Why Salt Lake City Makes Sense for the NHL, a Look at the City and Ryan Smith 

Canadian living in Salt Lake City. The players are gonna love it here. There’s not much crime, it’s clean, the people are nice. I go to a lot of grizzle games and it’s just not 6000 fans average every game. It’s 6000 “crazy grizzles fans” a game. They love their echl team and they’re going to love their NHL team too.

THG, I'm a Sabres fan who lives a 15 minute walk from the Delta center here in SLC. This team is going to be LOVED, and we can't wait.

As a Coyotes fan moving to SLC next year. I'm beyond conflicted haha.

Salt Lake is also growing in population. It can get a LOT bigger, for reference Edmonton had under 500K people in 1984 but now has over 1,2 million

You know a huge underrated factor in Salt Lake City as a sports market is how relatively densely populated the area is. Despite being 1/8 the size the Salt Lake City commuter rail system has 70% the ridership of the Los Angeles commuter rail. Encourage everyone to take a quick look at the Rio Grande plan and then look at the arena size block to the southwest literally covered in tires and garbage. As a New York Ranger fan it takes 90 minutes to get to the city by train and then an additional 40 minutes to reach the arena by subway. Travel time is a way underrated factor in actually going.

I see the jazz moving in the new arena too. Delta Center is over 30 years old and like Shannon said, Olympics needs state of the art facilities

Ice Hockey will be an absolute success in the Utah. Over 2 Million people in the Wasatch front, beautiful scenery, lots of disposable income, economy doing relatively good, an owner who's committed to a new arena, a Winter sports city compared with Phoenix and a growing Hockey market. Sad for Coyotes fans but welcome to the NHL Utah Grizzlies

I'm from Salt Lake City and I need to clarify something. Everyone keeps using the ridiculous population number that is listed by the census bureau. As someone who lives here, the metro area runs from North Ogden to Payson in the south. The 1.3 million population is just Salt Lake County. The Ogden-Salt Lake-Provo Metro Area has 2.7 million people. Believe me this whole area absolutely operates as one. I don't know why the government classifies them separately. So the actual size of the Salt Lake City Metro Area is closer in size to Denver, Portland and Las Vegas. Denver is 3.0 million, Portland and Vegas are 2.5 million. So Salt Lake City, at 2.7 million is right in the same ball park. That's probably why they think it can work. I know people from both the Ogden area and the Provo area and all of us act like we live in the same metro area. The Ogden and Provo areas are suburbs of Salt Lake City. They don't have significant downtowns of their own. So the government needs to correct the way they categorize these 3 areas to accurately reflect reality. The Salt Lake City Metro Area ranks in the top 25 in the US. I just wanted to clarify that. So maybe much of this situation will make more sense.

Salt Lake City can get a arena built in probably 2 years or so. The nhl would be fine playing in an NBA stadium for 2 seasons.

I like the idea of Salt Lake City having a team, given the city’s winter sports history. The Delta Center isn’t the best arena for hockey but it will work until they get a new one built, much better than the Mullett Arena for sure

As a native Utahan here’s a few other things, that I’d add to a few of those bulletin points: -That metro population doesn’t include surrounding “metro” areas, which are all within an hour of Salt Lake City (in fact some cities in some of those other metros are even closer than cities in Salt Lake County to SLC itself). That would all be considered the Wasatch Front, which has a population of over 2.6 million. -I’ve seen that statistic about Mormon population balance for at least 10 years now, and I swear someone just copies it and pastes it onto a new article every year. With the combination of people from states along the west coast moving here and tripling the population of some of our cities, and millennials/Gen Z’ers, who were registered as members through the church, when they were younger who no longer associate with the church, I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that less than half of the state is Mormon now. -SLC is like every normal big city. Mormons aren’t liberal, so of course there’s not a lot there. -People that go to Grizzlies games aren’t just average joes, who get tickets from their boss and decide to go, because it’s something to do. They’re usually diehard fans, who know everything about the team and keep up to date with them. I’m sure there will be a bonfire for everyone’s Knights and Avs jerseys soon 😂. The future definitely looks fun here in SLC!

Was just in Salt Lake City last month to go skiing. It’s a really nice city! Great downtown. Very clean and orderly. Already lots of hockey fans (they were showing NHL games in bars and restaurants). Anyone who thinks NHLers won’t want to play there is nuts!

If the IOC is considering SLC to host the Winter Games for a 2ND time and they have had a solid NBA franchise for more than 40 years then SLC is a no brainer, put that is all you need on your white board.

