The Utah Hockey Club gets its first win in franchise history in the opening game

It was also great fun for the fans who filled the Delta Center to the rafters. Tickets for the game reportedly cost nearly $1,500 on the secondary market, and the cheapest seat available cost more than $100. Anyone who took part got their money's worth. The home team took a 3-0 lead midway through the second period, but then conceded a goal to 19-year-old Blackhawks center Connor Bedard before halftime. Chicago scored another goal early in the third period on a tip-in from veteran winger Nick Foligno. The rest of the game was end-to-end – with a Utah victory looking very much in doubt – until Guenther made an unassisted backhand net shot with 44 seconds left.

Nothing could have seemed more unlikely when Smith stood in front of the Arizona Coyotes in a Scottsdale hotel on April 18 and announced, “You have been traded to Utah.” The deal was the culmination of more than a decade of off-ice problems for the Coyotes Coyotes, whose business prospects and arena contracts were in such disarray that the team played in the 5,000-seat Mullett Arena on the Tempe campus in Arizona last season – with There's no guarantee it will turn into one any time soon will move to a larger venue. When Arizona made a modest playoff push last season, winning 10 of its final 16 games, the NHL knew it had to do something.

Enter Smith, a tech billionaire who, along with his wife Ashley, owns the NBA Utah Jazz and MLS club Real Salt Lake. The couple had announced they wanted to bring professional hockey to the foothills of the Wasatch Mountains, but as 2024 began, they still believed that was years in the future. That changed after league commissioner Gary Bettman reached out to them in April and asked if they thought it was possible to move the Coyotes to Salt Lake. Shortly thereafter, the NHL brokered a $1.2 billion sale of the Arizona franchise to Smith Entertainment Group.

“I mean, if you had told me at the beginning of the year that we would be here, I would say you were crazy… This is unprecedented.” Smith told ESPN after the sale. “It’s a different process. I don't think anyone has ever done it or seen it. But we're there. We're totally into it. And I have a lot of confidence in the people of Utah and the way they get things done.”

As part of the sale, Smith had acquired the Coyotes' hockey assets, including players, coaches and team personnel. The next six months were a struggle to move everyone to a new hometown – and then move in. The team's group chat suddenly transformed into a digital bulletin board for real estate listings.

But despite all the inconvenience and hassle that came with moving, most of Utah's players were grateful for the change of scenery. They played for years under a cloud of uncertainty about the franchise's future and grew increasingly dissatisfied with the cramped quarters of Mullett Arena.

“(Focusing on winning is) definitely a feeling we had,” Utah captain Clayton Keller said before opening night. “No distractions. You can say whatever you want, but sometimes you ask friends, family or people what's going on and you don't really know. It’s nice to be free and focus on our job and what we’re here to do, which is win.”

Of course, things aren't perfect yet. Six months was enough time to get a team on the ice. But there wasn't enough time to transform the Delta Center (which the club shares with the Jazz) into an ideal hockey venue. The smallest NHL arena holds more than 16,000 spectators and some of the seats in Utah are hidden from view, meaning only one goal is visible. The plan is to expand capacity to 17,000 within three years. It's the same kind of promise the league no longer wanted to accept in Arizona. Will it be different this time? Bettman expects it.

On the ice, Utah is a young, fast team whose confidence appears to be growing – giving some hope to a franchise that has made the playoffs just once in the last 12 years. Guenther, who scored 18 goals and 35 points in 45 games last season, may be on his way to becoming a star. Keller is coming off back-to-back 30-goal seasons. There is reason for hope in Utah. And after a sizzling victory on opening night, anything seems possible.

Call it the promise of youth.