Mavericks Travel To Miami This Week
Jan 16, 2014 | Hockey
OMAHA, Neb. - The Omaha Mavericks take to the road this week, visiting Miami on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 17-18. Friday's game begins at 6:37 p.m. CT, and Saturday's game starts at 6:07 p.m. CT from Steve Cady Arena in Oxford, Ohio. The games will mark the conclusion of the four-game season series between the schools.
The Teams
The Mavericks are 8-11-1 overall and 5-4-1-1 in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference, putting them in a tie with Denver for third place. The Mavericks are coming off 3-2 and 3-1 losses to Minnesota Duluth last weekend. The Mavs are 3-4-1 on the road this year. They trail the all-time series with the RedHawks, 9-17-3 and are 2-10-2 all-time in Oxford.
Miami is 9-9-2 overall this season and 3-7-0-0 in the NCHC, putting it in eighth place. The RedHawks were swept by Western Michigan last weekend, losing 5-4 and 3-2 at Kalamazoo, Mich. Miami is 6-3-0 at home this season.
Last Time Out
The Mavericks were swept for the second straight weekend, losing to Minnesota Duluth, 3-2 and 3-1. On Friday, the Bulldogs built two separate two-goal leads and then hung on to beat the Mavericks behind the goaltending of Aaron Crandall. UMD got two goals in the second period before Nick Seeler tallied a powerplay goal to get the Mavericks on the board. Andy Welinski tallied the eventual game winner off a face-off just 2:34 later, but Ian Brady gave the Mavs life with an extra attacker goal at 17:33. Crandall held on down the stretch, finishing with 38 saves while Ryan Massa took the loss for the Mavs with 27 stops.
The next night, Crandall again took center stage with an eye-popping 52 saves to complete the sweep. UMD took a 3-0 lead on two goals by Joe Basaraba and one by Caleb Herbert. Jake Guentzel broke up Crandall's shutout bid with a tally at 16:10 of the third period, but the Mavs could get no closer in spite of outshooting the Bulldogs 41-9 over the last two periods. Kirk Thompson saw just 13 shots and made 10 saves in the loss.
The Coaches
Dean Blais is in his fifth year as the head coach of the Mavericks, having led UNO to two 20-win campaigns in that time. The 1973 graduate of Minnesota has posted a record of 344-194-50 (.628) in his career as a head coach and has guided the Mavericks to a mark of 82-79-17 (.508).
Blais is a two-time Spencer Penrose Memorial Award winner as the Division I coach of the year and a four-time winner of the WCHA's Coach of the Year Award. He spent 10 years as head coach at North Dakota where he led UND to national championships in 1997 and 2000. He is assisted by coaches Troy Jutting and Alex Todd who both have extensive head coaching experience, Jutting at Minnesota State and Todd at Castleton (Vt.) State .
Enrico Blasi is in his 15th season behind the bench for the RedHawks. A former standout for Miami, Blasi is a 1994 graduate of MU. He's posted a record of 320-205-55 in his career in Oxford. He is assisted by Brent Brekke and Nick Petraglia.
Media
Both games can be heard live on 1180 The Zone 2. Dave Ahlers will have the play-by-play, and Terry Leahy will provide analysis both nights. Coverage begins 30 minutes before game time with the First National Bank Pre-Game Show. Streaming audio, video and live stats are available at OMavs.com.
Up Next For the Mavericks
The Mavericks have a week off before returning home on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 31-Feb. 1 to host NCHC-leading St. Cloud State. Friday's game begins at 7:37 p.m., and Saturday's contest starts at 7:07 p.m. from the CenturyLink Center. Friday's game will be shown live statewide on NET1.
