59 Teams in 59 Days Nebraska-Omaha

The 59 Teams in 59 Days tour continues with a trip to Omaha, Nebraska, where the Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks are featured.

Head coach Mike Kemp and the Mavericks are coming off their first ever NCAA tournament apperance. With the talent coming back this year, I won't be surprised if they make the NCAA's again. However, they are in a very tough CCHA conference which could see five teams fighting for home ice in the first round. Nebraska-Omaha is one of them as well as Northern Michigan, Ferris State, Ohio State, Alaska, and Notre Dame. It will be an intresting battle this season.

Bill Thomas, the teams leading goal scorer last year, left for the NHL. However, the teams leading scorer will probably be returning in Scott Parse, who could be a Hobey Baker finalist this year. Along with Parse, some key scorers returning are Bryan Marshall, Tomas Klempa, Alex Nikiforuk, and Brandon Scero. That is the five out of the six leading scorers on the team that are returning. So on offense there is no problem.

Defensively it was an up and down year for the Mavericks in 2005-2006. However five defensemen return from last years squad, which will help out goaltender Jared Kaufmann who had a goals against average of exactly 3.00. Expect his goals against average to improve.

Overall Head Coach Mike Kemp has a solid club this year. The Mavericks could have the top offense in the country, and with the defense improving, this team could sneak up on some teams again come tournament time. Expect Nebraska-Omaha to be talked about come March as a team on the outside looking in. Of course there could be many teams in the country looking at that scenerio for now.

The predicted ceiling for Nebraska-Omaha is fourth in the CCHA, while their gutter is eighth.

Tommorrow we will make a trip to Durahm, New Hampshire where the New Hampshire Wildcats will be featured as we hit day number 38 in the 59 Teams in 59 Days tour.