Utah announces 2015-16 Schedule

August 3, 2015 Salt Lake City, UT Utah Hockey has released its schedule for the upcoming 2015-2016 season. After finishing last season 6th in the nation and just missing out on the national semifinals, the Utes will look to get back to Nationals with a strong schedule against opponents both old and new. The season begins with Alumni Weekend on Saturday, September 12th, as the current Skatin’ Utes and alumni will lace up the skates for a friendly exhibition game before the season begins. The game will be free to the public. The regular season begins the following weekend as the Utes head to Las Vegas to take on UNLV on September 18th and 19th. The Utes have not played UNLV since the 2012-2013 season, where the Utes beat the Skatin’ Rebels 9-1 in the Beehive Showcase. On Friday, September 25th the Utes return to Salt Lake City for their first home game of the season as they take on rival BYU at the Utah Ice Sheet. The Utes will also take on rival Utah State the following night at home. In October, the Utes will host Weber State on October 2nd before welcoming in new D2 program Wyoming on October 8th. The Cowboys come from Division III of the ACHA where they finished the season ranked 16th in the Pacific Division. The Utes will then take their second road trip of the season as they head to the Bay Area to take on San Jose State and Cal-Berkeley October 15-17. Utah returns home the following weekend as Northern Arizona comes to town October 23rd and 24th followed by the Utes heading to Provo to take on BYU on October 30th. Utah heads to Oregon on November 6th and 7th to take on the Ducks in a rematch of last year’s PAC-8 Championship game. The Utes will then return home for a three game weekend November 12-14 as the Utes take on Cal State Northridge for the first time in program history as well as PAC-8 member UCLA. The Utes wrap up November with the Beehive Showcase in Logan and Ogden November 19-22. Teams participating in the tournament will be announced at a later time. On December 4th, don’t miss your chance to skate with your favorite players at the Holiday Skate with your Utes event. The Utes will wrap up the first semester at home on December 11th and 12th as Utah take on UNLV at the Utah Ice Sheet. The second semester begins with a pair of Division I games in Colorado as Utah takes on Colorado and Colorado State January 16th and 17th. After a home weekend against USC on January 22nd and 23rd, the Utes will look to defend their title in the 2nd Annual Wasatch Cup on January 29th and 30th, this year hosted by Weber State in Ogden. The tournament features the four teams in Utah to decide the best team in the state. The Utes beat Utah State 2-1 in triple overtime last season to win the cup in its first season. The Utes will look to defend another title the following weekend as they head to Lake Tahoe February 5-7 for the 2016 PAC-8 Championships and look for their 3rd title in program history. The Utes will wrap up the regular season against Boise State, playing in Boise on February 12th and taking on the Broncos at home on February 13th for Utah’s Senior Night. The Utes will look to get back to the postseason for the fifth year in a row as the ACHA West Regionals will be in Logan, UT on February 26th and 27th. The top ten teams in the West will advance to the tournament with the top two teams receiving automatic bids to Nationals. Utah will also look to get back to Nationals for the second year in a row, which will happen March 18-22 in West Chester, PA. In all, the Utes will play at least 11 games against teams that were ranked in the top 15 in last season’s final ACHA ranking. That total could go up when the Beehive Showcase schedule is announced, where the Utes usually play three teams ranked in the top 15. All 33 regular season games are scheduled to be broadcast on Utah Hockey Game Day Live and season tickets will be available starting August 14th, 2015. Stay tuned for more updates.