Something that people don't understand about Utah is that the residents here will drive from near and far to support their teams because they LOVE their sports, i'm talking 2-3 hour drives just to catch Jazz games. They consistently sell out the arena because of that fact. They are extremely passionate fans, and by extremely passionate, I mean they are hostile and aggressive towards opposing teams. I attribute that one to the mormons who are pent up all day everyday and use sports events to release all that rage. Hockey and the NHL is PERFECT for Utah and I cannot wait to be at the arena on day 1!!

You gotta do a IHL video in the off-season. It's fun hearing about the defunct leagues. Go Gears

If they do move, they have to call the team the “Wanderers” 1) works with city history (Mormons and shit) 2) works with franchise history (Winnipeg -> Arizona -> SLC) 3) nice callback to NHL history, with the Montreal wanderers

Future Winter Classic in Rice Eccles Stadium or a redeveloped LaVell Edwards Stadium would be great and a new rivalry with Colorado.

I’m not from Texas but I’d still love to see a Texas instate rivalry between Dallas and Houston. I think Houston makes a ton of sense for an expansion. Large metro area lots of big name businesses and oil companies that might wanna get in on the ownership side of things.

This move to Utah is gonna feel a lot like what happened in the NFL with the Cleveland Browns. They moved the team to Baltimore and then a few years later the Browns would make their return to Cleveland. The team that went to Baltimore would go on to become Super Bowl champions just a few years after that. Not to say that this new team in Utah is gonna become a beast but it just has that same feeling ya know?

Crazy that there’s short term critiques on stadium sightlines after where Arizona played the last season.

Red wings fan living here in Utah, we go to grizzlies games, we religiously watch the wings when we can. I've Said forever If a team moves to SLC I'll make it my #1 team. As much as I've loved the wings for three decades. The Utah team will my my team (wings my second team). This state will absolutely love their hockey team.

I’m a caps fan who lives in SLC right now, the population growth is massive. I wouldn’t be surprised if there is another 50,000 people in the area since the 2020 census. I think hockey would do great, because NBA is so similar in terms of schedule to the NHL. Here, everyone already thinks salt lake has won the bid to host the 2034 Olympics. And the religious influence is FAR less than it used to be and I’m sure it will continue to decline.

I think people are misunderstanding how much power the church has in Utah. Obviously there is a great influence of the religion there, but it’s a normal city like everywhere else😂 some people make Utah sound like a theocracy and it’s hilarious

1.2 is the Salt Lake Metro, but it has 2 other metro areas connected to it. Its called the Wasatch Front. The CSA which stands for combined statistical area is 2.7. The Phoenix CSA is 4.8.

No, the ballpark in Vegas isn’t a sure thing. I did a video about this last week. There are good reasons why it may not happen. Most of them are John Fisher reasons.

Excited for people in the SLC area getting an NHL team, but Houston better be the next expansion city!

If by 2020, I can't imagine where it is now. I just moved to the area in 2021. The town we moved into had a population of 9k people in 2010 and has over 70k people now. It's only 25 min south of SLC. This areas population will double within 20 years.

Utah in geveral ia a beautiful state. 5 National Parks, a bubch of National Forests and Monuments. The SLC metro is really nice snd clean with some great breweries and a great sports pub called Squatters.

I just hope they have stability and success regardless of where they end up.

Never heard of the Jazz having trouble signing players because of Mormons

I lived in Utah for about 18 years. I'm pretty stoked to see them get a NHL team there. There's a LOT of room for expansion and growth. I also echo my sentiment about the place being safe and relatively clean. I have tons of immigrant friends that end up there, and they don't want to leave, because they feel safe, and many of them say that they feel a good spirit amongst the population there.

Shannon, you and Y'vonne will have to check out an NHL game here in SLC.

The 1.2 million number doesn’t include the surrounding counties, so towns less than 5 miles from the city center aren’t including. I for example live about a 40 minute drive from the Delta Center, but wouldn’t be counted in that 1.2 million number. If you actually look at the entire Wasatch front from Provo to Ogden with SLC in the middle it’s actually closer to 2.8 million people, in an 80 mile stretch.

3.3 million people in Utah, and Salt Lake City isn’t super far from other minor cities in Idaho so I think they have the people

Native Utahn here! I’m so excited for this!

