Sophomore right wing Zach Budish is 6-3, 221. He is one of the bigger players on the Gophers hockey team and knows the challenge Nebraska Omaha will present on Friday and Saturday at Mariucci Arena.
"They have a lot of older guys that played a coule years of juniors," Budish said. "Their freshman are 20 years old and they got 23, 24 year olds on the team. Their defensemen are big and strong. We have to match their physical play and use our speed on the big sheet here and create chances."
The Gophers swept Massachusetts 5-3 and 5-4 last weekend to open the season. That was a nonconference series against a small, quick team from Hockey East.
The Mavericks, 2-0 and rated No. 17 in the national polls, will be different.
"It is their first WCHA game," Budish said. "They are going to be pumped up, and we are pumped up, too. We are ready to get the WCHA play going. Last year we finished seventh out of 10, which isn't acceptable. We are excited, too. We want to start out on a fresh note this year."
Last season the Gophers were 0-3-1 after starting the season with two games at North Dakota, the eventual Broadmoor Trophy (Final Five) winner, and two games at home against Denver, the eventual MacNaughton Cup (WCHA regular season) winner.
"We got off to a a good start last weekend, but now it is WCHA play so the intensity goes up a little more," Budish said.
UNO is the nation's biggest Division I team. The Mavericks average slightly over 6-1 in height and 199 pounds, one inch and 11 pounds more per man than the Gophers.