In the midst of this holiday season is a unique Omaha Hockey game — a pre-New Year’s exhibition against the University of Manitoba. And it includes a “Fan Appreciation” event, with post-game player autographs in the concourse.
Omaha is 7-9-0 overall (4-4-0 in the NCHC) at the Christmas break. Manitoba is 3-13-0 and will take on the Minnesota St.-Mankato Mavericks, Bemidji Beavers, and North Dakota Fighting Hawks after facing Omaha on Sunday, Dec. 29 at 2 p.m. at Baxter Arena.
Omaha split its series with Lindenwood before the holiday break (losing 3-2 on Friday night before winning 2-1 on Saturday). The team has been on holiday break since Sunday, Dec. 15, so there was no pre-exhibition press conference.
Manitoba is a familiar exhibition opponent, but the matchup typically takes place at the start of the season, not in mid-season. It appears that the last time we played the Bison was Oct. 7, 2019, when the teams tied 3-3. UNO leads the all-time series 12-2-1. (The 2019 tie was the first tie between the teams.)
The last time UNO played a mid-season exhibition against a Canadian school was Jan. 2, 2016, when Trinity Western traveled to Baxter Arena during its inaugural season.
The Omaha ticket office has announced there are fewer than 500 tickets remaining for Sunday’s game. (Need tickets or want to sell yours? Post in the MavPuck private Facebook group.)
For Fans Attending the Game in Person:
The west lot outside Baxter, Lot 25, is open to donors only and parking passes are required to park in that lot. The north lot, Lot 27, offers free parking on a first-come, first-served basis, as is Lot 26 (west of the arena, across the creek). Omaha Athletics is also encouraging fans to park in one of the public garages at Aksarben Village.
Fans should arrive early, especially if entering via the west entrance. Have digital tickets ready to scan in the Omaha Mavericks app (or add them from your MyMavs account to your phone’s wallet app). If you have questions, stop by the box office at Baxter Arena before the game or call 402-554-MAVS.
The clear bag policy remains in effect at Baxter Arena, and metal detectors are in place at all entrances. All concession stands are card only (no cash).
Promotions:
Post-game autograph session. The team will be positioned at tables in the concourse for fan autographs.
> Sunday, 2:07 p.m. CT at Baxter Arena (Omaha, NE)
Radio:
Both games will be broadcast live on 1290 AM and on The Varsity Network app. Pre-game coverage begins 30 minutes prior to face off with the FNBO Pre-Game Show. “Voice of the Mavs” Mike Vaillancourt will have the play-by-play, with color commentary provided by Terry Leahy.
On this episode of the MavPuckCast, Jon and Jason discuss the Omaha Maverick Hockey team’s recent series against Lindenwood at Baxter Arena — includes video clips and their picks for “Player of the Week.” They talk about some “Things You Missed at Baxter Arena” — including a surprise Mavboni driver picking up the fish. They conclude the episode with their preview and predictions for Omaha’s upcoming trip to Palm Desert, California, to participate in the 2025 Coachella Valley Cactus Cup holiday hockey tournament at Acrisure Arena.
Next up: Omaha Hockey heads to Palm Desert, California for the inaugural Cactus Cup tournament on Jan. 3-4. Omaha will face Holy Cross at 7 p.m. Pacific (9 p.m. Central) on Jan. 3. Saturday, the Mavs will face either Michigan Tech or UMass Lowell at either 3:30 p.m. Pacific (5:30 p.m. Central) or 7 p.m. Pacific (9 p.m. Central), depending on the outcome of Friday’s matchup.
The no. 15/17 Omaha Maverick Hockey team faces no. 10/10 Wisconsin Badgers in an exhibition on Saturday, Oct. 5, at Baxter Arena.
Wisconsin Head Coach Mike Hastings is a familiar face, having previously been head coach at MSU-Mankato from 2012 to 2023 after being an assistant for Coach Dean Blais at UNO from 2009-2012. He also served as head coach and general manager of the Omaha Lancers (USHL) from 1994 to 2008.
