September 22, 2016
Salt Lake City, UT
It’s been months in the making, and finally the first ever season at the ACHA Division I level for the Utah Utes is finally here. This season also celebrates the 10th Anniversary of University of Utah Hockey.
The Utes are one of three teams to join Division I this year along with Arizona State and Jamestown, both of which are on Utah’s schedule this year. That brings the total of teams to 59 at the D1 level, compared to the now 200 teams that are at the Division II level where Utah came from. Those 59 teams will compete for 20 spots at the end of the year, where they’ll battle in Columbus for the D1 National Championship.
In order for the Utes to get there, they’ll have to rely on veteran talent as well as some new faces in order to get into the top 20 in the rankings and make it to Nationals come March.
After making the Division II National Tournament the last two years, the Utes will have several veterans to depend on to lead the way for this year’s squad. Forward Josh Dangel will take the reigns as captain this year along side his assistants Nick Fornelius, David Barnes, and Brett Myer.
Myer and Dangel are the top returning scorers for an offense that was one of the highest scoring in Division II year in and year out. The Utes offense also has the biggest turnover from last year as they must replace several top forwards like Chase McDonald and Shaymus Bertagnolli, both of whom had some of the best numbers in Utah Hockey history. Looking to fill their shoes are several rookies including Alex King who comes from the Gillette Wild in the NA3HL and Reed Hunter from the Dallas Snipers in the WSHL.
Where the Utes may lack in offense, the Utes biggest strength will be on the defensive side as the team is loaded at both the blue lines and in the crease. On defense, Tyler Pendill is the top returning defenseman as he comes back for his third year, and will be joined by a stellar rookie defenseman class which includes Cody West (Valencia WSHL), Patrick O’Bryan (Utah WSHL), and Guy Petrie (California Wave U18 AAA). Veteran Chris Komma and sophomore Jared Manzella are back in net for the Utes and will be joined by Patrick Kasper, the rookie from the Sicamous Eagles in the KIJHL.
The schedule will be an uphill battle for the Utes, as they’ll take on several highly ranked teams in D1 along the way this season. In fact, of the 16 games Division I games that the Utes will play this year the Utes will play 12 games against teams that were ranked in the ACHA Division 1 Preseason rankings. The other four games are against Jamestown, who is also new to Divsion 1 and are ineligible for Nationals. The Utes will also take on the in-state teams as well, which also includes the Wasatch Cup where the Utes will look to win the rivalry trophy for the third straight year.
The season kicks off this Friday as the Utes head to Ogden to take on Weber State and then the Utes will kick off their home schedule on Saturday as they take on Utah State at the Utah Ice Sheet.
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