New Schools Bring Big Changes To High School Hockey Playoffs In Utah

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – For the past several years, the Affiliated High School Hockey Playoffs have been basically the same – Viewmont, Park City, Murray and Uintah in some combination, seemed to be the teams that were always playing for the championship.

Fifteen games into the 2020 season, the once-dominant Viewmont Vikings have only a single win and sit at the bottom of the division.

Some teams have taken joy in running up the score on the once unbeatable Vikings. New or new-ish schools like Farmington (9-4-1) and Herriman (7-7) are legitimate contenders for this year’s title.

Farmington’s Tyler Phillips has once again been tearing up Utah high school hockey with 16 goals and 12 assists for 28 points in 14 games. His teammate Jake Coover has become a serious playmaker with 13 assists on the year.

Park City is still one of the top teams and has some serious strength in net with Colten McIntyre. He leads the state in goals-against average at  1.3 and a save percentage at almost 94 percent. As everyone knows, a hot goaltender in the playoffs can take you from contender to champion.

With that being said, don’t count out the Murray Spartans and Jack Nowicki. Nowicki has seen 318 shots in 9 games and managed to keep his save parentage at almost 92 percent.

This year’s championship is more up for grabs than at any other time in recent memory, which makes for some exciting and fun games.

There are a few games left for teams to better position themselves before playoffs begin in the first week of February.

Utah Puck Report is a podcast all about Utah hockey, from interviews with NHL stars to which Grizzlies players are about to take the next step, Utah Puck Report has everything for a Utah hockey fan. Find it wherever you find podcasts or on KSLSports.com.