Omaha is 5-9-1 all-time in games versus the Badgers. Their last matchup — a home series at Baxter Arena — resulted in a split, with Omaha losing 5-2 in the Nov. 8 game, and winning 5-2 on Nov. 9.
A rule change in 2021 allowed NCAA teams to schedule each other in exhibition contests, with the results not counting towards official season records. Previously, NCAA teams would typically schedule Canadian college teams or teams from the United States National Team Development Program (USNTDP) for exhibition matchups. Omaha is scheduled for another exhibition later in the season on Dec. 29 against Manitoba at Baxter Arena.
A ceremony to dedicate “Mike Kemp Ice at Baxter Arena” will be held before the 6:07 p.m. puck drop of the Wisconsin exhibition.
"It’s a real special beginning to this season Saturday with an on-ice ceremony for the dedication of the Mike Kemp Ice, which is really a privilege for us to be there,” Coach Mike Gabinet said. “I’m really excited to start our season off with that.”
Captain Nolan Krenzen addressed the number of new faces on the Maverick squad (14 new players in total for the 2024-25 season — read our feature on the newcomers). “It gives us the opportunity to bring in guys — aside from freshmen — that we wouldn’t normally see — guys who have a lot of college hockey experience — and not just great players, but great people as well, that can contribute to the Omaha culture.”
Coach Gabinet addressed a question about implementing a team culture when half the team is new.
“You have to approach it as this is the one time this team will be together — to make sure you’re doing things step-by-step,” he said. “I do believe that culture is an ‘our’ thing. It’s not a ‘my’ thing. It‘s not a ‘him or her’ thing. It’s an ‘our’ thing. And when you do that, I think that creates ownership with everybody.”
“The group has really come together fast, which is really cool to see,” Krenzen said. “I think we have a good combination of age, skills, and just overall grit.”
“It’s important for us to know where we have been, but set new goals for ourselves — and especially in the last few years, expectations have, I think, grown higher and higher, and we just plan on pushing ourselves to those.”
Coach Gabinet attempted to temper expectations about the exhibition and the Ice Breaker Tournament that follows. “We’ll be potentially playing a lot of ranked teams right off the bat, with Wisconsin coming in, obviously ranked high as well,” he said. “I like it. I would rather have some failures early on, especially in the exhibition game; to be tested. If gives you some really immediate feedback for your players — which I think is a good thing sometimes early on, when you’re developing and learning — to get that immediate feedback from the game.”
The west lot outside Baxter, Lot 25, is open to donors only and parking passes are required to park in that lot. The north lot, Lot 27, offers free parking on a first-come, first-served basis, as is Lot 26 (west of the arena, across the creek). Omaha Athletics is also encouraging fans to park in one of the public garages at Aksarben Village.
Fans should arrive early, especially if entering via the west entrance. Have digital tickets ready to scan in the Omaha Mavericks app (or add them from your MyMavs account to your phone’s wallet app). If you have questions, stop by the box office at Baxter Arena before the game or call 402-554-MAVS.
The clear bag policy remains in effect at Baxter Arena, and metal detectors are in place at all entrances. All concession stands are card only (no cash).
> Saturday, 6:07 p.m. CT at Baxter Arena (Omaha, NE)
Radio:
Both games will be broadcast live on 1290 AM and on The Varsity Network app. Pre-game coverage begins 30 minutes prior to face off with the FNBO Pre-Game Show. “Voice of the Mavs” Mike Vaillancourt will have the play-by-play, with color commentary provided by Terry Leahy.
We haven’t even started the season yet, and there are already three episodes of season 7 of the MavPuckCast! In the newest episode (S7, E3), Jon and Jason give their NCHC preseason rankings and predictions, talk about UNO’s #WearBlackGiveBack fundraising campaign, look at the team’s annual Open House & Scrimmage, discuss the UNO Blue Line Club’s Dinner with the Mavs event, offer their national championship predictions, and preview the upcoming exhibition with Wisconsin.
Next up: Omaha Hockey heads to Las Vegas, Nevada for the Ice Breaker Tournament. Omaha will face Massachusetts in the first game of the tournament on Friday, Oct. 11 at 6 p.m. Central. The Mavs will take on either Minnesota or Air Force on Saturday, Oct. 12.
