Dear Utah: I hope you fall in love with your hockey team

SALT LAKE CITY — The scene inside Delta Center for the Utah Hockey Club‘s first game was as refreshing as it was raucous. From the time the national anthem began until Dylan Guenther and Lawson Crouse scored back-to-back late goals to secure a 5-2 win, the decibel level was dangerously loud.

The passion at the arena was raw and so fresh that for a night, I fell in love with NHL hockey all over again.

It got me wishing the same feeling for the fans in Salt Lake City and the state of Utah.

I do hope you fall in love with this game, Utah. I hope you fall in love with this team. I hope you fall in love with its personalities and its crazy history.

I hope you appreciate an owner who is both trying to win and trying to do right by his people.

I hope you embrace GM Bill Armstrong’s big and built-for-the-camera personality, his tireless dedication to his craft, and his love and support of the critical yet under-publicized role of scouting.

I hope you understand how perfectly suited coach André Tourigny is to that Bear nickname when you hear him growl at his players during a practice, but then hug Clayton Keller when the two see each other for the first time after a long offseason.

I hope you get to taste his family’s homemade maple syrup. I hope you fall in love with the way he says “opportunity” and so many other English words that sound better in his Québécois accent. In fact, you should make a bingo game out of it.

I hope you value the kind, old soul that hides behind Lawson Crouse’s huge frame and booming shot. I hope you get to meet his awesome wife, Claire, and the most famous dog in Arizona, Butter Pig.

I hope your pulse quickens when you watch Clayton Keller and Nick Schmaltz running the high cycle in the offensive zone.

I hope you know how much Barrett Hayton cares.

I hope you marvel at Matias Maccelli’s fish-eye-lens vision, his absurd passing skills, and I hope you use the pinch emoji to celebrate the Italian-Finn’s accomplishments in your tweets. 🤌🏼

I hope you pay attention to Connor Ingram’s dry sense of humor and his “I don’t like doing media but I’m really good at it,” interviews.

I hope you realize what an impossibly good human being Nick Bjugstad is.

I hope you respect Dylan Guenther’s lethal shot and his veteran’s resolve.

I hope that Guenther and Jack McBain land a lucrative Costco sponsorship.

I encourage you to dream about Logan Cooley’s immense promise, which we saw in his first moment on the NHL stage in Melbourne, Australia.

And for the young media members covering the NHL for the first time with this team:

I hope you get to stand outside the dressing room after wins, listening to the strains of The Cranberries’ “Zombie.”

I hope you always remember to properly punctuate and spell André Tourigny, Juuso Välimäki, Aku Räty, Miloš Kelemen and Veeti Väisänen. The players won’t complain if you don’t. They’re good guys, but it matters both because we’re in the business of accuracy, and because it’s a sign of respect for their families and their cultures.

I hope you keep tabs on a first-rate scouting staff and an equally impressive development staff who are doing great things behind the scenes to build the future of this franchise.

I hope you tell deep and well-researched stories about these players, coaches and staff, instead of writing the run-of-the-mill recaps and thinly sourced features that have become too commonplace in this industry.

Above all, fans want to be connected to their team and its people. They want to know what drives them. They want to know their thought processes. They want the funny anecdotes and the soul-felt inspirations of their lives.

And for everyone associated with the Utah franchise in any way, I hope you don’t ignore its history — embodied in the Doan family that you have inherited from Arizona and Winnipeg. Know that history and embrace it because no matter what the league or legal documents say, the Winnipeg Jets and Phoenix/Arizona Coyotes are very much a part of your history. This is not a new team, and it’s fascinating, lengthy history shaped yours.

I want you to understand what this franchise meant to the people of Winnipeg and the people of Arizona who no longer have it. And from that, I hope you gain an appreciation for what you’ve got.

Little in life is permanent. Nobody knows this more than Coyotes fans. So while you look to the promising future of this franchise, don’t forget where it came from, and don’t forget to enjoy the ride.

There are so many compelling personalities and quality people in this franchise. I hope you fall in love with all of them.

Top photo via Getty Images

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