UNO Hockey Recruiting Update (Feb. 2019)

Back on Nov. 7 (remember that far back?) we posted a look at UNO Hockey’s recruits for 2019 and beyond. 

In the intervening months, we’ve written individual profiles of the incoming recruits who have committed to UNO since our November update was published. You can read those write-ups at the following links:

>> Read our profile of Ryan Brushett (F) - Powell River Kings (BCHL)

>> Read our profile of Brock Bremer (F) - Muskegon Lumberjacks / Lincoln Stars (USHL)

>> Read our profile of Vincent Nardone (F) - Flin Flon Bombers (SJHL)

>> Read our profile of Kirby Proctor (D) - Des Moines Buccaneers (USHL)

>> Read our profile of Matt Miller (F) - Sioux City Musketeers (USHL)

>> Read our profile of Tyler Rollwagen (F) - Shattuck-St. Mary’s (Prep)

It will be interesting to see when the various recruits land at UNO. Some of the 2019 class signed NLIs last November during the early signing period (the next signing period for D-I hockey begins in April). 

The ideal roster size is 26-28 players per season. UNO’s freshman class for the 2019-20 season will be rather large, if the commitments below hold. UNO has 10 departing seniors from this year’s roster, but 12 (or more) players projected as coming in the fall. In addition, UNO is likely to add another goaltender in the spring, since both Evan Weninger and Alex Blankenburg are seniors.

Years ago, I remember David Quinn — a UNO assistant at the time — talked about trying to achieve “balance” in recruiting classes. The goal was to have six or seven players per class — meaning the roster wouldn’t be gutted after any particular class graduated. 

Since our comprehensive recruiting update last fall, there have been some changes to the classes. Here’s how 2019 is looking (as of the publication of this blog post):

2019 RECRUITS

Forwards

Josh Boyer - Madison (USHL) - signed NLI

Joey Abate - Youngstown (USHL) - signed NLI

Nolan Sullivan - Muskegon (USHL) - signed NLI

Noah Prokop - Green Bay (USHL) - signed NLI

ADDED - Ryan Brushett - Powell River (USHL) - Signed NLI

ADDED - Matt Miller - Sioux City (USHL) - committed Jan. 7, 2019

ADDED - Brock Bremer - Muskegon/Lincoln (USHL) - committed Nov. 15, 2019

Defensemen

Alexandre Roy - Jamestown (NAHL) - signed NLI

Colby Enns - Central Illinois (USHL) - signed NLI

ADDED - Kirby Proctor - Des Moines (USHL) - signed NLI

ADDED - Brandon Scanlin - Brooks (AJHL) - signed NLI

Goaltender

Isaiah Saville - Tri-City (USHL) - signed NLI

This list has changed a bit since November. Davis Pennington was listed as part of the 2019 class, but he looks to be part of the 2020-21 class now. In addition, Jack Clement was originally listed for 2019, but he will be attending Miami (OH) in the fall. 

Our working assumption is that both Bremer and Miller (added to the “Forwards” list) will join UNO as part of the 2019-20 class, but neither has signed a National Letter of Intent with the team (as far as we can tell in our research). 

LOOKING AT THE NUMBERS

Statistically speaking, here is what the 2019-20 recruits look like (at the time of this writing at 1 p.m. on Feb. 14, 2019):

Forwards

Josh Boyer - In 40 games: 9 goals, 9 assists (3rd on Madison in points) | -14 

Joey Abate - In 39 games: 9 goals, 13 assists (7th on Youngstown in points) | -11 

Nolan Sullivan - In 42 games: 14 goals, 4 assists (11th on Muskegon in points) | +8 

Noah Prokop - In 39 games: 9 goals, 5 assists (10th on Green Bay in points) | -17 

Ryan Brushett - In 51 games: 37 goals, 38 assists (1st on Powell River in points) | N/A

Matt Miller - In 37 games: 11 goals, 11 assists (5th on Sioux City in points) | +1 

Brock Bremer - In 39 games (was traded to Lincoln mid season): 11 goals, 14 assists | +1 

Defensemen

Alexandre Roy - In 44 games: 3 goals, 16 assists (10th on Jamestown in points) | +11

Colby Enns - In 39 games: 3 goals, 7 assists (16th on Central Illinois in points) | -9 

Kirby Proctor - In 42 games: 1 goal, 14 assists (10th on Des Moine in points) | +6 

Brandon Scanlin - In 33 games: 14 goals, 18 assists (14th on Brooks in points) | +3

Goaltender

Isaiah Saville - In 23 games, has a 1.76 GAA and a .934 save % (stopping 553 of 592 shots)

When you look at the forwards slated to come in next season, the player who stands out in terms of pure point production is Ryan Brushett — the top point producer in the BCHL with 37 goals and 38 assists (in 51 games). 

