Introducing ALLCITY Network's Utah hockey coverage

I never dreamed I’d be telling you this, but the ALLCITY Network will be covering the Utah Hockey Club. You know, the one that used to be the Arizona Coyotes.

Yes, I have moved to the Cardinals beat. Yes, I am also acting as PHNX Sports’ columnist and features writer, but the Utah management staff, the Utah coaching staff and the Utah media relations department have all expressed a desire to continue the relationships that we built with them over the past several seasons, and GM Bill Armstrong has expressed strong support for the idea of more content and coverage of an up-and-coming team.

After internal discussions over the past several weeks, that coverage will start later today with a look at what to expect from the team this offseason. The story encompasses the NHL Draft in Vegas this weekend — which PHNX Sports’ Leah Merrall, Shane Dieffenbach and I will all attend — the trade market, the signing of their own free agents, and the signing of external free agents when free agency begins on July 1.

I want to make something crystal clear. I will not be on the ground in Utah. I will not attend daily practices or most games. This will not be the same type of boots-on-the-ground coverage that I provided for the past 24 years. It will look more like a national reporter focused from afar (although not that far as Armstrong has reminded me) on Utah.

That said, in my nearly quarter century covering the Coyotes and the NHL, I developed a deep well of relationships with league executives, league sources, NHLPA sources, agents, team executives, coaches, players and their extended families. All of that will matter in the content that I will create.

Those of you who have followed my work know that I like to keep tabs on prospects through my monthly prospect reports. With so many key prospects slated to play for the Tucson Roadrunners next season, it will be easy to chronicle them; to get assessments of their development from Tucson coaches Steve Potvin, John Slaney, Zack Stortini, and from the development staff of Lee Stempniak, Kurtis Foster, Charlie McTavish, Jeff Shantz and Nathaniel Brooks.

I’d also like to continue my monthly mailbags to answer all of your questions, and I do mean all of them.

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I won’t be writing a lot of game-centric copy, although I may chart the course of the season through a weekly piece that I am still pondering. Most of my coverage will encompass in-depth features on systems, players, coaches, managers or issues surrounding the team, but I will also be open to your suggestions.

You won’t find any of this content on the PHNX Sports site. You’ll find it on our national site, which to this point has simply housed our national podcasts. We have been discussing ways to alter the site and offer content that is national in scope from our growing web of outlets that currently comprises Denver, Chicago, Philadelphia and Phoenix. The site will be a work in progress as we sort out the best approach, so please be patient with us as it evolves. This all happened fast so, like Utah owners Ryan and Ashley Smith, we’re doing this on the fly. 

Hopefully, we’ll have a permanent layout by the start of the NHL season in October — and maybe some content from the other sports that we cover at ALLCITY: the NFL, NBA, WNBA, MLB, MLS and college athletics.

One more thing. All of my Utah hockey content will be free throughout the offseason to give you a sense of what you can find here. Once the regular season rolls around, we will likely move to a subscription model (details coming later this fall). While understandably angry Coyotes fans won’t have to see this content on PHNX’s site, PHNX Diehards will still have access to it if they want to keep tabs on their former team. Utah fans will have to decide if they want to make the same leap that so many Diehards in Arizona have made.

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As I noted above, I won’t be on the ground in Salt Lake City so my coverage won’t be the same as it was for the past three years at PHNX, but I can promise you that I will work to bring you deeper, well-researched and well-sourced stories that you won’t find anywhere else.

I hope you’ll sample my work, and I hope you’ll stick around for more.

Top photo via Getty Images: The Utah Hockey Club is introduced to the fans at the sold out Delta Center on April 24, 2024.

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