2022–23 Omaha Mavericks men's ice hockey season
The 2022–23 Omaha Mavericks men's ice hockey season was the 25th season of play for the program and 10th in the NCHC. The Mavericks represented the University of Nebraska Omaha, played their home games at Baxter Arena and were coached by Mike Gabinet in his 6th season. Season
As the Mavericks came into the season, the team was having to remake all three sections of the team. After losing both goaltenders from last year, coach Gabinet brought in freshman Šimon Latkoczy and transfer Jake Kucharski to man the pipes. The defense was a little more stable, however, the two regular the team lost still had to be replaced. On the offensive side, Omaha was without 4 of its top 5 scorers from '22 and, while they did bring in graduate transfer Jacob Pivonka, Omaha would likely need to see significant improvements from the returning players. The great uncertainty with they roster left the Mavs outside of the polls at the start of the season, but that was the least of their worries. Omaha opened the season at home against Niagara, with most expecting a pair of easy wins for the Mavericks. Both goaltenders got off to a poor start in their debuts by allowing 4 goals each and allowing the team to get swept. With the Purple Eagles expected to be a low-ranked team by the end of the year, those two losses could act like an albatross with the team's national ranking. In the meantime, the team had some work to do on the defensive end and saw some improvements during the rest of their non-conference schedule. Omaha went 4–1–1 to finish out October and get themselves back above .500. Though the goaltending rotation initially favored the experienced Kucharski, Latkoczy quickly was getting used to the collegiate level. As Omaha progressed into their NCHC slate, the team played well and had a credible record through 4 weeks, playing against a gauntlet of teams in the top 20. Right before the winter break, however, the Mavericks were swept by Colorado College and pushed back down to an exactly average mark. When the team began the second half of its season, they were facing an uphill battle to make the NCAA tournament. While they weren't too far out of the race, sitting in the mid-20's in the PairWise, the NCHC was having a bad season with several of its usual contenders floundering. The reduced strength of schedule would make Omaha's task more difficult by requiring the team to play nearly perfect hockey in the second half. Unfortunately, the Mavericks' offense failed them against St. Lawrence and they began with a loss. With even less margin for error, Omaha's defense came into its own and led the team to a 5 game winning streak. After earning a split with Western Michigan, the Mavericks appeared in the polls for the first time on the year. Two weeks later, and no losses in 4 games, the Mavericks suddenly found themselves in the top 15 of the PairWise and in line for an at-large bid. In the midst of the team's stellar run, tragedy struck when assistant coach Paul Jerrard died on February 15. Jerrard had been fighting cancer for a while but had not stopped coaching through his treatment. With Omaha clinging to their playoff hopes, the team entered the final two weeks of the regular season needing to go even or better. The Mavs accomplished that goal against St. Cloud State with alternating 6–2 finals. Although they dropped to 16, a solid performance against North Dakota could easily undo that damage. Unfortunately, the team was inconsistent in their final weekend and ended up losing both games by 1 goal. As the playoffs began, Omaha was sitting just under the cut line, however, the Mavericks had finished 3rd in the NCHC. Their strong second half enabled the team to get a home site for the quarterfinals and a rematch with the Fighting Hawks. Latkoczy was given the job of stifling UND and performed perfectly in the first game, stopping 40 shots en route to a 2–1 victory. Unfortunately, the team's offense was never able to get going in the series. Omaha scored just 5 goals in 3 games and lost the final two. In their season finale, the Mavs were only able to muster 14 shots and went 0–6 on the power play. Departures

Recruiting

Current roster
As of December 24, 2022. Standings

Schedule and results

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!colspan=12 style=";" | Exhibition

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!colspan=12 style=";" | Regular Season

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Scoring statistics

Goaltending statistics

Rankings

Note: USCHO did not release a poll in weeks 1, 13, or 26. Awards and honors

Players drafted into the NHL

2023 NHL Entry Draft

† incoming freshman

References

2022-23
2022–23 NCHC men's ice hockey season
2022–23 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey by team
2023 in sports in Nebraska
2022 in sports in Nebraska