'Long December': Mavs Look to Return to Winning Ways

No. 11 UNO vs. Bemidji State  Where: Qwest Center Omaha  When: Friday at 7:37 p.m.

UNO head coach Dean Blais will no doubt be
looking for revenge this weekend against Bemidji
State. "Nothing is better than (beating) a team that
beat you in the first half," said  Blais on his weekly
radio show. "This is the time to even it up."

It seems Adam Duritz and the Counting Crows had it right. 

It’s been a long December and there’s reason to

believe Maybe this  year will be better than the last

Or at least it must seem like it has for Dean Blais and the UNO hockey team.  Whether or not the new year will bring better results is still unknown.

The Mavs came into December as one of the hottest teams in the country.  Their 9-2-1 record included a road sweep at Minnesota and a split with No. 3 Michigan in the not-so-friendly confines of Yost Arena.  Whatever concern 'experts' had over the Mavs perceived lack of experience seemed to be stilled by the time North Dakota and its seven National Championships came to town for a November series.  The two teams treated 18,000 fans to two nights of exciting WCHA hockey, culminating in a game-winning goal by UNO junior forward Alexex Hudson with no time remaining. Things were going great for the Mavs and their second year head coach.

And then December came. 
The Mavs went 3-5, scoring just 19 goals in the process. The turn of fate gave those who picked the Mavs to finish No. 8 and 9 in their inaugural WCHA season a sigh of relief.The month began with a trip north to Bemidji, Minn., where they were swept by a Beavers team that had won only three of their first 12 games. 
What happened on that trip north was an indication of things to come. Perhaps it was the quality of the opponent; perhaps it was a lack of focus after some time off. Whatever it was, the Mavs had their worst series of the season scoring only one goal. Their 3-0, and 3-1 losses in front of a raucous Bemidji crowd marked the first time since a December 2009 trip to Ferris State that UNO was unable to earn a single point in a conference matchup.  
A loss at Colorado College and a sweep at the hands of non-conference opponent Quinnipiac followed, and the hot-start Mavs seemed to be coming back down to earth. It seems appropriate then that the Mavs will have a chance to exorcise some demons and get a fresh start to 2011 as Bemidji State travels to Omaha this weekend. 
Despite its recent problems, UNO sits a point out of second place in the WCHA and has a chance to improve on that mark a weekend prior to a series with No. 2 North Dakota. Improving on their conference standing means the Mavs will also have to improve on some parts of their game that have been lacking for the last month.  Specifically, they'll have to get better at taking fewer penalties and blocking more shots. 
"When we went 8-1 we were blocking 14, 15 shots a game and now we're right around seven or eight," said Blais.  "That's the difference between one or two goals at times depending on the situation."

During their current 3-5 slide, the Mavs have given up 11 goals on 37 power play chances; good for a dismal 70 percent.  The first 12 games saw UNO surrender only six power play goals on 65 opportunities. 
UNO will also need to improve offensively. The last time the Beavers and Mavs met, UNO mustered only one goal on 65 shots.  Bemidji junior goalie Dan Bakala  ranks fourth in the WCHA with a  2.16 goals-against average and third in the league with a .922 save percentage.  
 Follow the Mavs live on twitter!