A handful of buddies and myself are an hour south of Salt Lake and we're way excited for hockey to come to Utah. Driving that hour drive North is nothing, lots of people do it in order to attend events in Salt Lake, so something to realize is that there will be fans attending from further out than just the Salt Lake valley. Utah Valley is huge and you'll see attendees from all over there showing up. Also, for the church side is things.. I don't think it's going to take away from hockey in any way. When we want to go out for the night, we go up to Salt Lake because there are a lot of bars, live music, great restaurants, even distillery tours.. It actually feels like you're getting into a less church focused area in some ways IF you are looking to attend those kinds of events. With that said, if you want to see the church side of things within the city, that's totally something you can do, and the main temple there in the city is an amazing place to see. The city is well balanced and accommodates both lifestyles very well. This is mostly thinking of people from out of state wanting to come to the city to attend a game.. But it's probably safe to say, most people at the game would be from the surrounding area and are already used to the local lifestyle. Bring on the hockey!

I'm obviously biased as a Utah hockey fan but I'm super confident the team will work out here. SLC has a population of 1.2m but the Ogden metro and Provo metro areas commect directly to SLC and there's good public transport from those cities that can take u to the Delta Center. All in all, from Ogden to SLC to Provo, it's about 2.7m people and growing. SLC's conservative reputation is also overblown. Don't get me wrong, the surrounding state is very conservative, but SLC itself is a liberal city and in spite of backwards drinking laws, has a fairly robust drinking scene and an abundance of breweries. SLC's reputation was probably more accurate a decade ago, but SLC today has changed a ton and I think it'll make for a great market in the NHL and will develop a passionate fan base.

SLC is hosting 2034. It is going to be a rubber stamping in July. There is no 'current plans' to build any new venues for the Olympics. The only major differences are that Ogden won't host curling this time and the medal plaza is going to be the big air venue. If a new arena does exist, it would just mean that curling would move to Provo.

Smith is so passionate about Utah, the Jazz and RSL. He is a great owner

As a life long hockey fan and Utah resident I couldn't be happier about this!

I really do feel sorry for the true hockey fans in Arizona for losing the Coyotes, but it is also a relief to know the fate of the team and I believe that Salt Lake City will be a great choice for an NHL team.

Being a fan who grew up in Utah, I’m really excited for NHL hockey to come here so we can finally show how good the hockey market is! The Grizzlies are a fun team to watch and that barn is always buzzing, can’t wait to see how it plays out. I like the Utah yeti and the Salt lake Barracuda

Moving near SLC from Tampa in July for medical school. I’m so stoked that there’s gonna be an NHL team there now! The Utah/SLC ___ will now be my second team

Utah offers some unique geography that makes using "traditional" potential fan base and TV market tough to gauge. For instance, Tooele county is huge, over 7000 square miles and only a population of 75k, but 45k of those people live in Tooele city, only 15 minutes from the Maverick center where the Griz play. In fact, while 1.2M people is often quoted as the market base, there are actually closer to 2.5M people that live within a 30-45 minute drive, what we call the Wasatch Front.

I lived in SLC for 3 yrs, one thing to clear up is that metro population isn't a great reflection of the population there, especially when estimating home attendance. The Wasatch Front, which stretches about 1 hr north and south of SLC has about 2 million people. Also, I think hockey players and europeans would enjoy Utah, moreso than NBA players.

Arizona has to deal with some projects that would occupy a lot of power and water.

Being from Vegas I think a team in Salt Lake would be perfect. Plus it could make our city rivalry even better!

Also worth remembering, Salt Lake hosted to 2002 Winter Olympics, and they have kept the facilities that were used then in good shape, (I actually wouldn’t be shocked if they have been used as training facilities) so there’s no reason to expect that they won’t win the new bid, in fact the IOC has said that SLC is the preferred site, so they almost certainly will win the bid. And they love sports there. The NHL will be welcomed with open arms.

2002 Winter Olympics led to several ice facilities built around the metro which will bode well with youth hockey, regardless if they win the 2034 bid. Also, Denver affect, down town SLC is roughly 4,400' above sea level. Possibly a competitive advantage. Park City Olympic sized ice is almost 7000' above seal level and only 30min from the Delta center.

for folks bellyaching about quebec city, it would be the smallest market team in the NHL. very limited corporate support, and an economically challenged market to be polite. it's also a province that is going to also go through a serious economic downturn due to a hostile business climate, high taxes, and a myriad of self-inflicted political problems. the nhl BoG has no interest to go to quebec city. that’s not even touching the french language issue. and the league knows no star players will sign there; and it will be on every no-trade clause. about SLC in terms of population… the 1.2m is the city itself. the broader metropolitan region has 2.8M people (vs 2.9m in st louis, and 2.7m in pittsburgh). and that figure is growing rapidly. it won’t be the biggest NHL market, but it’s clearly big enough to support a team. and judging by attendances at the ECHL level, there is a strong appetite for hockey already in SLC. this isn’t like carolina, nashville, or florida from previous generations where they had to build up the support and fan base. it’s already existent in SLC. this is a population that is used to outdoor winter activities, and hockey is already part of their culture even without an NHL team. add to that, ryan smith is a proven NBA owner, and has plenty of resources. he has the delta center to host ice hockey events for the meantime, which is a texas-sized upgrade from the 4500 seat mullett arena.

