Friday, November 30, 2018

Series Preview: Omaha vs. Colorado College, Nov. 30-Dec. 1 at Baxter Arena


Coming off a sweep of Arizona State, the Mavs return to action at Baxter Arena for the last home series before the team's holiday break. (They will be on the road next week at St. Cloud.)

NCHC teams return to conference play this weekend. The Mavs are .500 in conference play (2-2-0) and 4-7-1 overall. The Tigers are 1-5-0 in the NCHC and are 5-6-1 overall.

Don't forget that Saturday night is the annual Sheila Leahy Toys for Tots Collection Drive. Bring a new, unwrapped toy to donate (or give cash) to the Marines and volunteers collecting donations.

Series preview articles:

Preview article from Omavs.com:
https://omavs.com/news/2018/11/29/hockey-mavericks-back-in-nchc-play-against-tigers.aspx

Preview article from Colorado College athletics:
https://cctigers.com/news/2018/11/28/mens-ice-hockey-tigers-travel-to-omaha-to-face-mavericks.aspx


Preview article from Colorado Springs Gazette:
https://gazette.com/sports/after-wholesome-holiday-colorado-college-tigers-hit-the-road-to/article_12fc5bde-f43c-11e8-95db-73f177ac9c37.html

When:
Friday, 7:05 p.m. CT (Harry Potter Night – kids in costume get in free with paid adult admission)
Saturday, 7:05 p.m. CT (Toys for Tots night – bring a new, unwrapped toy to donate, or give cash!)

Radio/TV Coverage:
Radio: Both games will be broadcast live on 1180 AM (Zone 2). Dave Ahlers will provide play-by-play and Terry Leahy will give color commentary.

TV: Both games will be streamed on NCHC.tv ($).

Live Audio and Stats:
Live Audio: Click here.
Live Stats: Click here.

Also, be sure to check out this week's episode of the MavPuckCast with Jason & Jon:




Next up: UNO Hockey continues in conference play next weekend at St. Cloud State.


UNO Blue Line Club’s “Dinner With The Mavs”: Fellowship and Fun With Our Favorite Team

Photo credit: Roger Humphries

Fans had an opportunity to dine with the University of Nebraska at Omaha Maverick Hockey team on Nov. 29 at Anthony’s Steakhouse.

The evening event — dubbed “Dinner With The Mavs” — was reminiscent of Blue Line Club luncheons of yore. 

Terry Leahy served as emcee for the event. Leahy provides color commentary on UNO Hockey radio broadcasts, has an encyclopedic knowledge of local hockey history, and is a good friend. 

Photo credit: Roger Humphries

UNO Hockey Blue Line Club President Roger Humphries also addressed the attendees. Humphries is a passionate fan who is involved in civic organizations throughout the Omaha area. He serves on Bridget’s marketing/membership committee and on the Omaha Press Club Board of Directors.

Photo credit: Chris Humphries

Coach Mike Gabinet traveled around the dining hall and greeted fans as they settled in at their tables. He thanked participants for coming out the the event. 

Photo credit: Roger Humphries

One of the things I think is crucial for the health of a collegiate athletic program is for the fan base to feel invested in the team. 

All too often, the “fan experience” in major athletics is relegated to what happens in the arena of competition — the experience doesn’t typically extend beyond the games. 

The “Dinner WIth The Mavs” gave fans an opportunity to dine with the team (a player or two sat at each table). We felt fortunate to have senior goaltender Alex Blankenburg at our table, and enjoyed visiting with him during the event. 

My apologies for this blurry selfie I tried to take in the dim light of Anthony's:


The buffet-style dinner is the first of two the BLC will hold this season. The next event will be on Thursday, Feb. 28. 

There was a 50/50 raffle at the door, and fans were able to bid on silent auction items, which included this autographed helmet:


I know the UNO Blue Line Club has been attempting to do an “in-season” dinner event like this for a few years now. The nice thing about an evening event (as opposed to a luncheon) is that it gives busy professionals a chance to attend. 

With work, meetings, and family commitments, we haven't been able to attend the luncheons in recent years, so an evening format worked out well. 

Bridget and I had a nice time. I hope that the UNO Blue Line Club (and the UNO Hockey program) continues to do events such as this — giving fans a chance to learn more about the program and commune with the team. 

It makes a difference knowing the young men you are cheering for on a perennial basis.  


Thursday, November 29, 2018

Wrapping Up the Weekend: Arizona State Series (Nov. 23-24, 2018)


What a big weekend for the Mavs! Following a bye week (and a bonus podcast from Jason & Jon), the Mavs returned to action at Baxter Arena and put together an impressive series, defeating #16 Arizona State 6-4 and then 4-0.


Evan Weninger backstopped the Saturday night shutout and earned NCHC Goaltender of the Week honors as a result. Mason Morelli had seven points on the weekend, and earned NCHC Offensive Player of the Week honors.






And Mason Morelli garnered "First Star" honors from the NCAA:



You can hear Jason & Jon's reaction to the series on the ninth episide of the MavPuckCast:




Poll Results:
The Mavs finally got a vote in a poll this week, garnering a single vote in the USCHO poll:

USCHO poll for Monday, Nov. 26:




But the Mavs didn't make the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine weekly poll at all:



Media Roundup:
Here's the OMavs story about Friday night's win:
https://omavs.com/news/2018/11/23/hockey-mavericks-outslug-sun-devils-6-4.aspx

Here's the Omavs story about Saturday night's win and sweep:
https://omavs.com/news/2018/11/24/hockey-weninger-morelli-lead-mavericks-to-sweep.aspx

Finally, here's our MavPuck writeup of Tuesday's news conference:
UNO Hockey Press Conference Noves – Nov. 27

Looking Ahead to This Weekend:

The Mavs are back at Baxter ice this weekend, facing Colorado College.

