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Utah Hockey Club's Alex Kerfoot Talks Season One Opportunities

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Utah Hockey Club's Alex Kerfoot Talks Season One Opportunities


SALT LAKE CITY – It’s been an offseason like no other for the NHL’s newest team as they unexpectedly moved from Arizona to Utah seemingly overnight. In addition to a new city, there’s also a handful of new faces on the Utah Hockey Club roster and new opportunities for some of the organizations young players. According to veteran center Alexander Kerfoot, this collection of new beginnings will make for a memorable first season in Salt Lake City.

Utah Hockey Club’s First Season

Less than six months ago, Smith Entertainment Group made history as they acquired an NHL team that would immediately call Utah home. Now, with just 40 days until opening night and less than a few weeks until training camp gets underway, Kerfoot is looking forward to this unique opportunity to play for the club in its first season.

“It’s just excitement,” Kerfoot said. “This is something where in 20 years we’ll look back and be like, we were a part of the team that played the first season in Utah. That’s something you don’t want to take for granted…We’re coming to a great city with a great organization. Ownership has done an unbelievable job.”

Sergachev, Marino, Cole & Stenlund

While the 2024-25 campaign will be the first in Utah for each player, the organization added a collection of few new faces including Mikhail Sergachev, John Marino, Ian Cole and Kevin Stenlund to lift their ceiling and take the next step in the rebuild.

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With these new additions, three of which have all lifted Lord Stanley, the team is certainly on the cusp of a playoff spot and very well could surprise the league in year one.

“Three of them have won cups, they bring significant experience and have played different roles on different teams. So, that winning mindset, winning culture I think is going to be really good for us. Guys who have proven that they’ve done it before and been on teams that have done it before is going to be really valuable,” Kerfoot explained.

“And then obviously those defensemen bring another element to our group,” He added. “Sergachev has got the tools to be one of the best defensemen in the league. He’s going to make an immediate impact. I’ve also played with John Marino before. I know him pretty well, I’m a huge fan of his game. Really good puck mover, really mobile, the game comes easy to him and he’s going to be a really good player for us.”

Kerfoot also shared that the team’s mindset should be set on pushing for the playoffs with this group, especially with how the team improved this offseason and he’s willing to contribute in whatever way the coaches see fit to help them achieve that goal.

Logan Cooley and Dylan Guenther’s Can Take A Leap This Season

In addition to the team bringing in some new faces to help improve the team in key areas, this season presents a huge opportunity for guys like Logan Cooley and Dylan Guenther.

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A season ago, Cooley burst onto the scene with 20 goals and 24 assists which resulted in him being named to the NHL’s All-Rookie Team. As for Guenther, once he was called up, he scorched the nets alongside Cooley with 18 goals and 17 assists in just 45 appearances.

So, what kind of leap will those players take this season? Kerfoot foresees both players taking a sizable leap this year and being key players for the Utah Hockey Club for years to come.

“From the time he got called up, Guenther was an impact player. Right now, he’s got one of the best shots in the league. Just his release is special, he can beat goalies clean, there’s not many guys who can beat goalies from the outside in the league and so he’s got that element to his game. But he’s a pretty complete player for a young guy. So, he’s going to be a really good player for a long time,” Kerfoot explained.

“Cooley has got game breaking ability to him,” He continued. “You saw it. You see flashes of it here and there last year. He’s really going to take another step and be more dynamic this year. He’s one of those special, unique guys. He skates so well, his edgework is unbelievable, his ability to handle the puck and make plays. His confidence on the ice is special too. For both those guys, there’s no ceiling on what they can do. They’re both going to take jumps and so it’ll be exciting to watch them this year and in the coming years.”

Kerfoot’s Impact

As for himself and like he mentioned, Kerfoot will fulfill whatever role is asked of him. A season ago, he was a top five points contributor for team, finishing with 13 goals and 32 assists. Projected on the team’s fourth line with Jack McBain and Stenlund, it’ll be interesting to see how that impacts his offensive production.

