The CCHA’s coaches and media both picked Michigan to win the league championship this season, but both polls had Notre Dame and Miami nipping at the Wolverines’ heels. Michigan got five of the 12 first-place votes in the coaches poll. Second-place Notre Dame had four, third-place Miami had two and fifth-place Northern Michigan got one. … Read more
The CCHA is changing its standings point structure to allot the same number of points for each conference game. That means regulation and overtime victories will be worth three points. If a game goes to a shootout after the NCAA-mandated five-minute overtime, the winning team will get two points in the standings and the losing … Read more
As anticipated, the WCHA voted Friday to admit Bemidji State and Nebraska-Omaha beginning with the 2010-11 season, making the conference a 12-team league. The expansion is the league’s first since Minnesota State joined in 1999-2000. The vote, which puts the Bemidji State program back on solid ground only months after it became the first No. … Read more
Mike Hastings is moving from his position as assistant coach at Minnesota to the associate head coach position at Nebraska-Omaha. Hastings will join new Mavericks coach Dean Blais and Nick Fohr, who as an assistant coach for former UNO coach Mike Kemp, in the new staff. “Mike Hastings has a proven track record of developing … Read more
Dean Blais is back in college hockey. Will his next move be back to the WCHA? That much is uncertain, but what’s known is that Blais is the new coach at Nebraska-Omaha, a move that was announced at a news conference Friday in Omaha, Neb. Blais, a two-time national champion in 10 seasons at North … Read more
One of the burning issues with the Nebraska-Omaha program this offseason has become a little clearer. Mike Kemp has stepped down as the Mavericks’ coach to join new athletic director Trev Alberts’ inner circle of administrators. Kemp, the only coach in the program’s 12-year history, will be an associate athletic director at the school, and … Read more
The 2007-08 Nebraska-Omaha season was one of just this close, just this far. UNO finished eighth in the league, two games under .500 in both CCHA and overall play. One-goal regular-season losses to Michigan and Notre Dame, two teams that went on to the Frozen Four. A two-goal loss to the defending national champion Michigan … Read more
What is the measure of a good program? The Mavericks have two answers to that question. 1. You produce coaches that other people want. Nebraska-Omaha said goodbye to assistant Doc DelCastillo, who is the new head coach for Alaska. Also, UNO welcomes back Nick Fohr, whom the Mavericks had already sent out into the world … Read more
Alabama-Huntsville announced Saturday the five finalists to replace retiring head coach Doug Ross. In alphabetical order with their current school affiliations, they are Tom Carroll (New England College), Tim Christian (Lake Superior), Danton Cole (Bowling Green), Doc DelCastillo (Nebraska-Omaha) and Lance West (Alabama-Huntsville). Ross, who announced his retirement plans in January, led the Chargers to … Read more
Last year’s Mavericks were a study in dichotomy. How could a team so talented up front be so, um, shaky in front of its own net? “Our concern is with the back end of our team,” said Mike Kemp, entering his 10th season as UNO’s first and only head coach. KEMP “Last year, we did … Read more
Nebraska-Omaha has had just one head coach in its Division I history, and it looks like things will stay that way for a while after Mike Kemp signed a four-year contract extension. UNO athletic director David Herbster made the announcement Friday; Kemp’s new deal runs through 2010. “I am happy to announce that Coach Kemp … Read more
Nebraska-Omaha forward Bill Thomas has signed an entry level NHL contract with the Phoenix Coyotes, General Manager Michael Barnett announced today. In keeping with club policy, financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Thomas will forego his final two years of eligibility and report to Phoenix immediately. Thomas recently completed his sophomore season with … Read more
Nebraska-Omaha’s first-ever NCAA tournament appearance owes much to the Mike Kemp, the only head coach UNO has ever had. Paula C. Weston reports.
Bizarro World Last week I mentioned there was perfect symmetry for the start of the second half of conference play as the travel partners squared off coincidentally giving us the match ups of 1st vs. 8th, 2nd vs. 7th, and so on. With that symmetry, one would have expected some of the outcomes to be … Read more
Sophomore defenseman Joe Grimaldi has left the UNO Mavericks in order to play major junior hockey for the Ottawa 67s in the Ontario Hockey League, UNO coach Mike Kemp announced today. Grimaldi, a native of Long Island, N.Y., had no goals and four assists and 51 penalty minutes in 19 games this season for the … Read more
History isn’t really about the past, settling old scores. It’s about defining the present and who we are. — Ken Burns Three summers ago, the Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks were rocked by a number of departures. Both players and coaches left unexpectedly, some just before the beginning of the new season. Last year, after spending the 2003-04 … Read more
Nebraska-Omaha goaltender Chris Holt has decided to forego his junior year of eligibility with the Mavericks to sign a professional contract with the New York Rangers. “We are very excited for Chris,” UNO head coach Mike Kemp said. “Having guys like Chris Holt mature and develop in our program is very gratifying. We wish him … Read more
Northern Michigan senior goaltender Tuomas Tarkki became the first Wildcat in 24 years to be named the CCHA Player of the Year. Eight individual honors were awarded Wednesday at Detroit’s historic Fox Theatre, including six determined by a vote of the league’s 12 coaches. NMU’s Tuomas Tarkki became the first European to win CCHA Player … Read more
Nebraska-Omaha was the doormat of the CCHA a year ago, but now the Mavericks are knocking on heaven’s door, thanks to new talent.
In a league that graduated a large class at the end of the 2003-04 season, the Mavericks are an anomaly with 20 veterans on the roster for the upcoming campaign. While that can be a positive — experience, maturity — these are the same Mavericks responsible for last year’s last-place finish. The kindest way to … Read more