Wrapping Up The Weekend: St. Cloud Series (Feb. 22-23, 2019)

By Jon Brooks

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...” 

— Charles Dickens

The UNO Hockey program faced St. Cloud State in its second-to-last home series of the regular season on Feb. 22-23. The Huskies came in sitting in first place in the NCHC, and were ranked #1 in the major college hockey polls. 

Going into the series, Omaha had gone 0-6 against the Huskies in the previous three series the teams played. 

Unfortunately, the losing streak continued. St. Cloud swept UNO at Baxter Arena 4-1 on Friday, and 5-0 on Saturday. 

Despite the team’s struggles, a few hundred fans braved a blizzard warning to watch the Saturday game (in what might be a record-low turnout for a UNO Hockey home game). 

Those of you who know Bridget and I know we’ve never missed a UNO Hockey home game in the program’s 22-year history. By my count, that’s 461 straight since 1997. 

When we arrived to our seats in Section 216 on Saturday evening, someone from UNO had placed these signs on our five seats:

It was awfully nice of UNO to recognize our attendance streak, and the gesture brought Bridget to tears as we walked up the stairs to our seats on Saturday:

You might assume the “fondest memories” come from the seasons where the hockey team does well. While those seasons are terrific, sometimes the most memorable seasons are those where the team struggles. 

When the wins don’t come as easily, they tend to be more special. In a way, the Mavs’ struggles become your struggles when you pour your heart and soul into following the team. 

In order to preserve a 461-game attendance streak, we’ve missed weddings, family events, and have even arranged funerals around hockey. Part of the reason we have the streak is because we want to experience every moment we can as fans. 

Being self-employed has helped that cause. We’ve also stayed healthy throughout the years. It certainly isn’t an expectation we have for every fan. 

There are a few more weekends left in the season. I would encourage fans to cherish those moments — even if things don’t go our way. 

UNO faces Denver on March 1-2 at Baxter Arena — the final regular season home series. As is the case with St. Cloud, UNO has struggled with the Pioneers in recent years. The seniors have never been victorious against DU. 

Even though UNO has struggled this season, there is still a lot for them to play for this weekend. Having success the next two series could put UNO in a better position in the conference playoffs.

Want more analysis of the St. Cloud series? Want a preview of the DU series? Want to catch up on #OldBull Anthony Stolarz and hear about #FutureBull Josh Boyer? Then check out this week’s episode of the “Mavpuckcast with Jason & Jon”...! 

You can read the write-up from this week's Weekly Media Availability here and hear what Coach Gabinet and players Taylor Ward and Dean Stewart had to say about the series.


NCHC TOP FIVE PLAYS OF THE WEEK

Goaltender Evan Weninger stonewalled Jack Poehling and made the NCHC’s Top Plays of the week, coming in at #2 (starts at the 1:18 mark):

LOOKING AHEAD

The Mavericks take on Denver this weekend at Baxter Arena. The Pioneers played a make-up game with Colorado College on Tuesday, coming away with a 1-0 win. It's a short turnaround for DU with the trip to Omaha, but the Pioneers are 18-8-4 overall (10-8-2-2 in conference), while the Mavs are 9-19-2 (5-14-1 in conference play). 

Denver split with Miami last weekend, losing 3-1 Friday before coming back with a 5-2 win on Saturday.

STANDINGS

UNO dropped a spot to #42 in the Pairwise after the weekend: www.collegehockeynews.com/ratings/ncaapwcr.php

UNO again did not receive votes in either the USCHO.com or USA Today/USA Hockey Coaches’ Polls.

The Mavs are currently in last place in the NCHC standings with 17 points. St. Cloud clinched the Penrose Cup with the UNO sweep. www.nchchockey.com