October 16, 2024
Chelmsford, England
Recent University of Utah Hockey alumnus Dylan Dix signed his first professional contract with the Chelmsford Chieftains. The Chieftains operate out of Essex, England, and play in the National Ice Hockey League (NIHL) South Division 1. They finished the 2023-2024 season in 2nd place with an impressive record of 20-8-0 to show for it.
Dix was team captain for his final two years with the Utes and attributes much of that experience to his current success. He is grateful to his teammates and coaches for trusting him with such a big responsibility and says that “it is always such an honor” to be named captain.
Over his five total seasons playing for Utah, Dix felt that he was able to compete at a higher level each season. He particularly mentions his offensive development saying, “When I was playing Juniors I was mostly a stay-at-home defenseman and I didn’t score goals. Each year I got more confident with the puck I was able to do more and score more goals than I had previously.” He states that the growth of the Utah program allowed him to be more experimental and to become a “two-way defenseman” when he had never filled that role before.
His career with Utah was well decorated, his accolades include: 2023-24 M1 Defensive Player of the Year, 2022-23 M1 Defensive Player of the Year, 2022-23 Academic Award, 2021-22 M1 Defensive Player of the Year, 2021-22 Iron Man Award.
After adding two additional teams, Women’s ACHA Division 1 and Men’s ACHA Division 2 in 2019 and 2021 respectively, the respect for hockey within the University of Utah as well as the surrounding community grew tremendously.
Morgan Feenie, who was first named Head Coach for the Men’s Division 1 team in 2020 had some big shoes to fill as new teams were being added and the expectations for the M1 team rose.
According to Dix, Feenie has filled his role flawlessly and was credited with “being a player’s coach,” allowing players to have a say in changes being made to the team.
Dix originally chose Utah’s hockey program due to the potential of the team, the roaring Pac-12 environment (now the Big-12), and the hockey culture within Salt Lake City. After serving as a defenseman for the last five years and wearing a letter for the last four, Dix feels he “left his mark” with the team and hopes to continue to watch the team grow under Michael Urtis’ new leadership.
There’s a saying amongst the Skating Utes to “leave the program better than you found it” and Dix had a momentous role in helping to change the expectations of players, coaches, staff, and fans to make time spent at the rink more enjoyable for everyone.
Utah Hockey wishes Dylan all the best across the pond, and hopes for another successful season with his new team!
