NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman laughs team owners Ryan and Ashley Smith as they speak during a news conference at the Delta Center on April 19, 2024 in Salt Lake City, Utah. The NHL has allowed the sale of the Arizona Coyotes and the team will relocate to Salt Lake City, Utah.(Photo by Chris Gardner/Getty Images)
(Photo by Chris Gardner/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY— Ryan Smith, the Utah pro sports mogul and owner of three local pro franchises, echoed Jazz head coach Will Hardy’s words while challenging the Delta Center co-tenants.
“It’s a race to the rafters,” the Jazz and Utah Hockley Club owner Ryan Smith said on ESPN’s NHL pregame show on the Delta Center plaza.
With more physical changes yet to come at Delta Center, Smith clarified that division banners and retired numbers aren’t the only things he expects to raise at Delta Center.
"It's a race to the rafters on who's hanging the first banner!"@RyanQualtrics is ready to see who wins the first title between the @utahhockeyclub and @utahjazz 😆 pic.twitter.com/g7t9bbYP6p
— ESPN (@espn) October 9, 2024
Despite relocating from Arizona in the offseason, Utah Hockey Club is considered a new franchise with no history. Every goal, save, and shift change will be firsts for the franchise in the coming weeks. After playing home games in a college arena in recent years, the club looks forward to improved amenities in Utah.
Like their displaced hockey brethren, the Jazz originated elsewhere. An expansion franchise in New Orleans in 1974, the Jazz headed west for the 1979-80 season. Since moving, the Jazz have experienced tremendous playoff success but have come up short each season. Delta Center did host the last two NBA Finals appearances for Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, but Jazz fans know how that story ends.
With the Jazz squarely in the middle of a rebuild and all of the unknowns surrounding Utah Hockey, Beehive State fans could wait a while. Part of the joy of sports is that everybody has a chance on Opening Night.
“Over the past five months, Level 1 of Delta Center underwent significant renovations to create new family hospitality areas, a dedicated locker room for the Utah Hockey Club, an updated Jazz locker room, newly configured NBA and NHL visiting locker rooms, and shared facilities for NBA and NHL coaches and league officials,” Smith Entertainment Group wrote in a press release in September.
Find KSLSports.com coverage of the Utah Hockey Club here.
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Brian Preece is a KSLsports.com insider covering Locals in MLB and Salt Lake Bees. Follow Brian’s Bees and Beehive baseball coverage here.