Brushett is a ‘98 birthday, so he is older than some of his peers in the league (this is his fourth season playing junior hockey — one season in the USHL, three seasons in the BCHL). He was originally a Providence commit (May 2015). 

The rest of the skaters on the list (all playing in the USHL) don’t rank higher than 70th in the USHL in terms of total points (Bremer is ranked 70th as of this writing). 

Nolan Sullivan is 37th in the USHL in goals. Bremer is 58th in the league in goals. Miller is ranked 60th in goals. Abate is 84th. Boyer is 88th. Prokop is 91st. 

Saville is the lone goalie commit (so far) for 2019-20. He hasn’t played since Jan. 19 (injury). Saville did make NHL Central Scouting’s midterm rankings (read our post “UNO Recruits Saville, Proctor in NHL Central Scouting’s Midterm Player Rankings” for more information). 

FUTURE RECRUITS

2020 RECRUITS

Forwards

Lukas Sillinger - Penticton (BCHL)

Oliver MacDonald - Muskegon (USHL)

Zach Michaelis - Chaska (HS)

Blaine Warnert -  Chaska (HS) / Fargo Force (USHL)
Davis Pennington - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (NAHL)

ADDED Vincent Nardone - Flin Flon (SJHL)

ADDED Tyler Rollwagen - Shattuck-St. Mary’s (Prep)

Defensemen

Greg Japchen - Wilkes-Barre (NAHL)

2021 RECRUITS

Forwards

Cameron Berg - Omaha (USHL)

Defensemen

Griffin Ludtke - Lakeville South (HS) 

We’ve profiled both players listed as “ADDED” in the 2020-21 class — Nardone and Rollwagen. There is some debate as to when Rollwagen will arrive at UNO (three different recruiting sites have three different years). Rollwagen has 14 goals and 43 assists with Shattuck-St. Mary’s as of this writing. Nardone has 17 goals and 20 assists in his rookie season with Flin Flon (SJHL).

The rest of the 2020s are a mixture of junior players and high school prospects. Sillinger has 14 goals and 6 assists for the Penticton Vees this season (which ranks him 5th on the team in goals, and 12th in total points).

FINAL THOUGHTS

The big question with the 2019-20 recruiting class is whether they can provide immediate aid to a UNO team that has struggled in the 2018-19 campaign. 

Anywhere from a third to a half of the roster next season will be newcomers. 

With UNO looking at one of the largest freshman classes in recent history, it will be fascinating to see how the team fares next season. 

It is possible that a fresh look will be just what the doctor ordered to help remedy UNO's woes this season. Only time will tell, but it will be exciting to see how the new pieces fit into the lineup next season. 

We'll be back to do an update after the season is over. 

UNO Hockey Press Conference Notes - Feb. 12, 2019

UNO Hockey Coach Mike Gabinet, senior goaltender Evan Weninger, and senior defenseman Jalen Schulz answered media questions as part of the “Omaha Athletics Weekly Media Availability” on Feb. 12, 2019.   

The three fielded questions regarding the UNO Hockey team’s series at Miami on Feb. 8-9, the bye week, and the upcoming series against St. Cloud State on Feb. 22-23 at Baxter Arena. Here are excerpts.

If you would like to watch the entire hockey news conference, you can do so here. 

ON THE SERIES AT MIAMI...

GABINET: “Good game Friday night there. Nice to come away with a victory there. Actually thought we played probably a little bit better on Saturday night — besides the first 10 minutes of the game.”

ON THE BYE WEEK...

GABINET: “I think we’re looking forward to the bye week this weekend. It’s been a long time since we’ve had a break. With our schedule we’ve had — with the quality opponents we’ve had — I think everybody is looking forward to working on a few things we need to clean up in our game, and recharging the batteries, and taking steps.”

GABINET: “I think it’s nice to get a little bit of a chance to catch your breath a little bit, to catch up on some recruiting things, and other things too — away from the game — that come with the job.”

TEAM’S FOCUS DURING THE BYE WEEK...

GABINET: “I think sometimes the tendency in a bye week is to relax and catch your breath a little bit. Which is part of the purpose, but it can’t be a wasted week. I think we have to look at our game, we had a good captain’s meeting yesterday — even asking the players’ input on what they feel we need to continue to improve at to be successful — and making sure that we’re shoring up some of those concepts and systems here. With St. Cloud coming into town, we need to use it to our advantage.” 

ON INJURIES...

GABINET: “We lost a couple d-men there right before the trip to Miami, and then one in Miami. So, we have six d-men right now, so everybody is going to be playing that’s healthy. It’s been kind of a theme for the whole season. Hopefully some of those guys can get a little breather.”

