldogs 29-27 in Tuesday's opener.
• Junior
Taylor Ward and Conley are Omaha's top two returning goal scorers with 16 and 12 respectively last season. Ward also paced the team with five power play goals.
• Sophomore
Joey Abate is Omaha's leading returning scorer from last year's freshman class. He had nine goals and nine assists for 18 points and led the team with four game-winning goals.
• Overall, the Mavericks return 75 percent of their points and 73 percent of their goals from last season.
• Omaha returns a trio of sophomore goaltenders. Last season,
Isaiah Saville played in a team-high 28 games, earning 10 wins and a team-best 2.85 goals-against average.
• The Mavericks were one of the NCAA's leaders in penalty minutes last season. They were seventh overall and first in the NCHC with an average of 13.5 penalty minutes per game. Much of that time in the sin bin came early in the season. They averaged 10.1 penalty minutes per game over their last 22 games. They were whistled for 10 penalty minutes in Tuesday's opener.
Series History: Omaha vs. Western Michigan
It's a relationship like peanut butter and jelly - the Mavericks and the Broncos have known each other for a long time. The two schools began playing when the Mavericks joined the old CCHA in 1999 and since that time, UNO has played Western Michigan more than any other school - 55 times.
Overall, the Mavericks lead the all-time series, 28-21-6, and they're 16-8-2 all-time at home. That includes a 7-3-0 mark at Baxter Arena. The longest winning streak for either team in the all-time series is four games. In addition, the Mavericks own three shutouts in the series while the Broncos have posted two, and the two teams have played 12 one-goal games. (See full game results on this page).
Taylor Ward is Omaha's leading active scorer against the Broncos with 12 points (6-6-12) in eight games.
Kevin Conley has 10 (6-4-10) in 11 games. Both players had hat tricks against the Broncos last season.
NCHC History
The Mavericks are in their eighth season in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference, having come in as a charter member in 2013-14. All-time, the Mavericks are 65-89-15 in NCHC play. They are 35-42-8 all-time against NCHC teams at home and 30-47-7 on the road.
Among current players, junior
Taylor Ward has scored 36 points in 45 NCHC games, leading all current players with an average of .800 points per game.
Tyler Weiss is second in points-per-game, earning 23 in 44 NCHC games (.523), and senior
Kevin Conley is third (.446 in 65 GP, 14-15-29). Conley's total includes 16 games played with Denver as a freshman.
