When the Arizona Coyotes couldn\u2019t find a long-term solution to their arena situation, the NHL Board of Governors approved a new franchise in Utah on April 18, 2024, with the team to purchase Arizona\u2019s hockey assets. Utah received about 22,700 season-ticket deposits in little more than 24 hours.<\/p>\n
A week later, Utah flew some Arizona executives, coaches, players and staff members to Salt Lake City.<\/p>\n
The Delta plane stopped on the tarmac in the morning, and hundreds of youth hockey players, parents and coaches waited in the hangar holding homemade signs. \u201cWELCOME TO UTAH!\u201d \u201cUTAH (HEARTS) HOCKEY!\u201d \u201cWELCOME HOME!\u201d One sign had a map of Utah, a star for Salt Lake City and directions: \u201cYou are here.\u201d<\/p>\n
With music rocking in the background, the kids chanted: \u201cLet\u2019s go, Utah! Let\u2019s go!\u201d The players disembarked in black hoodies with the NHL shield and \u201cUTAH EST. 2024.\u201d As they walked down the steps, they took in the scene and broke into smiles.<\/p>\n
\u201cStepping off the plane was unbelievable,\u201d center Clayton Keller<\/a> said.<\/p>\n Delta Center hosted a welcome event in evening. So many fans showed up that the organizers had to turn away hundreds. The fans cheered and chanted before the players even arrived. First, it was a deafening \u201cUtah!\u201d Then it was, \u201cLet\u2019s go, Utah!\u201d<\/p>\n Then the players walked in, dressed in suits, feeling like superstars. The lights were low, the spotlights shining. The music was pumping, the crowd buzzing. If you looked closely, you could see them failing to hide smiles as they walked onto the ice and up the middle of a crowd of people holding up their phones to record the moment.\u00a0<\/p>\n General manager Bill Armstrong told the fans, \u201cWe\u2019re so looking forward to this being the loudest building in the NHL.\u201d The fans responded by chanting rapidly, \u201cUtah! Utah! Utah!\u201d Coach Andre Tourigny said, \u201cWe cannot wait to feed off your energy next year.\u201d<\/p>\n There wasn\u2019t time for a full branding process, let alone full renovations of Delta Center, which was set up to maximize sightlines for the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association. So, the team played its first season as the Utah Hockey Club. The arena had black walls in the end zones and hundreds of obstructed seats in the upper level.<\/p>\n Still, there was a party on the plaza, and the place was sold out for the inaugural game. Before the Smiths dropped the puck for the ceremonial face-off, Ryan Smith told the fans, \u201cLet\u2019s make this the loudest place to play in the NHL.\u201d Then forward Dylan Guenther<\/a>\u00a0scored the first goal in Utah history at 4:56 of the first period, sparking a 5-2 win against the Chicago Blackhawks.<\/p>\n It lived up to the hype — the game, the team, the fans, all of it.<\/p>\n