Janaury 26, 2017
Provo, UT
The biggest college hockey tournament in the state is here once again and bragging rights are up for grabs this weekend as the in-state teams battle it out for the 3rd Annual Wasatch Cup.
In its third year of existence, the tournament now features the five teams in the state of Utah after Utah Valley University rejoined the ACHA ranks this season. The teams will play a bracket style tournament Thursday through Saturday to decide the winner of the trophy.
The Utes are the back to back defending champion of the Wasatch Cup and will look for their third straight title this weekend in Provo, as the BYU Cougars play host to the tournament this season.
Before the tournament begins on Thursday night, here’s a look at each team heading into this year’s Wasatch Cup.
Utah Utes (ACHA D1)
The Utes are in their first season at the Division I level of the ACHA, and are doing quite well coming into the tournament with a 15-7 record. The Utes are playing a hybrid schedule this year, playing both D1 and D2 teams before going full D1 next year. The Utes are 11-0 against Division II opponents this season.
As mentioned before, the Utes have won the trophy in each year that the tournament has been played, beating Utah State in the championship game both times. The Utes also have a 20-game unbeaten streak over all of the of teams in the state, a streak that dates back to January of 2015.
Utah State Aggies (#1 seed ACHA D2)
The Utah State Aggies are in prime position to make it to the postseason once again, as they sit at number four in the latest ACHA Division II West Region Rankings and are the #1 seed of the Utah D2 teams in this year’s tournament with a 19-9-1 record. 2017 has been a roller coaster for Utah State so far, as they lost to BYU in Provo for the first time in ten years at the beginning of January. But the Aggies have won six straight since that loss, including a four game sweep in Colorado at a showcase over MLK weekend.
In the past Wasatch Cups, the Aggies have made it to the championship game both times by beating Weber State in the semifinals each year of the tournament. Despite their high ranking in the West Region, the Aggies are just 5-6 against the in-state teams this season
Weber State Wildcats (#2 seed ACHA D2)
The Weber State Wildcats come into this year’s tournament with an 18-12-1-1 record and are also in a good spot to advance to the playoffs, coming in at number six in the latest West Region Rankings. The Wildcats are coming off a weekend sweep over Montana Tech and Boise State going into the tournament, as they’ll try to get out of the first round of the tournament for the first time this season.
The Wildcats have lost to Utah State in the semifinals in both previous Wasatch Cups, but have come back to win the third place game each year as well. Weber State also has a losing record vs teams in the state, posting a 3-4 record against the Utah teams this season.
BYU Cougars (#3 seed ACHA D2)
The BYU Cougars have been one of the biggest surprises in the West this season and are also in a playoff position at number nine in the ACHA West Rankings with an 8-10-2 record. The Cougars are coming off a 1-2 weekend and are the hosts of this year’s Wasatch Cup. The Cougars are riding high with confidence after beating Utah State for the first time in 10 years earlier this month and almost beat the Utes for the first time in six years, losing by a 2-1 score.
Despite their success the Cougars are still the #3 seed of the four D2 teams this year, and will also try to get out of the first round for the first time this year. The Cougars lost to Utah in the semis both years and lost to Weber State in the third place games both years as well. This year, the Cougars are the only other team without a losing record against teams in the state with a 3-3 record.
Utah Valley Wolverines (#4 seed ACHA D2)
The Wolverines are back in the ACHA for the first time in several years and have had mixed results in their first season back as they’ll be the fourth seed of the D2 teams in this year’s tournament. The Wolverines have a 3-19 record and will participate in the Wasatch Cup for the first time this season.
UVU is coming off a 1-2 weekend at home and is 0-6 against the in-state teams so far this season.
With the addition of a fifth team to the tournament and with the Utes moving up to Division I of the ACHA, the format for this year’s tournament has changed a little bit. The tournament will start on Thursday night with a play-in game which will feature #3 BYU against #4 Utah Valley.
The winner of the play-in game will take on #1 Utah State in the semifinals on Friday while the Utes will take on #2 Weber State in the other semifinal. The losers of the semifinals will take on each other in the third place game on Saturday afternoon with the winners battling for the cup Saturday night.
Below is the schedule for the entire tournament:
Thursday, January 26th
#3 D2 BYU vs #4 D2 Utah Valley – 7pm MT
Friday, January 27th
Semifinal #1: D1 Utah vs #2 D2 Weber State – 5pm MT (UTAH HOCKEY GAME DAY)
Semifinal #2: #1 D2 Utah State vs Winner of Play-In Game – 8:15pm MT
Saturday, January 28th
Third Place Game: WEBER STATE vs BYU – 5pm MT
Championship Game: UTAH STATE vs UTAH – 8:15pm MT (UTAH HOCKEY GAME DAY)
Tickets for all games are available here.