Tuesday, November 27, 2018

2019 Recruit: Kirby Proctor (D) - Des Moines Buccaneers


We’ve focused a lot on UNO’s incoming class of recruits the past week. 


As we were doing that episode, we noticed a new recruit online — Kirby Proctor, a defenseman with the Des Moines Buccanneers (USHL). 

We had assumed Proctor wouldn’t arrive at UNO until 2020. However, Proctor just signed a National Letter of Intent (NLI) with the University of Nebraska at Omaha Hockey program and will join the 2019 recruiting class. 



Proctor is in his first season with the Buccaneers, and has 7 assists with Des Moines (5 on the power play) at the time of this writing. It sounds like he's a good two-way defenseman. 

The Okotoks, AB, native played with the Bonnyville Pontiacs of the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) last season. He had 5 goals and 20 assists.

When I was researching Proctor, I found a video from the bantam team he played with in the 2015-16 season (Pursuit of Excellence), where he was featured in this video:



Proctor mentioned having a goal of playing in the WHL (major junior hockey in Canada — which nullifies NCAA eligibility for players who participate). 

Coach Gabinet recruited players out of the WHL when he was a coach at Northern Alberta Institute of Technology. Canadian college hockey doesn’t have the same restrictions as the NCAA. 

Thankfully, Proctor decided to go the NCAA route. He will be 18 when he arrives in 2019, and a welcome addition to UNO's roster.  

Gabinet & Co. had eight new players commit to the program this fall. Six of those players are natives of Canada. It will be interesting to see the direction the team takes as Gabinet makes his imprint on the UNO program. 

If you “read the tea leaves” and look at the players coming in, they appear to be recruits with high hockey I.Q. — and tremendous upside potential. 



UNO Hockey Press Conference Notes - Nov. 27, 2018


Coach Mike Gabinet, junior forward Zach Jordan, and senior defenseman Lukas Buchta answered media questions as part of the “Omaha Athletics Weekly Media Availability” on Nov. 27, 2018.   

Gabinet fielded questions regarding the UNO Hockey team’s series against Arizona State on Nov. 23 and 24, and the upcoming series against Colorado College Nov. 30 and Dec. 1 at Baxter Arena. 

The following quotes are excerpts from the news conference. To view the press conference video in it’s entirety, click here.

ON THE UPCOMING SERIES AGAINST COLORADO COLLEGE...

GABINET: “Looking forward to getting back into NCHC play. Obviously another good opponent coming to town this weekend with CC. They’ve made some improvements the last few years with their program, so it's always a tough challenge.”

THE TEAM IS A COUPLE WINS FROM GETTING BACK NEAR .500, FEELINGS ON THAT...

GABINET: “First off, the biggest credit goes to the players and staff — just sticking with the process. It’s really important that the guys believe in it, and I think when you echo that message from the top — and they’re buying into it, and they’re focused every week to get better at something (and we’d narrowed that focus), and everybody’s working towards the common goal — then that’s the process you’ve got to trust. It’s nice to see the guys get rewarded with their efforts — not only on Friday, but the efforts the last couple weeks in practice.” 

GABINET: “As much as you hate to be results-based, it’s nice to get that confidence from that when it does work out. So we look to continue to build on that, and know we’re still taking little steps — we’ve got a long way to go, but definitely a step in the right direction.” 

WHAT AREA WAS UNO “BEST AT” IN THE SERIES AGAINST ARIZONA STATE...

GABINET: “I think — especially Friday — just playing the right way. Making decisions. I think we ‘out-chanced’ them 16 to 7 (or 8), and that’s our biggest margin of the season so far. I think that comes down to smart decisions at the blue line, puck management, nothing blind laterally.”

GABINET: “CC is going to be a little bit similar — I think — to ASU. They’re a very good transition team. They’re very quick. They’re fast. They’ve got a lot of small forwards that can really move. So, again, just where you give those guys the puck is very important. You want to make sure you’re above their guys tracking back to your defensive zone.”

GABINET: “Usually teams that are fast like that only really counter off your mistakes, or your mismanagement of the puck. We worked on a lot of angling yesterday, and we’re going to continue working on that this week. It’s very important we stay above their guys and not give them odd man rushes.”

HOW IMPORTANT WAS IT TO GET A POSITIVE RESULT IN A GAME (SATURDAY VS. ASU) WHERE CERTAIN THINGS WERE WORKING AGAINST THE MAVS?

GABINET: “We bent. We didn’t break. That’s a nice thing to have, especially when you’re looking to build something, to have an opportunity where you play a game — and maybe you’re not perfect — but you still get some results. That’s the best time to teach.”

GABINET: “When you’re down, or you’ve suffered a loss, you’ve gotta be a little bit careful with your approach, because the guys’ confidence is low. They’re not feeling great about themselves already. And if you hammer them as a coach, then they’re getting really in a bad place mentally. And vice versa. When you have some success, and you’re still not doing things perfectly, that’s a great chance to get after them.” 

