'Unbelievable' atmosphere surrounds inaugural Utah Hockey Club game

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah Hockey Club wasted no effort creating a playoff-like atmosphere for its inaugural regular-season game on Tuesday night.

The National Hockey League's newest franchise surrounded its home opener against the Chicago Blackhawks with a fan celebration leading up to the puck drop and beyond. An outdoor concert featuring country music artist Shaboozey highlighted the pre-game celebration.

The festivities culminated in an outdoor watch party for fans who did not have tickets to enter the Delta Center. Two giant screens aired the ESPN broadcast.

Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen skated out the ceremonial puck and handed it to Utah Hockey Club and Jazz owner Ryan Smith. Ashley Smith dropped the puck for Utah captain Clayton Keller and Chicago captain Nick Foligno before the game.

“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 atmosphere inside and outside the arena was electric through the night, mirroring the experience already common at Utah Jazz playoff games.

“It’s unbelievable,” said Sean Cassity, a new Utah Hockey Club season ticket holder. “So much excitement. Everyone is jacked for the Utah Hockey Club to get here.”

ESPN hosted an entire day of triple-header hockey coverage from a set in front of the arena. The network featured on-set interviews with Smith and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and covered Utah players coming out of the tunnel for the first skate.

Utah goaltender Karel Vejmelka wore a body camera during morning skate, and footage was used by ESPN during studio segments. The camera was first used during 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.”

Fans are eagerly embracing a second major professional franchise in Utah. The lone pre-season contest between Utah and the Los Angeles Kings in September drew 11,131 fans. Capacity will expand to accommodate 17,000 for hockey games once renovations are completed.

Utah has sold approximately 8,500 full-season-ticket equivalents. 34,000 people initially put down a deposit for tickets. The club is already tracking toward being among the top 20 NHL clubs for sponsorship and ticket revenue this season.

All signs point to hockey becoming the next big thing for residents of the Beehive State.

“I’ve been wanting to pick a sport that’s my sport and so when the hockey club came here, I said, ‘That’s it. This is the one. We’re gonna learn everything and we’re gonna be the biggest fans,’” Utah Hockey Club fan Makae Wright said.

— AP sports writer Joe Reedy contributed to this report.

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