It’s been a busy offseason for Omaha hockey inside Baxter Arena as Mike Gabinet prepares for his ninth season leading his alma mater.
The Mavericks went 18-17-1 in 2024-25 and finished fourth in the NCHC with a 14-9-1 conference showing, but Omaha fell to North Dakota in a sweep in the NCHC quarterfinals.
The six months since have included a new-look roster, changes to the coaching staff and even new jerseys, among other changes ahead of the 2025-26 campaign.
However, the wait is almost over, as Gabinet’s Mavericks begin exhibition play this Friday against Air Force. Omaha’s 36-game schedule kicks off the following Friday (Oct. 10) against Minnesota State.
Omaha was tabbed seventh in last week’s NCHC Preseason Poll and returns 11 players from a year ago. Here’s a look at the season ahead.
New-Look Mavs
It’s been the biggest story of the offseason as Omaha’s roster features 15 new players — 14 of which hail from north of the border. In the ever-changing landscape that is college athletics, the Mavericks have taken advantage of a bigger player pool.
As a result, 14 players bring experience from the OHL, QMJHL and WHL, and seven of the players spent last season playing at the Canadian University (USports) level.
“In the NCAA, it feels like every year there’s some type of change, but you’ve just got to adapt and keep evolving,” Gabinet said. “If you just look around college hockey there’s a large influx of some Canadian Major Junior hockey players right now and we’re no different. But I think it’s been exciting for us.”
Freshman forward Cameron Briere rounds out the newcomer list as the left-shot forward spent the past four seasons in the USHL. The Minnesota native split last season between Tri-City (17 games) and Chicago (21) and had 74 points (41-33-74) over 145 career USHL games.
Omaha’s staff also will feature some new faces this winter. Gabinet hired Jamie Huffman as an assistant coach last month following Peter Aubry’s departure for the Edmonton Oilers. Omaha hired a new strength coach last spring too in Ben Silvers.
There’s plenty of unknown as far as the kind of impact the Canadian transfers will make, and for a program that’s had success with NCAA transfers in recent years, it’s certainly a different approach. Yet Gabinet said the newcomers are “fitting in nicely” and for those making the adjustment, it’s been a smooth transition so far.
Griffin Ludtke prepares for a game at Baxter Arena on Saturday, January 25, 2025, in Omaha, Nebraska. Photo by Collin Stilen. “We’ve been going at it now for five to six weeks and I think training camp has been going really well, but I think we’re all just looking forward to starting against Air Force and getting the year going,” Ludtke said. “It’s been a lot of fun and we have a special group.”
“As a newcomer, these guys have done a great job taking us in and making us feel at home, making it feel like a team,” said sophomore forward Brett Hyland. “It’s tough coming into a new place and you’re not really sure what to expect, but our older group — Griffin (Ludtke) especially — and all the older guys have really led the way for us.”
Latkoczy Leads Senior Class
Of Omaha’s 11 returning players, none are bigger than Simon Latkoczy. Latkoczy went 14-16-1 last season with a 2.71 GAA and .922 save percentage, including a 12-8-1 / 2.75 / .926 mark in NCHC play. He was the NCHC Goaltender of the Year as a result.
“He’s tremendous, not only from a goaltender standpoint — and we know how good of a goalie he is — but even from a human standpoint with his leadership and character,” Gabinet said. He’s very mature and he gets it, so those are guys you love to communicate with.”
Few NCAA goaltenders saw a workload like Latkoczy as his 952 saves ranked 10th in the country. He had five starts with 40 or more saves, including performances with 53 and 50 saves, and he also earned his fifth career shutout.
Latkoczy isn’t the only key returner either as he’s one of five seniors — all of whom Gabinet said he expects to elevate their games. Latkoczy is joined by forwards Tyler Rollwagen and Jacob Slipec, along with Jacob Guevin and Ludtke on the blue line.
Ludtke and Latkoczy are Omaha’s co-captains and Rollwagen will serve as an assistant.
“I have great other captains around me and the whole locker room is full of leaders,” Latkoczy said during NCHC Media Day. “It’s an honor for me, obviously, and I think with the help of the other guys we are gonna be able to co-operate really well.”
The Road Ahead
The Mavericks will play six of their first eight games on home ice, including their first home conference series against North Dakota. The schedule also features a late-November trip to Yale, a mid-December series at Augustana and an early-January trip to Cornell to round out nonconference play.
Omaha plays 10 of its 36 games (marked with asterisks) against teams that qualified for the NCAA Tournament last spring.
Omaha lost five of its top eight scorers and plenty of experience from a year ago, but with 15 newcomers joining the program, the staff is excited about the roster they’ve assembled. “I really like this group,” Gabinet said. “I think we’ve got extremely hard-working guys, ultra-competitive, and guys that want to get better and want to be hockey players.” Photo by Brandon Tiedemann.
The full 2025-26 schedule is listed below. All NCHC games are in bold.
Oct. 3 vs. Air Force (exh.)
Oct. 10-11 vs. Minnesota State*
Oct. 24-25 vs. UMass*
Oct. 31-Nov. 1 at Colorado College
Nov. 7-8 vs. North Dakota
Nov. 14-15 at Minnesota Duluth
Nov. 21-22 vs. Western Michigan*
Nov. 28-29 at Yale
Dec. 12-13 at North Dakota
Dec. 19-20 at Augustana
Dec. 30 vs. Manitoba (exh.)
Jan. 2-3 at Cornell
Jan. 9-10 vs. St. Cloud State
Jan. 16-17 at Miami
Jan. 23-24 vs. Colorado College
Jan. 30-31 at Western Michigan*
Feb. 13-14 vs. Denver*
Feb. 20-21 at Arizona State
Feb. 27-28 vs. Miami
March 6-8 NCHC Quarterfinals TBD
March 14 NCHC Semifinal TBD
March 21 NCHC Championship TBD