GABINET: “When we did our game review on Monday, we pointed out some areas of growth.” 

ON COLORADO COLLEGE’S GROWTH...

GABINET: “Just watching them on tape, they’re a little bit like we were. I think they’re underperforming a little bit. I think they’re right in some games. I think they could easily have another 2-3 wins under their belt — just with a couple bounces going their way.”

GABINET: “Definitely a dangerous team and they’ve had a week to prepare for us. Just like we had a week to prepare for ASU. So they’ll be prepared. They’ll know what we’re doing. They’ll be rested and ready to go.”

HOW IS UNO “HEALTH-WISE” COMING OUT OF THE ASU SERIES?

GABINET: “Everybody healthy played on Saturday. We had a pretty easy decision with the lineup as a coaching staff.” 

GABINET: “Guys are banged up. We’re not sure whose going to be ready to go again this weekend, but it’s been like that since I’ve been a head coach here.”

WAS THE SATURDAY GAME AGAINST ARIZONA STATE GOALTENDER EVAN WENINGER’S BEST GAME AS A MAV?

GABINET: “I think that’s the best game I’ve seen him play as a head coach. I remember when I was an assistant coach here — I think we were in Wisconsin — he had almost 50 saves there. But I think [the Arizona State game] was his most complete game. I thought he was inside his posts almost all night. He wasn’t overactive. He was scoring the puck. He was calm. He was tracking the puck. I thought he was really, really sharp.”

GABINET: “I think you’ve got to be process driven as a player, but anytime you do get that result, I think you can draw back on it. Now you know you’ve done it. You’re capable of performing a certain way. Obviously, he’s done that a few times in his career here, and now to have done that again recently. I think it’s great for him. Because now he can reflect on that and he’s capable of doing that. He’s capable of playing that well.”

GABINET: “College hockey is back-to-back nights. You could always worry about guys being tired or whatever, but I think that’s B.S. — you’ve got to be ready to go. You only get to play 30-some games, 40-some games in a season. So you’ve got to find a way to get yourself energized mentally and physically prepared.”

GABINET: “It wasn’t an easy decision on who to start Saturday... I didn’t decide until 5 o’clock that night who was going to play. For him to come out there with that type of game was a huge benefit for our program.”

ANY WORRIES ABOUT THE TEAM BEING “OVERCONFIDENT” GOING INTO THE COLORADO COLLEGE SERIES?

GABINET: “I don’t think so. I think you’d be pretty short-sighted to be overconfident. I think we’ve got a lot to work on. I know from a staff standpoint we’re figuring out ways to get better.”

GABINET: “I think we’ve gotta be proud of ourselves the way we played this weekend and where we’ve come. And like I talked about before we played ASU, when you play a team the second time, you get to see ‘are you getting better?’”

GABINET: “We’re getting better, but by no means are we at the level we need to be and playing consistently how we need to play. It’s a good step in the right direction, but the guys are focused.”

GABINET: “You’ve seen a lot of guys play their best hockey last weekend. I think I said Spinner, Morelli, Olofsson, Conley... a lot of those guys played their best hockey of the season so far. So we definitely want them to keep that momentum going.”

ON EARNING PLAYING TIME WITH THE TEAM...

GABINET: “I base my decision on practice. I’ve said that from day one. You earn what you get around here. You better be ready to go in practice. And I think you practice how you play. Whether it’s a player, a goalie, a defenseman, or a forward, I don’t care. You better show up to practice ready to go. You better compete. You better show the team, the staff, that you’re getting better everyday, and that’s how you earn your ice time on this team.” 


PLAYER PERSPECTIVE ON THE TEAM’S EVOLUTION THE PAST FEW WEEKS... 

JORDAN: “These past couple weeks it has taken a lot of hard work. It’s been kind of a realization of how we’re going to have to play this year as a team. I think everybody is starting to really buy into it now. It feels good to win again. Our wins haven’t been the prettiest. Saturday night was nice, obviously, getting the 4-0 shutout.”

JORDAN: “All the other games have been close, nitty gritty games, and I think that’s how we’re going to win a lot of games this year if we continue to play like we have been the past couple games.”

BUCHTA: “Being at UNO, I came here to win as many games as possible. We had a tough start this year, but I thought our practices — especially last week during the bye week — went extremely well, and extremely hard, too. That’s why I thought it paid off.“

BUCHTA: “The small details... that’s what changes the game nowadays.” 

PLAYER FEELINGS ON UNO’S SHUTOUT AGAINST ARIZONA STATE...

BUCHTA: “Obviously, it felt good.”

BUCHTA: “Overall, I thought our D-zone was good, and that’s what you need to have in order to win every game at this level.” 

ON THE FORWARDS IMPACT ON TEAM DEFENSE...

BUCHTA: “I feel like our forwards have been blocking more shots — especially in the past three games.”

JORDAN: “Gabs has been talking about the forwards a lot. The offense is going to come. If we can play solid in our D-zone, we’re going to create more chances for ourselves offensively with teams that are going to get caught cheating, and get caught with too many guys down low. Then we’re going to be able to go down on the rush and, hopefully, capitalize on our opportunities.”

JORDAN: “It’s been a little bit of a mindset change. We don’t need to always be opportunistic. We’re going to be able to create chances for ourselves as long as we play solid in the D-zone.”

