Series Preview: Omaha Hockey Welcomes Reigning Champs To Baxter

Another week, another ranked foe. That’s the story for Omaha hockey as the Mavericks welcome reigning national champion and eighth-ranked Western Michigan to town for another important NCHC series.

Omaha is coming off a 2-0 win at No. 3 Minnesota Duluth but has dropped four of its past five on home ice — a trend they’ll look to reverse this weekend.

WMU is Omaha’s sixth consecutive ranked opponent to open the 2025-26 season. Here’s what you need to know before the puck drops.

RV Omaha (5-5-0, 3-3-0) vs. No. 8 Western Michigan (7-5-0, 3-3-0)

Game 1: Friday, 7 p.m. CDT
Game 2: Saturday, 7 p.m. CDT
*Both games played at Baxter Arena

Omaha
Conference: NCHC
Head Coach: Mike Gabinet (9th season, 134-136-19)
Leading Scorer: Maxime Pellerin, So., F (5-3-8)
Between The Pipes: Simon Latkoczy, Sr. (3-5-0, .896 save percentage, 3.65 GAA)

Western Michigan
Conference: NCHC
Head Coach: Pat Ferschweiler (5th season, 111-55-4)
Leading Scorer: Grant Slukynsky, Jr., F (2-12-14)
Between The Pipes: Hampton Slukynsky, So. (7-5-0, .882 save percentage, 2.95 GAA)

All-time series: Omaha leads, 36-31-6
Last matchup: Feb. 15, 2025 — WMU 6-1 win in Kalamazoo, Mich.

Last Time Out

Omaha earned a split last weekend in Duluth. The Mavs fell 5-2 on Friday but responded with a 2-0 win in the finale.

Joel Plante put Omaha ahead early in Game 1 — a lead the Mavs held after 20 minutes. However, the Bulldogs scored five of the final six goals, including a hat trick from UMD defenseman Ty Hanson. Omaha trailed 3-2 heading into the third but was out-shot 43-25 and saw UMD pull away late.

Omaha grabbed another 1-0 lead on Saturday and it was ultimately all the Mavericks needed. Myles Hilman scored 1:57 into the second and Marc Lajoie made it 2-0 with 13:09 left in the third. Yet the story of Saturday’s win came between the pipes, as freshman Dawson Cowan put together a 32-save shutout.

Omaha is now 3-1-0 on the road this season and returns home tied for fourth in the NCHC standings.

“I thought we looked a little tentative on Friday and just weren’t skating up to the tempo and pace that we need to do against a team like that, and I thought Saturday, from the drop of the puck we took the initiative necessary to be successful,” Gabinet said Wednesday afternoon.

“I think that’s been an identity for our team this year,” added senior defenseman Jacob Guevin. “We’ve been really good at coming back, especially on Saturday night, and I think our guys are not afraid of any team in this country. We knew (UMD) had a good team, but like I said, we’re not afraid and we stuck to our game plan, and everything went well.”

Opponent Watch

Western Michigan finished last season 34-7-1 and won its first national championship in program history, defeating Denver and Boston University at the Frozen Four.

WMU returns 17 members of last year’s team and also added four players out of the transfer portals, including forwards William Whitelaw and Zaccharya Wisdom.

Whitelaw is second on the roster in goals (6) and points (11), and Western Michigan has seen offensive contributions from Grant Slukynsky, Ty Henricks, Liam Valente and Samuel Sjolund, among others. Valente has scored in five of his past seven games and his eight goals are tied for ninth in the country.

Pat Ferschweiler’s club came in atop the NCHC Preseason Poll after winning both the Penrose Cup and NCHC Frozen Faceoff title last spring, en route to that national championship.

WMU split at St. Cloud State, dropped both games to Denver at home, and swept Miami last weekend. The Broncos scored 11 goals in the sweep of Miami — 5-2 and 6-2 — and they average 3.6 goals per game, which is tied for 10th in the NCAA.

“Just a team that goes north in a hurry,” Gabinet said. “They’re hungry around the net, they transition well and you’ve just got to be ready to go. You’ve got to be ready to go because they’re gonna play with a lot of pace and intensity, and I’m really looking forward to the matchup.”

The Broncos are currently without their top defenseman in Joona Vaisanen (lower-body). Omaha was without Maxime Pellerin last Saturday.

Cowan Earns NCHC Honor

It’s no secret Dawson Cowan finds himself behind Simon Latkoczy — the reigning NCHC Goaltender of the Year — on Omaha’s depth chart.

However, it isn’t a bad thing to have two dependable goaltenders, especially with the workload Latkoczy has faced over the past two seasons. And when Cowan’s gotten his opportunities, the freshman has made the most of them so far.

Cowan improved to 2-0-0 last Saturday and owns a .944 save percentage and 2.00 GAA to open his NCAA career. He was named the NCHC Rookie of the Week on Tuesday for his performance at UMD.

“I thought he was super composed,” Guevin said. “He doesn’t look too nervous and it’s kind of a calming factor for the whole team. We’re just really happy for him.”

“He’s just like a lot of guys on our team where you’ve seen that growth from when he first got here to where he’s at now,” Gabinet added. “I think as a coach that’s what you’re looking for. You’re looking at guys that want to push themselves to continue to get better and he’s doing that.”

Final Verdict

Number to know: 53.7 — Western Michigan has won 53.7% of its faceoffs this season, which ranks 11th in the country. The Broncos finished 10th last season at 53.5%, despite playing the nation’s second most games (42). Omaha is currently tied for 53rd out of 63 NCAA teams at 46.6%.

Player to Watch: Brett Hyland, So., F — Hyland returned to the lineup after missing the Colorado College and North Dakota series. The Washington Capitals pick (2023, 200th overall) had an assist in both UMD games and five points (1-4-5) through six games this season.

Series prediction: Split.