WELCOME FORMER DIVISION RIVAL NORTHERN COLORADO EAGLES
The Utah Outliers are returning home to the Acord Ice Arena for a three game series against new Midwest Division opponents the Northern Colorado Eagles. The Eagles name may sound familiar as they were members of the Mountain Division and were division rivals with the Utah Outliers for the previous two seasons. In both years, the Ogden Mustangs, Outliers, and Eagles all jousted for the top spot in the division, with at least two of the teams making the Thorne Cup Playoffs representing a spot amongst the top six teams in the WSHL (Ogden/Colorado 2016-17 / Ogden/Utah 2017-18). Although the Eagles are in a new division, the tension between these two teams should remain similar to the way its been in the past as both teams are trying to stay among the elite in the league. Each of these two opponents have had a little different start than they have imagined, with Utah carrying a record of 15-7-1-1, while NOCO has a record of 10-9-0-2.
The Eagles are coming in with some steam as they are entering the weekend after a successful weekend of beating the Cheyenne Stampede 8-1 before taking care of the Steamboat Wranglers 9-1. The Outliers are also riding high after claiming 7 out of 9 points on a west coast trip against the Long Beach Bombers and the Ontario Avalanche. With each team trying to make their impact in the WSHL, there should be plenty of fireworks in this matchup.
TALE OF THE TAPE:
Powerplay:
Utah- 24% (5th)
NOCO- 18% (13th)
Penalty Kill:
Utah- 90% (3rd)
NOCO- 81% (11th)
Even Strength:
Utah- 82 GF / 37 GA
NOCO- 64 GF / 53 GA
UTAH LEADERS:
Nicholas Ness – 13G 18A 31P
Matt Bartel – 13G 17A 30P
Zach Dornseifer – 8G 19A 27P
Oscar Wahlgren – 10W 92 SV%
NOCO LEADERS:
Nikita Sheberov – 11G 11A 22P
Mark Evniaga – 11G 11A 22P
Jacob Elik – 6G 16A 22P
Marshall Murphy – 6W 91 SV%
For Utah, the focus is to keep becoming more consistent on offense and continue to grow as a unit that can fill up the score sheet. They currently rank 5th in the league in offense, while also ranking 5th in defense. After a solid weekend of averaging 4.5 goals, the goal is to keep that pace going against a solid Eagle group. NOCO is also looking for more consistency as they are sitting in 10th place in offense, and 8th in defense. Another thing to keep an eye on is the addition of forward Reese Tambellini out of Canada. He joins the Outliers after a solid junior career in the KIJHL the past few seasons. Although still young as a 2000 birth year, the 6’3 forward has participated in over 100 games in the KIJHL and also has competed in 2 games in the BCHL. He will be a welcomed addition to an Outlier group that is really starting to gel.
Game one is slated to start at 7:00 PM Friday, December 7th, 2018. Game two is a special game taking place at 1:30 PM at 7 Peaks Ice Arena in Provo, UT, followed by game three back at the Acord Ice Arena at 12:00 PM. Come out and support the boys as they look to keep improving as the halfway point approaches this season.
GO OUTLIERS!