JORDAN: “We’re just becoming more consistent with knowing our systems, knowing our outs, coming back as five-man units.”

HOW MUCH HAS THE IMPROVEMENT COME FROM “STICKING WITH THE PROCESS”?

JORDAN: “It’s always easier to buy into something when you know it’s working. If you’re seeing results right away, it’s a lot easier to buy in. It’s a lot harder when you’re 0-5-1 — or whatever we were — and felt like we couldn’t buy a win.”

JORDAN: “It was about 50/50 then, guys buying in... guys struggling, kind of doing their own thing.”

JORDAN: “More and more, everybody is really seeing that ‘Hey, if we stick with the process here, do things the way we talked about, and the way we go over video, and the way we plan for games,’ we’re going to be able to get a lot more wins.”

WAS THE SWEEP OVER ASU A CONFIDENCE BOOST?

BUCHTA: “They’re a really big team that works really hard. It’s really tough to play against them.”

BUCHTA: “We’ve got to be extremely careful about CC. As Z.J. said, we’ve got to stick with our process, because it works.” 

JORDAN: “More than just a confidence boost, it felt really good to get two wins against then after going down there and not doing so hot. Especially with how they were acting after the game.”

DID EVAN WENINGER’S PERFORMANCE ON SATURDAY GIVE THE FORWARDS SOME MORE CONFIDENCE? 

JORDAN: “Not just the offensive aspect of it, it gives a boost to the whole bench. A big save like that... or a big blocked shot... it just gets the boys going. It brings morale up, and everybody is just going. I feel like that is definitely something that has changed a lot since the beginning of the year.”



Friday, November 23, 2018

Series Preview: Omaha vs. Arizona State, Nov. 23-24 at Baxter Arena


After a bye week, the Mavs return to action at Baxter Arena on Thanksgiving weekend against #16 Arizona State, a team that swept the Mavs on the road a few weeks ago. The Mavs are .500 in conference play (and the split against Western Michigan looks even better with the Broncos' sweep of North Dakota last week in Grand Forks). The Mavericks are 2-7-1 overall and facing a Sun Devil team that has cooled off a bit after a loss and overtime win on the road against Harvard last weekend.

This College Hockey News article about last week's Harvard-ASU series emphasized the importance of goaltending, a topic that has been heavily mentioned recently among Mav fans: https://www.collegehockeynews.com/news/2018/11/20_Arizona-State-Harvard-Series.php

Series preview articles:

Preview article from Omavs.com:
https://omavs.com/news/2018/11/21/hockey-mavericks-vs-arizona-state-redux-in-omaha.aspx

Preview article from Arizona State Athletics:
https://thesundevils.com/news/2018/11/21/mens-ice-hockey-16-sun-devils-go-for-season-sweep-against-omaha-this-weekend.aspx?path=mhockey

When:
Friday, 7:05 p.m. CT
Saturday, 7:05 p.m. CT

Radio/TV Coverage:
Radio: Both games will be broadcast live on 1180 AM (Zone 2). Dave Ahlers will provide play-by-play and Terry Leahy will give color commentary.

TV: Both games will be streamed on NCHC.tv ($).

Live Audio and Stats:
Live Audio: Click here.
Live Stats: Click here.

Also, be sure to check out this week's BONUS episode of the MavPuckCast with Jason & Jon:


Next up: UNO Hockey returns to conference play next weekend as Colorado College comes to Baxter Arena for the Mavs' third conference series of the season. 

Wednesday, November 21, 2018

UNO Hockey Press Conference Notes - Nov. 20, 2018


Coach Mike Gabinet, senior forward Mason Morelli, and senior forward Fredrik Olofsson answered media questions as part of the “Omaha Athletics Weekly Media Availability” on Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2018.   

Gabinet fielded questions regarding the UNO Hockey team’s bye week and the upcoming series against Arizona State at Baxter Arena on Nov. 23 and 24. 

The following quotes are excerpts from the news conference. To view the press conference video in its entirety, click here.

THE BENEFITS OF A BYE WEEK...

GABINET: “It’s been nice to get a little bit of a chance to work on a few things. With the number of injuries we’ve had, some guys got some needed rest.”

GABINET: “Back at it yesterday with a hard practice. Looking forward to hosting ASU.”

GABINET: “The bye came at a good week for us, even though we can’t get fully healthy. I think we’ve been able to work on some things and continue to reiterate things we want to see. As my gramps would say, ‘the agony of repetition with things’ where the players maybe don’t love it so much, but you know the work we’ve got to put in to be successful.”

GABINET: “It’s a lot of non-glamorous work that’s not really sexy and cool, but it needs to be done to be successful.”

THE TEAM’S INJURY SITUATION...

GABINET: “We’ll be without (probably) at least three regular players. Obviously, that’s not fun when you’ve got guys who are normally in your lineup that are out, but again it’s the nature of the business when you play in intense games like we do. We’ve got a couple of guys that are questionable, so we’re definitely beat up right now.”

GABINET: “Looking forward to seeing some other guys get some different looks out there.”

GABINET: “I think [Tyler Weiss] will be back. We’ll see how he does the next few days here, but will probably be more of a game day decision. Hopefully he keeps on the same path here, and get a chance to get some NCAA hockey under his belt.” 

ON FACING ARIZONA STATE FOR THE SECOND TIME THIS SEASON...