GABINET: “We’ve got some guys — like Primeau and those guys that have been out for eight weeks — that I think still need to take some steps in their conditioning and use this time to their advantage.”

ON THE RECRUITING PROCESS...

GABINET: “I remember talking to [former UNO assistant] David Quinn about his experiences coaching and why he enjoyed going to coach pro a little bit — because you don’t have to recruit. I think when you’re playing ‘catch up’ it’s a huge, huge part of the job, and very time-consuming. And yet, as you see in our conference, it’s probably the most important thing to do. So, it’s been a grind for us.”

GABINET: “Paul [Jerrard] just got back yesterday. Dave [Noel-Bernier] drove four hours after the game in Miami and was in Detroit on Sunday. Paul drove all the way back from Winnipeg yesterday.”

GABINET: “It's been a grind, but we’re making some progress. The way it works now is there’s no quick fixes. You have to do things the right way for a long time.”

GABINET: “I think there was an article the other day about Brad Berry still having Hakstol’s recruits there. That’s just how it works now in hockey. A lot of these high, high end players are recruited three [or] four years out. So it’s important that we get eyes on those younger players.”

GABINET: “And then continue to work on improving our current roster with some of the late bloomers out there as well.”

GABINET: “To me, it’s probably the most grinding part of the job. You’ve gotta learn to enjoy the grind as we tell our players, and keep taking steps forward in that process.”

GABINET: “Experience is a positive. You get to know the different leagues, the different coaches. Now Paul is going through that same thing now, and I went through the year before, and Dave went through it last year.”

GABINET: “You can definitely see why the staffs that have been together for a long time have a leg up on other programs. Just because they’re so well connected. A lot of it’s word of mouth now and being connected and knowing the right people.” 

GABINET: “It’s definitely nice to see Dave do such a good job in working so hard this year on it. Then Paul, getting his feet wet as well. He’s got a huge network as well — Paul Jerrard does with his past history. Tapping into that and getting to know the age groups. It’s tough when you’re talking about ‘04s, ‘03s, ‘02s, ‘01s, ‘99s, ‘98s.”

GABINET: “I remember when I first came it was a little bit overwhelming. And you start to get a grasp on that now — seeing the different levels, and seeing kids up in Canada, and seeing kids in Europe, seeing kids in the States, and comparing them. The U16s in Michigan compared to them in Chicago, compared to them in Canada, to Midget AAA.”

GABINET: “I’ll have to take off this weekend here to go up to the Canada Winter Games for a little bit.”

GABINET: “It’s lots of work, but it’s also fun. We’re talking to some really good kids and get to explain how excited we are about Omaha, and what we have to offer here, and getting the word about Omaha and our program here and our university. To me, that’s something I really enjoy talking about.”

DOES THE TEAM HAVE THE ABILITY TO PLAY ITS BEST HOCKEY AT THE END OF THE SEASON...

GABINET: “I think so. I think we’ve shown it. I think that’s one of the positives of the last eight games, I guess, against these top-ranked opponents where we’ve been one goal away, or tied, or in a position to have a chance at success.”

GABINET: “I think it’s really important that we keep taking those steps, but also recognizing what we’re doing to give us a chance to get those good results. We got a little bit away from it on Saturday night. We didn’t finish a couple tracks. We dove at one play there. It’s just two mental lapses and they’re in the back of your net and now you’re playing catch up.” 

WAYS THE TEAM PLAYED BETTER ON SATURDAY...

GABINET: “When we were doing things right, we really skated, I thought. We usually have a pretty hard F1. But we need F2 to skate as well. You’ve gotta get up in the play and your d-men have to be connected to the play. You gotta not let them out of their zone for free.”

GABINET: “We ended up outshooting them and having way more o-zone time than we did on Friday night.”

ON THE BYE WEEK...

WENINGER: “I think it’s good timing for us, honestly. We had a tough schedule the last couple weeks — pretty much since Christmas, honestly. It’s definitely good timing, and I think our team has taken a lot of big steps since Christmas, and this week kind of just gives us a chance to reflect and then kind of look forward to this last three weeks of the season and try and push for fifth or sixth place in the conference at least.”

WENINGER: “We have the opportunity. It’s there for us. We’ve just got to take advantage of it.”

ON YOUR PLAY IN THE SECOND HALF THIS SEASON...

WENINGER: “I think it has a lot to do with the team, the staff, and kind of just the support that I’ve had. Obviously, the first half wasn’t great. It was kind of a struggle at times. When I went home at Christmas, I kind of just went and relaxed, reset, and kind of just said ‘it’s a new season.’”

WENINGER: “Obviously, we’re not sitting well in the PairWise. With this conference and our schedule, we still have a chance to make some noise, and give ourselves a chance to kind of make the tournament.” 

