{"id":461345,"date":"2025-01-25T10:49:23","date_gmt":"2025-01-25T15:49:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=461345"},"modified":"2025-01-25T10:49:23","modified_gmt":"2025-01-25T15:49:23","slug":"4-nations-face-off-utah-hockey-club-captain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2025\/01\/25\/4-nations-face-off-utah-hockey-club-captain\/","title":{"rendered":"How 4 Nations Face-Off Snub Motivated Utah Hockey Club Captain"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After the rosters for the 4 Nations Face-Off were announced, it was expected that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/k\/kellecl01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-01-25_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Clayton Keller<\/a>\u2019s name would be on the list. However, the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?s=utah+hockey+club\" target=\"_self\">Utah Hockey Club<\/a> captain\u2019s omission from Team USA was a surprise throughout the league and maybe for himself too. The star forward has been nothing short of spectacular so far this season as he continues to be Utah\u2019s most dynamic and skilled player. Perhaps Keller took the snub personally, but he certainly hasn\u2019t let the situation get in the way of his play. In fact, the exclusion from the team may have only motivated Keller to take the next step in his career.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Leading the Way<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Keller has been Utah\u2019s most reliable player all season long and he continues to fill that role. The 26-year-old winger has been on Utah\u2019s first line and he hasn\u2019t disappointed during the team\u2019s first campaign. Keller already has <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/k\/kellecl01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">51<\/a> points in 46 games played, which is first on Utah. He had 76 points in 78 games last season, but is on pace to reach and likely exceed that number in less games this year.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">His abilities as an elite player are already established and well-known around the league, but something is different this year. Keller\u2019s demonstrating a high level of confidence, not in only his teammates, but in himself too. One change for Keller this season has been his plus\/minus rating, which sits at a -1. It\u2019s not amazing, but it\u2019s definitely better than the -20 he had last season and shows a defensive improvement.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\ud83d\udde3\ufe0f Mr. Versatile extends the lead!!! <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/cuNzC1DUQf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/cuNzC1DUQf<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Utah Mammoth (@utahhockeyclub) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/utahhockeyclub\/status\/1882605236151595141?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">January 24, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The former seventh overall pick in 2016 is currently riding a five-game point streak with ten points recorded. Keller also has 12 points in the last eight games overall, the most on Utah in the span. He&#8217;s formed tremendous chemistry with centre <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/c\/coolelo01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-01-25_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Logan Cooley<\/a> and the two have become one of the league&#8217;s best duos. Cooley moved up the first line with Keller on the left and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/s\/schmani01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-01-25_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nick Schmaltz<\/a> to his right as a reward for his recent play.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cooley is right behind the Utah captain for second in points with 42. Keller\u2019s been Utah\u2019s biggest threat at even strength and on the power play. 31 of his 51 points have come at even strength, which is first on Utah, while the other 20 were scored on the power play. That\u2019s also good for the team lead.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Embracing the \u201cC\u201d<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Not only is Keller\u2019s scoring confidence high, he\u2019s starting to show leadership qualities in his first year as captain. Being the first player to ever wear the \u201cC\u201d in Utah\u2019s history comes with a lot of pressure, but the four-time all-star has embraced the role. Being a leader doesn\u2019t necessarily mean being the team\u2019s leader in points, as it can be done in other ways. In Keller\u2019s case, taking a puck to the face and leaving the game, then coming back to score a goal is a sign of that leadership.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Nothing but grit from Clayton Keller last night.<a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/UtahHC?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#UtahHC<\/a> | <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ZionsBank?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@ZionsBank<\/a> <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/JvCRuSkwVa\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/JvCRuSkwVa<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Utah Mammoth (@utahhockeyclub) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/utahhockeyclub\/status\/1881774297846604086?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">January 21, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Although it was an empty netter, Keller returned with a big red cut above his right eye. That earned him high praise from Utah head coach Andre Tourigny after Monday night\u2019s win against the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/category\/jets\/\" target=\"_self\">Winnipeg Jets<\/a>. It will also earn him more respect from his teammates. Depending on how the second half of the season goes for Keller, he could be on pace for a career year with Utah. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">His best campaign was two years ago when he had 86 points in 82 games while in Arizona.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Keller is a pass-first player, but also has the ability to shoot the puck when the opportunity arises. He most recently scored a power play goal in Utah\u2019s shutout victory over the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/category\/wild\/\" target=\"_self\">Minnesota Wild<\/a>, another divisional foe. The forward will need to continue his current pace if he wishes to help Utah make the playoffs in their first season in their new home.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em>Main Photo: Christopher Crevelin<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After the rosters for the 4 Nations Face-Off were announced, it was expected that Clayton Keller\u2019s name would be on the list. However, the Utah Hockey Club captain\u2019s omission from Team USA was a surprise throughout the league and maybe for himself too. The star forward has been nothing short of spectacular so far this [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5373,"featured_media":461501,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[21,4547,4548],"tags":[4611,1063,6926,2532,8030],"class_list":["post-461345","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mammoth","category-hockey","category-nhl","tag-andre-tourigny","tag-clayton-keller","tag-logan-cooley","tag-nick-schmaltz","tag-utah-hockey-club-analysis"],"modified_by":"Andrew Willis","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461345","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5373"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=461345"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461345\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":461502,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461345\/revisions\/461502"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/461501"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=461345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=461345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=461345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}