SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Hockey Club management insists it’s an expansion team and, as far as the NHL is concerned and the way records will be kept, that’s true.
But in a more practical sense, Utah is a relocated franchise.
It’s mostly the same team that took the ice last season as the Arizona Coyotes with the same head coach and the same general manager.
Utah opens its first season in Salt Lake City on Tuesday night against the Chicago Blackhawks.
If previous relocated franchises are a guide, Utah also fits the definition because it could be on the verge of becoming an annual playoff contender given its core of young players. History has been kind to other teams that have changed cities, with many clubs winning right away and even capturing championships not long after arriving in their new homes.
“I think it’s just been when (teams have) moved, they’ve generally been bought by bigger, richer organizations that can support them better than where they were,” said award-winning hockey historian Eric Zweig, who has authored several books on the NHL. “Arizona wasn’t always terrible when they first got there. But they never really had stable ownership.
PHOTOS: Utah hopes to follow in the steps of other NHL teams that moved and found success
“There aren’t many organizations in the NHL outside of the Coyotes that aren’t run by wealthy companies anymore. I mean, it’s almost impossible not to.”
Ryan and Ashley Smith, who head up the Smith Entertainment Group, own the UHC as well as the NBA’s Utah Jazz and are power players in a downtown Salt Lake City redevelopment project.
They bought the club from Alex Meruelo, who tried and failed to find a new arena in the Phoenix area. The Coyotes played their final two seasons at Arizona State’s arena before being sold, with the NHL agreeing that Meruelo could retain the Coyotes name and intellectual properties in case another team is awarded to the area. He has since relinquished his rights to bring back the team.
So Salt Lake got a relocated team disguised as an expansion franchise.
“It’s one of the fastest-growing markets in the country,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said. “It’s an affluent market. It’s a sports-centric market, particularly as it relates to winter sports. Ryan had been in touch with me for a couple years ‘selling’ - I use the word in quotes - Utah as a place that would be great for us.
“He made a lot of promises as to what he was going to get done, and everything they’ve needed to do, they’ve done and it’s been incredible. And remember: This all came about in like six weeks, including the fact that the lawyers were drafting documents that nobody had ever done before because this was kind of a hybrid transaction.”
One of the carryovers from Arizona, general manager Bill Armstrong, has been working on a slow build to make the roster not only competitive but one that is capable of making deep runs in the postseason.
Utah might not be there yet, but Armstrong has put together a club that could at least challenge for a playoff spot. And given the often wide-open nature of the NHL postseason, Utah might be able to succeed sooner than later should it find a way into the playoffs.
No matter what happens this season, Armstrong has kept his eyes on the long term and trying to make sure any success is sustained.
Clayton Keller, the 26-year-old who last season led the Coyotes in scoring with 78 points, was named Utah’s first captain. Armstrong supplemented the returning players with what should be an upgraded defense that included trading for two-time Stanley Cup champion Mikhail Sergachev, who is Keller’s age.
“We’re not locked into guys that are 35 years old for seven years,” Armstrong said. “We’ve got to let our group grow a little bit organically. There’s still some stuff we have to go through before we can do that. There’s going to be a point in time where you do go and add the big free agents down the stretch to kind of finish it off.
“But there’s still more work with our young guys to grow.”
If Armstrong wants to use as a model other clubs that experienced significant success after changing scenery, he can look at these examples:
-After leaving Atlanta in 1980, the Flames made the playoffs 15 of their first 16 seasons in Calgary and won the Cup in 1989.
-The Minnesota North Stars became the Dallas Stars in 1993 and advanced to the playoffs in 12 of their first 14 seasons, winning the Cup in 1999.
-The Quebec Nordiques left for Denver in 1995 and were renamed the Colorado Avalanche. Thanks to trading 1991 No. 1 overall draft pick Eric Lindros to the Philadelphia Flyers three years earlier, the Avalanche stockpiled enough talent to win the Cup in the first season in Colorado and again in 2001. Colorado made the playoffs its first 10 seasons.
-In 1997, the Hartford Whalers went south to become the Carolina Hurricanes. They made the playoffs in three of their first five seasons, advanced to the Stanley Cup Final in 2002 and won it all in 2006.
Those results, of course, are not guarantees of future success, and not every relocation has resulted in immediate success.
But the ex-Coyotes players no longer find themselves in a college rink. They have a wealthy ownership group that already has taken steps to move the the franchise forward and a new fan base more than happy to welcome the team.
It’s not a bad starting point whether it’s called an expansion or relocated team.
“The players that played last year in Arizona are experiencing something - some for the first time - have never experienced in the NHL, so it’s great,” NHL Players Association executive Marty Walsh said. “The owner’s committed to making it a success, and I think it’s going to be great for the league.”
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