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Utah Hockey Schedule

Fans can watch Kerfoot’s first game with the Utah Hockey Club on October 8 against Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks. Click here for the full schedule. 

Cole Bagley is the Utah Hockey Club insider for KSL Sports. Keep up with him on X here. You can hear Cole break down the team on KSL Sports Zone and KSL 5 TV.

Take us with you, wherever you go.

Download the new & improved KSL Sports app from Utah’s sports leader. You can stream live radio, video and stay up to date on all of your favorite teams.





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Utah

22-year-old arrested in Utah in connection to Las Vegas double-homicide

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22-year-old arrested in Utah in connection to Las Vegas double-homicide


LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — Officials have identified a 22-year-old man as the suspect in a Las Vegas homicide case that killed two people in a Southern Highlands neighborhood.

Detectives say 22-year-old Ziaire Ham was the suspect in the case. According to officials, Ham was located on Tuesday, March 3, by the Ogden City Police Department and the Utah Highway Patrol.

Ham was taken into custody and booked into the Weber County Jail. Las Vegas authorities said he will be charged with open murder with the use of a deadly weapon and will be extradited back to the valley.

MORE ON FOX5: LVMPD corrections officer arrested on multiple felony charges

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The shooting occurred Monday night at the 11000 block of Victoria Medici Street, near Starr Ave and Dean Martin Drive.

According to police, officers were conducting a vehicle stop in the area when they heard gunfire. After searching nearby neighborhoods they found a car with bullet impacts with a woman and a toddler inside suffering from gunshot wounds.

The pair were transported to hospital where they later died. The Clark County Coroner’s Office identified them as Danaijha Robinson, 20, and 1-year-old Nhalani Hiner.



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Utah nonprofit creates events, experiences for disadvantaged children

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Utah nonprofit creates events, experiences for disadvantaged children


A simple moment watching a child laugh changed everything for Ivan Gonzalez.

Eight years ago, Gonzalez was working at the Ronald McDonald House when he had an idea to throw a birthday carnival for the kids staying there.

“Let’s do a carnival, birthday carnival for the kids,” he said.

MORE | Pay It Forward

What happened during that event stuck with him.

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“There I was watching this kid play whack-a-mole, just having a blast, laughing,” Gonzalez said. “And then I see his mom kind of with happy tears because he’s enjoying himself.”

That moment led to something bigger.

Gonzalez realized the experience shouldn’t stop with just one event or just one group of kids.

“I said, wait, we can do this not just for kids in the hospital,” he said with excitement.

So he started a nonprofit called Best Seat in the House, which creates events and experiences for children who often face difficult circumstances.

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“We provide events and experiences for disadvantaged kids,” Gonzalez said.

The organization serves children battling cancer and other medical conditions, refugee children, kids living in poverty, those in foster care and children with special needs.

“These kids grow up too fast,” Gonzalez said.

For Gonzalez, the mission is deeply personal.

“I grew up very poor,” he said.

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He remembers the people who stepped in for his family when they needed it most.

“The local church, we weren’t even a part of it,” he described. “My parents couldn’t afford Christmas gifts and I still remember the gifts they gave me. They didn’t even know me.”

Today, he hopes to create that same feeling for other children through his nonprofit.

“Kids live in poverty and they don’t know where the next meal is coming from, let alone going to a play or to a game,” Gonzalez said.

But for Gonzalez, the reward isn’t the events themselves, it’s the joy they create.

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“You can give me a billion dollars, all the money in the world,” he says as tears roll down his face. “I won’t trade these opportunitieskids just enjoying life.”

Because of his work giving back, KUTV and Mountain America Credit Union surprised Gonzalez with a Pay it Forward gift to help him continue creating those moments for kids across Utah.

For more information on supporting Best Seat in the House, click here.

_____



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‘Don’t release him ever. Please.’ Family of slain Utah teen calls for justice at parole hearing

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‘Don’t release him ever. Please.’ Family of slain Utah teen calls for justice at parole hearing


SALT LAKE CITY — Francisco Daniel Aguilar says he’s sorry for shooting and killing his girlfriend, 16-year-old Jacqueline “Jacky” Nunez-Millan, a Piute High School sophomore, in 2023.

