This Week
The No. 13/14 Omaha hockey team plays host to Alaska this weekend as it continues its 10-game season-opening homestand. The teams meet Friday at 7:07 p.m. and again on Sunday at 4:07 p.m.
The Teams
Omaha is off to a 3-1 start in its 25th season of Division I hockey, winning three consecutive games after dropping its opener to Lake Superior State in overtime. The Mavericks swept a series with Maine last week, posting 4-1 and 5-3 victories while outscoring the Black Bears 5-0 in the third period over two games.
Alaska played its first games since the end of the 2019-20 season last weekend when they opened with a home series in Fairbanks against Clarkson. The two teams split, winning by matching 2-1 scores. The Nanooks were originally slated to open at Minnesota, but that series was postponed due to COVID protocols.
The Coaches
Mike Gabinet is in his fifth season as head coach of the Maverick and has posted a 57-70-11 record 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 the North Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) in Edmonton, Alberta, the last as its head coach. That season, he led the Ooks to a 36-0-0 record and the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference 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).
Erik Largen is in his third season and fourth year, due to the pandemic, as Alaska's head coach. He's gone 28-36-8 at his alma mater. Largen, a Fairbanks native, was a goaltender for the Nanooks.
Media
Both games can be heard live on 1180 The Zone. Casey Roehl will have the play-by-play while Terry Leahy provides analysis. Coverage begins with the FNBO Pre-Game Show.
Live video is available on NCHC.tv while audio and stat links are available at OMavs.com.
Series History: Omaha vs. Alaska
The Mavericks and Nanooks played each other regularly when both were in the former Central Collegiate Hockey Association, but they haven't seen each other as much since Omaha left the league.
Alaska leads the all-time series 23-17-11, but the teams have split their 25 meetings in Omaha 10-10-5. The Nanooks last came to town in January of 2010. They topped the Mavericks 3-1 in the opener. Omaha took the series finale 2-1.
The teams last met in October of 2016, when the Mavericks were invited to play in the Brice Alaska Goal Rush tournament. Omaha played both Alaska teams in the event, topping Alaska Anchorage 3-1 on Friday before beating the Nanooks 4-3 on an Austin Ortega goal in overtime. The Mavericks, by going 2-0, became the first team not from Alaska to win the event.
