Photo: Ice rink at Black Rock Event Center

PARK CITY, Utah — The Utah Outliers have already started playing on the new ice rink at the Black Rock Mountain Event Center, so has the Utah Mammoth Sled Hockey team. On Feb. 13 and 14 at 7 p.m. the Park City Pioneers will play their first home opening weekend at the new ice rink. This is the Park City Pioneers’ first season in six years. They are a Senior A hockey team and will play the Castle Island Hockey Club, a Boston team.

The Park City Pioneers will also be playing at the Black Rock Mountain Event Center on Feb. 20, March 20, 21, and 28. On Feb. 21, they will play in the Winter Classic at the Midway Ice Rink against the Reno Ice Raiders. Their second-to-last home game will take place at the Park City Ice Arena on March 27. Tickets at the Black Rock Mountain Event Center range from $15 to $40 for Park City Pioneers games. Their roster consists of top amateur / semi-pro players from colleges, minor leagues, and abroad. Six years ago, they had a following of 900 fans filling the seats. They hope to increase that number this season. The Black Rock Event Center can accommodate 2,000 fans.

Utah Outliers play against Grand Junction River Hawks. Photo: Kirsten Kohlwey.

The Utah Outliers consist of younger players. These 17- to 20-year-olds come from across the country and around the world to compete at the highest level of junior hockey in the National Collegiate Development Conference (NCDC). They hope to move up into the professional leagues. They lost their most recent game on Jan. 31, 0–2 to the Grand Junction River Hawks, but still have 18 games left this season, which ends March 27 at the Black Rock Event Center. The Utah Outliers are already attracting a reasonably sized crowd, and the Utah Mammoth coach was spotted checking out the game.