Utah Hockey Club will be the name of the NHL team that will play its games in Salt Lake City starting this fall, with a long-term identity still to come.
Smith Entertainment Group announced the move on Thursday and revealed the initial logos and t-shirts which will be used in 2024-25 in conjunction with the closing of the $1.2 billion sale. Ryan Smith’s company, which also owns the NBA’s Utah Jazz, I bought the team formerly known as the Arizona Coyotes in April.
“Today is a monumental day for the state of Utah as we officially conclude the establishment of a new NHL franchise,” said Smith. “The NHL has been incredible to work with throughout this process, providing us with invaluable guidance and support. We have a lot of work to do – training camp starts in less than 100 days – and we couldn’t be more excited about what’s to come.”
Commissioner Gary Bettman, on behalf of the Board of Governors, said he was very pleased to welcome Utah to the league.
“Congratulations to Ryan and Ashley Smith, their entire organization, the state of Utah and the fans as the club continues its exciting march toward puck drop in October,” Bettman said.
The album will be released in October, but there is no deadline for revealing the brand and permanent logos.
After 20 initial optionsO six finalists are Blizzard, Mammoth, Outlaws, Venom, Yeti and keeping the name Utah Hockey Club or Utah HC. Fan voting runs until June 20th.
One constant will be the light blue, black and white color scheme that should last. It was chosen to complement the Jazz’s “Mountain Basketball” purple. The hockey team calls them mountain blue to represent the sky and the state’s winter sports history, black rock for the darkness of night and volcanic rock in deserts, and salt white for snow and the famous salt flats.
The black and white home jerseys feature UTAH diagonally from left to right. They are expected to make their first in-person practice debut later this month at the upcoming NHL Draft at the Sphere in Las Vegas, when players selected by the team field them.
The Utah Hockey Club will play in downtown Salt Lake City at the Delta Center, a basketball arena that will need renovations in the coming years to increase seating capacity with unobstructed views of the ice. Bettman, in his pre-Stanley Cup Final press conference, said this was a short-term problem that will be corrected and applauded the new owners that they are “drinking from a firehose and are doing it unbelievably well.”
“We are excited about everything Ryan and his organization are doing to welcome players and welcome NHL hockey and introduce it to Utah,” Bettman said June 8 in Sunrise, Florida. “I think things are going even better than we expected, based on the short amount of time they had to work with.”
