2013-14 Utah Season Preview

Utah Opens Season Against BYU, WSU

The Road to Boston begins this weekend as the Utah Skatin’ Utes open the 2013-2014 season with a pair of games against in-state rivals.

The journey begins on Friday night as the Utes head to Provo to take on their biggest rival in the BYU Cougars. The rivalry may seem lopsided in the Utes’ favor recently, but the all-time record in the series is tied at 19 wins each going into Friday’s game. The rivalry has been one of win streaks however, with BYU winning the first 17 games in the series. Since then, the Utes have won 19 of the last 21 games and are currently on a 13-game win streak against the Cougars.

BYU is currently 0-1 on the season after starting the year with an 11-1 loss to Weber State last Saturday. The team is led by junior defenseman Nick Bartholomew, who scored the lone goal in the loss. Last year, Bartholomew led the team’s defense in points with 15 on the season. The Cougars have all-new goaltenders this year, with Tanton Jeppson and Jared Bussell spending time between the pipes. Jeppson saw the most time on Saturday, picking up 37 saves on 46 shots in the loss to Weber State.

After the trip to Provo, the Utes head back home for their home opener against West Division power Weber State. Weber State leads the all-time series record 11-7 and took two of three games against the Utes last year. The road team won every game in this series last year as well.

The Wildcats (2-0) are coming in with a big start to their season, picking up a 4-3 overtime win over last year’s #1 Utah State and drubbing BYU 11-1 last weekend. Most of last year’s Wildcat team is still intact this year, so the guys to watch out for are forwards Dax Hobbs and Braxton Green. As a freshman last year, Hobbs led the nation in goals with 47 in 35 games and finished 7th in the nation in points with 74. He has picked up right where he left off last year, putting up six points against BYU last Saturday. His senior counterpart had a tremendous season last year as well, finishing 9th in points with 72 and in goals with 36. Green had two goals and an assist in their win against BYU. With Green and Hobbs on the Weber State first line, the team is a big scoring threat.

After leaving the team halfway through last season, Ian Frank is back in net for the Wildcats. So far he has a 2-0 record this year with a 92% save percentage and a GAA of 2.00. Frank has only faced the Utes twice and has given up 10 goals in those two games.

As the Utes open up the season, the team looks to build on the momentum they’ve gained from back-to-back regional final appearances and winning last year’s PAC-8 Championship. The team is focused for a run at Nationals thanks to new additions to the team that could get the team there.

Newcomer Josh Dangel joins an already potent Utah offense, which finished 3rd in the nation in goals scored last year. He’ll join returning players Beau Bertagnolli and Chase McDonald on Utah’s first line. Dangel comes to Utah after recently playing with the Kalamazoo Jr. K-Wings in the NAHL. Bertagnolli won the ACHA scoring title in 2011 and McDonald finished 3rd in the nation last year in points. With goaltender Pete Gibb still out recovering from off-season surgery, the Utes have added another goalie to the fold this year. Joining veteran Devan Betts between the pipes will be newcomer Chris Komma. He comes to Utah after playing last year with the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners in the NOJHL along with time with the Corpus Christi Ice Rays in the NAHL.

Friday night’s game against BYU starts at 7pm mountain time in Provo. The home opener on Saturday night against Weber State kicks off at 8:30pm mountain time. Both games will be broadcasted on Utah Hockey on Ustream, which can be found here: https://universityofutahhockey.com/multimedia/broadcasts/game-video/