GABINET: “For me personally, I’m excited to face another good opponent. Obviously, it wasn’t a fluke, they beat us, they’ve been on a pretty good tear there for the whole season with the way their goaltending has been playing and the way they’ve been producing there offensively. So, it’s gonna be another tough weekend for us.”

GABINET: “I still think we’ve gotta be focused on making some small steps in the right direction and continue to improve. We get a chance to show improvement here this weekend.”

FEELINGS ON THE EVOLUTION OF ASU AS A PROGRAM...

GABINET: “You’ve gotta give them a lot of credit. I think they’ve done a great job putting some talent together. When you watch the video on them, they’ve got a couple really elite players, they’ve got a very good goaltender. They’ve got a couple elite defensemen and some excellent speed up front. I think their staff has been together now for probably five years if I’m correct.” 

GABINET: “It’s a beautiful place to live and play hockey. I think they’ve got some momentum going for their program. They’ve done a nice job.”

DOES THE ASU EVOLUTION GIVE YOU HOPE FOR THE CONTINUED IMPROVEMENT OF THE UNO HOCKEY PROGRAM?

GABINET: “Absolutely. If you look around college hockey I think one of the things you want to do is see who has been successful, and why they’ve been successful, and learn from other programs. When you look around, I think all the good teams have probably had a staff that has been together for quite some time and some consistency there.”

GABINET: “We know it’s not gonna be perfect right off the bat, but that’s honestly part of the fun in it a little bit.”

GABINET: “There’s a great quote that says, ‘the best gift to a young person — a young man or woman — would be adversity at an early age.’ And I think there’s no better quote than that whether it’s for a player, or a coaching staff, or a program. Because it really causes you to reflect on things, and ‘why are you doing things,’ and ‘how do you get better,’ and ‘how do we get these guys better.’”

GABINET: “Our recruiting is getting better. We’re on the right track. We just gotta keep at it.”

KEYS TO THE WEEKEND SERIES WITH ASU... AVOIDING UNNECESSARY PENALTIES...

GABINET: “I hate hoping, so let’s stay out of the penalty box.”

GABINET: “We have to be disciplined and not give teams an opportunity to capitalize when you’re playing with such small margins that we play at with our opponents and with our conference.”



PLAYER THOUGHTS ON THE BYE WEEK...

MORELLI: “I think it was a good little recharge of our batteries. It’s kind of nice when you can have a little mental break, too... work on a few things that maybe you feel a little rushed doing during the weeks where you do have games.”

MORELLI: “Focusing up on the little things that we’ve been trying to get better on was good for us, and we’ll be ready for this weekend.” 

OLOFSSON: “Guys dealing with little nagging injuries — it’s always nice having a bye week. Everyone is dealing with something throughout the year, so it’s nice to just address that and then take care of those little things.”

PLAYER THOUGHTS ON FACING ASU FOR THE SECOND TIME THIS SEASON...

OLOFSSON: “I think for us it’s huge. It’s very nice for us because we obviously didn’t start the season the way we wanted to... and get another shot at a team.”

OLOFSSON: “It’s a big test for us. We feel like we’re figuring out our identity and how we need to play to win.”

PLAYER THOUGHTS ON ADJUSTMENTS TO MAKE AFTER THE SEASON’S FIRST SERIES WITH ARIZONA STATE...

MORELLI: “The penalties. We shot ourselves in the foot a little bit, but you’ve gotta give them a little credit too. They played hard. They’re a good team. They capitalized on their chances.”

MORELLI: “We’re brushing up on those little things we’ve trying to work on, like the D-zone. Minimizing those little mental mistakes.”

MORELLI: “When we’ve won in our past couple games, I think a common theme for those is ‘we’re disciplined’ — we’re not retaliating.’”

PLAYER THOUGHTS ON THE EVOLUTION OF ARIZONA STATE...

OLOFSSON: “They’ve come a long way. It’s always fun to see a program step up and take charge. They’re getting some better recruits now from it. They’re ranked and everything, too. Who knows where that can go. It’s definitely fun to see as the sport is growing.” 

MORELLI: “With a team like Arizona State, where they play, they have so much potential to be a good team. Like Freddy said, they’re gonna start getting better recruits, and I think it’s on the upswing for that program.” 

PLAYER THOUGHTS ON THE NCHC RACE SO FAR...

OLOFSSON: “You can see that every team can beat everyone in our conference. If there’s anything that I think we’ve learned, it’s that as long as we just take care of ourselves, then we’ll be alright.”

WHAT IS THIS TEAM LEARNING ABOUT ITSELF THIS SEASON...

OLOFSSON: “Top to bottom — throughout the lineup — playing hard, getting pucks deep, playing simple, taking care of the D-zone, finishing guys, just the little things... the forwards getting back, backchecking, stuff like that.”

MORELLI: “We’ve gotta get really good at being defensive minded and let the O-zone take care of itself. I think if we focus on the D-zone, and take care of that first, and be smart and talk with each other, and make it easier for the guy next to you, then I think the rest will take care of itself.”

Sunday, November 18, 2018

2020 Recruit: Vincent Nardone (F) - Flin Flon Bombers


In the flurry of 2019 recruits signing NLIs this week, a couple new verbal commits surfaced. 

Earlier this week, I profiled forward Brock Bremer of the Muskegon Lumberjacks. While Bremer hasn’t yet signed a National Letter of Intent, he is listed by eliteprospects.com as a 2019-20 UNO recruit. 

