The UNO hockey team released its roster Monday. As expected, the Mavs will enter the WCHA with an abundance of underclassmen.

But second-year coach Dean Blais said he believes that his first full class of recruits can contribute immediately, and many of the 11 newcomers arrive with extensive United States Hockey League experience.

Of the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s 26 players, 16 will be freshmen or sophomores. After going 20-16-6 last season, the Mavericks graduated seven seniors and all three team captains.

By joining the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, widely regarded as the NCAA’s toughest conference, the Mavs now will regularly take on heavyweight programs such as Minnesota, North Dakota, Denver, Wisconsin and St. Cloud State.

The Mavs will enter the league with Bemidji State, a budding Division I program that advanced to the Frozen Four in 2009.

“I think our fans will really get an appreciation this year for how strong the WCHA is,” Blais said. “But we’ve brought in some guys who will have a chance to play right away, so now it’s time to get to work.”

The new players consist of 10 freshmen and one sophomore. The list has six forwards, four defensemen and rookie goalie Mike Taffe, who went 20-6-1 with a 2.67 goals-against average last season for the North America Hockey League’s Fairbanks Ice Dogs.

Bryce Aneloski, the top scorer among USHL defensemen last season, will come to UNO as a sophomore. A seventh-round pick by the NHL’s Ottawa Senators, Aneloski played 16 games at Providence College in 2008-09 before rejoining Cedar Rapids last year.

UNO freshmen include USHL standouts Matt White, Ryan Walters and Brock Montpetit, all forwards. White, the USHL’s 2009 player of the year with the Omaha Lancers, ranked second in the league with 82 points.

Others who will come to Omaha with proven offensive punch are Canadians Zahn Raubenheimer and Michael Young.

Raubenheimer, a forward, tied for the lead in the Alberta Junior Hockey League with 107 points in 60 games.

Young, who had 46 points in 55 games last season, ranked fourth in scoring among defensemen in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League.

UNO returns six players who had 20 or more points last season in Rich Purslow, Joey Martin, Alex Hudson, Terry Broadhurst, Matt Ambroz and Eric Olimb.

Five of the nine defensemen — seniors Olimb, Nick Von Bokern and Pasko Skarica and juniors Matt Smith and Kyle Ensign — are upperclassmen. But sophomore John Faulkner, who was 13-10-4 last season with a 2.60 GAA, is the team’s only goalie with NCAA experience.

“Any time you have 11 new guys on a team, there’s going to be some unknowns,” UNO associate head coach Mike Hastings said. “But I think we’ve had a tremendous summer, with everybody doing an awful lot of work in the weight room.

“I think we have some guys who are ready to take some strides, both ones who are new and ones who already have been in the program.”

UNO will open Oct. 2 at Qwest Center Omaha with a 7 p.m. exhibition against the University of British Columbia.

The roster:

Forwards (14): Rich Purslow, 5-foot-10, 169-pound, Sr.; Matt Ambroz, 6-4, 207, Sr.; Joey Martin, 5-10, 178, Sr.; Alex Hudson, 6-0, 209, Jr.; Jordan Willert, 6-3, 224, Jr.; Brandon Richardson, 6-0, 212, So.; Brent Gwidt, 6-2, 224, So.; Terry Broadhurst, 5-11, 162, So.; Alex Simonson, 6-2, 201, Fr.; Brock Montpetit, 5-11, 189, Fr.; Zahn Raubenheimer, 5-10, 176, Fr.; Johnny Searfoss, 6-0, 185, Fr.; Ryan Walters, 6-0, 188, Fr.; Matt White, 5-10, 185, Fr.

Defensemen (9): Nick Von Bokern, 6-4, 222, Sr.; Pasko Skarica, 6-5, 225, Sr.; Eric Olimb, 6-0, 203, Sr.; Matt Smith, 6-2, 202, Jr.; Kyle Ensign, 5-11, 190, Jr.; Bryce Aneloski, 6-2, 207, So.; Andrei Sustr, 6-8, 200, Fr.; Michael Young, 6-3, 213, Fr.; Tony Turgeon, 6-4, 228, Fr.

Goalies (3): John Faulkner, 6-1, 207, So.; Fredrik Bergman, 6-5, 176, RFr..; Mike Taffe, 6-0, 191, Fr.

Contact the writer:

444-1207, chad.purcell@owh.com

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