Shatel: Alberts scores a game changer

Trev Alberts just hit the first home run of the week.

It's elementary Marketing 101 to know that you don't schedule a press conference the day before the College World Series. But even as the NCAA introduced eight CWS teams at Rosenblatt Stadium, Alberts rolled out his new UNO hockey coach.

Typical UNO, right?

Not exactly.

On a soggy day in CWS Town, Alberts made the biggest splash across town.

Dean Blais is that splash hire and home run coach. Wow. And wow again.

When Alberts' name was being mentioned as athletic director at UNO last month, a source at UNO told me that officials in the CCHA office called UNO and asked, “You've got to be kidding, right?''

Nobody in college hockey is laughing at Alberts now.

No. 34 just scored a power play goal. He hired the Roy Williams, Bob Stoops and Augie Garrido of collegiate pucks.

Blais won two NCAA championships at North Dakota and finished runner-up once. He led the Fighting Sioux to seven NCAA appearances, five conference titles and two conference playoff titles in the WCHA, one of the top leagues in the country.

Come to think of it, I bet UNO has the WCHA's full attention now, too.

Blais is a two-time head coach of the U.S. National Junior Team. He's been an associate head coach and personnel guy in the National Hockey League.

Let's review: The new Maverick hockey coach has deep connections in junior hockey, can promise recruits he knows how to win a national championship or two and can also help prepare them for the NHL.

Other than that, he's got a chance.

UNO has talked the talk in hockey. This is a welcome sign that the Mavs want to walk the walk.

It would have been easy for UNO to go get a local favorite like Mike Hastings or David Quinn. Even the casual fan has heard of them. It would have been a way for UNO to grab some media buzz and some love at the season-ticket window.

You know what also brings local buzz and sold-out arenas? Winning.

“He's a name that is recognized around the world,'' said Associate Athletic Director Mike Kemp. “My expectation is the people of Omaha are going to get to know him very quickly.''

This hire also puts some other issues into focus.

1. Kemp is a class act and looks like a perfect guardian for UNO hockey. Some coaches would not approve of hiring a successor who is more accomplished than they were, someone who can dwarf their legacy. Not Kemp. He even approves of Blais' style, which Kemp calls “up-tempo, wide open, in-your-face hockey — very offensive style.'' And very different from Kemp.

It makes sense. If Blais makes UNO hockey an elite program, Kemp gets the credit, too.

2. This paves the road to the WCHA. Blais, who played hockey at Minnesota, says he prefers that league. No doubt. He's recruited national champions in that region. You'd have to think Blais could hold his own against the Michigans and Miami of Ohios. But if you are hiring a coach who used to dominate in a conference, wouldn't you want to go play in that conference?

3. There is money waiting to be spent on UNO hockey. Alberts said Blais' $250,000 salary ranks fourth in the CCHA. He had to find much of it from private sources, and he had to find it quickly; Blais and Alberts didn't talk money until Thursday.

This confirms what I've heard from UNO boosters for years: Show us the promise of big-time winning and we will open our wallets.

Here's what winning big also does: It builds buildings. Blais said everywhere he's been, a new arena was built while he was there. Hmmmm.

4. Alberts looks like he might just be a home run hire himself. This skeptic is getting less skeptical with every move, including bringing back Don Leahy and putting Kemp in charge of hockey.

The “think big'' vision was the key that opened doors for Creighton basketball in Omaha. There's no reason to think it can't do the same for UNO. Alberts went after the very biggest fish he could land and wouldn't take no for an answer. Sometimes all you have to do is ask.

Now that Tom Osborne is going to hang around for a while at NU, we can assume Alberts will do the same at UNO. Here's his biggest task, and ultimately the one that will define his time there: Get Division II UNO to treat Division I hockey with the same focus and reverence that NU does for football.

Friday's diversion from the CWS might be the first step in that process. Game on, at the CWS. And at UNO.

Contact the writer:

444-1025, tom.shatel@owh.com