Dec. 17, 2025 Press Conference Transcript
Bridget Brooks, MavPuck.com:
So, Cam, how would you say your adjustment has been from the USHL to playing NCAA hockey this year?
Cam Briere (Freshman Forward, Omaha Hockey):
Yeah, I mean, it’s been tough. Tough for sure. Just getting up to speed and getting up there physically with all the older guys and everything. But I would say within the first couple of months, I’ve been able to adjust decently well. With our staff and everything, it’s pretty easy to adjust — whether it’s in the gym, nutrition, coaching staff, whatever it may be. So it’s pretty fortunate. It’s been good.
Bridget Brooks, MavPuck.com:
You had a good game last Saturday night up there in North Dakota. Talk about your growth through this season. You really (came) on strong these last couple of weekends.
Cam Briere (Freshman Forward, Omaha Hockey):
Right. I think just one of the things is just being ready to play any type of role is something that I’m trying to learn this year. So I think that’s been something that’s been sticking with me, and just trying to find a way to make an impact every night — whether it’s fourth, first, whatever line it may be. So, just trying to find a way to make an impact.
Bridget Brooks, MavPuck.com:
(You’ve) got an important non-conference series coming up here with Augustana. What are you guys anticipating from them? What can we look forward to seeing out of you guys this weekend?
Cam Briere (Freshman Forward, Omaha Hockey):
Yeah, I mean, we know they’re good. They’re a good, ranked opponent again. So it’s going to be a good challenge.
You know, we were talking as players, and I think one of the things that was said was: Everybody always talks about it’s “us versus everybody,” but something good was it’s “us versus us,” because I think we’re such a good team, and the only time we ever get put in a bad position is when we put ourselves in a bad position. So, knowing that we’re always in control, and have the ability to be good, is pretty special. So we’re looking forward to it.
Timothy Rowher, UNO Blue Line Club Newsletter:
I guess, with the holidays coming up, I guess you could say this is kind of the mid-(point of the) season, and (if) both of you want to comment, I was just wondering: Coach, how would you rate the team so far this season? I mean, do you see a lot of positives? And, if so, what were they?
Mike Gabinet (Head Coach, Omaha Hockey):
Yeah, I don’t want to speak for Cam here, but just, yeah, I think we’re probably coming up on halfway through the point of the year here. So I think the guys are doing a really good job. We’re having one-on-ones today with all the guys, and I think they’re really focused on finishing on a good note here, finishing the second half, and make sure you’re ready to go here, and then get a chance to rest and recover a little bit here.
Bridget Brooks, MavPuck.com:
So, Cam, you moved from Minnesota to Canada when your dad took a job with the Maple Leafs. What was it like adapting to a different culture and hockey scene at a young age, and did it help you become more comfortable with change?
Cam Briere (Freshman Forward, Omaha Hockey):
Yeah. I mean, I moved around a bunch before that, so I was kind of used to moving around a little bit. Playing in the GTHL (Greater Toronto Hockey League) up there in Toronto, it’s almost like a “mini NHL.” It’s pretty crazy. The travel, the speed of hockey, everything up there is pretty wild. So it was exciting for sure, and I think it helped a lot.
Bridget Brooks, MavPuck.com:
You played for Greg Zanon at Stillwater, someone who played here at Omaha, and was a teammate with Coach Gabinet for three seasons. Did Coach Zanon ever talk to you about his time at Omaha or playing with Coach Gabinet, and did it influence how you viewed Omaha?
Cam Briere (Freshman Forward, Omaha Hockey):
Yeah, I mean, it just gave me that much more confidence in the school and everything. We would chat, and he would just tell me about all these fun stories he had playing here, the atmosphere, the fans, the schooling. He just gave me a lot of confidence in the school, so it was good.
Bridget Brooks, MavPuck.com:
Do we get to hear any of these fun stories, or are they…
Cam Briere (Freshman Forward, Omaha Hockey):
I’ll keep those behind closed doors.
Timothy Rowher, UNO Blue Line Club Newsletter:
Defensively, the last weekend, and the weekend before, I thought defensively you guys played pretty good. I mean, you kept your opponents to a fairly good low number. What do you say about … (are) you guys pleased with (the defense)?
Cam Briere (Freshman Forward, Omaha Hockey):
I mean, as pleased as we are, obviously, a W (win) would have been a lot better. I think, like I said earlier, it’s self-inflicted wounds, which is a good thing. We have the confidence, and we have the ability to beat these teams. It’s when we kind of get in our own way. So I think if we can just kind of clean up little things, we can sneak our way into the top 20 here, 100%.
Bridget Brooks, MavPuck.com:
Augustana presents kind of a different challenge than North Dakota. So what did you see from looking at them this week that you can build on from how you performed against North Dakota?
Cam Briere (Freshman Forward, Omaha Hockey):
Yeah, I mean, we know that they have really offensive, fast D (defense). They like to join the rush, so it’s going to be a good challenge for us to make sure that we’re tracking back hard and taking care of defense first here. We’ve been working on it all week, so we’re confident going into it.