I am actually happy and stoked for Salt Lake City. 1. I have always given preference for Hockey in colder weather areas, as that will enable opportunities to grow the game at the youth and grassroots level. 2. I have speculated Salt Lake City will have an NHL team right after the 2002 Winter Olympics because of how well they have demonstrated to be an exceptional spot for winter events, I firmly believe NHL will thrive there for that reason.

As a Utah resident and long time viewer of the channel I can say we are all frothing at the mouth dying to have this team.

One of the names for the team, if it moves to SLC, that has been proposed ( probably, not seriously) is, " the Watsatch Sasquatch", in reference to the major mountain range immediately to the East of SLC, & to the more formal name for the legendary 'Bigfoot'.

So pumped. Born and raised in utah til i was 14. Great place to live the players will actually be able to go outside in the summer

Congrats on 310k!

Went to SLC recently for a ski trip. Honestly very surprised by what the city had to offer and would definitely go back. Those who are saying it's not a great place for a team probably haven't been there

You’ve got to count Utah and Davis counties into the population which gets it well over 2 million.

Salt lake is such a great city. I love salt lake . Been there twice. It feels like gondor with their capitol build overlooking the city surrounded by mountains.

I’m very appreciative of Ryan Smith & company

This just feels like a step forward. A reliable owner with a plan. An enthusiastic metro area getting a passable team with a young core. Let's hope it works for everyone ? Salt Lake Sasquatch ?

So many transplants here- they will fill an arena no problem. Kings have played preseason here twice and did it- that was preseason

An owner with deep pockets, with experience as the owner of a major league sports team, who (as far as I can tell) has the respect of that team's fan base and that league's other owners, is invested in and respected by the community he intends to host the team - and actively wants an NHL team. Utah/SLC might be on the small side for "major league" sports, but I don't think it's 'too small'. Smith certainly looks like he's going to be an invested owner, which is probably more important than market size. I feel bad for Coyotes fans, but given the team's ownership/management group managed to get themselves evicted and banned from the only NHL-caliber arena in the region for being horrible tenants - it sure seems like moving the team to SLC is the better option for the league as a whole.

As someone who isn't mormon and grew up in the SLC area it's good to see all the love for home. The idea that Utah isn't a good sports market due to religious/conservative reasons is absurd. Great economy. Great structure/logistics/transportation. Great fans and people.

I’m a military brat born just north of SLC so I’m pumped for this. 100% buying a jersey. Wings as still my main team tho

There's about 2.5m people within 30ish minutes of downtown SLC and it is top 30 media market. The Utah incarnation of the Yotes will draw.

People who actually live and work there will get over stereotypes real quick. Young population, college sports, nature, it's not huge but it's a real city...and some people talk about LDS like they're a secret society. So it's a different church. They have other churches too, and the friendliness is not fake. Hockey players wanna play in the NHL, and have good facilities and make money. They'll do all of that there. Glad Utah's having it's moment in the sun. Watch Ryan Smith talk, he gets sports and fans and if I was a billionaire I'd be doing all the same things he's been doing. I think Utah Miners would be the best name, I love team names tied to local economies and coppery jerseys would be sick but Yetis or Pioneers would be cool too.

At least regarding Tropicana being closed, that's part of a construction project that's been ongoing for several years, it doesn't really have anything to to with a ballpark (or at least not initially and/or solely)

EXCITED for nhl team in Utah, lets goooooooooooo

Utah has committed to $950M towards an arena. I think that is what sealed the deal for the NHL. Plus Meruelo will sell the team and the current teams will collect $300-$500 in relocation fees that gets added to the sale price.

The CSA population is 2.8m which puts them 22nd in the USA.

Greetings from SLC area! Love this channel and I’m excited to get a team here. Ive liked the Jazz historically but the NBA product is not what it used to be, and I’ve been into hockey since high school in the late 90s. I think there are lots of locals that are like me and would get more into hockey, especially now that we are getting an NHL team. My first NHL game that I went to was in Arizona, and I feel bad for the fans there losing their team also. Hope they can get something figured out down the road.

Wall Street Journal listed SLC as the hottest job market in last Tuesday’s edition.

