The Rapid City Rush is hosting the Utah Grizzlies for their weekend home opener. The two teams face off for the first time in the 2024-25 season.
Last Week
The ECHL season just kicked off last week for the Rush and Grizzlies, so the Rush has only played two games, and the Grizzlies have only played one. Neither team has been able to find a spot in the win column yet this season, but that will change for one or both teams this weekend. Rapid City got swept by the Tulsa Oilers in two games last season, while the Grizzlies lost their one game to the Idaho Steelheads. The Grizzlies lost their game 2-7, and the Rush lost their games 1-7 and 1-4.
Incoming Stats
As previously mentioned, neither team has won any games yet. Both teams are 0-1-0-0 and 0-2-0-0, respectively, with win percentages of 0.00.
Rapid City is coming into the series 0/3 on the powerplay for a success rate of 0%. They are 4/5 on the penalty kill for a success rate of 80%. Between their two games, Rapid City allowed an average of 30.50 shots against and averaged 32.50 shots on net.
Utah is coming into the series 1/3 on the powerplay for a success rate of 33%. They are 1/2 on the penalty kill for a 50% success rate. In Utah’s lone game, they had 28 shots on the net and allowed 39 shots.
With the season still young, there are not many stats for this season yet. But last season, the two teams met nine times. Rapid City had a record of 4-4-1-0 against the Grizzlies, and the Grizzlies had a record of 5-3-1-0 against the Rush. Both teams saw their season end early, as they barely missed the playoffs.
Young Blood
The Rapid City Rush are coming into this season with nine rookies. Those nine guys are Aaron Hyman, Brenden Rons, Holden Wale, Parker Bowman, Tyler Burnie, Deni Goure, Trevor Janicke, Connor Mylymok, and Braeden Tuck. While they are rookies, they have also looked very experienced on the ice and have grown significantly through the two games played this season. Now that most of them have gotten rid of the first game/series nerves, we should start to see a lot more from the rookie group.
Rush Player to Watch
The Rush player to watch for the game is forward Connor Mylymok. Mylymok is a gritty forward who is not afraid to drop his gloves to stand up for his teammates and get his team going. Mylymok dropped his gloves in both of Rapid City’s games against Tulsa. But Mylymok can do more than just fight. Mylymok scored Rapid City’s first goal of the season, their lone goal in the first game. Mylymok ended the series with three shots on the net.
The two teams will begin their two-game series in Rapid City on Friday, October 25, with the puck dropping at 7:05 p.m. MDT. The series will wrap up on Saturday, October 26, with the puck dropping at 7:05 p.m. MDT.
