For the first time since the official announcement that the National Hockey League would be coming to the Beehive State, the Utah Grizzlies have said they’ll be staying put.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) The Utah Grizzlies host the Rapid City Rush for an ECHL hockey game at the Maverik Center in West Valley City on Saturday, Jan. 27, 2024.
On Thursday afternoon, Utah Grizzlies Vice President Jared Youngman was interviewing job applicants for sales positions with the minor league hockey team.
He’ll need them on board because the Grizzlies will drop the puck on their 30th season in the Beehive State next October. For the first time since the April 18 announcement of a new National Hockey League team in Utah, Youngman said his East Coast Hockey League club will stay in West Valley City’s Maverik Center.
And he’s open to partnering with the new major league team at some point.
“Currently, the affiliation agreement is with [the] Colorado [Avalanche], but we would love to find ways to rework it and work with NHL Utah,” Youngman said Thursday. “I mean, as of right now, we’re where we’re at. [We’re] not opposed to collaborating and making things work together with NHL Utah.”
The ECHL operates as the third tier of professional hockey in the United States and Canada. It is one of two leagues (the other is the second-tier American Hockey League) recognized by the NHL and its players’ union.
NHL teams sign affiliation agreements with lower-league teams like the Grizzlies so their players can develop further before they make the jump to major league hockey. The Grizzlies have been affiliated with the Avalanche since 2018.
The West Valley City-based team came to Utah in 1995 under circumstances similar to what the club faces now. The Denver Grizzlies were founded as a new franchise in the now-defunct International Hockey League the year before, but left the Mile High City for the Wasatch Front after the then-Quebec Nordiques relocated to Colorado.
A representative from Smith Entertainment Group said the company’s newly acquired NHL team would be supportive of affiliating with the Grizzlies in the future but is respectful of the ECHL club’s agreement with Colorado. The company is not in discussions with the Grizzlies about potential affiliation at the moment.
It’s uncommon, but not unheard of, for an ECHL team to share a market with an NHL franchise. In Texas, the lower-league Allen Americans play in the same market as the NHL’s Dallas Stars. (The Stars’ ECHL affiliate is the Idaho Steelheads.)
Interest in minor league hockey appears to be on the rise in Utah.
This year, the Grizzlies drew more fans than any other season over the past two decades, averaging just more than 6,000 spectators at home games. The team upped its total ticket sales by about 20%, including a nearly 50% bump in group packages.
The Grizzlies are the main tenant at the West Valley City-owned Maverik Center. Utah’s second-largest city actually owns 40% of the team itself.
A city spokesperson could not be reached late Friday afternoon.
Grizzlies officials hope to grow the game even more in Utah by sticking around. One thing that might help: ticket prices.
While it’s still unknown how much single-game tickets for the new NHL team will be, regular season prices for the nearest NHL team, the Vegas Golden Knights, tend to start at about $50. Hockey fans can normally snag a Grizzlies ticket for $17 to $41.
Youngman, the Grizzlies vice president, has a simple message as interest in the sport swells in the Beehive State and his club barrels toward a milestone season: “We’re playing hockey.”
