OMAHA, Neb. – Omaha hockey head coach Dean Blais announced today that former Maverick Mike Gabinet will join his staff as the team's associate head coach.

“Mike is an outstanding coach who has had great success as both a head coach and assistant at Northern Alberta Institute of Technology,” said Blais.  “He impressed us right away with his knowledge and passion for the game and as an alum, he is all in with what it means to be a Maverick.”

“It was important for us to find someone with a prior connection to our program and a distinguished one at that,” said associate athletic director Mike Kemp who oversees hockey and was the former head coach.  

“When we recruited Mike as a player, we saw in him someone who had a great mind for the game.  He looked at that game more deeply than the average player, and some of that likely was because he was the grandson of Canadian coaching legend Clare Drake, and because Mike is also the son of a coach.”

Gabinet recently completed his first season as the head coach of NAIT after three years as an associate coach there.  He led his team to the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference Championship with a perfect 36-0 record.  He was named the ACAC Coach of the Year and became the first rookie head coach to guide his team to the conference championship since 2005-06.  He also was the first rookie head coach in Canadian college hockey history to guide his team to an undefeated season.  

Under Gabinet's guidance, the Ooks set an ACAC record for regular season wins (32) and overall wins (36), and they also became just the second team in 51 years to go undefeated.

"I am really excited to come back to Omaha and share this great community with my family,” said Gabinet.  “I am looking forward to working alongside Dean and his staff in helping our student-athletes, the team and the program continue to grow."

The native of Edmonton, Alberta was a defenseman for the Mavericks from 2000-2004 and served as an alternate captain during his senior year.  He played in 130 career games, earning six goals and 41 assists for 47 points.  He still ranks ninth all-time in scoring for UNO defensemen.  A draft pick of the Los Angeles Kings in 2001, Gabinet played professionally in the American Hockey League, the ECHL and in Europe before turning to coaching in 2012.

The Mavericks still have one coaching vacancy to fill, and that search is on-going.