Outliers take on N. Colorado Eagles for first games of season
The Utah Outliers will start the 2019-20 season on the road this weekend as they play the Northern Colorado Eagles. The three-game series will be a good test for the Outliers as they look to start the season strong.
When asked if he thought his team was ready for this year’s challenge, Head Coach, Paul Taylor said, “Yeah, we're excited about [the opening weekend], We've been training hard for the past month and the guys are now looking forward to playing some games. Playing against a competitive opponent like Colorado right away will be a good test for our group."
The Outliers plan on having a strong defensive presence this season as they welcome back veteran goaltender Oskar Wahlgren who proved to be a top goaltender in the league last season. Wahlgren will play in front of a defensive core that consists of four returning players (Austin Heinrich, Jakub Lelek, Brad McCloskey and Tristan Slot).
Upfront, the Outliers lost a significant amount of players and only have two returning forwards in Alex Charin and Miroslav Hradecky. The team has recruited a mix of European, Canadian, and American forwards to fill the remaining spots.
“It’s going to be tough replacing some of the forwards we had last season but I like what I have seen in practice from a lot of our new guys. We have some good speed up front and I think we have some guys that will be strong offensive producers for us. I expect them to play hard for each other and stick to our team identity." states Head Coach Taylor.
Outliers Captain, Austin Heinrich believes this year's team has a lot of potential. "I really like what I have seen from the team so far in practice. Our defensemen are big and strong and our forwards are quick and compliment each other well. Throughout training camp, the team has really improved and bonded well. We are excited to play Colorado on Friday and establish ourselves as a top team in the league."
This will be the only regular-season meeting between the Outliers and Eagles. Friday night's game begins at 8:30 PM MST, Saturday at 3:15 PM and Sunday at noon. All three games can be streamed live on Black Dog Hockey here.