But just as he did when he was sentenced, he didn’t have much of an explanation on Tuesday as to why he shot her not once, but twice.

“It just kinda happened. I was mad. And I stepped out (of my truck) and started shooting,” he said. “When I saw her fall, I just kind of panicked, I just went and shot her again.”

But Jacky’s friends and family members say even before she was killed, Aguilar already had a history of violence, and they now want justice to be served.

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“You don’t accidentally take a gun, you don’t accidentally grab a knife … you don’t accidentally shoot someone, those are all choices,” a tearful Rosa Nunez, Jacky’s sister, said at Tuesday’s hearing. “Keep him where he needs to be.

“Don’t release him ever. Please.”

On Jan. 7, 2023, Aguilar, who was 17 at the time, got into a fight with his girlfriend, Jacky, shot her twice and left her body near a dirt road outside of Circleville, Piute County. He was convicted as an adult of aggravated murder and sentenced to a term of 25 years to up to life in prison.

Because of Aguilar’s age at the time of the offense, board member Greg Johnson explained Tuesday that the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole is required to hold a hearing much earlier than the 25-year mark, mainly to check on Aguilar and “see how things are going.” Aguilar, now 20, is currently being held in a juvenile secure care facility and will be transferred to the Utah State Prison when he turns 25 or earlier if he has discipline violations and is kicked out of the youth facility.

According to Aguilar’s sentencing guidelines, he will likely remain in custody until at least the year 2051.

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During Tuesday’s hearing, Aguilar told the board that he was feeling “stressed out” during his senior year of high school. He said he and Jacky would often have little arguments. But their bigger fight happened when he failed to get her a “promise ring” around Christmastime, he said.

On the night of the killing, the two were arguing about the promise ring and other items, Aguilar recalled. At one point, he grabbed a knife and then a gun because, he said, he wanted to “irritate” and “scare” Jacky. According to evidence presented in the preliminary hearing, Aguilar and his girlfriend had been “trying to make each other angry” when Aguilar took ammunition and a 9mm gun from his father’s room and then drove to the Black Hill area in his truck with Jacky.

Jacky’s friend, McKall Taylor, went looking for her that night and found her. But after Aguilar shot Jacky in the leg, he began shooting at Taylor, who had no choice but to run to her car to get away. Her car was hit multiple times by bullets. Aguilar then shot Jacky a second time as she lay on the ground and Taylor drove away.

On Tuesday, Taylor’s mother, Lori Taylor, read a statement to the board on her daughter’s behalf.

“My innocence and freedom was taken from me,” she said.

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McKall Taylor says the “horrifying events of that night will forever play in my head,” and the sounds of Jacky screaming and the gunshots as well as the sight of Jacky falling to the ground, will never go away.

“Francisco is a murderer who has zero remorse,” her letter states.

Likewise, Rosa Nunez told the board that for her and her family, “nothing in our world has felt safe since” that night as they all “continue to relive this horrific moment.”

After shooting Jacky and driving off, Aguilar says he called his father and “told him I was sorry for not being better, for not making good choices, I told him that I loved him. I was just planning on probably shooting myself, too.”

His father told him that although what he did wasn’t right, “he’d rather see me behind bars than in a casket,” and then told his son to “be a man about it. … This is where you have to change.”

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Aguilar was arrested after his tires were spiked by police.

“An apology won’t fix what I did. I’ll never be able to fix what I did. But I want to say I’m sorry,” he said Tuesday. “I don’t even know how to fix what I did. I’m hoping I’m on the right track now.”

Johnson noted that Aguilar has done well during his short time being incarcerated. But that doesn’t change the fact “the crime was horrific,” he said.

The full five-member board will now take a vote. The board could decide to schedule another parole hearing for sometime in the future or could order that Aguilar serve his entire life sentence. But even if that were to happen, Johnson says Aguilar could petition every so often for a redetermination hearing.

The board’s decision is expected in several weeks.

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The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.



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