The Mavericks also received a verbal commitment from forward Vincent Nardone of the Flin Flon Bombers (SJHL). He is listed by eliteprospects.com as a 2020 recruit. 

Nardone caught the eye of scouts this season at the SJHL Showcase, according to the Flin Flon Bombers website (www.bombers.ca). His play made an impression, and he cracked the NHL Central Scouting List as a “player to watch.” 

Bomber head coach Mike Reagan praised Nardone on bombers.ca.

“One school last week said to me, ‘he catches your eye on every shift.’ He’s creative and plays with a lot of pace and energy,” said Reagan. “He hounds pucks and doesn’t mind going to the tough areas.”

“You don’t see these things very often in an 18-year old and he has a late birthday so he’s almost a 2001 born player. He’s provided our team with an additional threat that makes us very hard to defend against.” 

As of this writing, Nardone ranks 7th on Flin Flon in total points (20) and 4th on the team in goals (12). 

He is ranked 19th in the SJHL in goals, and 35th in total points.  

Last season Nardone played for the Saint-Eustache Vikings (AAA midget hockey league located in Quebec). 

I looked at the Saint-Eustache Vikings Facebook page (my high school French classes helped me decipher some of the information in there). In 40 games with the Vikings, Nardone had 13 goals and 22 assists (35 total points) with the club. 

There is always a degree of uncertainty about a future recruit until a NLI is signed. 

It sounds like Nardone is set to have a productive season with Flin Flon. If Nardone lands at UNO in 2020, he should be an exciting player for Maverick fans to watch. 

Friday, November 16, 2018

2019 Recruit: Brock Bremer (F) - Muskegon Lumberjacks


The period to sign National Letters of Intent (NLI) began on Wednesday, Nov. 14. 

The University of Nebraska at Omaha Hockey program has seen a number of the recruits I mentioned in last week’s “UNO Hockey Recruiting Update (Nov. 2018)” story sign NLI’s this week (Noah Prokop, Nolan Sullivan, Joe Abate, Josh Boyer, and Alex Roy at the time of this writing). 

There is a new player (likely not the last) in the mix of recruits — forward Brock Bremer of the Muskegon Lumberjacks (USHL) verbally committed to the Mavs this week.

Because Bremer isn’t a player we’ve focused on the past few months, he is a bit of an unknown commodity to UNO fans. Be that as it may, he looks like he’ll be a welcome addition to UNO’s recruiting list.

Here’s what we do know...

Bremer is currently 57th in overall point production (49th in goals) in the USHL. He plays with fellow UNO recruit Nolan Sullivan for the Lumberjacks. Sullivan is ranked 4th on the team in goals (8th in total points) and Bremer is 5th in goals (6th in total points). 

I’ve mentioned how important it is for UNO to recruit solid talent out of the Minnesota high school hockey ranks. Bremer played for Hill-Murray (one of the top prep programs in the state), and had 19 goals and 21 assists during the 2016-17 season with Hill-Murray. 

Before joining Muskegon, Bremer played a season with the Camrose Kodiaks in the AJHL. He tallied 19 goals and 43 assists — he was the point leader for Camrose, and 15th overall in the AJHL. Those numbers suggest a skilled puck handler who can make things happen in the offensive zone.

Bremer appears to have a considerable amount of upside potential. 

I’ll be interested to see if Bremer’s commitment means one of the other future recruits (who we’ve had on our recruiting list) doesn’t make it to Omaha, or if one or more of the juniors currently playing departs after the season. 

The following video will give you an idea of Bremer’s ability (Camrose Kodiaks vs. the Brooks Bandits — Nov. 17, 2017):


Wednesday, November 14, 2018

Wrapping Up the Weekend: Western Michigan Series (Nov. 9-10, 2018)



Well, the Mavs got their second win of the season, earning a split at Western Michigan. After splitting the series with Miami at Baxter Arena (earning the Saturday night win), I was hopeful they would build on that momentum. But the Mavs were flat on Friday night, losing 7-2. The team played better on Saturday night and earned the win, 4-2 over the Broncos.


You can find out what Jason & Jon think about the series on the seventh episode of the MavPuckCast:



Poll Results:
Yeah, still not anywhere close to being mentioned in any polls.

USCHO poll for Monday, Nov. 12:





Absent from the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine weekly poll too:





Media Roundup:

Here's the OMavs story about Friday night's loss:
https://omavs.com/news/2018/11/9/hockey-broncos-bump-mavericks-in-opener-7-2.aspx

(Also, I take issue with this headline: Broncos "Bump" Mavs? How about THUMP???


Here's the Omavs story about Saturday night's win:
https://omavs.com/news/2018/11/10/hockey-mavericks-pound-out-split-at-western-4-2.aspx


Finally, here's our MavPuck writeup of Tuesday's news conference:

https://mavpuckblog.blogspot.com/2018/11/uno-hockey-press-conference-notes-nov.html

Looking Ahead to This Weekend:

The Mavs enjoy a bye this weekend before Arizona State comes to Baxter Arena on Thanksgiving weekend.


Tuesday, November 13, 2018

UNO Hockey Press Conference Notes - Nov. 13, 2018


Coach Mike Gabinet, senior forward Ryan Galt, and junior forward Zach Jordan answered media questions as part of the “Omaha Athletics Weekly Media Availability” on Nov. 13, 2018.   