WENINGER: “It’s nice having a staff that’s so task-oriented and focuses on the little things and helps you kind of pinpoint, ‘Hey, this is something that we need to work on,’ or ‘This is a tendency of the team we’re playing against coming up.’”

ON MOTIVATION TO DO SOMETHING SIGNIFICANT IN THE POST-SEASON...

WENINGER: “It’s definitely a big, big motivating factor. You look at the senior class, none of us have really had that post-season success here. We’ve gotten swept twice, lost in game three against Western there our sophomore year. We’re confident going against any team in the league. We’ve at least given every team a close game, if not beat them.” 

WENINGER: “I think we’re one of the more resilient teams in the country. Especially looking at how tough our opponents have been. I’m proud of the guys we have.” 

WENINGER: “If we put everything together and we all buy in, we can make some noise.”

ON FINISHING STRONG...

SCHULZ: We’re just really focusing on bettering our systems and everything like that — so that when we do go up against St. Cloud, North Dakota, and those guys — we’ll be ready for them.”

ON PLAYING FORWARD AT POINTS IN THE SECOND HALF...

SCHULZ: “It’s been fun. It wasn’t much of a shock, I guess, being at forward, because I was there a little bit my freshman/sophomore year under Blais.”

SCHULZ: “I get to do something a little different for once. In practices, guys are always chuckling, making fun of me and stuff, but they make it fun.”

ON JALEN’S CAREER AT UNO COMING TO A CLOSE...

SCHULZ: “You think about it a little bit here and there.”

SCHULZ: “You try to think about it the best way you can. Try to put the team first, and think about what you can to make sure the team is winning.” 

ON THE TEAM MAKING A PLAYOFF RUN...

SCHULZ: “At the end of the day, we just have to go out and win. That’s the bottom line.”

SCHULZ: “I think in three weeks, four weeks, whenever the regular season is over, I think we’ll know more.” 

ON THE UP AND DOWN NATURE OF THE SEASON...

SCHULZ: “They always say it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.”

SCHULZ: “The attitude in the lockerroom is that everybody is positive, no matter what the circumstances are.”

ON THE TEAM’S FEELINGS REGARDING EVAN WENINGER’S SUCCESS...

SCHULZ: “He works his bag off every single day, and it shows every weekend on the ice in the games. He’s a great player, but he’s a better person.”

Series Preview: Omaha at Miami (OH), Feb. 8-9, 2019

General hockey observers might not think a matchup between the two teams at the bottom of the NCHC heap would be particularly compelling. 

Yet the narrative percolating around this weekend’s matchup between UNO (8-16-2 overall, 4-11-1-1 in the NCHC) and Miami (9-15-4 overall, 3-11-2-1 in the NCHC) has its intrigues. 

Two conference points separate Omaha (14 points) and Miami (12 points), who are seventh and eighth in the standings, respectively. With six points on the line this weekend — and Colorado College sitting in sixth place at 17 points — things are in flux as teams jockey for conference playoff positions. 

Fans on the Internet have spent considerable time this season mulling over the departure of former UNO assistant Peter Mannino, who went to Miami after the 2017-18 season. It would likely be a non-story if a handful of Mannino’s UNO recruits hadn’t decided to join him in balmy Oxford, OH. 

>> Read comments from Coach Gabinet, Ryan Galt and John Schuldt in “UNO Press Conference Notes - Feb. 5, 2019”

Miami Coach Enrico Blasi’s RedHawks made the NCAA tournament eight straight seasons prior to the start of NCHC play in 2013 — including a wildly entertaining national title game against Boston University in the 2009 Frozen Four.

In the intervening years, Miami has had just one winning season (2014-15), and has struggled to regain the prowess they had during the CCHA days. 

During the Dean Blais era (and Mike Gabinet’s first season at the helm in 2017-18), UNO tallied 17-plus wins in all but one season (2011-12). 

UNO has struggled achieve consistency this season — winning 4 of the past 14 games. Miami is in even worse shape, going winless in its last 14 (the lone victory an exhibition win against the Guelph Gryphons). 

The two teams split the series on Nov. 2-3 at Baxter Arena.

On paper, you would presume UNO had the upper hand in the matchup in Oxford this weekend. However, you never know what might happen in a scuffle between teams struggling to improve totals in the win column. 

Series preview articles:

OMavs.com - “Mavericks Visit RedHawks This Week”

MiamiRedHawks.com - “Miami Hockey Returns Home Against Omaha This Weekend”

When:

> Friday, 5:38 p.m. CT

> Saturday, 6:05 p.m. CT – “Tribe & University Series”

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. Pre-game coverage begins 30 minutes prior to face off. 