I've lived here for a while now. The conservative religious stereotypes are mostly just that - stereotypes. Towns in this state grow at ridiculous rates and hockey will do very well here. I'm not a part of the church but I can tell you that majority of them are more than willing to "bend the rules" if need be. Make no mistake - SLC is a city just like any other, although a bit smaller.

Salt Lake City makes sense because 1.2 billion dollars.

This might be a dumb question, but how would sightlines make a difference with a basketball arena vs a hockey arena? (I rarely ever watch basketball)

Hoping this means the Avs SLC teams become huge rivals. Coyotes never really had huge a rivalry in AZ

City that always should have a franchise, similar to the avalanche I think

As a long time fan in Arizona, I'm sad to see the Coyotes leave the valley. I'm excited for Salt Lake City and the new fans that will quickly come on board. I wish the the players all the best. I'd like your fans to know that your getting a group of men that play their hearts out every second their on the ice. I would hope the good people in Utah will love them as much as we did. To Mr. Ryan Smith: TAKE CARE OF YOUR FANS! That is what Alex Meruelo refused to do. We received nothing but lies and undelivered promises since he took over. I wish you, the team and your fans all the best. You've got a quality product. Your team will deliver.

Two huge cities (suburbs) within a 45-minute drive of Salt Lake City are Ogden-Layton to the north and Provo-Orem to the south adding another 1.3 million more Utah fans. Making SLC/Ogden/Provo like 2.75 million people (3 times the size of Quebec City and 45 minutes of Quebec City's population of 850k + 50k (area))

I wish you uploaded the audio version to Spotify. I’d love to listen to you mixed into my music.

They also had the Salt Lake Golden Eagles. The top affiliate of the Calgary Flames.

I just don't get how Phoenix can be one of the larget metro areas and yet they seem to hate their sports teams. UT is a great choice.

2.8 million in the SLC CSA which includes the whole Wasatch Front, which is one contiguous urban area including Ogden MSA, SLC MSA and Provo MSA. Using MSA population only for SLC doesn't tell the whole picture

1.2 metro population is a bit of a misleading number in my opinion since that only includes salt lake county. Davis, Weber and Utah counties are all within 40 minutes of SLC and when added boost the number to 2.5 million. The 22nd largest statistical urban population in the US

Population is actually 2.8 million along the wasatch front

I always thought that Utah/SLC would get a team at some point but not like this

I remember my great uncle was a Utah Stars fan in ABA days. There was a booster on their side of the mountain otherwise they couldn't even pick up a TV channel

I grew up in Utah and now live in Washington. I have been a Penguins fan because Mario Lemiux since I was 8 years old and used to play Roller hockey. I am so excited the Kraken came to Seattle now I will have a third team to cheer for when the Coyotes move to Salt Lake and hopefully become the Yeti's! Also Utah gets very cold during the winter and more snow over the past couple of years. So it is similar to Denver.

IHL video incoming? 🤞

The only way Quebec gets a relocation, is if it's an Eastern team. A Western team won't move east, that would mean one team in the East would have to move West. That one team would be the Red Wings. The Wings wouldn't agree to that, and neither would the other Eastern teams.

You should do a video on what you think the name of the team should be

A naming video seems a good move.

The team will do fantastic there. ❤

The Salt Lake City Rappers (need to represent the other music genre least listened to there) won't have to find a way to circumvent alcohol sale laws, because it's been dealt with by the Utah Jazz, although like NBA games they'll need an exemption from the rule of other sports there if they want to make sales after the first intermission. There should also be a big boost in ticket sales, since taking your wife to the game in Utah means buying seven tickets...

This might be a good time to dive into why the Jets left Winnipeg in 1996, like you explained why the Nordiques and Whalers relocated

3:10 Quick note, the ECHL has not been called the East Coast Hockey League for ages. They have teams in Utah, Idaho, and soon Lake Tahoe so East Coast is not appropriate for that league. So now it is officially known as the ECHL, with those letters not standing for anything

Been to every 'frozen fury' game at Delta center since I moved to SLC in 2018. Sight lines leave soo much to be desired, but was a 'spoiled' Sharks season ticket holder for 10 years.. not a fan of how we got here, but SUPER pumped for the future!! Already 'on a list' to get season tickets soon as they're available.

We welcome the NHL to Utah, Dum dum dum dum dum!🎶

I lived in SLC for a few years. It's a very nice city because it's full of culture and surrounded in natural beauty. The whole place is geared toward winter sports tourism which began ramping up when the Olympics were held there in 2000. Also, for the record, I'm not LDS/Mormon and they left me alone. The only thing that's weird is they don't sell booze on Sundays. Also, the super religious LDS people tend to live outside of the city.

Good stuff! Only makes the nhl better!