Bridget Brooks, MavPuck.com:
When you first committed to Omaha in August of 2021, which you called your “dream D1 school,” what was it about the program or the coaching staff that excited you the most?
Cam Briere (Freshman Forward, Omaha Hockey):
I mean, right away, just throughout the whole kind of recruitment process and everything, Gabs (Coach Gabinet), Bernie (Coach Noel-Bernier), all the coaches were very consistent with checking in on me, asking how I’m doing, just keeping in touch throughout the whole season. So we built a pretty good relationship. And then when I came on my visit and saw the facilities and everything, I think it was pretty easy. If you’ve been around here and seen the rink and the locker room and everything, it’s pretty unbelievable. And it’s only gotten better since I committed, so it’s super lucky. It’s nice.
Bridget Brooks, MavPuck.com:
Fun question from me. So, the fans first met you at MavFest during Welcome Week. You were “DJ Cam.” What else would fans be surprised to know about you?
Cam Briere (Freshman Forward, Omaha Hockey):
I think a fun one would be I was born over in Scotland. I feel like not a lot of people know that one, so that’s a little fun fact.
Bridget Brooks, MavPuck.com:
That’s awesome.
Cam Briere (Freshman Forward, Omaha Hockey):
Yeah. Yeah.
Emma Goldstein (Sports Information, Omaha Athletics):
Questions for Mike (Gabinet).
Bridget Brooks, MavPuck.com:
First of all, big question: Everyone wants to know how Simon’s doing.
Mike Gabinet (Head Coach, Omaha Hockey):
Yeah, yeah. He won’t be able to play this weekend. Yeah. So obviously losing him (in the) first minute of the game there on Friday there. So yeah, it’s just been one of those things that, unfortunately, a little bit of adversity just piles on there a little bit. But hey, great chance for (Dawson Cowen) to continue his growth. And we got (Will Craig) there, if need be as well there.
So yeah, unfortunately, he’ll be unavailable this weekend.
Bridget Brooks, MavPuck.com:
Dawson stepped right up, came in cold, but was able to kind of settle things down, especially after the first period. How important was it for him to get that game experience leading up to this, even though Simon was expected to be the starter?
Mike Gabinet (Head Coach, Omaha Hockey):
Yeah, we obviously got a world-class goalie in Simon (Latkoczy) there. But even just talking with (goaltending) Coach (Peter) Aubry there from last season, and we kind of talked about sometimes it’s nice to have a plan before the season starts on getting players experience. And I think we did just that with Dawson, and you never know when situations like this arise. And so it’s really good for him to get some (Colorado College) experience, some (Minnesota) Duluth experience there.
And really, I think he feels pretty comfortable in the net now, and now he’s the guy, right? So I think that was perfect, the fact that he’s already … he’s not just getting thrown in there now. Suddenly, with an injury there, he can be confident in himself that he’s “been there, done that,” and now he’s just going to get some increased playing time.
Timothy Rowher, UNO Blue Line Club Newsletter:
Last year, and correct me if I’m wrong, but last year, I think there were times maybe when there was kind of up and down as far as winning streaks or losing streaks. And it just seems this year a little bit more even, more consistency. I don’t know. Would you say that’s accurate? And if so, do you think that’s an improvement from last year, do you think?
Mike Gabinet (Head Coach, Omaha Hockey):
Yeah. Again, I think anytime in a hockey season, you’re going to have some ebbs and flows to the season. And that’s part of playing in this conference, part of things you got to deal with there. But again, I think you got to keep focusing back on: What are you taking responsibility for? How are you getting better?
You heard it from Cam here, right? What are the things that we are doing that are hurting us in the win-loss category, and how do we change those? And again, you can see we’ve had some (untimely) turnovers that have really hurt us at different times, but 100%, the players aren’t going out there trying to do that. But at the same sense, it’s happening.
So we got to address it. We got to get better at it, and make sure we’re improving at those things. And, what’s the team’s doing? Again, just meeting with the guys. It’s a lot of personal responsibility in that locker room. Not a lot of excuses there. No, we have to be better in certain areas there.
And then for me, it’s about keeping the guys believing in themselves too because they are doing a lot of good things when you watch our games. We’re right there, and just coming up short there. So got to continue with that.
Bridget Brooks, MavPuck.com:
You guys continued to build momentum throughout the weekend towards the end of the game, especially on Saturday, but ultimately, like Cam said, didn’t come out with the W (win). How do you keep the team going when it just seems like injuries and things are causing things — sometimes out of your control, sometimes penalties, in your control — But how do you handle that?
Mike Gabinet (Head Coach, Omaha Hockey):
Yeah, like you said, we’ve got a guy I know we’ve got guys ill right now that might not be available. Like you said, Simon’s hurt. But I think, again, at the same breath, that’s life a little bit, right? It’s going to be hard, right? If you play in this conference, it’s going to be hard. Look at our last eight opponents we played in conference. Those are good teams you’re playing against. So unfortunately, if you’re not scoring a lot of goals, those one or two costly mistakes really hurt you. So you have to stay — just focused on the belief. It’s got to stay there.