TV:

> Friday’s game will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network

> Saturday’s game will be streamed on NCHC.tv ($)

Live Audio and Stats:

Live Audio: Click here

Live Stats: Click here

Also be sure to check out the 17th episode of the “MavPuckCast with Jason & Jon.” This week's segments: One Ref Away, On The Road, Not That Miami 

Next up: The UNO Hockey team is back at Baxter Arena on Feb. 22-23, facing top-ranked St. Cloud State. 

UNO Hockey Press Conference Notes - Feb. 5, 2019

UNO Hockey Coach Mike Gabinet, senior forward Ryan Galt, and freshman defenseman John Schuldt answered media questions as part of the “Omaha Athletics Weekly Media Availability” on Feb. 5, 2019.   

Gabinet & Co. fielded questions regarding the UNO Hockey team’s series against Western Michigan on Feb. 1-2, and the upcoming series at Miami (OH) on Feb. 8-9 in Oxford, OH. They are excerpted below.

If you would like to watch the entire hockey news conference (starting at the 12:15 mark), you can do so here. 

LOOKING BACK AT THE WESTERN MICHIGAN SERIES...

GABINET: “Friday night was a good effort by us, I thought. Right in the mix there; come back to tie it up 3-3. Obviously, unfortunate events there for them to get a power play at the end there and come away with a win.”

GABINET: “Reflecting on it, we can’t give them that third goal with under a second left, and that’s something we have to continue to improve on.”

GABINET: “When you’re playing against league competition, you have to learn from your mistakes and you’ve got to continue to evolve, because there’s just no room for error at this level.”  

GABINET: “Meeting with the players on Saturday and talking about that, I was very frustrated after the second period with the group.”

GABINET: “The exciting thing is you can see the level of care from the players, when you talk to the players about making mistakes and learning. They’re almost emotional about it how bad they feel about their mistakes and letting the team down. It’s heartbreaking to see them like that. But it’s really reinforcing how much they care, and how much they’re buying into what needs to be done to be successful.” 

GABINET: “But in the same breath, this is the NCHC. It’s extremely high-level hockey and you can’t make those mistakes.” 

GABINET: “Nice to see better effort from guys on Saturday with some of those details that are important being successful in the game.”

GABINET: “To come back Saturday after getting beat was very positive.” 

ON THE BENEFIT OF CLOSE-FOUGHT WEEKENDS LIKE THE WMU SERIES...

GABINET: “Like boxing, we’ve been knocked down to the canvas a bunch of times this season, but we keep getting back up.”

GABINET: “Eventually it’s going to get harder to knock us down. That speaks to the level of resilience and grit the team is developing. That’s going to serve them well in hockey — and in life — to have that mentality.” 

GABINET: “We can’t sugarcoat some of the mistakes we’re making, either. We have to make some quick corrections with that.”

GABINET: “I’m just really proud of the group. I just feel like the guys care. The guys are working hard. Against good teams like [WMU], there’s going to be mistakes.”

ON TAYLOR WARD AND THE “MOW” LINE...

GABINET: “It’s been exciting, and you need that. They’ve probably been our most potent scoring line. When those guys are producing, we have a chance to be successful.”

GABINET: “I think Taylor is fortunate to be playing with those two players. They’ve really put a lot of work in over their careers.”

GABINET: “Seeing how they work, and the level they compete at, is helping rub off on him, too.” 

GABINET: “His stick is getting better and it’s been fun to watch.”

ON THE MIAMI SERIES AND THE DRAMA SURROUNDING THE DEPARTURE OF ASSISTANT PETER MANNINO TO THE REDHAWKS... 

GABINET: “You’re going to prepare the best you can to be successful. It doesn’t change every week for us. It’s the same approach.” 

GABINET: “With the standings and the urgency of the situation we have, it’s a very important weekend for us — just like it was against Western.” 

GABINET: “For our players, I don’t know if they know the full extent of what’s going on. Like I said before, it’s like having a fight in front of your kids, I don’t think you need to do that. It’s best we just worry about ourselves.”

GABINET: “Just like the officiating, we need all the energy we can. Let’s not let a team score in the last minute of the period. Let’s focus on that first, rather than worrying about anything else.”

ON THE TEAM’S ROAD RECORD...

GABINET: “We’re not walking into a 50th-ranked team for an easy road weekend.”

GABINET: “It’s tough, but we have to find a way to do it. I think, maybe early on, it would be about switching up our routine, or doing something different, and we’ve tried that, and things like that. Now, it is what it is. We’ve got to be ready to go. We’ve got to find a way to win some hockey games here.”

ON OFFICIATING...

GABINET: “It’s been some head-scratching times, I think, at times this season with the consistency level.”

GABINET: “We’ve got a great league and a great commissioner and all that stuff. So I’m sure they’re going to take the appropriate actions to make sure they’re doing the best they can.”

