3. University of Nebraska-Omaha

University of Nebraska-Omaha

Key losses: Dan Hacker, F; Brett Davis, D; Anthony Adams, F
Key Returnees: Scott Parse, F; Bill Thomas, F; Joe Grimaldi, D; Chris Holt, G
Key Recruits: Dan Charleston, F; Tomas Klempa, F
Projected Leading Scorer: Bill Thomas

Grades:
Offense: B+
Defense: B
Goaltending: B+
Coaching: C+

Analysis:

Last season, Omaha was the CCHA’s surprise team, going from dead last to fourth place. Past history would dictate that Omaha would backslide a bit this year and not have the same type of success. That won’t be the case however. The difference between Omaha and Miami last year, Ferris State two years ago, and UAF three years ago is that all those teams were led by seniors when they were successful, and had nobody left the following season. That’s not the case with Omaha. Omaha will only lose one regular player off of their team last season (Dan Hacker). In fact, 10 of their 11 top scorers from this past season were underclassmen. The future looks very bright in Nebraska.

Omaha features one of the most underrated players in all of college hockey in Scott Parse. Parse was a late acquisition for Omaha two years ago, not committing to the school until late August before his freshman season. Parse was the lone bright spot in a dismal 03-04 campaign when he led the team in scoring with 35 points in 39 games. Last season, he scored 49 points, which was good for 10th in the country.

Part of the reason for Parse’s breakout season was being paired with the best freshmen in the country last year in Bill Thomas. Thomas has the potential to dominate the CCHA this year.

Aside from Thomas, UNO also got excellent freshmen seasons out of a pair of forwards on the second line in Bryan Marshall and Brandon Scero, and all-freshmen team defenseman Joe Grimaldi. It was a bit of luck that helped Omaha bring in that amazing freshmen class. If Michigan would have had more than two scholarships to hand out last season, Grimaldi might have ended up at Michigan. Scero originally committed to Ohio State before a fiasco that OSU claimed involved grades, and Scero claimed involved over-recruiting, caused OSU to release Scero, freeing him up for the Mavericks.

Omaha doesn’t have a lot of playmakers on defense besides the aforementioned Grimaldi and Dan Knapp, but have guys that are capable of playing a sound defensive game. The Mavericks will have to rely on their talented forwards to put up goals so that their defense isn’t required to take too many chances. In goal, Chris Holt has the potential to be an outstanding goalie. He’s been brilliant at moments and could steal games on occasions for the Mavericks.

The biggest problem for the Mavericks last season was winning games on the road. They were excellent at home in front of their dedicated and raucous fans, but struggled on the road. With another year of maturity, they should be better in this aspect.

All in all, the Mavericks should be on the verge of their first ever NCAA tournament appearance. They may be even better in two years when all the underclassmen from this past year are upperclassmen, but they have the potential to do great things. My prediction is that their end of the season series against Minnesota State will decide which of those two teams picks up the last NCAA tournament berth.