When the 2024-25 NHL season began, there was only one active Utah-born player in the league: Los Angeles Kings forward Trevor Lewis. By the time it ended, there was another.
“A couple times, I tried to hit some guys and it did not go my way. I got reverse-hit against (Marcus) Foligno.”
— Ian Moore recalling his first games playing at the NHL level
Anaheim Ducks defenseman Ian Moore was born in Salt Lake City. His family moved to Massachusetts when he was young, but Utah still holds significance to him.
“I’m definitely proud to be from Utah,” he told the Deseret News. “It’s not a common state for hockey players, but it looks like it might be growing there — especially with the new team."
After four seasons at Harvard University, and the final two as captain, Moore flew out to California to turn pro in late March. Nine games into his AHL tenure with the Ducks’ AHL affiliate, the San Diego Gulls, he got a shot in the big league.
“The first game was really special,” he said. “I had a lot of friends and family come and visit from (Boston). I think I had close to 40 people that were all there, just supporting me in my first game.”
He stuck around for the Ducks’ last three games of the season, tallying an assist against the Winnipeg Jets in the final contest.
As much as he’d prepared for his NHL opportunity, there were still things that surprised him when he got there.
“A couple times, I tried to hit some guys and it did not go my way,” he said. “I got reverse-hit against (Marcus) Foligno.”
He described the difference between the hits in college and those in the NHL: You get the wind knocked out of you more when you play against fully grown men.
Moore was excited to play against the people he grew up watching: Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor, Martin Nečas and longtime Boston Bruin Charlie Coyle, to name a few.
Of course, he had ample help from respected veterans on his own team, too — especially his defense partner, Jacob Trouba.
“It’s the same game you’ve been playing your whole life, even though it’s the top league in the world,” Trouba told him prior to his first game. “Just stick to what you think you’re good at or what your style of game is, and things will fall in line as they should.”
Moore models his game after Jaccob Slavin and Alex Pietrangelo — elite defensive defensemen who chip in offensively when they can.
As gratifying as it was to play in the NHL, Moore didn’t work his whole life to play just three games. This taste of NHL action has motivated him to get stronger over the summer so that he can come back and make the team out of training camp in the fall.
Oh, and he’s also graduating from Harvard. He may be one of the only people to ever have that as the second-most important thing on their summer to-do list.
