Back To The Beehive State

When someone mentions the name "Utah", there are a host of things that come to mind. It might be the NBA's Utah Jazz that comes to mind when thinking about some of the great players who played in the state. Perhaps it's the Mormon Tabernacle Choir you recall for their amazing vocals and music despiteboth you and I not knowing that the choir recently decided to drop the "Mormon" part of the group's name "in a move aimed at ending shorthand names for the religion that have been used for generations by church members and others". Today, though, we're talking hockey as a Brandonite will head back to Utah for to start his second season there!

Keaton Jameson was a reliable scorer for the University of Manitoba Bisons hockey program over the three seasosn he suited up in the brown-and-gold uniforms of the school. The former MJHL Swan Valley Stampeder was more of a playmaker than a goal scorer while with the Bisons, but that's not to say he couldn't pot a goal or two when the time came. In his three seasons playing Canada West hockey, Jameson scored seven goals and added 37 assists in 74 games.

Those numbers were good enough for Jameson to sign a deal in the ECHL in 2021-22 after playing with in 20 games with the Bisons in 2021-22 as the Komets liked what they saw from the Bisons forward both on the ice and off it as Jameson was named as the 2021-22 recipient of the Canada West Student-Athlete Community Service Award. Jameson saw action in nine games with the Komets before he experienced something he had never done before in his career: he was traded!

Jameson was off to Utah from Indiana as the Utah Grizzlies made a deal to acquire Jameson from the Komets for cash, and Jameson would play four more ECHL games during the 2021-22 ECHL season for the Grizzlies. He made those games count, though, as Jameson recorded two assists and he scored his first professional goal - a game-winner, no less! - at 7:16 of the third period on April 16, 2022 to help Utah defeat the Idaho Steelheads 5-3 in the regular season finale. Not lost on this writer is that it was also Star Wars Night on April 16 in Salt Lake City, and seeing Jameson score his first professional hockey goal while wearing a Star Wars-themed jersey is pretty far out!

Clearly, Utah liked what they had acquired from Fort Wayne because, on August 30, the Grizzlies announced that they had re-signed Jameson to a deal for the 2022-23 season! Expect to find Jameson skating as a regular for the Grizzlies this season after his three-points-in-four-games showing in Salt Lake City, and I wouldn't be surprised to see Jameson flying around the ice on opening night based on how he played here in Manitoba. As he settles in and finds his game, Jameson could turn out to be a solid signing for the Grizzlies due to his vision and playmaking abilities on the ice, his defensive awareness away from the puck, and his hustle that he showed in his university days that got him into the ECHL with Fort Wayne.

I'm always happy to see a good player making the most of his opportunity when he or she can, and this is a good opportunity for Jameson. He won't be expected to score at a point-per-game pace or anything, but his first full season in professional hockey will come in a place where he can really work on his skills, find some chemistry, and take his game to another level. All players want an opportunity to show what they can do, and I think the Grizzlies will allow Jameson to do that based on what we already know about how well he plays the game.

Congratulations to Keaton Jameson on his signing with the Utah Grizzlies, and here's hoping he finds a pile of success on the ice in Salt Lake City this season!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!