Park City Miners hockey teams wins third-straight D1 State Championship

Park City Miners defeat the Brighton Bengals 6-0 to win 2022 D1 State Championship. Photo: TownLift.

PARK CITY, Utah — The Park City Miners hockey team are D1 State Champions for the third-straight year after routing the Brighton Bengals by a score of 6-0.

Despite a closely contested score through the first period, the Miners took control of the game early as they found the back of the net in the first five minutes. After some dominant puck possession in the offensive zone, sophomore Garret Hebert tapped in a juicy rebound right on the doorstep of the crease to give Park City a 1-0 lead.

While the game was still relatively competitive after the initial period of play, Park City took complete control after a five-goal scoring-fest in the second and did not look back.

Scoring magician Liam Valkenburgh kicked things off with two quick goals midway through the period. Seconds later, Bryce Bargowski put away another. The Miners continued to suffocate the Bengals with a tip-in from Cooper Ford and another on a power-play goal from the slot by Connor Smith with just 53 seconds remaining.

Park City cruised to victory in the third period without surrendering any dangerous chances to the Bengals, and the score remained the same. As the clock wound down to zero, the bench emptied, gloves and helmets soared into the air, and the Miners mobbed goaltender Colten McIntyre in celebration.

“Our team played together and played to their full potential all the way through the playoffs,” Head coach Jack Skille said. “We are very proud of this group. We aren’t done. It’s time to go to nationals and put Utah hockey on the map.”

After hoisting the State Championship trophy for the third season in a row, the Miners season will continue as they travel to Dallas, Texas, to compete in the National tournament. Skille is hopeful and determined to be the first Utah team to win a game at Nationals.

A complete game replay can be found below.