Today
Game three of the NCHC Pod at Baxter Arena will pit the Omaha hockey team against Miami on Saturday, Dec. 5. Game time is 4:05 p.m. CT. UNO is the designated home team. The Mavericks will finish the first week of the pod against St. Cloud State on Sunday, Dec. 6.
The Teams
Omaha is 1-1-0 overall and 1-1-0-0-0 in the NCHC, putting it in a tie with St. Cloud State for third place. The Mavericks earned their first win of the season with a 10-2 victory over Western Michigan on Thursday night. Last season, the Mavericks were 0-3-1 against Miami, including a mark of 0-1-1 at Baxter Arena. All time, the Mavericks trail the series with the RedHawks, 19-25-7, and are 11-11-2 against MU on home ice.
Miami plays its second game of the pod, having lost the opener, 2-0, to North Dakota on Wednesday. The RedHakws are 0-1-0 overall and 0-1-0-0-0, putting it in a tie for sixth. Last season, the RedHawks were 8-21-5 overall and 5-16-3-2/0 in the NCHC, good for seventh place. They were poised to visit Minnesota Duluth in the NCHC Playoffs when the coronavirus shut down the season. Last season, Miami was 4-11-2 in road games and did not play in any neutral site contests.
The Coaches
Mike Gabinet is in his fourth season as head coach of the Mavericks, posting a 41-59-10 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).
Chris Bergeron is in his second season at Miami and his 11th season overall as a Division I head coach. The 1993 graduate of Miami is 8-22-5 in his time in Oxford, Ohio and 179-176-49 overall. He is assisted by Barry Schutte (Miami, 1997) and Eric Rud (Colorado College, 1997).
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 conclude the first week of the pod on Sunday, Dec. 6 when they face St. Cloud State at 8:05 p.m. Omaha is the designated away team for this contest.
Briefly
- Junior Jason Smallidge led Omaha's attack against Western Michigan on Thursday with a goal and four assists for five points. His assist and point totals tied school records.
- With 10 goals, the Mavericks fell one goal short of tying the school record for goals in a game. They earned an 11-7 win over Miami on Jan. 12, 2018. The goal total is also tied for third-most goals in a game in conference history.
- The last Maverick to notch five points in a game was David Pope who had a goal and four assists in the record-setting win over Miami.
- Smallidge joined a long list of NCHC players to score five points in a game which is a conference record. He is also just the second defenseman to do so.
- The Mavericks tied the school record for most goals in a period when they notched six in the third. The school record was originally set in the first year of the program in a game against Minnesota State on Feb. 14, 1998.
- The last Maverick to register four assists in a game was Teemu Pulkkinen who had four against Arizona State in an 8-4 win on Dec. 22, 2019.
- Jack Randl, Nolan Sullivan and Martin Sundberg all have scored in both Omaha games this season.
- Freshman defenseman Nolan Krenzen registered his first collegiate point with an assist on Miller's second goal.
- In all, 14 of Omaha's players in the game against Western Michigan earned at least a point with eight picking up multiple points.
- Smallidge, Knoepke and Brandon Scanlin all finished +5 against Western Michigan.
- With two points against Western Michigan, Kevin Conley is just one point from reaching 50 for his career.
Series History: Omaha vs. Miami
Another one of the Mavericks' longest-running rivalries, their all-time series with Miami dates back to a holiday tournament in Milwaukee in 1999. It was a non-conference meeting that prefaced their first encounter as CCHA foes a month and a half later. In February of this year, the schools passed the 50th all-time meeting mile marker.
The Mavericks enter the game winless in their last five against the RedHawks. Overall, they trail the all-time series, 19-25-7, and they're 11-11-2 all-time at home. That includes a 4-4-2 mark at Baxter Arena. (See full game results on this page).
Taylor Ward is Omaha's leading active scorer against the RedHawks with 6 points (3-3-6) in six games.
Kevin Conley has five (2-3-5) in 10 games while
Jonny Tychonick has four (2-2-4) in six games, all while playing at North Dakota.
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 66-89-15 in NCHC play. They are 36-42-8 all-time against NCHC teams at home and 30-47-7 on the road.
Among current players, junior
Taylor Ward has scored 37 points in 46 NCHC games, leading all current players with an average of .804 points per game.
Tyler Weiss is second in points-per-game, earning 23 in 45 NCHC games (.511), and senior
Kevin Conley is third (.470 in 66 GP, 15-16-31). Conley's total includes 16 games played with Denver as a freshman.