And again, I don’t feel like when you’re talking to guys, they’re upset, they’re frustrated, but they understand they’re doing some good things that are going to eventually be rewarded if you can continue to do that, and make improvements in the areas you got to keep improving on.
Bridget Brooks, MavPuck.com:
You were talking about the scoring. So statistically, right now, the team is allowing one more goal than you’re scoring. What do you attribute that to? Is it structure? Is it goaltending? Execution?
Mike Gabinet (Head Coach, Omaha Hockey):
Yeah. Again, you need the save at the right time, right? You need a good save at the right time. You need to put the puck in the net at the right time, especially in those one-goal games. So I think that’s really important there. And usually, if you find ways to do that — we’ve been in a lot of games over the years where … that’s the league, right? It’s tight.
We’re not going to get off the bus and beat teams by five goals in our conference, especially those high-end teams. So you got to find ways to narrow that gap a little bit there. And usually, that’s the small little details.
And unfortunately,right now, most of those are coming off of kind of some untimely turnovers by us. And one famous coach always said, “There’s no D-zone coverage for turnovers.” So you got to really manage that puck properly and making sure you’re doing the right things at theright time, and being aware of the situation you’re playing in — which our guys are growing at, and they’re learning at. And like I said, they’re taking responsibility for themselves.
Timothy Rowher, UNO Blue Line Club Newsletter:
So it sounds like there’s optimism for a better second half of the season or an improved second half of the season, it sounds like, or certainly a determination, I guess you might say.
Mike Gabinet (Head Coach, Omaha Hockey):
Yeah. Again, you got to reflect, right? You can’t make excuses. You got to look at what are you doing? What actions are you taking? And if you’re doing the work, and you’re holding yourself to a high standard, and you’re trying to do everything you can in your power to be the best version and the best team you can, like you mentioned, other stuff’s out of your control a little bit, right?
So that’s why you got to keep coming back. Now, if that’s lacking, or we’re just saying, “Oh, shucks, we’ll get them next time,” I don’t think that’s good enough. So you got to make sure you’re just digging in here and finding ways to — “not on my watch,” so to speak, right? And then if you can do those things, then maybe you’re the one coming up with the one-goal win, not being on the other end of it all the time.
Bridget Brooks, MavPuck.com:
Speaking specifically about Augustana, what can we expect to see from them? They’re in their new arena now for a bit and have not lost this season there yet. How do you make it difficult for them to get another win this weekend?
Mike Gabinet (Head Coach, Omaha Hockey):
Yeah, like you mentioned, you got to give them credit. They’re playing well. I think they’re 14th or 15th in the NPI, right? And (they) played a lot of good hockey there. So again, you got to be coming there ready to play, and that’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to be ready to play there. And again, don’t want to — obviously congratulate them on their good season, but also, hey, we got to be focused on us, and making sure we’re doing everything in our power to, like I mentioned earlier, improve in those areas we can keep improving in.
Bridget Brooks, MavPuck.com:
Like we talked about, Cam played for Greg Zanon at Stillwater, someone you played with here. How important is that shared language, that shared kind of culture when he comes in here as a freshman?
Mike Gabinet (Head Coach, Omaha Hockey):
Yeah, I think it’s great. I think anytime you can spend time with people that have played here before is a positive, and get to talk about their experience here. And I don’t know too many guys that haven’t enjoyed Omaha, not only from a hockey standpoint, but from a community, city, university standpoint as well.
So (it’s) pretty cool when I think those guys get to hear it from guys firsthand that have experienced it, right, and gets them excited about being here and playing here and just a little bit like recruits. If we’re recruiting a kid that has a friend that plays here, that’s a huge positive for us because, again, I don’t think people know just how much people enjoy living here and playing here.
But when you can hear it from somebody firsthand that’s experienced that, I think that goes a long way with impacting players’ opinion of the program.
Bridget Brooks, MavPuck.com:
Just talk a little bit about Cam. He committed a long time ago. I mean, that is a long time ago. And he talked about how you guys kept in contact with him. How did his development over that time convince you that he was still a good fit?
Mike Gabinet (Head Coach, Omaha Hockey):
Yeah. Again, it’s kind of funny when you think about — back in the day, just how recruiting was and just, yeah, 2021 you mentioned, right? That’s a long time ago. And again, (he’s) one of those guys that I think you can see it, they’re a little bit overwhelmed when they first get here just at the level of play, as he mentioned.
But then when you have that mentality like he’s doing and taking that responsibility and putting the work in on the ice, off the ice, it’s been pretty impressive to see his growth. And I’ve told him straight up, just one of those guys that maybe you’re kind of nervous about playing him early on in the season just as he’s learning and growing to now — you’re almost excited to get him (into) the lineup. And good for him, right?
He’s giving (us) an excuse to play him all the time, which is a job of a guy that’s trying to crack the lineup. And so I give Cam a lot of credit, man. He’s really, I think he can shoot the puck in the net, and his competitiveness is I know he’s a smaller guy, but to me, he’s ultra-competitive out there, which shows on the ice. So just a guy that continues to get better, and we’re lucky to have him with us.
