This Week
The Omaha Mavericks open up NCHC play this weekend welcoming the No. 11 Western Michigan Broncos to Baxter Arena.
The Teams
The Mavericks remained at home last weekend facing off against the Ohio State Buckeyes. Omaha and Ohio State battled to a 2-2 draw in the series opening game. The following night the Buckeyes knocked off the Mavericks 4-0 in the series finale.
Western Michigan enters the weekend with a 3-0-1 record on the season as the 11th ranked team in the NCAA. The Broncos were idle last weekend and didn't see any game action. Their wins have come against Ferris State and Bowling Green this season.
Last Time Out
The Mavericks and Broncos met four times last year. Omaha took the season series 3-1 over Western during the 2022-23 campaign. The Mavericks swept the Broncos in Omaha and split out in Kalamazoo with Omaha shutting out the Broncos 2-0 in the series finale that weekend.
All-Time vs. Western Michigan
The Mavericks and Broncos are set for the 66th and 67th meetings all-time between the two teams this weekend. The all-time series is currently 34-25-6 in favor of Omaha and the Mavericks are 18-8-2 when the game is played in Omaha.
Going to the Polls
The Mavericks entered the top 20 in the last week's USCHO.com poll coming in at No. 20 for the first time this season. After a tie and a loss to Ohio State, Omaha fell out of the top 20 but are still receiving votes in both the USCHO and USA Today polls.
SOS
Last season, the Mavericks had the 16th hardest strength of schedule in college hockey among 61 teams as determined by the KRACH ratings.
During the regular season, Omaha will play four teams that made it to the NCAA Tournament last year in Denver, St. Cloud State, Western Michigan and Ohio State.
No Sophomore Slump Here
A quartet of sophomore's are leading the Mavericks in points after the first four games. Blueliners
Jacob Guevin, Jo Lemay and
Griffin Ludtke along with Switzerland forward
Ray Fust lead the way for Omaha.
Facing Off
Nolan Sullivan finished second in the NCHC for faceoff win percentage.Sullivan went 322-235 in the circle for a .578 win percentage. Omaha was the second ranked team in the NCHC in faceoff winning percentage at .530 percent. After four games, Omaha leads the NCHC in faceoff win percentage at .595 percent.
Sullivan went 24-7 in the circle last weekend helping the Mavericks go 71-47 on the dot against Ohio State including outdrawing the Buckeyes 40-21 in the first game.
Simon Says
In his 2023-24 debut, he backstopped the Mavericks to an 8-1 victory turning away 15 of the 16 shots he faced for a .938 save percentage. He responed with 26 saves in his Friday start against OSU including a pair of breakaway saves in the 3rd period to hold things even at 2-2.
On Their Best Behavior
Omaha is tied for the second least amount of penalties taken in the NCHC with 22. Western Michigan is the least penalized team in the NCHC so far this season being called for only 17 infractions.
Special Teams
The Mavericks remain perfect on the season for the penalty kill. Opponents have been held 0-13 in four games played this year. Omaha is one of four remaining teams perfect on the PK. Of those four teams, they have the highest number of penalties killed.
The Opponent
The No. 11 Western Michigan Broncos enter Baxter Arena at 3-0-1 this season. They defeated Ferris State in their season debut 6-4 and then turned around and swept Bowling Green 5-2 both Friday and Saturday the following week.
Special Teams
Western Michigan is 4-9 (44.4%) on the power play this season. That percentage ranks first in the NCAA. They scored a pair of power play goals in their first two games of the season. The Broncos are 8-11 on the PK so far this season. Their .727 PK percentage ranks last in the conference.
The Sin Bin
Through four games, the Broncos have been guilty of 17 penalties for an average of 4.25 per game. That's the least amount of penalties taken in the NCHC so far this year.
Players To Watch
Senior forward Luke Grainger leads Western Michigan this season with 10 points in four games played. Grainger has posted three goals and a team-high seven assists. He's a +4 with one of his three goals being a game-winner.
Junior forward Sam Colangelo leads Western Michigan in goals with five. He's added a pair of assists to rank third in points for Western. Colangelo is a +4 and leads the team in shots on goal with 17.
Senior netminder Cameron Rowe has started all four games for the Broncos this year. Rowe is 3-0-1 with a 2.70 goals against average and a .889 save percentage.
What's on Tap at Bax
Friday is Vintage Night at Baxter Arena and Homecoming festivities will carry on all weekend long.
Media
Both games can be heard live on AM 1290. Coverage begins 30 minutes before game time with the First National Bank Pre-Game Show. Mike Vaillancourt has the Play-by-Play duties while Terry Leahy returns for his 27th season to provide color analysis. You can also stream both games on NCHC.tv.
Up Next
The Long Island Sharks return the favor from last season and come to Omaha for a two-game series with the Mavericks.
