Reviewing Ogden Mustangs

(Photo by Tim Broussard, Mustangs)

Ogden has been a consistent mainstay in the league having checked off almost every box that makes up a perennial powerhouse. After its record-setting season in 2018-2019, this year’s Mustangs were virtually a carbon-copy of last year’s squad finishing with 141-points. The campaign is good for most points in the league and first place in the Northwest Division.

Adding a little size to the lineup payed dividends for Ogden entering a familiar, but new, Northwest Division in 2019-2020. They never lost that scoring touch that often overwhelms a majority of opponents and it’s not by chance that they are the highest scoring team with 340 goals in 51 games.

Somehow, the Mustangs were able to circumvent the departure of stellar netminder, Artur Ogandzahnyan, and came back with a trio of goalies, where two out of three remained undefeated in regulation. The subjects in question are Titan Anderson who finished the season 9W-0L-1OTL, and Mathew Genter, who remained perfect through all 12 of his appearances. Travis Allen shouldered the load and with 18 wins as Ogden always had consistency between the pipes.

It is notoriously difficult to get past the Ogden defense but when a team does, the Mustangs have reliable goalies in net to offer. Which also explains why they finished as the team with fewest goals allowed.

At the start of the season, Head Coach Jake Laime commented that he wanted to see players such as Bryson Bartell and Shane Gilbert, finally move into deserved leadership roles. Not only were they leading, but also leading by example. Bartell (83-points) and Gilbert (96-points) combined for 179-points to lead the Mustangs in scoring, as both culminated their junior careers at the brink of surpassing Schuyler Seyfert’s All-Time Games Played Record for Ogden.

While the Mustangs take full responsibility in ending the Edson Aero’s 21-game win streak, Ogden’s 20-game win streak was snapped to their bitter rivals, Utah Outliers, back in late Nov. Much like the Aeros, Ogden suffered it’s season slump right around Showcase time.

It dropped three straight games after opening the Showcase on a good note. And then the Mustangs grew stronger with a mid-season trade that brought top players in Christoffer Juvas and Emil Svartbro to supplement the lineup. With their wounds healed, Ogden then persisted to 19 straight victories.