CEDAR CITY — Three high school students from Southern Utah recently played in the Utah High School Hockey All-Star contests in Salt Lake City.

Representing the Southern Utah Independent hockey team were Pine View High School senior Cooper Taschuk, Crimson Cliffs sophomore Seven Smith and Cedar High School sophomore Kora Reynolds. 

The trio were among a group of all-stars selected from around the state. The main group was split into four teams for the all-star games, which were staged on March 7 at the Salt Lake City Sports Complex.

All three of the Southern Utah Independent players ended up on Team 3, which first defeated Team 1 in a convincing 8-2 win. Team 3 then awaited the winner of Teams 2 and 4, after which they took on Team 2 for the championship and were once again victorious, dominating by the same 8-2 margin.

The Southern Utah Independent hockey team comprises players from Washington and Iron County schools. The team, which has been without a home rink since 2020, is soon to be based out of the KJ’s Ice Barn facility that’s being constructed in Enoch.

Even without a current home rink, the team regularly conducts dry land practices twice a week in Cedar City and spends most weekends between October and March playing games in Provo, West Valley City and Salt Lake City.

The relative lack of ice time hasn’t stopped Southern Utah Independent from being competitive with its in-state rivals. SUI secured regular-season wins against Davis High School and Outlaws Independent from the Tooele area, as well as tie games with Cache Valley Independent and Outlaws Independent.

SUI wrapped up its end-of-season playoffs in late February, first losing to Copper Hills, rebounding with a win against Outlaws Independent before getting eliminated by Davis County Independent.

In a phone interview with Cedar City News, SUI head coach Chad Fain spoke highly of his team’s players. He noted that Taschuk has been involved with the program since he was nine years old.

Taschuk, who is in his 12th season of playing organized hockey, has also played on traveling teams outside of SUI. Last year, he was a member of the 18U Utah Selects team, which competed in locations sich as Arizona and Missouri. He also played in Las Vegas for the 18U Monarchy Hockey team from Southern California.

“Cooper is in the last group of kids that was part of the original Yeti group,” Fain said, noting that even though the team had temporary homes at the Cedar City Aquatic Center and at Wood Ranch, “Throughout the years, they’ve never had a consistent place to play hockey.”

“This next group coming up is pretty special,” Fain said, referring to those players who are in 10th grade and younger. Among them is Crimson’s Smith, who led SUI in scoring and points this past season.

“Some of the teams that we beat, they’re on the ice three or four times a week, where we’re only on once,” Fain added. “Not only are we competing but we’re beating teams. These kids are going to have an opportunity to make a huge impact in the hockey community.”

Upon its expected completion in July, KJ’s Ice Barn in Enoch will be the only ice sheet in Southern Utah. Fain anticipates that demand will be high.

“I would not be surprised if we host 30 high school games down here next year, between varsity and JV,” Fain said.

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