The Utah Outliers have been busy at work as the team has officially begun its training camp for the 2021-22 season. The players have been working hard and honing their skills as they work to build a 'team-first' culture and winning mentality.
The team has a core of returners from the 2020-21 campaign that includes forwards Nikolas Schwab, Trent Gephart, and Noah Bourassa, On the backend, the Outliers will see Helvis Rudzajs, Kaden Whaley and Jakub Suran once again patrolling the blue line. The team also hopes to see Fabian Pozzera back between the pipes.
Head Coach Paul Taylor is excited about the core group of returners and expects them to provide strong leadership for the rest of the group.
"I really like the players we have brought back from last season. They are all hard workers and good character young men. They have some great experience from last year in winning the Mountain Division and competing at Nationals. They certainly learned what it took in our locker room with our culture and the way we go about our business. These returners take a lot of pride in being Outliers and that will rub off on the rest of the players."
Along with the returners, Taylor has liked what he has seen from some of the newcomers he has recruited to the team. "I have been impressed with some of the new talent we have brought in and I have high hopes for them to be positive contributors to the team. At first glance, we seem to have a good combination of speed, skill and some grit. You never know what you have until the team starts playing games, but at first glance, I see some strong potential in a bunch of the new guys."
The Outliers will continue their training camp for a couple more weeks and then kick off the season with it's first game on Sept 24th in Provo against the Riverblades. The team will then have its home opener the following night, Sept 25th when they host the Northern Colorado Eagles.