The Utah Hockey Club worked hard to create a playoff-like vibe for its first regular season game on Tuesday night.
The NHL’s newest team kicked off its home opener against the Chicago Blackhawks with a fan celebration before and after the game. An outdoor concert featuring country music artist Shaboozey was a highlight of the pregame festivities.
The celebrations included an outdoor watch party for fans without tickets to the Delta Center. Two large screens showed the ESPN broadcast.
Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen brought out the ceremonial puck and handed it to Ryan Smith, the owner of both the Utah Hockey Club and the Jazz. Ashley Smith dropped the puck for Utah Captain Clayton Keller and Chicago Captain Nick Foligno before the game started.
“We’re just trying to have a fun event that everybody in the community is going to remember,” Ryan Smith said. “It’s not more complicated than that. This is a moment that speaks for itself. Everyone knows it’s coming. We get to do it once.”
The energy inside and outside the arena was exciting all night, similar to the atmosphere during Utah Jazz playoff games.
“It’s unbelievable,” said Sean Cassity, a new season ticket holder for the Utah Hockey Club. “So much excitement. Everyone is jacked for the Utah Hockey Club to get here.”
ESPN covered the event with a full day of tripleheader hockey programming from a set in front of the arena. The network featured interviews with Smith and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and showed Utah players coming out of the tunnel for their first skate.
Utah goaltender Karel Vejmelka wore a body camera during the morning skate, and footage was shown by ESPN during its segments. This camera was first used in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final when Florida Panthers backup goaltender Anthony Stolarz wore one.
“Without question we were looking at Utah as an opportunity for opening night,” said Linda Schulz, who leads ESPN’s NHL Productions. “This is one of those easy ones because it’s an opportunity for the league, the team, and ESPN. Having them on opening night was without question immediately interesting and something that we all worked toward.”
