As the University of Nebraska at Omaha prepares to take college hockey’s annual Christmas break, it must also contemplate playing the second half of the season without one of its senior leaders.

Maverick coach Dean Blais dismissed senior center Alex Hudson from the team Thursday for a second violation of team rules this season.

“We’ll have to juggle the lines and make the best of what we have,” said Blais, who would not give specifics as to what rules Hudson broke. “Obviously a guy who was a senior captain at the start of the year … a leader, is now not on the team. We’ll move forward.”

Hudson, a 6-foot, 209-pounder from Corona, Calif., had four goals and six assists while playing in 16 of the Mavs’ 20 games this season.

Originally named a captain along with forward Terry Broadhurst in September, Hudson was stripped of his captaincy and suspended for the first four games for his first violation of team rules.

Still, teammates hailed his return to the lineup in late October and were just getting used to losing him again Thursday.

“It’s kind of shocking,” sophomore winger Matt White said. “He’s a great player and obviously a big part of our team as one of our leaders. I don’t really know what to say. It’s a huge loss.”

Hudson, Broadhurst and White formed a dynamic line that was among the WCHA’s most productive in October and November. Blais later split that line up to get more production throughout the roster.

Now Blais is considering tightening the playing rotation among his forwards.


“We don’t have many natural centermen,” Blais said. “We’ve got wingers playing center already. We’ve got Brock Montpetit and Jayson Megna, and there’s no other natural centermen on the team.”

Brent Gwidt will likely center a third line, with Dominic Zombo and James Polk possibilities for a fourth line.

“Are we in good enough condition to play two lines? I don’t think so,” Blais said, chuckling. “Hopefully one of (Gwidt, Zombo and Polk) will play well enough to shorten our bench to three lines.

“Because of (Hudson’s dismissal), I don’t think we’re strong enough to play four lines the second half. We’re going to have to be in tremendous physical condition in the second half.”

Hudson scored the game-winning goal Oct. 28 at Wisconsin with 20.8 seconds left, capping a comeback from an early 3-0 deficit for a 5-4 win. Last year his goal with 0.3 seconds left was the only score in a thrilling 1-0 win against North Dakota.

“We’ve got a lot of guys with a lot of talent who are just going to have to step up,” Montpetit said. “Alex was a big part of our team. He’s a very good player, very good defensively, but we’re going to have to fill that spot.”

Hudson was tied for seventh on the team with 10 points and tied for third with a plus-2 rating.

“A lot of us younger guys are going to have to step up and start pulling more weight around here,” freshman winger Josh Archibald said. “A couple of us freshmen have done pretty well so far, and a couple more will hopefully start stepping up soon. And some of the older guys may have to become better leaders, even some of the sophomores and other young guys will have to become better leaders.”

Hudson was the only UNO senior playing regularly, with defensemen Kyle Ensign and Matt Smith in and out of the lineup. Broadhurst, Gwidt, defenseman Bryce Aneloski and goalie John Faulkner are the only juniors logging major minutes.

The development of the Mavs’ deep and talented freshman class, combined with a sophomore class that was productive last year, will help shape the team’s destiny.

“They’ve played a lot of hockey, so I think they can step in and fill that spot,” White said. “Everyone is going to pick it up once the second half starts. The freshman deal goes out the window in the second half, they’re vets, too. It’s going to be a total team effort.”

Hudson’s ability to win faceoffs and strength in front of the net are key attributes. He won 53.2 percent of his faceoffs, second only to Montpetit among Mavs who have taken more than 50 faceoffs.

“He’s been our best faceoff guy at times,” Blais said. “He wins them in critical situations. Sometimes he won’t win them in the offensive or neutral zones, but in the defensive zone, on the penalty kill, he finds a way to win those things, and that’s important. You lose that (faceoff) and all of a sudden a shot is in the net.”

Hudson had 13 goals and 18 assists as a junior and 14 goals and 11 assists as a sophomore. His career totals stand at 37 goals and 45 assists.

“It’s a big loss for him obviously, with NHL and AHL possibilities … what does he do now?” Blais said. “It’s real disappointing that this happened.”

Hudson brought more attributes to the ice that can’t be quantified.

“What does it do emotionally to the team?” Blais said. “When you’ve been a teammate of his for 3 ½ years, and now all of a sudden he’s gone halfway through his senior year, that’s disappointing mentally to his teammates.”

UNO is 9-8-3 overall, but is third in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association at 7-4-3 after a rugged first-half schedule put the Mavs on the road four of the previous five weekends.

After opening the second half with a nonconference home series with Quinnipiac Dec. 30 and 31, defending national champion Minnesota-Duluth comes to the CenturyLink Center for a series Jan. 13 and 14.

“Is Huddy being out enough to derail the train? We’ll see,” Blais said. “Because he was a big part of the emotion of our team.”

Contact the writer:

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

twitter.com/RWhiteOWH

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