The Chicago Blackhawks face the Utah Hockey Club in an NHL regular season game at Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, on Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024 (10/8/24). The Utah Hockey Club are making their NHL debut after being founded last April.

It’s been a wild six months for owner Ryan Smith and the Utah Hockey Club, and it’s all led up to Tuesday's season opener against Chicago.

The Utah Hockey Club will play its first regular-season game on Oct. 8 against the Chicago Blackhawks at Delta Center in Salt Lake City (10 p.m. ET; ESPN, ESPN+). NHL.com is counting down to the first game with a five-part series about hockey in Utah. Today, in Part 5, columnist Nicholas J. Cotsonika looks at how Utah has welcomed the NHL:

Utah Hockey Club’s first regular-season game as a franchise is quickly approaching. The team will play at home Tuesday night at 8 p.m. MDT at the Delta Center against the Chicago Blackhawks. Although less than 48 hours remain before the puck drops,

Utah Hockey Club has a tough decision to make. The team wrapped up preseason Saturday night with a 2-1 win over the Colorado Avalanche at Maverik Center. Dylan Guenther and Nick Schmaltz both scored, and Connor Ingram had 30 saves en route to the victory. Now it is time to finalize an opening-night roster.

The structure sits in a corner inside the 275,000-square-foot Utah Olympic Oval, the long-track speed skating venue for the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics, the home of US Speedskating, and an official U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Training Site.

The Utah Hockey Club concludes its preseason with a game at the Maverik Center against the Colorado Avalanche.

Keller’s popularity with the fans and his teammates has not wavered. It is part of the reason he was chosen to be Utah Hockey Club’s first-ever captain. Keller’s winning mentality will hold the team to a higher standard as it looks to turn a corner in the standings this season.

The seventh inning was delayed for several minutes when security got involved after fans threw items on the field. 28 drivers were involved in a crash with less than five scheduled laps to go. Jason Fitz and Frank Schwab join forces to give their instant reactions and takeaways from every game of the Week 5 Sunday NFL slate.

The Chicago Blackhawks and Utah Hockey Club will match up in a historic game for one franchise. Utah will be the home of the Hockey Club, making it the third location in the franchise’s history. The team started in Winnipeg,

Clayton Keller's remarkable journey from a devastating femur injury to becoming the first-ever captain of the Utah Hockey Club is marked by his resilience and determination. Following his injury at the end of the 2021-22 season,