The Omaha Mavericks men's ice hockey team, also called the Nebraska Omaha Mavericks and UNO Mavericks,The school's athletic identity varies according to the source: The school historically used "Nebraska–Omaha" (with a dash or hyphen) or "UNO", but now brands its program as "Omaha". Its all-sports conference, The Summit League, has exclusively used "Omaha" since the school joined that league in 2012. The National Collegiate Hockey Conference now uses "Omaha" as well. The non-hyphenated "Nebraska Omaha", which reflects the university's official name, was consistently used by the Western Collegiate Hockey Association during the school's tenure in that conference. The school's athletic program has never used this specific form. National media tend to use the hyphenated "Nebraska-Omaha". is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college ice hockey program that represents the University of Nebraska Omaha. The Mavericks are a member of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC). They play home games at Baxter Arena, an on-campus facility that opened in 2015. The Mavericks hockey program was started in 1997; the team has qualified for the NCAA tournament on five occasions, in 2006, 2011, 2015, 2021, and 2024. During the 2015 tournament, the team made their first appearance in the tournament semifinals, branded by the NCAA as the Frozen Four. The Mavericks competed in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) between 1999 and 2010 before joining the WCHA for the 2010–11 season. The Mavericks joined the National Collegiate Hockey Conference starting in the 2013–14 season along with fellow charter members Colorado College, the University of Denver, Miami University, the University of Minnesota Duluth, and the University of North Dakota, plus invited founding members St. Cloud State University and Western Michigan University.

History

Early history (1995–1999) In June 1995, the University of Nebraska Omaha began talks with local hockey supporters on the feasibility of a varsity men's ice hockey program. Shortly thereafter, the school re-hired long-time Athletic Director Don Leahy. Leahy returned to the school after a ten-year absence to start the hockey program. On May 1, 1996, the university announced that they would add a varsity men's ice hockey team for the 1997–98 season. Although the school was a Division II team in all other sports, UNO joined Division I for ice hockey. Season tickets went on sale shortly thereafter. By May 16 of that year, the university capped season ticket sales at 6,389 just two weeks after the university announced the creation of the team. The Omaha City Council, encouraged by the support for the Mavericks, approved an ice sheet for the Omaha Civic Auditorium shortly thereafter.

On June 26, 1996, Leahy hired Mike Kemp to be the first Maverick hockey coach. Kemp had spent the previous 14 years as an assistant and head recruiter for the University of Wisconsin, helping them to nine NCAA tournament appearances and a national championship in 1990. It was a return to Omaha for Kemp, who was the head coach for UNO's club hockey team in its brief existence in 1975 and 1976. Kemp hired former NHL first round draft choice David Quinn as his top assistant and head recruiter, and set about recruiting a team for the 1997 season. They establish the school's first Division I men's ice hockey program, which began playing during the 1997–98 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season.

UNO played its first season as an Independent in 1997-98. On October 17, 1997, a sellout crowd at the Civic Auditorium saw the team for the first time in a 3–2 exhibition loss to the University of Manitoba. Despite a midseason ten-game losing streak, the Mavericks finished with an encouraging 12–18–3 record. The Mavericks earned a surprising sweep over traditional powerhouse Denver and a 4–3 road victory over Maine, a night after losing 11–0. The team sold out all 19 of their home games to finish second in the NCAA in attendance. Following UNO's first season, the Mavericks made the somewhat surprising decision to apply for membership to the Central Collegiate Hockey Association. Many expected the school to seek admission to the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, as the conference was a better geographic fit and included UNO's Division II North Central Conference rivals Minnesota State, North Dakota, and St. Cloud State. However, the school was intrigued by matchups against big-name foes like Michigan, Ohio State, and Notre Dame, and was accepted into the CCHA on June 24, 1998. UNO would become a full member of the conference starting with the 1999–2000 season. The Mavericks struggled in their second season as an independent, starting the season 2–18–0 en route to an 11–24–0 record. UNO won only one of seven games against future CCHA opponents, a 6–1 victory over Bowling Green. Despite the poor record, the school once again sold out all of its home games, finishing third in the NCAA in home attendance.

