After a tumultuous 28-season run in Arizona, the Utah Hockey Club is seeing immense fan support ahead of their inaugural season. Now it will be up to the former Coyotes' core to keep the hype train rolling during the 2024-25 season.
Arizona Coyotes players salute the fans in the crowd following their final game against the Edmonton Oilers at Mullett ArenaIn one month's time, the new Utah Hockey Club will make its regular-season NHL debut as part of ESPN's big opening-night triple-header, hosting Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks at the Delta Center.
After taking control of the Arizona Coyotes' hockey assets in April, new owner Ryan Smith and his staff quickly drummed up more support for the squad than players had ever seen in nearly 30 years in the desert.
By early June, Utah had collected more than 34,000 season-ticket deposits — similar to the Seattle Kraken’s launch numbers from 2018.
And a lot of those fans are fresh names in Smith’s database. Team CEO Chris Barney said that 92 percent of the deposits were not NBA season-ticket holders for the Utah Jazz and that more than 60 percent hadn’t been to an event at the Delta Center in the previous 12 months.
Starting in just a few weeks, it will fall to the players and coaching staff to deliver an on-ice product that’s entertaining enough to generate good word of mouth and keep those fans coming back.
That’s no small thing for a franchise that only reached the post-season once in its last 12 years in the Valley of the Sun. Last year, their season fell apart right when Smith submitted his formal request for an expansion team on Jan. 24, 2024 — a 14-game losing streak followed as rumors swirled.
But to the Coyotes’ credit, they finished strong once the initial shock wore off and reality set in, putting up a record of 13-10-1 between March 1 to the end of the season.
The Desert Dogs also showed tremendous resilience within games. All told, they tallied 13 comeback wins, including a monstrous three-goal comeback in the third period of a game in December, and a six-goal outburst in the third period of a game in April.
NHL teams have logged two or more third-period comebacks of three or more goals in a season just 16 times in NHL history — giving the Coyotes franchise a pretty special record in its final month of existence.
Both wins also came on home ice at Mullett Arena, giving fans good reason to stay in their seats until the final buzzer.
With any luck, they can bring that same electric gameplay to their new home this fall, and give their new fans a taste of how electric and unpredictable NHL hockey can be.
On Dec. 19, 2023, the Coyotes spotted the Ottawa Senators a three-goal first-period lead before coming back for a 4-3 win. Jack McBain got things started in the second period, then J.J. Moser, Clayton Keller and Michael Kesselring beat Joonas Korpisalo in the third. Kesselring's winner came with 3:33 left to play in regulation.
Then, on Apr. 5, 2024, the Coyotes exploded for a six-goal third period in a 7-4 win over the Vegas Golden Knights. After Alex Kerfoot had opened the scoring for Arizona midway through the second period, Vegas replied with four goals in the back half of the middle frame, and looked poised to cruise to victory.
But Josh Doan started the comeback at 8:19 of the third, with his third-career goal in his fifth NHL game. Nick Bjugstad and Michael Carcone quickly followed suit. The three goals in 1:07 knocked two seconds off a franchise record that had been set in October and tied the game.
And the hosts weren’t done. Carcone’s 21st of the year at 14:47 stood up as the game-winner. A minute later, Josh Brown made it 6-4, and Logan Cooley sealed the win with his 18th of the year, into an empty net, with 2:35 remaining.
If Doan can build off his late-season debut last year, where he put up nine points in 11 games, he’ll quickly become one of the faces of the franchise in Salt Lake City. He’s part of a young core which also includes Cooley and Dylan Guenther. Utah's roster also features in-their-prime forwards Clayton Keller, Nick Schmaltz and the plucky Carcone as well as new blueline additions Mikhail Sergachev and John Marino.
Finally free of the dysfunction that haunted nearly all of the team's 28-year-tenure in Arizona, Coyotes players could be poised to take a big step forward in their new home this fall.
If they can hang onto the never-say-die mindset that fuelled those historic comebacks last season, they’ll deliver some instantly memorable experiences that will get their new fans talking.