GABINET: “Just like us, those guys are getting better and improving. I’ve got full trust in the league that they’re going to do everything they can and [making] sure the consistency level is one of the best in the country.” 

ON DEFENSEMAN RYAN JONES...

GABINET: “I think just our D-corps in general has gotten better from the start of the season. Not only Jones, but a lot of guys are taking small steps in the right direction.”

GABINET: “He’s a guy that we’ve challenged to continue to elevate his game.”

GABINET: “He needs to play at a certain intensity level — when he’s at his best game, but not over-the-edge where he’s taking penalties. So he’s worked really hard about keeping that intensity level high with having emotional control.” 

GABINET: “When he’s playing at that level, to me, he’s one of the top guys on our team.”

PLAYER REACTIONS TO THE WESTERN MICHIGAN SERIES...

GALT: “The past month, month-and-a-half, we’ve played some really good hockey against these teams.”

GALT: “These are really good teams. Especially Western. They’re probably the hottest team in the second half so far.” 

SCHULDT: “A lot of the guys aren’t happy with where we are in the standings. And that’s a good thing. But, I’d say we’re happy at where we’re going, and how much we’re improving week-to-week. We just need to figure out how to be consistently good.”

SCHULDT: “At the beginning of the year, I thought this season had the potential to be a nightmare. The older guys just kept calming us down: This isn’t how it’s going to be this year. It’s going to get better. There’s just been a lot of perseverance through the adversity.”

SCHULDT: “Through the second half now, we’re a completely different team, with a completely different mindset. It’s been a lot more fun through the second half.” 

ON FIGHTING THROUGH ADVERSITY AND THE GREATER SCHEME OF THINGS...

GALT: “We’ve developed a lot as a team over this year.”

GALT: “We say that every year. We’re gonna go far, or we’re gonna do this and that. But I truly believe that this team is almost there — on the cusp of a really good playoff run.”

GALT: “We’ve been playing really, really well against these top-tier teams.”

GALT: “Just like every other year that I’ve been here, it’s do or die in the first round of the playoffs. But I think it’ll be a lot of fun. It’ll be a challenge. But we’ve gone through so many challenges this year.”

ON THE DEPARTURE OF ASSISTANT COACH MANNINO TO MIAMI AFTER ONE SEASON AT UNO AND HOW THAT MIGHT IMPACT THE SERIES AT MIAMI...

GALT: “With the off-ice stuff, and Mannino and all of that, it’s a huge weekend for us. They’re behind us in the standings. So we want to kind of break ourselves away from that.”

SCHULDT: “That first series was a very important series, but this one is even more important for the standings race right now where it’s at. If one team would get six points, that would be a huge benefit for that team.”

ON THE COACHES NOT SHAKING HANDS IN THE NOVEMBER SERIES AGAINST MIAMI... AND THE AWKWARD RELATIONSHIP THE COACHING STAFF HAS WITH FORMER ASSISTANT MANNINO...

GALT: “It’s just sports, I guess. I mean, you see it a lot in football. It’s just not very common in hockey. We don’t know all the information or anything like that, but it was interesting, I guess. It’s not a massive deal to us what happened on the ice.”

SCHULDT: “He [Mannino] recruited me. I never had a problem with him. That’s all I’ll say.” 

SCHULDT’S FEELINGS ON WORKING WITH ASSISTANT PAUL JERRARD THIS SEASON... AND THE BENEFITS JERRARD HAS BROUGHT THE TEAM...

SCHULDT: “He’ll pull all the D together at the end of practice — even after the practices where we can barely skate anymore — and we’ll be doing an extra 15-20 minutes of foot work and the real meat-and-potatoes stuff that I’d say we weren’t all quite up to par with at the beginning of the year. And I think that’s really paid off for a lot of us, which has made our D-corps a lot stronger in the second half.”

FEELINGS ON THE DO-OR-DIE NATURE OF SATURDAY’S GAME AGAINST WMU AFTER THE HEARTBREAKING FRIDAY LOSS...

GALT: “The win was massive for our team. Especially against that hot of a team. I think it was a massive weekend overall. It just shows how much adversity that we’ve overcome this year.”

GALT: “It just proves that we are a really good team. We can beat any team. We just have to play the right way consistently for 60 minutes.” 

SCHULDT: “I think it’s been cool seeing how, at the beginning of the year, people would get really rattled or affected by losses easily.”

SCHULDT: “The first couple of weekends, we’d let frustration on Friday night carry over to Saturday. But at this point in the season, we’ve seen so much adversity that when it’s done, it’s done. And a lot of the guys will just forget about it, move on, and do their best Saturday night.”

ON OFFICIATING... AND THE INCONSISTENCY OF CALLS...

