It’s been a mixed bag of a season so far for Omaha, but entering the second half, coach Mike Gabinet is taking a glass-half-full approach.
Half the NCHC had last week off, including Omaha (9-9-2), and that might’ve been a good thing for the Mavs following a tough home series Dec. 30-31 against nonconference foe St. Lawrence.
UNO dropped a 2-1 overtime decision in the opener following a questionable non-call around the defensive blue line in the lead-up to the Saints’ winning goal, but on New Year’s Eve, the Mavericks got their own backs in a 5-2 win. Five different UNO players scored as their team ended a three-game skid.
By and large, it was a good first series back for UNO, and not just on the ice. The series opener with St. Lawrence drew the Mavericks’ biggest home crowd in four years, and after the Dec. 31 victory over the Saints, fans were invited to stick around inside Baxter Arena to ring in the new year with their team.
Ringing in 2023 with the best fans out there.
Happy New Year Omaha Hockey Fans!!🎊#OmahaHKY pic.twitter.com/UsdkR4aUMB
— Omaha Hockey (@OmahaHKY) January 1, 2023
“It was great both nights, great to see so many people out on Friday and Saturday night,” Gabinet said. “After the (second) game, (it was good) to have a big win and get to celebrate with the fans, have that interaction with the fans that I think, for the last few years, we haven’t been able to do as much.
“The thing about our program is there are great people in the program, so any time the guys get to interact with the fanbase and lots of young kids, it’s great to see so many people out there enjoying the evening with our players.”
UNO was off last week after the St. Lawrence series, and that allowed some healing time for what Gabinet said were four or five Mavericks that were banged up. It’s back to the grindstone now, though, and a six-game homestand continues this weekend against Minnesota Duluth before Miami arrives.
“It was a long break, and a quick turnaround after Christmas to get ready to play,” Gabinet said. “It’s nice now to really push the players and work extremely hard here and to make sure we’re ready to go here for conference play.”
It’s all conference games from here on in until the postseason, and although UNO would have home ice in the first round of the NCHC playoffs if they started today, the Mavericks want to build on their 4-5-1 league record.
But, Gabinet doesn’t want them to lose sight of what they’ve accomplished thus far.
“There’s things we have to get better at, there’s no question,” Gabinet said. “There’s areas of growth, you have to take the feedback from the games you play, and look to get better. You can’t get satisfied.
“You have to believe in yourself and keep pushing and keep working. We have a great group of players in there, great staff, and everybody’s working as hard as they can. Nobody wants us to do well more than that group of guys in there.
“You just have to keep going there, and reflect on the good things you’ve done, too,” Gabinet continued. “We’ve had some big-time wins this year and some great series, and that’s not easy to do. Sometimes you have to reflect on the positives just as much as the areas you have to get better at.”
