This Week
The No. 11/12 Omaha hockey team will finish its home schedule this weekend, playing a single game against No. 1/2 North Dakota on Friday, Feb. 26 at 7:07 p.m.
The Teams
Omaha is 13-8-1 overall and 13-8-1-3-0 (1) in the NCHC, putting it in fourth place. The Mavericks were swept for the first time this season last weekend, losing at North Dakota, 4-1 and 7-1. All time, Omaha is 14-27-1 against North Dakota including a 7-13-0 mark at Baxter Arena. The two teams split a pair of games in Omaha last month with UND winning 6-2 the first night before the Mavericks prevailed 5-4 the next. The Mavericks are 4-2-0 at home this year and 5-5-0 in their last 10 games.
North Dakota is 17-4-1 overall and 17-4-1-2-0 (0) in the conference, good for first place. The Fighting Hawks clinched the Penrose Cup as NCHC regular season champions by virtue of their wins over the Mavericks last weekend. UND, winners of four straight, is 4-2-0 on the road this year and 8-2-0 in its last 10 games.
The Coaches
Mike Gabinet is in his fourth season as head coach of the Mavericks, posting a 53-66-11 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).
Brad Berry is in his sixth season as head coach at North Dakota. The 2002 graduate of UND is 133-61-24 during his tenure in Grand Forks. He is assisted by Dane Jackson (North Dakota, 1992) and Karl Goehring (North Dakota, 2000).
Media
All Omaha games can be heard live on 1180 The Zone. 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. Live audio and stat links are available at OMavs.com.
Up Next
The Mavericks finish the regular season with a single game at North Dakota on Friday, March 5 at 7:37 p.m.
Briefly
- Junior Tyler Weiss and senior Kevin Conley had the Mavericks' goals during the series at North Dakota while four different players registered an assist.
- Sophomore Austin Roden played more than 25 minutes in relief of classmate Isaiah Saville on Saturday. It was his first action since Jan. 19 at Colorado College.
- Weiss had a six-game point streak snapped in Saturday's loss. Still during the last four weekends, he has two goals and seven assists for nine points. He also registered his career-best sixth goal of the season on Friday at UND.
- The Mavericks earned 63 penalty minutes in Saturday's loss to UND. It was the fourth-highest team penalty minute total in school history and its largest in the NCHC era. The two teams combined for 104 PIM.
- Sophomore Joey Abate leads the nation with 59 penalty minutes this season.
- Saturday's loss was UNO's first in the second game of a two-game series this season (5-1-0).
- Ten of the Mavericks' 13 wins have come when scoring the first goal of the game. They have lost just once when scoring first this season.
- The Mavericks are 7-1-0 in one-goal games this season.
- Omaha has won an NCHC-best three overtime games this season.
- The Mavericks gave up three power play goals to the Fighting Hawks in Saturday's loss. Prior to that game, they had not given up more than two in a game since Oct. 18, 2019 when they allowed three at Ohio State.
- The Mavericks have allowed 10 power play goals this season. Five have come against North Dakota.
