November 9, 2012
Salt Lake City, UT
Let’s go back in time for a minute. The Utah Utes have been an independent for years in the ACHA hockey scene, playing the in-state teams with occasional road trips against other big teams. That all changed when the Utes went west to join the PAC-8 hockey conference when the U moved to the Pac-12.
In their first year in the conference, the Utes ran the table all the way to a berth in the conference championship. Unfortunately the run ended there as Utah lost in the final. Fast forward to this weekend and the Utes are in their second year in the conference with a 4-0 record and 9-3 overall. They’re tied for second place in the conference right now with the same team that beat the Utes in last year’s championship.
The Washington Huskies.
If the Utes have gained a rival in this conference so far, it’s definitely the Huskies. In five games all-time between these two teams, the record is 3-2 in favor of Washington. To add a kicker, the home team has won every contest, including the PAC-8 final in Seattle last year. That stat alone should factor into this weekend at the Utah Ice Sheet, but there are some other factors that benefit the Utes against the Huskies. First off the Utes have been a lot more offensive then the Huskies in their contests. In the five games last year, the Utes outshot the Huskies 251 to 137. They outscored them as well, but only by a slight 14-12 margin.
The main reason for the difference between shots and goals was the stellar play of last year’s PAC-8 goaltender of the year Danny Dougan. Unfortunately for the Huskies, he’s gone. Taking his place is last year’s backup Jacob Gilmore, who has a 4.14 GAA and .87 save percentage, both of which are not too bad in this league. He did face the Utes once last year, but took 76 shots in a 6-2 loss to Utah.
While the goaltending for UW has changed, the scoring output has not. All three of UW’s top scorers from last year are back at the top again this year in Ryan Minkoff, Jordan Chernesky, and Corey James. Minkoff leads the team in all categories with 21 points.
This weekend marks the first time these two teams will have met since that rainy night last February in Seattle. I expect every Ute that was on last year’s squad remembers that game vividly, which should help fuel the fire this weekend. Both teams are tied with 8 points in the conference and six points behind leader Oregon, but the Utes have three games in hand while the Huskies have two.
With the mandatory 12 game PAC-8 schedule this year, that means the winner of this weekend will have a leg up when it comes to seeding come playoff time, and I’m sure both teams would like to have bragging rights over a conference power as well.
Predictions:
Friday: Utah still remembers the PAC-8 Championship last year, and I think that will be key especially early on Friday. UW is still a solid team, but with the decline in goaltending Utah should have no problem scoring on the Huskies. Expect Utah to jump out early and carry the lead to the end.
Utah 7, Washington 3
Saturday: This one completely depends on how Friday goes. If the U dominates, expect the same in this one. If it’s close, same deal. Utah I think is still the power though and will get the weekend sweep.
Utah 6, Washington 1
Utah Game Notes:
Utah forward Ben Seastrand tallied another hat trick on Saturday against BYU. It was his second of the year and fourth of his career with the Utes.
The biggest story from last weekend was of course the win against #1 Utah State. Not only was it the Utes first win over the Aggies, the Utes also scored the most goals against USU so far this year.
Utah debuted at number 7 in the first ACHA rankings of the season, which now is the record for the highest initial ranking for the team. The previous record was last year when the Utes debuted at number 13.
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