Things have been happening fast for the Utah Hockey Club so far in 2024, and their inaugural game Tuesday night was no exception. Less than five minutes into the first period against the Chicago Blackhawks—and less than 10 after owner Ryan Smith had thanked the sellout crowd of 11,131 at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City for “packin’ the barn”—Utah winger Dylan Guenther slammed a one-timer from the top of the right face-off circle past Blackhawks goalie Petr Mrázek for the first goal in the history of the new franchise. It was a sign of things to come, as the young Hockey Club churned out a 5–2 win.
“That was pretty cool,” Guenther said afterward. “That building was special. That was a ton of fun. A lot of fun to play in front of that crowd.”
It was a blast for the fans who filled the Delta Center to the rafters, too. Tickets to the game on the secondary market were reportedly going for close to $1,500, and the cheapest seat available was more than $100. Those who ponied up got their money’s worth. The home team jumped out to a 3–0 lead midway through the second period, but then gave up a goal to 19-year-old Blackhawks center Connor Bedard before the break. Chicago scored another early in the third on a tip-in by veteran winger Nick Foligno. The rest of the action was end-to-end—and a Utah victory seemed very much in doubt—until Guenther backhanded in an unassisted empty-netter with 44 seconds left.
Nothing could have seemed more unlikely back on April 18, when Smith had stood before the Arizona Coyotes in a hotel in Scottsdale and announced, “You’ve been traded to Utah.” The deal was the culmination of more than a decade of off-ice trouble for the Coyotes, whose business outlook and arena deals were in such disarray that the team played last season in 5,000-seat Mullett Arena on the Tempe campus of Arizona State—with no guarantee that it would be moving to a larger venue anytime soon. When Arizona made a modest playoff push last season by winning 10 of its final 16 games, the NHL knew it had to do something.
Enter Smith, a tech billionaire who, along with his wife, Ashley, owns the NBA Utah Jazz and the MLS club Real Salt Lake. The couple had made it known that they also wanted to bring pro hockey to the foothills of the Wasatch Mountains, but when 2024 began, they still believed that the prospect was years in the future. That changed after league commissioner Gary Bettman reached out to them in April and asked if they thought it was possible to move the Coyotes to Salt Lake. Soon after, the NHL brokered a $1.2 billion sale of the Arizona franchise to the Smith Entertainment Group.
“I mean, if you would’ve told me at the beginning of the year that this is where we’d be, I’d say you were crazy.... It’s unprecedented,” Smith told ESPN after the sale. “This is a different process. I don’t think anyone’s ever done it or seen it. But we’re in. We’re all-in. And I have a lot of faith in the people in Utah and how they show up for things.”
As part of the sale, Smith had acquired the Coyotes’ hockey assets, including players, coaches and team staff. The next sixth months were a scramble to get everyone moved—and then moved in—to a new hometown. The team’s group chat was suddenly transformed into a digital bulletin board for real estate listings.
But for all the inconvenience and hassle of moving, most Utah players were grateful for the change of scenery. They had been playing under a cloud of uncertainty of the future of the franchise for years, and they had been growing increasingly dissatisfied with the tiny confines of the Mullett Arena.
“[Focusing on winning is] definitely a feeling we’ve had,” Utah captain Clayton Keller said before opening night. “No distractions. You can say what you want, but, at times, friends, family, people always asking you what’s going on and you don’t really know. It’s nice to be freed up and focus on our job and what we’re here to do, which is win.”
To be sure, things aren’t perfect yet. Six months was enough time to get a team on the ice. But it wasn’t enough time to turn the Delta Center (which the club shares with the Jazz) into an ideal hockey venue. The smallest NHL arena holds more than 16,000, and some of the seats in Utah are obstructed-view—meaning that only one goal is visible. Plans are in place to expand capacity to 17,000 within three years. It’s the same sort of promise the league was no longer willing to accept in Arizona. Will this time be different? Bettman is counting on it.
On the ice, Utah is a young, fast team that seems to be growing in confidence—giving some hope to a franchise that has reached the playoffs only once in the last dozen years. Guenther, who scored 18 goals and 35 points in 45 games last season, may be on his way to becoming a star. Keller is coming off back-to-back 30-goal seasons. There’s reason for hope in Utah. And after a sizzling opening night victory, anything seems possible.
Call it the promise of youth.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Utah Hockey Club Gets First Win in Franchise History in Inaugural Game.
