If you’re attending your first Utah Hockey Club game, you’ll need to learn the chants. You don’t want to be the one person in the Delta Center trying to figure out what everyone else is chanting or why they’re chanting it.
Don’t worry — You can use this as a guide.
“Oh say, can Utah”
A handful of fanbases across the NHL shout specific phrases relating to their teams during the singing of the national anthems.
Dallas Stars fans shout “star” both times the word is sung in “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Winnipeg Jets fans shout “true north” during “O, Canada” in favor of the Jets’ ownership group, True North Sports and Entertainment. Nashville Predators fans shout “Juuse” when the American anthem says “you see” because of their star goaltender, Juuse Saros.
Utah HC fans have started shouting “Utah” instead of “you see” at the beginning of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” It’ll be quite the event when the Predators visit Utah on April 10.
“Veggie”
No, Utah hockey fans are not reminding the players to eat their greens when they chant “veggie” during games. That’s the word they use to support goaltender Karel Vejmelka — “Veggie” for short.
It started when Vejmelka had his 49-save win at the Delta Center on Nov. 13, and now they chant it every time he makes a big save.
“It’s unreal,” Vejmelka said of how it feels to hear thousands of people chant his name after that game. “This is a moment I’ll remember for sure.”
“Spicy Tuna”
This one hasn’t been used in a while, as Liam “Spicy Tuna” O’Brien hasn’t played since Oct. 28. But in the handful of games he played over the course of the preseason and the regular season, his nickname was the main chorus ringing through the Delta Center.
“Let’s go Utah” *clap, clap, clap clap clap*
It’s simple, but it gets the crowd going when they chant “let’s go Utah,” followed by a series of claps in rhythm. This one is often aided by the game entertainment staff when they put the words on the jumbotron, karaoke style.
More to come?
Chants are not set in stone. They’ve only played 13 games at the Delta Center, regular season and playoffs combined, so you know there are more chants coming.
Do you have a clever one in mind? Try it out at your next game. Maybe it will stick.