UNO games with North Dakota are a little more normal these days.

Instead of being one of the biggest series in the history of the Maverick hockey program, it's merely a huge midseason series that has season-long implications in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association.

When UNO and North Dakota squared off for the first time ever last season, Mav coach Dean Blais was going against the program at which he had spent 19 seasons and won four national championships, including 10 years and two titles as the head coach.

"There's a special feeling," Blais said. "It's not just another game when you're playing Minnesota (his alma mater), North Dakota or Wisconsin, Denver. I look at those type of teams as being the flagship of our league. And North Dakota has had more success than anyone since I left."

UNO and North Dakota split a spirited four-game series last year, UNO's first in the WCHA. The teams split both in Omaha in November and again in Grand Forks in January.

And while Blais deflects much of the him vs. North Dakota talk and doesn't dwell on it with his players, they know all about it.

"He seems pretty normal," UNO center Brock Montpetit said. "Last year it was just another week for him — I mean, they're North Dakota and they were the team to beat — but it was also just another hockey team that we had to play our game against.

"It's always in the back of our minds, that it's his old team and getting wins for him is big and good for his pride. The fans there cheered louder for him than they did their own team. That was a pretty cool thing."

Blais isn't the only Mav name familiar to Fighting Sioux fans.

UNO freshmen Josh Archibald, Dayn Belfour and Dominic Zombo are all sons of former Fighting Sioux stars. Jim Archibald and Ed Belfour are members of North Dakota's athletic hall of fame.

"There's a lot of old friends," Blais said. "It'll be fun to see them at the booster luncheon on Friday afternoon. But it's not a distraction. Our players and our staff will be focused going in there."

No. 19 North Dakota, ranked No. 3 in the preseason, is back on track after opening WCHA play by going 0-3, 1-5 and 2-6. The Fighting Sioux have won four straight games to move into a tie for fourth in the league, three points behind third-place UNO.

"This is the typical time of year when they start kicking it in, and they're always a good second-half team," Blais said. "I don't know why they struggle at the start of the year, but it's a (coach) Dave Hakstol trademark that as the season goes along, his players get better."

That's fine with the Mavs, who probably couldn't have played much worse last weekend in losing the opening game of a series with previously winless Alabama-Huntsville 3-1.

"They've won four in row, so they're obviously playing their best hockey right now," defenseman Bryce Aneloski said. "And that's good. You'd rather play teams that are playing well. Hopefully that brings out the best in us."

UNO dominated UAH 6-2 on Saturday and has a chance to either keep pace with No. 2 Minnesota (10-2, 20 points) and No. 1 Minnesota-Duluth (9-2-1, 19 points) or potentially fall back closer to, or even behind, the likes of North Dakota, No. 6 Colorado College, No. 11 Denver and others in the WCHA.

"We've got to forget about (last Friday) and move on for the weekend, but we've got to remember why it was we lost that game," defenseman Michael Young said. "We weren't emotionally prepared. The second game, you could tell the difference. We need to go into these games knowing that we win by working hard."

Last year in Omaha, North Dakota came from behind to win the opener 6-5, then UNO won 1-0 the following night on Alex Hudson's goal with less than one second left in regulation. At Grand Forks in January, the Mavs scored more goals than any Sioux opponent in arena history in an 8-4 win in the opener before North Dakota won 4-2 the following night, with all six goals coming in the final period.

"After the intense series we had last year, I think we can carry it into this weekend and have some great games against them," Montpetit said.

Contact the writer:

402-444-1027, rob.white@owh.com

twitter.com/RWhiteOWH

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