By Connor Willingham Howdy folks! Omaha Hockey's season is finally here! This GAME WEEK features one exhibition game and our first regular-season series this weekend, all at Baxter Arena. THREE GAMES (AND ONE EXHIBITION) FOR HOMECOMING WEEK The first game is an exhibition against the University of Manitoba Bison. Last year, UNO made quick work of Manitoba and won 6-1. This game will offer a nice tune-up for Mike Gabinet's team heading in to the regular season. Tickets are only $10 for upper bowl end zone seats! Game starts at 7:07 PM. The game will be streamed online at NCHC.TV and on the radio at 1180 AM (Learfield broadcast), 90.7 FM HD2 or mavradio.fm (student broadcast), or on the TuneIn Radio app (both). LOOKING AHEAD The Mavs take on the Alabama Huntsville Chargers as the regular season begins at Baxter Arena on Friday, Oct. 11 and Saturday, Oct. 12.
Well, Maverick Hockey fans, the preseason ends Sunday when UNO takes on the University of Manitoba in an exhibition at 5:07 p.m. at Baxter Arena.
New this year at Baxter Arena is the clear bag policy, so ladies, don't forget to take stuff out of your purse and transfer it over to your clear bag. (That's going to be fun to do twice each weekend. This is obviously a policy created by men, for men.) Anyway, I digress.
This is Coach Gabinet's second season as head coach and as Jon's blog post about recruiting talks about, he's starting to get some of his guys in place. But there are still a metric ton of Blais-recruited players, including 10 seniors, so this will be an interesting year. The Mavs were picked to finish seventh in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference Preseason Poll.
I didn't realize that Manitoba had been out of the exhibition rotation since the 2008-09 season. As a result, this is the Bison's first trip to Baxter Arena. We're 11-2-0 all time against Manitoba.
But Manitoba has played two regular season games already (going 1-1-0), plus four exhibition games in the United Kingdom and three exhibition games against the University of Regina. Manitoba was 3-4-0 in the seven exhibition games. The Bison will play the University of North Dakota on Saturday.
The exhibition game will be broadcast live on 1180 The Zone 2. Dave Ahlers will provide play-by-play and Terry Leahy is back with color commentary. Lester St. James is the rinkside reporter. Coverage beghins at 4:37 p.m. with the First National Bank Pre-Game Show.
The good news is, the last time the Mavs lost an exhibition game, they ended up going to the Frozen Four.
The bad news is, the two times they lost an exhibition game before that, they didn't.
What kind of season will this be?
The game started well for the Mavericks, with goals from Fredrik Olofsson and Mason Morelli sparking the Mavs to a 2-0 lead in the first period. Evan Weninger took the first shift in goal (as is tradition, each of the goalies played a period in goal), but he allowed two goals. The score was tied 2-2 after one.
The score remained 2-2 after two periods. Alex Blankenburg had a good second period in goal, stopping eight shots, including a couple of solid Alberta attempts.
New goalie Kris Oldham was solid in net until late in the third period, when Austin Ortega lost the puck and Alberta turned it into a goal.
Next up:
UNO heads up to Alaska next weekend for the Brice Alaska Goal Rush tournament. The Mavs take on Alaska Anchorage in the Friday game, which will begin at 7 p.m. Omaha time. We'll have a blog post for you later this week with all the game info.
TV Coverage:Saturday night's game will be on NCHC.tv.
Radio Coverage:The games will be broadcast on 1180 AM (1180 The Zone 2). Dave Ahlers will provide radio play-by-play and Terry Leahy will provide color commentary and analysis. Lester St. James will report from the ice level. Coverage begins at 6:30 p.m. with the First National Bank Pre-Game Show.
Live Audio & Stats:
Live Audio Link here.
Live Stats here.
Next Weekend:The Mavericks head north for the Brice Alaska Goal Rush hosted by Alaska on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 14-15. They will play Alaska Anchorage on Friday at 4:07 p.m. Alaska time and then take on the host Nanooks on Saturday at 7:07 p.m. Alaska time from the Carlson Center in Fairbanks.
