Kimberlee Keller never really paid attention to hockey, much less attended a game. That all changed when the NHL announced last April that it was coming to Utah.
“I was like, this could be fun,” she said outside the Delta Center before an April 3 Utah Hockey Club home game against the Los Angeles Kings. “And now I’m a big fan. I’m really into it.”
She and Ross Jackson said they have been to about 10 games this season. Jackson is a Colorado native and would watch the hometown Colorado Avalanche play a few times a year. For him, last year’s team announcement was a game changer.
“I knew it was gonna be big here,” he said.
Now, after a whirlwind year that saw the team move from Phoenix, Arizona, to Salt Lake City, the Utah Hockey Club’s inaugural season is coming to a close. And players and fans are settling in for many more years of major league hockey in Utah.
Moving to a new city not only presents logistical and business challenges but there’s always a small amount of fear that the fan base won’t latch on to the team. Thankfully for them, fans showed up in a big way.
By the numbers, hockey has been a hit in Utah. According to the team, every home game this season was sold out of what they call “full view” tickets to the tune of 11,131 seats.
The Delta Center was originally built as a basketball-specific arena with a maximum seating capacity of around 20,000. That means in a hockey configuration, some of those seats are lost to accommodate the larger sheet of ice and others can’t see the whole rink — yet. The team plans to renovate the arena in the coming years to give all hockey fans a full-rink view. It’s part of a larger plan to remake downtown Salt Lake City into a sports and entertainment hub.
Even with parts of the arena obscuring the ice, fans still wanted a piece of the action. The team has sold over 40,000 discounted, reduced-view tickets since January.
Even though Utah Hockey Club had a less than six-month runway to prepare for the first puck drop of the season, it’s not a surprise that the game has gotten a foothold here. Utah is a global winter sports hub and will host the Winter Olympics in 2034.
The state is no stranger to hockey, either. It has been home to minor league teams since 1969 — the Utah Grizzlies since 1995 and before that, the Salt Lake Golden Eagles played on Utah ice from 1969-1994.
Fans say watching a game in person is an experience like no other. For Utah Hockey Club forward Liam O’Brien — also known as “Spicy Tuna” — there are parts that just don’t come across the same way on TV.
“I think if you can come to a game, I think you’ll fall in love with it,” he said. “The speed and physicality and the skill that we have out there, I think it’s special. It’s unique and it’s fun to watch. It’s entertaining.”
Players streak from one end of the rink to the other linking together passes and setting up screens just to get a shot on goal. Most of the time, it ends in a near miss and the crowd gasps and groans in unison. But sometimes, everything comes together and the entire arena shakes and roars when there’s a goal.
It’s that atmosphere that has new fans like Kimberlee Keller coming back time and time again.
“The crowds are amazing,” she said. “Everyone gets really into it compared to other sports. The music is great. The culture is just cool.”
The Utah Hockey Club did not make the playoffs in their first year. But wins and losses are just one way to gauge a successful season — or a good hockey town.
“I think it’s just really fans showing up, being there for their team, being loud and proud,” said Ross Jackson. “You can easily see that here, that’s for sure.”
Players agree. A winning record or a storied history can certainly help, but the fans are what make hockey in Utah special.
Defenseman Nick DeSimone said the team immediately felt welcome and that it already felt like “hockey’s been here for a while.”
“It’s been pretty impressive how [the fans have] welcomed us and really loved us and showed up every night,” he said. “They really care about it. I think that’s been the coolest thing here. And it kind of shows that it is a hockey town.”
Lucky for the fans, team owners Ryan and Ashley Smith have said they plan on keeping hockey in Utah for a long time.
In addition to renovating the Delta Center, the team will move into a brand new practice facility in Sandy later this year. The Smiths also pledged to donate $10 million to help build rinks across the state to get more kids into the game.
For O’Brien, Utah is starting to feel like home.
“You know, as a player, you come here with your family and it’s a new city and you’re really just learning about where you’re living,” he said. “Everybody, from my neighbors to the people in my community that I live in, just like, thank you for welcoming us with open arms and helping us out and showing us around as well.”
The next Utah Hockey Club season starts in October. In the meantime, fans are on pins and needles to see if the team decides to permanently embrace the Utah Hockey Club moniker or choose a new name.
