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Utah’s NHL team makes its first appearance in Salt Lake City

Photos: Fans line up to welcome the team to its new city.

  | April 24, 2024, 8:36 p.m.
| Updated: April 25, 2024, 1:55 a.m.

The line near a small Salt Lake City Airport hangar started growing more than an hour before Utah’s new NHL team was scheduled to land. Youth hockey players from all over the state wore their team jerseys and brought hockey sticks and signs, eager to catch a glimpse of the players and coaches who they’ll cheer for this fall.

Utah’s NHL team may not have a name yet. But it does have a home.

And on Wednesday, the former Arizona Coyotes players made their first stop in Salt Lake City. They patiently met with hundreds of young players and shook hands, signed caps, jerseys and shoes, and posed for photos.

“I’m excited because I’ll have a team from our state to root for,” said Allie Lowen, who plays hockey on a Salt Lake County rec team with mostly boys. “I’ll watch more hockey and I’ll get to watch more in-person hockey.”

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Hockey player Sean Durzi signs autographs for young fans for the airport arrival of the new NHL team in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, April 24, 2024.

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Hockey player Sean Durzi signs autographs for young fans for the airport arrival of the new NHL team in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, April 24, 2024.

Thousands of fans showed up for a free event at the Delta Center — a capacity crowd — on Wednesday afternoon. Before that, Lawson Crouse and Clayton Keller, along with coach André Tourigny and general manager Bill Armstrong, spoke warmly about the reception they received at the airport.

“Stepping off the plane was was unbelievable,” Keller said. “Just seeing the youth hockey programs, a lot of kids that know all of our names and things like that. We couldn’t be more excited.”

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Players with the Utah NHL team enter the Delta Center at an event to celebrate Utah's new hockey franchise on Wednesday, April 24, 2024.

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) The Delta Center is photographed during an introduction for the Utah NHL team on Wednesday, April 24, 2024. On screen are team owners Ryan and Ashley Smith.

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Fans attend an introduction event for the Utah NHL team at the Delta Center, on Wednesday, April 24, 2024.

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) General Manager Bill Armstrong and Coach AndrŽ Tourigny answer questions during a news conference at the Delta Center, on Wednesday, April 24, 2024.

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Fans fill the Delta Center for an event introducing the Utah NHL team on Wednesday, April 24, 2024.