5 p.m.: During the first three weeks of January, it seemed as if anything that could go wrong for the UNO hockey team did. In steamrolling Northern Michigan this weekend, the Mavericks looked like the scary-good second-half team coach Dean Blais believes they can be.

Let's re-examine the evidence:

• UNO emphatically ended Northern's six-game (4-0-2) unbeaten streak. The same Wildcats squad that rolled over the Mavs earlier this season in Marquette looked lost for long stretches this weekend in Omaha as UNO executed Blais' brand of fast and aggressive hockey to perfection.

• The Mavs erupted for 12 goals on the weekend. That two-game outburst matched UNO's total scoring output from its previous seven games. Eight different players scored for the Mavs in the sweep over Northern. Ten UNO players enjoyed multi-point weekends -- including goalie John Faulkner -- and 14 Mavericks in all had at least one point.

• Without question, there's a list of skaters UNO needs to produce points if the Mavs are going to have any shot to win. Check out the way those key players delivered this weekend: Jeric Agosta (two goals), Rich Purslow (two goals, two assists), Alex Hudson (two goals, two assists), Nick Fanto (two goals, one assist), Terry Broadhurst (one goal, one assist), Brandon Richardson (one goal, four assists), John Kemp (one goal, two assists), Matt Ambroz (two assists), Eddie DelGrosso (two assists).

• A goalie rotation might be just what UNO needs for both Faulkner and Jeremie Dupont to get on track. Blais has been plenty frustrated by his goaltenders' inconsistent play this season. And, for whatever reason, neither Faulkner nor Dupont has played well while making back-to-back starts. Dupont clearly did enough to earn another start with his impressive showing Friday, but credit Blais for giving Faulkner the nod in the series finale. Last season, Dupont and former UNO goalie Jerad Kaufmann formed a formidable 1-2 punch. Perhaps Dupont and Faulkner can get into a similar groove while taking turns in net down the stretch in 2009-10.

• An anemic power play was one of the biggest reasons UNO had opened the second half with a 1-4-1 record. The Mavs weren't perfect on the man advantage this weekend, but their 3-for-11 showing against the Wildcats marked a promising improvement. As for UNO's penalty kill (ranked 10th nationally), Northern did net both of its Friday goals while skating a man up. But the Mavs flawlessly killed off a key series of Wildcats' man advantages late in the second period Friday, including a full minute while Northern was up 5 on 3. For the weekend, Northern's CCHA-leading power-play unit went just 2 for 12.

• The weekend featured two lively crowds at the Qwest Center, including a season-best turnout of 8,165 on Saturday night. The fans witnessed a pair of high-flying, intense hockey games, and it definitely felt like an old-school hockey environment with UNO's wise decision to bring in an organ player. The crowd got to cheer plenty of goals. They saw Hudson execute a devastating-but-clean open-ice hit on Northern's Mark Olver, and they watched Fanto celebrate his game-winning and sweep-clinching goal by jumping over the boards and into a mob of teammates on UNO's bench. This all bodes well for the school's drive to sell out its next home hockey game on Feb. 5 against Ohio State. By the way -- UNO is reporting that only about 4,700 tickets remain for that game against the Buckeyes. Even if the contest isn't an official sellout, it now appears a lock that the Mavs that night will break the program's home attendance record of 10,598 by a good margin.

Of course, now the key will be for UNO to figure out how to duplicate this type of effort on the road. The Mavs face a tall task in visiting perennial power Notre Dame next weekend. UNO not only has gone 0-5-1 in its past six games in South Bend, the Mavs are a miserable 1-8-1-1 in CCHA away games this season.

« Maverick Blog

Share