When Utah Hockey Club general manager Bill Armstrong attended the 2024 IIHF World Championship, he was blown away by the reception the Latvian fans gave to the home team. He took a video of the crowd in hopes of building that type of environment in Salt Lake City.
Less than five months later, he was again blown away by a crowd. But this time, he didn’t have to fly overseas to see it — it was at the Delta Center.
“It was like we had been around for 10 years,” he said.
For the first few months of Utah HC’s inaugural season, that passion was raw and unbridled. Fans would cheer their hearts out at every little indication of triumph: hits, saves and any UHC shot even somewhat directed at the net. And, of course, they’d boo every penalty and offside call against Utah, no matter how warranted it was.
But somewhere along the way, the passion became focused and intelligent. The cheers for shot attempts turned into collective “aww” sounds when they missed the net; the booing only accompanied the bad calls; the anticipation was palpable during the real scoring chances, rather than the mere three-on-three rushes.
“I think it grew during the season,” said Utah coach André Tourigny of the fans’ hockey knowledge on a postseason episode of the Utah Puck Report podcast. “I think they became more passionate about the team. They followed the game and they followed the league and they’re way more knowledgeable now.”
That hockey intelligence likely came from a few different angles: watching more games, consuming more hockey content and even playing the sport.
Utah HC president of hockey operations Chris Armstrong said in his postseason exit interview that 10,000 kids participated in Utah’s various Learn to Play programs this year — that’s twice the number of registered youth hockey players in Utah last year. The team is building more rinks and is encouraging local municipalities and investors to follow suit.
“The youth hockey program is so important,” said UHC defenseman Sean Durzi in an October interview. “To think about what it’s done in my life, whether I made (the NHL) or not, I made so many friendships, so many good relationships, just kept me busy in my childhood, taught me so many life lessons that you can’t really emulate anywhere else.”
What will it take for Utah to become a hockey hotbed?
As bright as the future seems for hockey in Utah at all levels, the state has a long way to go before achieving the type of success that various eastern and midwestern states have enjoyed for decades.
It starts with accessibility. Building more rinks lowers the barrier to entry in terms of cost, travel distance and available ice time. A lower barrier to entry allows more kids to play the sport, creating higher levels of competition and allowing Utah’s best players to stick around longer, rather than leaving to play junior or collegiate hockey elsewhere.
At the moment, Utah’s highest level of collegiate hockey is the ACHA DI program at the University of Utah. There are also a few ACHA D2 programs in the state, but there’s no route that directly leads to the NHL (or the PWHL for girls).
As for junior hockey, Utah has two NCDC teams and two USPHL premier teams. These leagues often lead their players to collegiate opportunities, but because Utah doesn’t have any NCAA programs, the best players have to leave the state.
Implementing NCAA hockey is the necessary next step in growing hockey in Utah from the ground up.
Both the men’s and women’s American teams at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City consisted almost entirely of players from eastern states. How cool would it be to have a Utah-born, Utah-raised player when the Olympics return to the state in 2034?