Gabinet & Co. fielded questions regarding UNO Hockey’s Nov. 9 & 10 series at Western Michigan, the team’s bye week, and the upcoming series against Arizona State at Baxter Arena on Nov. 23 & 24. 

The following quotes are excerpts from the news conference. To view the press conference video in it’s entirety, click here.

ON THE FRIDAY GAME AT WESTERN MICHIGAN...

GABINET: “Not the start we wanted... and again, I think as Dave and I talked about, good first few minutes there, then they [WMU] get a couple goals, and we’re chasing the rest of the night.” 

ON THE SATURDAY GAME AT WESTERN MICHIGAN...

GABINET: “Very good response by the guys on Saturday. I thought we have to play a certain way to be successful and I thought we did that on Saturday. Really proud of the guys for sticking to the game plan for 60 minutes, and really playing smart.”

GABINET: “Just listening to Andy Murray’s post [game] press conference. He thought we ‘out teamed’ them. Which is always a high phrase for our team to get a nice compliment from an opposing coach.”

ON THE BYE WEEK...

GABINET: “Looking forward to the bye week here. We had a really hard practice yesterday. We’ll have another one today. We gotta keep getting better and keep making sure we’re taking steps in the right direction.”

ON FACING ASU FOR A SECOND TIME THIS SEASON...

GABINET: “Anytime you play a team again, it’s always nice to see if you’re improving... and vice versa. If you were successful the first time you played a team — are you maintaining that standard or raising that standard. We have something to prove after the first go-around.”

ANYTHING BEING STRESSED TO THE TEAM DURING THE OFF WEEK...

GABINET: “I think we’re gonna pick a couple things to make sure we have some specific focuses for the week... at different times of the week. Obviously, with the injuries we’ve had this season — I think we’re only skating right now with 12 forwards — a lot of guys are banged up and have been out, with Pulkinnen and Weiss."

GABINET: “Some rest for some guys. Some work for some guys. But it’s nice to have that option.”

ON INJURIES... WILL TYLER WEISS RETURN TO THE LINEUP AFTER THE BYE? 

GABINET: “If [Tyler Weiss] has a good week of practice this week, and is firing on all cylinders next week. He was questionable for Western Michigan. I wasn’t comfortable trying to speed up his process there. It’d be nice to get him back in the lineup, but he’s also a young man we care about, and want to make sure he’s completely healthy before we put him back in the lineup.”

GABINET: “I’m sure [Weiss] is looking forward to getting back in the saddle, and getting more time with the team, and getting that bond even tighter.”

CONCERNED ABOUT TEAM PLAY BETWEEN FRIDAY AND SATURDAY NIGHT?

GABINET: “We need to make sure we capture the way we played Saturday on Friday. That’s something we’re focusing on this week, too — to make sure we talk about it, and help prepare our guys, because it’s very important. As we’ve said thousands of times: in our conference, if you’re not ready to go, you've got no chance. Especially with the makeup of our team.”

GABINET: “On Saturday night we had 22 blocked shots to their seven. We had a ton of finished checks and eliminated players in the play, which we didn’t do the previous night.”

GABINET: “We need to find a way to capture that on Friday night, and then continue that on Saturday night, and then continue that for three periods.”

GABINET: “I don’t look too far behind or to far ahead because there are so many things that can change... whether it’s a player from one year to the next or a team from one year to the next. It’s such a results business, and that’s why it’s so much stress, because it’s hard to not look at the results.” 

ON THE PROGRESS OF THE FRESHMEN...

GABINET: “The first 10 games here they’ve been given some more opportunity of late, and I think they’ve done a good job accepting that. On Friday night, you saw some freshmen get some more minutes.”

GABINET: “The more experience they get and the more they can build from it and draw on it — and if we can set them up to have some success here — then you’re looking at those guys to build throughout their careers.“

GABINET: “We need our older players too... if they’re an older player in the lineup, you gotta play at a certain level. Because you should be a little bit ahead of some of some of the younger guys with how your performance is out there.”

ON THE NEED TO PUT TOGETHER “COMPLETE GAMES”...

GABINET: “Especially us. I think we have to really play — you don’t want to say 'a perfect game' because that’s a tough task to do — but you have to play a certain way consistently, and doing the right things over and over and over again.”


PLAYER FEELINGS ON THE WESTERN MICHIGAN SERIES...

GALT: “It was a pretty good weekend, I thought. Western is a really hard place to go play. Last year we got swept there. It’s just a hard environment to play in. I think Friday night we just weren’t ready to play. We didn’t play very well. They played good, but we also didn’t play well. Saturday, we showed good resilience. Came out, played as a unit, played as a full team.”

JORDAN: “It was a big team game on Saturday. I think if we can just keep building off that — especially this week, with practices to focus on us and not having to worry about who we’re playing this weekend — will be good for us.”

ON THE BYE WEEK...

JORDAN: “I think it is a good week just to take care of ourselves — get better for the upcoming weekend. We’ve got a big weekend next week against Arizona State."

ON THE CONFERENCE PLAY SO FAR THIS MONTH...

GALT: “I think it’s a really good start for us. Splitting against two good teams — Miami is a good team this year... Western, especially in Western. We’ve started off really well in the NCHC. So if we’re gonna get any wins, those are good wins to get.”

