by Mason White | The Utah Grizzlies, proud affiliate of the Colorado Avalanche, are in South Dakota this weekend to face a Mountain Division opponent the Rapid City Rush, affiliates of the Arizona Coyotes. The games are on Friday, December 11th and Saturday Dec 12th, with both games starting at 7:05 PM MST. Both games are available for live streaming with subscription FlosSports, or you can keep up with the Grizzlies’ audio broadcast at on their Mixlr page. See the Utah Grizzlies Facebook page for more information.
We didn’t see a Kelly Cup Playoffs in 2020 due to the pandemic so we are excited and hopeful that the 2020-2021 season gives us playoff hockey in Utah once again. The last time we saw the Grizzlies in the playoffs was in during the 2018-19 season when they lost in five games to their neighboring Idaho Steelheads. The Grizzlies haven’t played a regular season game since March 7, 2020 when they beat the Rapid City Rush 7 to 4. We hope to see some of that momentum and same scoring show up this weekend for the Grizzlies against the Rush.
The Utah Grizzlies have stayed busy, however, and also made some big additions over the last month of the offseason.
Enis Smirnov: He played for Penn State University the past 4 seasons, and finished his college career 5th all-time in Penn State history with 115 points.
Miles Gendron: The 70th overall pick in the 2014 draft who was selected by the Ottawa Senators.
Garrett Johnston: Member of the 2019 Kelly Cup Champion Newfoundland Growlers.
Wyatt Ege: Spent the past 3 seasons with the Ohio State University, where he was a 2 time Honorable Mention All-Big Ten.
Kris: Just completed collegiate career at Penn State University. He ranks first all-time among Nittany Lions’ defensemen in goals (19) and is second all-time in points (62).
Cedric Pare: Played the last five seasons in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, including the last two seasons with the Rimouski Oceanic. Pare was drafted in the 6th round, 173rd overall by the Boston Bruins 2017 NHL.
The Grizzlies are also excited to see the return of 11 players from last year’s team that includes Teigan Zahn who captained the Grizzlies in 2018-19 and after winning back to back Kelly Cups with the Colorado Eagles in 2017 and 2018. With the return of some veteran leadership and the addition of some incoming rookies and free agents, it will be intriguing to see if it leads to success on the ice this weekend.
Moving forward, all Utah Grizzly fans need to be ready to return to the Maverik Center Next Weekend is to watch their home-opening weekend as they host another Mountain Division opponent in the Tulsa Oilers. The Maverik Center is limiting capacity to 1800 fans this year. Get your tickets quickly at Utahgrizzlies.com. Both games will start at 7:10 PM MST and be held at the Maverik Center on 18-19 December. We hope to see all those committed Utah Grizzlies hockey fans out there.
Finally, be sure to see the unveiling of the Utah Grizzlies’ 2021-22 jerseys on Twitter.
Featured image courtesy Jess Fleming | Action Sports Photography