CCHA years (1999–2009) UNO surprised many in the 1999–2000 season, its first in the CCHA. The team finished with a 10–12–6 record in the conference, good for seventh in the conference and a berth in the CCHA tournament. The Mavericks took the best-of-three first-round series at fourth-seeded Northern Michigan. In other first-round action, eighth-seeded Bowling Green upset Lake Superior State; the Falcons' victory meant that the Civic Auditorium would host a one-game playoff for the right to go to the CCHA Final Four. In front of a sellout raucous home crowd, the Mavericks won 3–1 in a game that became known in Maverick lore as simply "Tuesday Night". The Mavericks kept the Cinderella run alive at the Final Four, as they stunned top-seeded Michigan 7–4 in front of a pro-Michigan crowd at Joe Louis Arena. UNO entered the tournament final against Michigan State one game away from qualifying for the NCAA Tournament in their first year as a CCHA member. After the teams entered the first intermission scoreless, the Spartans scored three goals over a 5:29 span in the second period to break the game open en route to a 6–0 victory.

On the heels of their surprising run at the 2000 CCHA Tournament, the Mavericks began the season ranked number 13 in the USCHO.com Poll and number 14 in the USA Today poll, the first time the Mavericks had been nationally ranked in their short history. The Mavericks hosted the Maverick Stampede for the first time that year, a four-team season opening tournament that has been held in each year since 2000. The UNO topped Niagara in the tournament before falling to 4th-ranked Boston College in the final. Perhaps as a result of heightened expectations, the Mavericks struggled early in the season, falling to a season worst 6–8–0 at the end of November. The team eventually put things together, finishing with the school's first winning record at 24–15–3. After falling out of both polls by midseason, the Mavericks were ranked #13 in the final USCHO.com and USA Today polls, although they again came up just short of the then-12 team NCAA Tournament. The 24 victories are still a Maverick record for a single season. Sophomore David Brisson tallied 22 goals and 47 points, shattering the team record in both categories that he had set a year earlier (17, 32). Following the season, future NHLer Greg Zanon became the first Mav to be named an All-American, when the ACHA named him to their All-America Second Team.

The 2001–02 season was a mixture of success and disappointment for UNO. For the second consecutive year, UNO posted more than 20 wins, finishing 21–16–4. Zanon again was named second-team All-America; he was joined on the team by Jeff Hoggan, who topped Brisson's school record with 24 goals. However, the team again failed to qualify for the NCAA Tournament, a disappointment given that the team had been ranked as high as #5 in both major polls early in the season and returned its top four points scorers and future NHL goaltender Dan Ellis from the previous season's 24-win team.

The Mavericks were unable to build on the consecutive winning seasons in the following years. In 2002–03, the team was within striking distance of a third consecutive winning season before limping to a 13–22–5 record after going winless in their last eight games. The 2002–03 would be the last in which UNO was a full-time tenant of the Civic Auditorium after selling out all 131 games that they played in the arena. Following the season, they would move to the newly constructed 14,700-seat Qwest Center Omaha. The following season, 2003–04, was the Mavericks' worst to date, as a young UNO team finished last in the conference with an 8–26–5 record. Despite this, the Mavericks continued to draw fans; although the team was unable to sell out the new arena, they finished fourth in the NCAA in attendance. The Mavericks rebounded the following season to finish 19–16–4. The team was led by a promising set of young players. Sophomore Scott Parse tallied a team-high 49 points, and freshman Bill Thomas added 45 more. Following the season, Thomas was named CCHA Freshman of the Year and Kemp was named CCHA Coach of the Year, the first two major awards in the program's history.

The 2005–06 season was UNO's most successful to date. The team used a ten-game unbeaten streak in January and February to finish 20–12–6 to earn their first-ever berth in the NCAA Tournament. Parse set team records with 41 assists and 61 points and was UNO's first Hobey Baker Award finalist. Following the season, Parse became the first Maverick selected as a first-team All-American and Conference Player of the Year. Thomas scored a team-record 27 goals, combining with Parse to form the most potent first line in UNO history. The two helped the Mavericks to 141 goals, the most in the CCHA. The team struggled defensively after the previous year's goaltender Chris Holt signed with the New York Rangers in the offseason. Walk-on freshman Jerad Kaufmann – the third-string goalie at the beginning of the season – eventually laid claim to the job. UNO's inexperience eventually got the best of the team, as they were dominated by Boston University in a 9–2 loss in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The Terriers broke open a 1–1 game with a six-goal second period to end UNO's first NCAA Tournament appearance. Once again, the Mavericks could not build on their successes in the following seasons, as they finished in the middle of the pack each year in the conference. The squad finished two games over .500 in 2006–07, followed by finishing two games under .500 for the next two seasons. In 2008–09, the team started out 12–4–3 – the best start in school history – before collapsing down the stretch and winning only three of their last 21 games.

WCHA years (2010–2013)