GALT: “It’s very hard. The last three years before this year, there were a lot more hits and things like that that haven’t been called, that were just part of the game. You can’t really make hockey into a non-contact sport. It’s honestly very hard to figure out, ‘Oh, can I hit this guy or not?’ And In a game you have 1.5 seconds to figure out, ‘Okay, is this going to be a 5? Am I going to play tomorrow? Okay, I’ll hit him and then whatever happens, happens.”

GALT: “It’s tough to not have consistency, but that’s just the way this season has gone for us. We’ve just got to continue to battle through that adversity.” 

2019 Recruit: Tyler Rollwagen (F) Shattuck-St. Mary's

In our continuing series of UNO Hockey recruit profiles, we look at a talented forward who currently plays at a storied hockey prep school in Minnesota. 

Shattuck-St. Mary’s forward Tyler Rollwagen (class of 2019) announced his commitment to UNO on Twitter Feb. 6, 2019.

Rollwagen is currently the second-highest point producer on his Shattuck-St. Mary’s Boys Prep Team with 57 points (14 goals, 43 assists in 39 games). 

Boston-based recruiting analyst Jeff Cox (an Omaha Lancers scout who covers amateur prospects for various publications — on twitter @jeffcoxsports) profiled Rollwagen in a feature for sbncollegehockey.com titled “2017 USHL Phase I (Futures) Draft: Top Prospects.” 

Rollwagen was ranked 51st on Cox’s list of prospects born in 2001. 

“He’s a tough kid who brings energy,” wrote Cox. “He forechecks hard and gets to pucks quickly. He makes some nice passes as well.” 

The U.S. Hockey Report in its “USA Hockey Select 15 Camp Rankings (‘01s)” analysis described Rollwagen as “solid” and said he “made some nice plays.”

I know a number of UNO Hockey fans are relatively new to the world of college hockey and might not be familiar with Shattuck-St. Mary’s School in Faribault, Minn., but current Mav Jordan Klehr played for Shattuck-St. Mary’s.

It is a prep school that has produced a number of high-profile hockey players including NHL-ers Sidney Crosby, Jonathan Toews, and Zach Parise. 

“The Hockey News” had this video feature on SSM Hockey:

Details are scarce (as of this writing) as to when Rollwagen might join the Mavericks. Elite Prospects has him listed for next season, but it’s possible he’ll play a season of junior hockey. 

That said, Jordan Klehr joined UNO the season after graduating from Shattuck-St. Mary’s, so it is possible we’ll see him in a UNO uniform next season. Stay tuned. 

UPDATE: According to Heisenberg's recruiting database, Rollwagen is a 2021 recruit (thank you to C.A. Boehm for finding that). According to College Hockey, Inc. Rollwagen will arrive in 2020. And, according to Elite Prospects, he'll join the Mavs in 2019. 

Regardless of when we finally see Rollwagen in the lineup, I’m excited to see what he can do on the team. 

A point producer — who can make things happen and dish the puck where it needs to be — is something UNO will be in desperate need of with the departure of Mason Morelli and Freddy Olofsson. 

Rollwagen sounds like a smart/skilled player, and has the potential to become a key component in UNO’s arsenal over the course of the next few seasons. 

Wrapping Up The Weekend: Western Michigan Series (Feb. 1-2, 2019)

By Connor Willingham

It was a better weekend for the UNO hockey team as they were able to split their series against the Western Michigan Broncos at Baxter Arena. 

On Friday, the Mavericks (8-16-2, 4-11-1-1) got off to a fast start with a goal from Mason Morelli in the 1st period, followed by Taylor Ward in the 2nd period. The Broncos were able to equalize, and then take the lead with .3 seconds left in the 2nd period on a goal from Ethen Frank. In a rough-and-tumble 3rd period, the Mavericks were able to tie it 3-3 on a beautiful goal from Travis Kothenbeutel. Unfortunately, in the final minute of the game, Nate Knoepke was called for roughing, setting up another goal from Ethen Frank with 13.7 seconds left in the game to win it for the Broncos — giving WMU the 4-3 victory. 

Post game news conference excerpts for the Feb. 1 game vs. Western Michigan:

It was a different story on Saturday night. UNO got out to a 2-0 lead on goals from Tyler Weiss and Fredrik Olofsson, and did not trail for the rest of the night, padding their lead with three goals in the 2nd period and then scoring an empty netter in the 3rd period to seal the deal 6-3. Mason Morelli and Olofsson had two goals each on the night, with an additional goal by Tristan Keck. WMU goals came from Austin Rueschhoff, Wade Allison, and Colt Conrad.

