Denver deservedly dropped a couple spots in the polls after last weekend's disappointment, only taking two points at home against Michigan Tech. UNO had their own rough Friday night, losing to AAU. Just like Denver though they bounced back on Saturday. Denver moved to 15-6-3 good for second in the WCHA, two points back of North Dakota. UNO is tied with Minnesota-Duluth only one point back of the Pios. Both teams have clinched home ice for the first round of the WCHA Playoffs. The Pios are 7-2 all-time against the Mavericks in the very young series, started in 1997.
Special teams could decide this weekend's matchup. The Pios have been giving their opponents too many opportunities; this is evident as they lead the WCHA in penalty minutes. For reasons only Coach Gwozdecky can explain they have been getting away with it. The Pios have the best penalty kill in the league and have scored a WCHA leading five shorthanded goals. UNO’s power play has been on the decline as they Mavericks have only scored three goals on forty-three chances since January 22nd. Denver needs a good start, they are 17-0-3 when leading or tied after two periods. UNO has been good at home and on only one occasion have they let a team leave the Qwest Center with more than two points (that one time was in January though).
Mike Chambers talks about Dustin Jackson roots in Omaha and Coach Gwozdecky talks about the MacNuaghton cup
"It's a terrific race, certainly . . . But we're looking forward to this weekend for a number of reasons. We want to build off what we reestablished last Saturday (5-1 win over MTU), because there's no question that our previous five games weren't our best. We want to continue to build because, with four games left in the regular season, there's not much more time to fine-tune your game before the postseason. So that's the emphasis right now."
In some Jesse Martin feel good news: Time to call it a comeback?