This Week
    Omaha begins postseason play in the best-of-three National Collegiate Hockey Conference quarterfinals against No. 7 Western Michigan. Games are scheduled for 6:05 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday (if needed).

The Teams
    Omaha made a push at the end of the season by going 4-2 against No. 8 St. Cloud State, No. 3 Denver and No. 4 North Dakota. It claimed seven of 12 possible NCHC standings points against the league co-champions over the past two weekends after sweeping the Huskies the week before. It has seven wins vs. Top 10 teams.
    Western Michigan bounced back from being swept at North Dakota by taking two games from Miami to end the regular season. The Broncos are a lock to make the NCAA tournament after a strong regular season. They enter the postseason sitting fifth in the Pairwise rankings, assuring them of at least an at-large bid.

The Coaches
    Mike Gabinet is in his fifth season as head coach of the Maverick and has posted a 75-84-11 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).
    Pat Ferschweiler is in his first season as the Western Michigan head coach after spending two seasons as an associate head coach under Andy Murray. In between two stints at WMU, he was an NHL assistant for Detroit.

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 NCHC.tv while audio and stat links are available at OMavs.com.

Series History: Omaha vs. Western Michigan
    The Mavericks and Broncos first met on the ice in 1999 and have faced each other regularly over the past 22 years. Both were charter members of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference, where they've battled annually in league play since 2013.
    Omaha holds a 31-22-6 advantage all-time against Western Michigan and won both meetings last year during the NCHC pod at Baxter Arena. Prior to that the teams had split four consecutive series dating back to the 2018-19 season, with Western Michigan winning the series opener every time and the Mavericks taking the finale on each occasion.
    That trend continued earlier this season when Broncos won the opener 4-2 at Lawson Arena on Dec. 10 and Omaha took the finale 1-0 the following night.