The Mavericks wrapped up the 2021 portion of their season this past weekend at the USPHL Chicago Showcase. In weekend marked overtime and shootout finishes, the Mavs return home with 6 points in tow after posting a 2-0-1-1 record. The weekend got off to a prosperous start as the Mavs faced off against the Dells Ducks in their first game on Friday. In an offensive showcase, featuring goals by Brian Odstrchel, Tyler Isherwood, Jackson Balemian, Anton Petrovskiy, Bailey Doust, Graham Wood, Chance Settles and a hat trick by Kevin Uhlir, the Mavs walked away with a 10-1 victory. Zach Waizmann got the start in net for the Mavericks and turned away 18 of the 19 shots he faced in the victory.

Saturday at the Showcase featured a double-header for the Mavs, starting with a mid-day game against the Minnesota Mullets. In what would turn out to be a hard-fought defensive battle, the Mullets jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the first period. After a scoreless second period, the Mavericks’ Bailey Doust leveled the score with a goal at the 8:00 mark, assisted by Nik Jozefiak and Anton Petrovskiy. Just 7 minutes later, Nik Jozefiak would give the Mavs a temporary lead with a power play goal assisted by Bailey Doust. That lead would not stand for long; however, as the Mullets would tie the game up just one minute later. That tie would hold through the end of regulation, sending the game into overtime. Despite multiple scoring chances in overtime, the Mullets would come out on top, scoring the winning goal with just 30 seconds left in the first overtime period. Alex Toth was in net for the Mavericks, stopping 23 of 26 shots in the outing.

The second game of the day on Saturday would see the Mavericks facing off against the host, Chicago Cougars. In yet another low scoring defensive battle, the Mavericks would fall behind in the first period after the Cougars drew first blood at the 9:00 mark. Following a scoreless second period, the Mavericks’ Tyler Isherwood would even the score with a goal just 30 seconds before the end of regulation, assisted by Nik Jozefiak and Bailey Doust. After a scoreless overtime period, the game would go into a shootout to decide the winner, where the host Cougars would come out on top. Frank Murphy got the start in net for the Mavericks and stopped 34 of 35 shots in regulation and overtime.

The busy weekend wrapped up on Sunday as the Mavericks matched up against the Midwest Blackbirds in their final showcase game. After a scoreless first period, the Blackbirds would jump out to a two-goal lead in the beginning of the second period. After settling down, the Mavs returned fire with three consecutive goals. The Mavs’ second period goals were scored by Graham Wood, assisted by Anton Petrovskiy, Tyler Isherwood, assisted by Anton Petrovskiy, and birthday boy, Brian Odstrchel, assisted by Colin Crowley. As the third period crossed the half-way point, former Maverick, Alex Perez would score the game-tying goal for the Blackbirds to send the contest into overtime. After a scoreless period of bonus hockey, the Mavericks would see their second shootout of the weekend, and in an ironic twist of fate, former Midwest Blackbird, Kevin Uhlir, would score the game-winning goal for the Mavs, against his former team. Zach Waizmann got his second start of the weekend and turned in a strong performance, stopping 38 of 41 shots in the victory.

The Mavericks will now be off for a few weeks for the holidays and will return to action with a home-and-home series against the Wooster Oilers, beginning with a home game on Friday, January 7th at OhioHealth Chiller North.