How New NHL Team Hopes to Grow the Game Deseret News

The Utah Hockey Club officially plays in its new home state.

The organization kicked off a development camp in Park City on Monday, showcasing picks from last weekend’s 2024 NHL draft and top prospects in the system. General manager Bill Armstrong has also been busy with re-signings and free-agent acquisitions, including bringing back last year’s leading scorer, Sean Durzi; and signing free-agent forward Kevin Stenlund (Florida) and defenseman Ian Cole (Vancouver), both Stanley Cup winners.

Ryan Smith, who along with his wife Ashley Smith bought the players and staff of the Arizona Coyotes earlier this year to create a new franchise in Salt Lake City, has said Utah was a winter sports community that needed an NHL team. Now it’s here, and the green slopes of Park City provided the perfect backdrop.

Armstrong said during a press conference at the Park City Hotel, along with Durzi and head coach André Tourigny, that it's surreal to be here in Park City and feel that cold air in the morning and in the evening.

The state welcomed the new franchise with a large turnout at a launch event in April and more than 30,000 season ticket deposits. Smith told media gathered in Las Vegas for the draft that the Delta Center will be sold out this year.

To grow the sport in the NHL's newest market, Armstrong says two things are needed: rinks and wins.

The most important thing is that we can grow as a team and win, Armstrong said. That usually inspires them en masse. That's the first part. Building rinks is probably the second part.

Armstrong referenced the planned training facility at The Shops at South Town in Sandy, which will house community hockey programs and provide ice time for youth and amateur hockey and recreation, the team said in a press release.

“It's going to have a huge impact on the hockey community, just by providing rinks,” he said. “If you build rinks and you bring an NHL team here, you're going to inspire kids to play the game. And we're all for that.”

The great thing about hockey players is that 99% of them are just great people who like to give back to society.

Durzi, who joined Arizona after two years with the Los Angeles Kings, talked about growing up in Toronto and how she was inspired by something as simple as a fist bump from a hockey player coming off the ice.

Taking pride as a hockey player and a hockey team is really important to our group, Durzi said. Being a part of the community, inspiring young kids, inspiring people as a whole to just strive for greatness is really important. That part of it is going to be really cool to see the transition over the next few years, to see how the state and the city responds.

Tourigny added: We have a chance to make history. You never get a second chance to make a good first impression, so we want to do it right.

Utah Hockey Club Development Camp Selection

The selection includes Utah's two first-round draft picks from last week in Las Vegas (Tij Iginla and Cole Beaudoin), as well as first-round draft picks from previous years: Dmitriy Simashev and Daniil But (2023 draft) and Maveric Lamoureux (2022 draft).

A free practice match open to the public will be held at the Delta Center on Friday at 1:00 PM.

Attackers: Owen Allard, Samu Bau, Cole Beaudoin, Daniil But, Jonathan Castagna, Will Gavin, Voltech Hradec, Tij Iginla, Sam Lipkin, Tanner Ludtke, Miko Matikka, Jacob Newcombe, Reggie Newman, Noel Nordh and Gabe Smith.

Defenders: Gregor Biber, Alex Cech, Artem Duda, Terrell Goldsmith, Justin Kipkie, Maveric Lamoureux, Tomas Lavoie, Matthew Morden, Will Skahan, Dmitriy Simashev, Cal Thomas, Veeti Vaisanen.

Goalkeepers: Michael Hrabal, Rasmus Korhonen, Carsen Musser, Melker Thelin, Anson Thornton.