JORDAN: “So far, with my time being here as a junior, I think this is our best start to NCHC play that we’ve had. I think it’s good for us. Normally, we start off a little slow with NCHC play, but I think getting two wins off the bat — two splits against two good teams — is going to be helpful for us down the road.” 

GALT’S FEELINGS ABOUT BEING AN OMAHA NATIVE PLAYING FOR THE MAVERICKS IN HIS SENIOR SEASON... 

GALT: “People are being negative and stuff. I even had to delete Twitter for awhile, because there are fans who don’t understand what is going on behind the scenes here. But it’s actually been really fun. You can tell our team is growing a lot. We’ve grown a crap ton since the start of the year. I know we only have two wins and all that, and the stats. But we’ve had a couple good wins. You can see when we play the right way — and play the way we can — we would have probably a winning record right now in the season.”

GALT: “It was a tough start, but at the same time, sometimes adversity leads to a really good team. Obviously, it’s harder to become a good team with adversity, but if you have the right makeup, it makes you an incredible team at the end of the year when you need to be good.”

GALT’S FEELINGS ON HIS LEADERSHIP ROLE IN HIS SENIOR YEAR...

GALT: “It’s been fun — leading guys and having guys ask questions.”

GALT: “It’s been fun leading it with my nine other seniors as well. We have a huge class. I think we’re the first class to graduate as (a) full (class) since freshman year for the [first time] in 8 years.”

GALT: “It’s special for me, and also to be close to my parents, and have them not have to travel so far to watch me play."

JORDAN’S FEELINGS ON THE TEAM'S SENIORS...

JORDAN: “The past couple of years I’ve lived with guys that have been in that class. So I’ve really gotten close to them. I’ve learned a lot from them. They’ve really helped me grow a lot as a person on the ice and off the ice.”

JORDAN: “They’re going to be missed — with everything they’ve done for this program.”

PLAYER THOUGHTS ON DEALING WITH THE TEAM’S TOUGH START... SINCE THE COMMUNITY CAN’T SEE “BEHIND THE SCENES”...

JORDAN: “I think for the most part you kind of just have to block it out. Everybody is going to have their opinion. They’re on the outside looking in. We’re on the inside knowing everything that is going on. So, they can have their opinion and they can think whatever they want. Hey, sometimes we get down on ourselves too, but we’re still trying to fix it. We’re not just giving up on ourselves. We’re trying to figure out what to do to get this team where it should be and represent the logo and the school well.”

GALT: “They’re not wrong that we’re losing. Obviously, everybody knows that we’ve been losing. But they’re wrong in the sense... I saw one tweet — I don’t care about tweets — I just ran across it that they said the team didn’t play to the end of the game, or they weren’t trying in the third period. I don’t remember what it was, but it was something in that sense. I don’t care who it was, or what it said. It’s just a fact that they don’t understand what’s going on behind the scenes, and what we’re doing, and what we’re working on, and what the coaching staff is putting time into, what we’re putting the time into."

GALT: “Me and [Zach] were talking about it before we even got in here, like our legs are tired, because we had a heavy lift yesterday. We’re not making this a week off. It’s not a week to just relax and get our muscles right, we’re still working and doing things that other teams wouldn’t be doing. So, just to the fans — and people that are still believing in UNO — we’re working on what we need to do, and I promise you the team is going to be a lot different come February and March than what it is now, and I think we’re going to be a progressive team to where once we get to that time, we’re going to be a team that people don’t want to run into.”

JORDAN: “It’s something we haven’t been a part of yet here. And its a growing experience. We have a team this year that just has to grow together.”

JORDAN: “Guys gotta start doing the right things on the ice all the time. The group we have, we don’t have the superstars that are putting up 40-50 points. We’re going to have guys that come to the rink everyday, ready to work, and that’s how we’re going to win games.”

PLAYERS ON THE UPCOMING ASU SERIES...

GALT: “We are 10 games in, which is about one-third of a college hockey season, so it goes quick. But when we were playing ASU that weekend — there are a lot of different factors that went into it — but we also weren’t playing our best game. You can put different things on it — reffing, the environment that we were playing in, the travel, all that stuff — so it will be good to have them come here and experience what we do at home, and be in front of our home fan base.“

GALT: “I think we’re finally on a roll a little bit here. I think we’re figuring ourselves out a little bit more. And like I said previously, adversity always challenges people, but it makes people stronger once they come out of that adversity. I’m actually really excited and hopeful for this entire team and university to be behind our backs when we do come out of the adversity as a whole. Because we’re going to be a team you don’t want to run into after that.”

HOW BIG WAS THE FIRST WIN OF THE SEASON AGAINST MIAMI?

JORDAN: “It’s kind of like when you’re a player, and you go through a little bit of a goal drought, and you pop one in after a couple of games. It’s like getting that monkey off your back.” 

JORDAN: “We knew we had a lot of work to do still, and that’s something to build off of from that game — how we played that night to get the win.”

GALT: “A big part of that whole drought of not winning was the fact that after the third, and then the fourth, and the fifth... it keeps building on you. So then it becomes even harder to win. Not necessarily the team that you’re playing, but even just yourself. It’s draining on you, it’s draining on the coaching staff, and everybody watching. You keep losing, so once you get to the third and the fourth and the fifth loss, you’re like, ‘Oh man, I don’t even know if we’re going to get one.” That’s where your mindset is at. So, finally to get that one puts all that away. And you’re like, ‘Okay, now we can get back on track and we can keep doing what we need to do.’”