OMAHA, Neb. - Sometimes, you can go home again.
 
For Omaha Mavericks graduate student forward Jack Randl, returning to the city of Omaha, which first put him on the radar of hockey coaches, has now brought him a second chance on his hockey career.
 
After attracting attention from the USHL through his stellar youth hockey play with the Chicago Mission, Randl landed with the Omaha Lancers as a 16-year-old during the 2016-17 season. The Carpentersville, Illinois native took a big step forward in his second campaign with the Lancers, netting 20 goals and 32 points while also suiting up for Team USA in the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament.
 
Randl’s stock rose meteorically during the 2017-18 season, which also saw him commit to play college hockey at the University of Michigan. Progress is not always linear, however, and Randl struggled to get ice time in Ann Arbor. In his lone season with the Wolverines, he skated in 22 games and registered just one assist.
 
“My time at Michigan was a learning experience,” Randl said. “That said, it was good for me that next year to go back to juniors and rediscover who I was as a player and get back to loving hockey and having fun playing. It worked out getting an opportunity to come to UNO. I’m happy I was able to find a home here and everything worked out for my college career.”
 
Following his freshman campaign, Randl returned to the USHL to suit up as the Lancers’ captain during the 2019-20 season. As the Lancers’ leader, he posted his finest season with 49 points (12 goals, 37 assists) in 50 games. With Randl comfortable in the Omaha community, Mavericks’ head coach Mike Gabinet leaped at the chance to keep a player he always had his eye on in the area. That move has paid off for both Randl and UNO.
 
“Even when he was a Michigan commit, we really liked him,” Gabinet said. “When he came back to the Lancers, he was someone I went after right away. I always loved the way he played. He was their captain and had the character and work ethic that was attractive to us as a program. It took a while to get him as a lot of teams wanted him, but it was great when he gave me that phone call and committed to Omaha.”
 
Randl entered his second college season with uncertainty surrounding whether there would even be college hockey that year. The COVID-19 pandemic forced the NCAA to cancel sports seasons right before the 2020 National Collegiate Hockey Conference Playoffs. College hockey entered October, most teams’ typical opening month of the season, without a schedule in place. That was until the NCHC announced that Omaha would host all league games to start the year in a 40-game ‘Pod’ setup similar to what the NHL did for its Stanley Cup Playoffs that year.
 
“The Pod was a weird experience, but we were all just so happy that we got to play games,” Randl said. “Getting all the teams into Omaha to play was fun. While we were all alone in our hotel rooms, we were still eating all our meals together and at the rink together. It was fun being around the guys all the time.”
 
With college hockey underway, Randl suited up regularly in his first year with the Mavericks, playing 24 of the team’s 28-game campaign. He netted 13 points on five goals and eight assists as UNO made its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2015.
 
Randl’s consistent approach has helped him become a leader for the Mavericks. After notching 20 points (9g/11a) and helping Omaha post 21 victories in 2021-22 (the team’s most since 2010-11 and second-most in program history), he earned additional responsibilities by earning a letter on his jersey as an assistant captain. Randl thrived with the additional responsibility and enjoyed a breakout season last year by leading the Mavericks with 34 points on 18 goals and 16 assists as they notched a third-place finish in the NCHC standings (their highest since 2014-15). He also helped lead them to a third-straight winning season for the first time since 2004-07.
 
“His consistency stands out,” Gabinet said. “Jack’s one of those players that does the same thing over and over again, which is difficult to do. He’s a quiet leader who leads by example but also speaks up at the right times to contribute there as well. He leads by action and is important because those speak the loudest. I think people respect leaders who do the right things instead of just saying the right things.”
 
On the heels of last year’s statistical breakout, goals were much harder to come by as Randl’s final collegiate season began. The winger notched just three points in the team’s first 11 games, although Omaha went 7-3-1 in that span. While Randl has caught fire with 13 points in 12 games since, his approach and preparation never changed from when the puck wasn’t going in the net to now, when it is.
 
“He wasn’t having success early this season, but you didn’t see his game change at all,” grad student forward and captain Nolan Sullivan said. “He kept going to work and he maintained the same attitude because he just wants to win at the end of the day. He’s a team-first guy whether or not he is having individual success. Now that he’s having it, there’s no surprise to us because he brings the same work ethic every day.”

 

At 12-9-3, an unprecedented fourth-straight winning season is within reach in Randl’s final season with the Mavs. However, a return trip to the NCAA Tournament has proven elusive since UNO’s 2021 postseason appearance. With Omaha narrowly missing the past two NCAA Tournaments, it is looking to consistent performers like Randl to move the Mavs above the cut line come NCAA selection time.
 
Randl helped set the tone in UNO’s most recent chance to bolster its postseason resume last weekend. Omaha entered a critical road series against NCHC co-leader St. Cloud State on a three-game losing streak and Randl set the tone by netting two goals in a wild, 7-6 overtime victory in game one. The Mavericks finished the series with a 1-1 tie and nabbed four of six league points while also helping its PairWise ranking (19th).
 
“We’ve played really good hockey with a tough schedule,” senior forward Matt Miller said. “We have a good game plan and our special teams are coming around at the right time. We want to build momentum down the stretch and get into the tournament. It comes down to executing the game plan, which we think we have in place. Putting together a full 60 minutes every night is what we need to make that final push.”
 
With 10 regular season games left before the NCHC Playoffs, the Mavericks aim to make a final push to secure their fifth berth in the NCAA Tournament. Having made an appearance in their first year together, UNO’s leadership core of Randl, Sullivan and Miller have postseason success circled as a goal in their quest to leave a lasting legacy with the Mavs.
 
“We’ve taken some good steps as a program the last couple years,” Randl said. “We wanted to take the next step of being a good playoff team and get into the tournament. That’s something we’ve been working hard at this year. It’s fun playing good teams every night and we just want to get better every night so when the home stretch comes, we’re clicking on all cylinders and hitting our stride. We have a good group and we’ve shown it by beating good teams, so we have a belief in each other to get things done.”
 
Omaha returns to the ice on Friday when it opens a series with Minnesota Duluth at Baxter Arena at 7:37 p.m. CT. The game is televised nationally on CBS Sports Network.