As a kid, Eric Olimb spent too many weekends to count watching his uncle, Larry Olimb, skating for the University of Minnesota.

Larry Olimb was a two-time team MVP with the Gophers from 1988 to 1992, and he still holds the school record with 159 career assists. Eric Olimb, the top defenseman as a senior for the UNO hockey team, will take on his uncle's alma mater for the first time this weekend, when the Mavs play their inaugural series as a member of the WCHA at Minnesota's famed Mariucci Arena.

“Of course I grew up a big Gophers fan. Sometimes I'd even get to go in the locker room after the games, and that was a pretty fun experience,” said Eric Olimb from Warroad, Minn. “I'm excited. It's going to be pretty special going back to Minnesota and getting to play a couple of games there.”

Speaking of family ties, the anticipated Ambroz brothers matchup won't happen this weekend — yet that doesn't mean this series won't be significant for UNO senior forward Matt Ambroz. Seth Ambroz, a Gophers recruit who potentially could have started his college career this fall, instead is back for another season with the Omaha Lancers. But all Minnesota kids, Matt said, grow up dreaming about playing college hockey at Mariucci — be it for the Gophers or against them.

“It's going to be awesome,” said Matt Ambroz, the Mavs' alternate captain from New Prague, Minn. “I played (youth hockey) there as a kid, but never when it was full with 10,000 fans. It's electric in that building, and it gets really loud in there. All of our Minnesota boys have watched Minnesota play there, and we're excited to get to skate in that atmosphere.”

A new era for UNO hockey kicks off Friday and Saturday, when coach Dean Blais' club chases after the first WCHA points in program history. After 11 seasons in the CCHA, the Mavs won't ease into their new league with some ho-hum series — they'll immediately get to measure themselves against mighty Minnesota.

It's probably not a coincidence that the WCHA chose to send the University of Nebraska at Omaha to Minneapolis during the conference's opening weekend. All three of the Mavs' coaches have ties to the Gophers, and the return of UNO's staff to the Twin Cities adds much spice to this matchup.

Blais played at Minnesota from 1969 through 1973 under legendary coaches Glen Sonmor and Herb Brooks. He led the team in scoring in 1970-71, a season in which the Gophers fell one victory short of winning an NCAA championship.

But Blais has lots of experience on the Gophers' visitors bench, too. He spent two decades as an assistant and head coach at North Dakota, helping rival UND claim a combined nine WCHA regular-season and playoff titles.

“I've always felt pressure as a head coach to win (at Minnesota),” said Blais, whose final appearance as UND's coach at Mariucci came on Jan. 24, 2004. “It's always felt like an accomplishment when you can go back as a coach and win at the school you graduated from.”

Both of Blais' UNO assistants, Mike Hastings and Mike Guentzel, once held that same title under Gophers boss Don Lucia. Hastings worked the 2008-09 season at Minnesota before joining Blais in Omaha. Guentzel was a Gophers assistant from 1994 through 2008, helping the program win two national championships.

Guentzel, like Blais, also played college hockey at Minnesota. He was a standout defenseman in the 1980s.

Besides Olimb and Ambroz, UNO's Minnesota natives are Nick Von Bokern (Burnsville), Ryan Walters (Rosemount) and Mike Taffe (Maple Grove). In all, the Mavs have 11 skaters from Minnesota, North Dakota or Wisconsin.

For those Midwesterners, getting to skate at Mariucci will be every bit as memorable as a Nebraska-born football player first competing at the Huskers' Memorial Stadium.

Much like the Huskers are to college football, the Gophers are one of the most storied programs in NCAA hockey. So even UNO's players from other parts of the globe might get chills when they first step on the ice this weekend.

“You hear about how amazing the atmosphere is at places like Minnesota,” said senior forward Joey Martin, UNO's captain from Thorold, Ontario. “I can't wait.”

Whatever awe the Mavs might feel, however, had better end quickly, Blais said. As far as the Gophers are concerned, the coach said, UNO will be just another team they expect to dominate.

The Gophers have struggled the past two seasons, missing the NCAA tournament . But Minnesota still has 19 NHL draft selections, compared to the Mavs' two. The Gophers always have had their pick among the elite college hockey prospects, Blais said, and the standouts who end up at Minnesota don't expect to come up short against teams such as UNO.

“They're not looking at losing to Omaha,” Blais said. “If you ask any of their players if we're capable of going in there and beating them, they're going to tell you no.

“We're definitely the underdogs. Take our lineup versus their lineup, they have all the advantages on paper. But I know our guys are going to go in there and play hard, so Minnesota's going to have to earn it.”

No. 17 UNO enjoyed one of the hottest starts of any college hockey team last weekend by winning its Mutual of Omaha Stampede tournament. The Mavs routed Clarkson 8-0 before rallying past Rochester Institute of Technology 5-3.

The 13th-ranked Gophers also opened the season with two victories, notching 5-3 and 5-4 home wins over Massachusetts.

The only previous meeting between UNO and Minnesota came at the 2003 Stampede, a 7-3 Gophers victory. Ever since the Mavs were accepted into the WCHA in June 2009, players such as Olimb and Ambroz have been anticipating their program's second encounter with Minnesota.

But now that the moment has arrived, the Mavs say they need to put all the emotion aside and keep an all-business approach.

“These are our first WCHA games, and we're not going up there for nostalgia reasons,” Olimb said. “These are big games, and we want to go in there and play the best we can.”

Contact the writer:

444-1207, chad.purcell@owh.com

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