Clark Saunders
Photo by Terry Sanford
LOVELAND, Colo. – In their fifth season in the ECHL the Colorado Eagles have secured their first division title and will be the number one seed in the divisional playoffs and number three overall in the Western Conference with home ice advantage to begin the playoffs.
With all the ups and downs and shuffling of players in the the first half of the season  the Eagles posted a 16-17-2-0 (win – loss – OTL- SOL) record including a paltry 5-12-0-0 home ice record.
In the second half of the 2015-2016 ECHL season  Colorado clawed their way back into contention. With the hard work, commitment, and dedication that Eagles coach, Chris Stewart, demands of his players the team produced 25 wins against 10 losses, 1 overtime loss, and 1 shoot out loss and won the division on the last day of the season with a five to three win against the Alaska Aces.
As fate would have it the one team that has had Colorado’s number this season is the team the Eagles must defeat to move on to the second round. The Utah Grizzlies have won 7 of the 10 meetings against the Eagles this season including the first five games between the two teams. However the Eagles have won three out of the last five games and took the Grizzlies to overtime gaining a point in the most recent contest.
Eagles Captain Trent Daavettila
Photo by Terry Sanford
Players to watch on the Eagles side of the ice are Captain Trent Daavettila who’s ten points- four goals and six assists-lead Colorado in head to head matchups against the Grizzlies.
Eagles Goalie, Clark Saunders, has won both of his contests against Utah and will be the likely starter in net for Colorado in the first round series with the Grizzlies.
Utah’s Barry Almeida has scored seven goals and five assists for twelve points in the games between Colorado and Utah this season and Matt Berry is an assist machine with six assists while skating against the Eagles in 2015-2016.
Barry Almeida
Photo by Terry Sanford
Grizzly goalie, Ryan Farragher, in net against Colorado has won six of the games he has played for Utah in their season series.
Round one of the Kelly Cup playoffs between Colorado and Utah is likely to be a very physical and hard fought  series with no love lost on either side in this bitter rivalry.
The schedule is as follows:
Game 1- Utah at Colorado – April 14, 2016 7:05 P.M. MDT
Game 2- Utah at Colorado- April 17, 2016 7:05 P.M. MDT
Game 3 – Colorado at Utah – April 21, 2016 7:05 P.M.MDT
Game 4 – Colorado at Utah – April 23, 2016 7:05 P.M. MDT
Game 5 – Colorado at Utah – April 24, 2016 7:05 P.M. MDT (if necessary)
Game 6 – Utah at Colorado – April 26, 2016 7:05 P.M. MDT (if necessary)
Game 7 – Utah at Colorado – April 28, 2016 7:05 P.M. MDT (if necessary)
Ryan Farragher
Photo by Terry Sanford
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