This Week
    No. 14/15 Omaha opens the second half of the season when it travels to St. Lawrence for a nonconference series. The teams meet at 6 p.m. (CT) at Appleton Arena in Canton, N.Y., on Friday and Saturday.

The Teams
    Omaha capped a 13-win first half with a thrilling 1-0 victory at No. 4 Western Michigan in its final game before the holiday break. The Mavericks have positioned themselves to make a run at a second consecutive NCAA tournament berth in their 25th season, something they haven't previously done in program history.
    St. Lawrence returned from its holiday break Wednesday with a 3-2 loss to No. 15 UMass Lowell at home. The Saints will be facing their third NCHC opponent of the season this weekend. They went 1-0-1 at Colorado College on the opening weekend of the season and were later swept at home by Western Michigan.

The Coaches
    Mike Gabinet is in his fifth season as head coach of the Maverick and has posted a 67-74-11 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).
    Brent Brekke became the 15th coach in St. Lawrence history in May of 2019 after 20 years as an assistant at the collegiate level. The third-year Saints head coach played at Western Michigan and later coached at Miami.

Media
    Both games can be heard live on 1180 The Zone. Casey Roehl will handle the play-by-play duties while Terry Leahy provides analysis. Coverage begins with the FNBO Pregame Show.
    Live video is available on ESPN+ while audio and stat links are available at OMavs.com.

Series History: Omaha vs. St. Lawrence
    The Mavericks and Saints will be meeting for a regular-season series for the first time ever this weekend when they square off at Appleton Arena in Canton, N.Y. In fact, they've only played each other once before.
    Omaha and St. Lawrence skated to a 2-2 tie on Jan. 2, 2010, on the second day of the Denver Cup at Magnuss Arena. The Mavericks got goals from Mark Bernier and Matt Ambroz while grabbing 1-0 and 2-1 leads before settling for a 2-2 result. They did win a shootout afterward, but the game was recorded as a tie.