This Week
No. 11 Omaha heads to the road for the first time this season to face No. 1 St. Cloud State in an NCHC series at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. The teams meet at 7:30 p.m. Friday and 6 p.m. Saturday.
The Teams
Omaha is off to an 8-2 start in its 25th season of Division I hockey, matching the second-best start through 10 games in program history. The Mavericks had their recent seven-game winning streak snapped by Miami, 4-3, in their league opener last Friday. Omaha then took the series finale on Saturday 4-1.
St. Cloud State opened NCHC play by picking up five of the possible six league points in a road series at Colorado College. The Huskies won the opening game 3-2 in overtime before posting a 4-1 win in the finale. St. Cloud State has been ranked No. 1 in the past three polls and has won its last four games.
The Coaches
Mike Gabinet is in his fifth season as head coach of the Maverick and has posted a 62-71-11 record at his alma mater. The 2004 Omaha graduate 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).
Brett Larson (Minnesota Duluth, 2004) is in his fourth season as the head coach of the Huskies. Prior to taking over the SCSU program, he was an assistant at his alma mater, winning national titles in 2011 and 2018.
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. St. Cloud State
The Mavericks and Huskies first met in 1998 and have played 40 times over the years. St. Cloud State has been dominant in the series, posting a 26-12-2 record against Omaha while going 16-5-1 in games played in St. Cloud, Minn. The Huskies had a 10-game winning streak in the series from 2016 to 2019.
The two teams played twice last season, splitting a pair of games during the NCHC pod in December at Baxter Arena. St. Cloud State scored the final two goals to win the first meeting 5-3 on Dec. 6. One week later, the Mavericks shut out the Huskies 2-0 behind 41 saves from
Austin Roden.
