The Million Fan March is on its way to the E Center.
Louis Farrakhan probably won't be in attendance, but that event will happen tonight when the Utah Grizzlies — coming off Friday's 5-3 loss against the Chicago Wolves — host the Cleveland Lumberjacks at 7:30.
The 4,835th person to enter the state-of-the-art hockey haven for tonight's IHL matchup will be the millionth fan to cross the turnstiles for a Grizz game in their West Valley City den. The lucky fan will be introduced to the crowd and receive a Grizz jersey in the third period.
During the first three seasons of the E Center, the Grizz played in front of 984,648 fans, totalling about 8,000 spectators per game — the highest average in Utah hockey history.
"It's taken four years to get this many. Hopefully we can get to 2 million faster than we got to 1 million," said Grizz president Tim Mouser. "We have enthusiasm this year that we haven't seen the past two years with Dallas and the young players."
The Grizz attendance total was boosted to 995,165 last Friday when 10,517 fans watched Utah smack the Orlando Solar Bears 4-2 in the home season-opener. That was the third-largest crowd to see a hockey game in the E Center. The biggest crowd, not surprisingly, was against the Las Vegas Thunder — Utah's old rival — on Oct. 11, 1997, when 10,716 watched a Utah win.
With the annual deer hunt starting today, the Grizz are hoping for a crowd of 7,500 or so for tonight's doubleheader nightcap (the Utah Freezz also play at 1 p.m.).
Grizz fans will get several chances to watch their team in the next few days. Following Saturday's showdown with the Lumberjacks, Utah will host its rival, the Kansas City Blades, on Tuesday and Wednesday.
E-mail: jody@desnews.com