Utah
Skahan will ‘do anything to win’ in NHL with Utah Hockey Club | NHL.com
SALT LAKE CITY — On June 29, Will Skahan was at UFC 303 in Las Vegas watching Alex Pereira knock out Jiri Prochazka in the main event.
Just a few hours earlier down the road at Sphere, the 18-year-old defenseman landed the first blow of his journey to the NHL when he was selected by the Utah Hockey Club in the second round (No. 65) of the 2024 NHL Draft.
“I think everything kind of just blacked out,” Skahan said. “You always get that first instinct to hug your parents and my little brother, I think that was special. I think it more settled into them than it did to me.”
Perhaps the most noticeable thing about Skahan is his size. Standing at a towering 6-foot-4, it’s hard to miss him on the ice.
But it’s what he can do with that frame that has impressed Utah so far.
“The thing that jumps out is his mobility for a [defenseman] his size,” Utah director of player development Lee Stempniak said. “He’s an exciting prospect to work with for us. It’s not every day you get a big guy like Will that’s on the blue line that can both get it done defensively and offensively.”
Though recognized for his defensive talents, Skahan was able to showcase his offensive game at Utah’s development camp in July, when had a goal and two assists in a scrimmage on the camp’s final day.
He showed glimpses of his offensive ability last season for the USA Hockey National Team Development Program Under-18 team with 14 points (five goals, nine assists) in 60 games.
“He’s a big man that can certainly be somebody that can come in and play with a presence and make it hard for other teams to play in our building,” Utah general manager Bill Armstrong said. “He’s somebody that continues to get better.”
Skahan has been around the NHL for most of his life; his father, Sean Skahan, worked for the Anaheim Ducks as a strength and conditioning coach from 2002-15.
Growing up around the Ducks helped shape Will’s visions for the future.
“Just seeing what they did just kind of lit a fire in my heart and created a burning passion for me in the sport,” he said. “I think it’s helped me a ton get to where I am today, so I can’t credit that enough.”
The next step in Skahan’s journey will be his freshman season at Boston College. Stempniak says there’s a lot that can be worked on while preparing to play in the NHL down the road.
“The first one is going into [Boston College] and feeling comfortable, feeling confident and earning ice time,” he said, “Then from there, it’s continuing to build his game, things that are going to become successful next season, then the following season, and then he eventually turns pro and comes to us in Utah.”
Skahan said he’s confident that when his name is called by Utah, he’ll be ready.
“I’m really competitive, I’ll do anything to win,” he said. “When I get to the NHL, I’m here to win and I’m really excited to do it.”
Utah
Here’s who will lead Utah Valley University as its next president
Jon Anderson will be charged with moving the Orem school forward following the death of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk on campus last year.
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Incoming UVU President Jon Anderson poses for a photo with his family after an event announcing his selection at Utah Valley University in Orem on Friday, July 17, 2026.
Utah
Beaver County residents set up thousands of sandbags ahead of flashfloods
BEAVER COUNTY, Utah — A massive community effort is underway as volunteers and Beaver County crews distribute thousands of sandbags to protect homes from the potential path of floodwaters.
After the Cottonwood Fires, residents have been waiting for weeks for relief to come in the form of rain, though officials now warn it may come all at once with an increased risk of flooding and debris flow.
Emergency Service Director Les Whitney believes that the fire has left plenty of debris to bring trouble for residents.
“We got a lot of water. We’re bringing debris with it, so tree branches, tree limbs, logs, lots of different size firewood, and that’s all in the creeks. We’re worried about that plugging up our bridges and stuff, so we have heavy equipment and excavators located in strategic places so that we can keep those bridges open,” said Whitney.
An estimated 140 homes and condominiums were spared from the flames, but remain in the paths of floodwaters.
Residents can also pick up sandbags at the Beaver County Sheriff’s Office or at the Beaver County Rodeo Fairgrounds.
Utah
Utah man arrested again for allegedly abusing dog twice in three months
EAGLE MOUNTAIN — An Eagle Mountain man currently on pretrial release in 4th District Court who is accused of abusing his dog has been arrested again for allegedly punching the same animal.
Keith Reaves Davis, 43, was booked into the Utah County Jail on Wednesday for investigation of aggravated cruelty to an animal.
Utah County sheriff’s deputies were called Wednesday afternoon to a grocery store on a report that a man was beating his dog after it had gotten off its leash and was stopped by a bystander, according to a police booking affidavit.
“I reviewed security camera footage from the grocery store, and an individual matching the description of the suspect was seen holding the dog in the air by one paw and repeatedly striking the dog on the right hind leg area. I observed the male strike the dog several times before dropping the dog from approximately 1-2 feet. The strikes appeared to be as hard as the male could hit,” the arresting deputy wrote in the affidavit. “The dog did not cry out or whimper as if the dog was accustomed to the abuse.”
When questioned, Davis “admitted to striking the dog because it was not behaving,” the affidavit states.
An animal control officer who responded to the scene to take custody of the dog noted it was the same dog he had taken from Davis exactly three months earlier during another animal abuse investigation.
In that case, Davis was charged in 4th District Court with aggravated cruelty to an animal, a class A misdemeanor; and public intoxication, a class C misdemeanor, after deputies received a tip from a neighbor that a dog was being abused at Davis’ home, according to charging documents. When questioned, Davis “acknowledged hitting his dog as punishment,” the charges state.
Deputies also reviewed videos that the neighbor had filmed. The neighbor told investigators “there was blood from the dog on the ground of the garage and (the neighbor) can hear the dog screaming as if it’s being hurt. Deputies got the videos from the (neighbor) and you can hear very loudly the dog screaming and crying with a lot of loud banging noises. In one of the videos, you can hear the dog sounding like it is being choked by a collar and is grasping for air,” a police booking affidavit states.
Davis’ next court hearing in the April case is scheduled for July 28.
In their latest booking report, sheriff’s deputies note that they “believe further harm will be inflicted on this dog if it is released back to the male a second time,” and have recommended the dog not be returned to Davis.
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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