After the game on Saturday, UNO Head Coach Mike Gabinet congratulated his team in the post-game presser on overcoming the heartbreaking Friday loss:

It was definitely a step up in the energy level from the Mavericks this weekend. The team played with intensity throughout both games. And, while they played sloppy at times, they never quit. They will need to keep this mentality for the rest of the season and into the conference tourney.

Looking for a more in-depth look at the Western Michigan series? Take a listen to the "Mavpuckcast with Jason and Jon!" They also peek ahead to the Miami series and take a look at what it takes for UNO to play on the road versus at home. 

PLAYER HONORS

Freshman Taylor Ward captured “Rookie of the Week” honors for the third time this season. Read all about it here:
Talented Freshman Ward Earns Bauer NCHC Honors

NCHC TOP FIVE PLAYS OF THE WEEK

Defenseman Ryan Jones made the NCHC’s Top Plays of the week, coming in at #2

ICYMI: @DU_Hockey, @OmahaHKY, @SCSUHUSKIES_MH, @MiamiOH_Hockey & @WMUHockey earned a spot on the @TRIAortho #NCHCHockey Top 5⃣ Plays of the Week 👀👇pic.twitter.com/FLoCIkZPvH

— The NCHC (@TheNCHC) February 6, 2019

LOOKING AHEAD

Speaking of Miami, the Mavericks travel to Oxford, Ohio, this weekend to take on the RedHawks (9-15-4, 3-11-2-1). Miami has not looked good since the holiday break, not winning a single game from January onwards (0-9-1). Last weekend, the RedHawks were swept by St. Cloud State 5-1 both games. Coach Rico Blasi’s team will be looking to break that streak with a win or two over the Mavericks, while the Maverick team will be trying to continue its slow climb out of the bottom of the NCHC rankings. Look for another rough-and-tumble weekend, as both teams mutually dislike each other.

OPPONENT WATCH

Denver won Friday and “won the tie” Saturday against North Dakota in its tough rivalry series. In the tie, Brett Stapley scored for Denver in the 3x3 overtime period, earning the Pioneers the extra NCHC point.

STANDINGS

UNO did not move in the Pairwise this weekend, remaining 41st: www.collegehockeynews.com/ratings/ncaapwcr.php

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

UNO did move up in the NCHC standings, to 7th with 14 points. www.nchchockey.com 

Connor Willingham is a periodic contributor to Mavpuck.com and a moderator of the Mavpuck Facebook group. He graduated from UNO in 2014 and is an avid follower of UNO and college hockey. You can find him on Twitter at @INTLMAV.

Series Preview: Omaha vs. Western Michigan, Feb. 1-2, 2019 at Baxter Arena

Another tough NCHC test awaits the Mavericks this weekend as they take on the Western Michigan Broncos. I worry that some fans will underestimate Western Michigan based on the previous history between these two teams (UNO is 25-18-6 all time against WMU), dating back to the CCHA days. But the Broncos are for real. They are currently in third place in the NCHC, ahead of North Dakota and even Denver. They're also ranked #8 in the nation.

The two teams faced off in Kalamazoo in November, and split the series. However, since then, the Broncos are 11-2-1, with their only two losses to St. Cloud State. Western is averaging 3.54 goals a game, and has five players with 20 or more points. 

The Mavs are 7-15-2 (3-10-1-0/1 in the NCHC). Western is 15-8-1 overall and 8-5-1-0/1 in the NCHC. Western swept Denver last weekend. The Mavs were swept at defending national champion Minnesota-Duluth.

You can read what Coach Gabinet, captain Mason Morelli (happy birthday, Mason!), and forward Zach Jordan had to say about the upcoming series in the Tuesday Weekly Media Availability write-up.

Series preview articles:

Preview article from Omavs.com:
https://omavs.com/news/2019/1/31/hockey-mavericks-host-no-8-western-michigan.aspx

When:
Friday, 7:07 p.m. CT
Saturday, 7:07 p.m. CT

Radio/TV Coverage:
Both games will be televised statewide on NET Sports. Dave Ahlers will have the play-by-play, and #oldbull David Brisson will provide color commentary. Thor Tripp, from KETV, will report. The games will also be available on Fox College Sports Central.

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

The games will also be broadcast live on 1180 AM (Zone 2). Donny Baarns will once again substitute for Dave Ahlers with the play-by-play, Terry Leahy will provide color commentary, and Lester St. James will add his usual “Lester” insights. Coverage begins at 6:37 p.m. with the First National Bank Pre-Game Show.

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

Also be sure to check out the sixteenth episode of the "MavPuckCast with Jason & Jon”

Next up: The UNO Hockey team travels to Oxford, Ohio to face NCHC foe Miami, Feb. 8-9, 2019. Friday's game starts at 5:38 p.m. Central and will be shown on CBS Sports Network (blurgh). Saturday's game starts at 6:05 p.m. Central.