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have you ever wondered why Utah doesn't have a team in the NHL? As a cold-weather environment that is starving for professional sports, wouldn't it make sense to have another top level, winter-based sports team operating in the state? I personally think that the NHL would be a perfect fit for Salt Lake City. They could play their games at Energy Solutions Arena or at the E-Center. Energy Solutions would be harder to work out because they would have to play their home games while the Jazz were on the road. However, I do believe they could figure out a way to make it work. It wouldn't even have to be an expansion team. If one of the current NHL teams were looking to relocate, you would think they would at least contemplate a move to Salt Lake City.

I would support that.

The golden eagles failed and they were not NHL (less expensive). The GRizz are not entertaining (nobody cares). LHM has said that SLC/Utah will never be a hockey town. I tend to agree.

However Denver was never a hockey town until they got the rediculously successful quebec nordiques.

I would love to see a NHL team in utah.

_DNP-CD_ wrote:The golden eagles failed and they were not NHL (less expensive). The GRizz are not entertaining (nobody cares). LHM has said that SLC/Utah will never be a hockey town. I tend to agree.

However Denver was never a hockey town until they got the rediculously successful quebec nordiques.

I would love to see a NHL team in utah.

I think it's easier to support a pro team, rather than a minor team.

I would be all for it.

This is in no way a Hockey town. It doesn't even make the first 3 pages of the sports page. There are no high school teams (other than unsponsored clubs). Colorado was always more Hockey oriented, the U of Denver was and is a big time program. I've seen a Hockey game on the screen at a bar maybe twice. When I was in Minnesota that's all that would be on and it was the Wolves on the back page of the sports section.

I saw a hockey game here once.

Game went into overtime. We won. I think it was a playoff game, maybe the deciding game. People threw stuff on the ice. I don't think I could have been to a more exciting game.

I still wouldn't pay to see another. The whole game I kept wondering why someone wouldn't set a pick.

I'd become an NHL fan with a local team to support.

When the Grizzlies moved here they were really good. They won the championship the first two years they were here. They moved to a different division a little while ago. Attendance was really good when they first moved here but it has kind of slipped. I think playing at the E Center doesn't exactly help their cause.

I once went to a fight, and a hockey game broke out

Hockey is one of the most exciting sports to see in person and to participate in. I love basketball, but I have never had such a thrill as when I played hockey, and that was just for a college PE class.

Having said that, I don't think the NHL could be successful here. Utah is not a hockey state AT ALL. I grew up wanting to play hockey all the time, but couldn't because there were no local rinks in Logan (there's one now because of the olympics), and the skating rink was never frozen for that long. Utah will always be a skiing/snowboarding state. People just don't care about hockey much around here, and I doubt that will ever change. The market isn't big enough here to overcome the lack of hockey knowledge or caring in Utah as well.

It sucks, I would love to go to an NHL game whenever I wanted because they are very exciting, but it will never happen unless I move to an area that has a team.

hoops4life wrote:When the Grizzlies moved here they were really good. They won the championship the first two years they were here. They moved to a different division a little while ago. Attendance was really good when they first moved here but it has kind of slipped. I think playing at the E Center doesn't exactly help their cause.

No, the E-Center is perfect and was the best facility in the IHL. The problem was cost of operation. The league wasn't doing well out west and the closest team the Grizz could play was in Chicago. There is no "AAA" level minor league hockey out west anymore.

I think an NHL team could do well here if the season didn't overlap almost exactly with the NBA season. I think a major league baseball team is more likely to succeed.

Hockey is incredibly boring to me. I would honestly rather watch ping pong. Or bowling. Or archery. Or my hairline recede. I wish hockey would just go away so it would never interrupt my sports highlights again.

The NBA is perfect for cities like Salt Lake or San Antonio OKC where you have a good sized metro but little in terms of out secondary markets. Take Pittsburgh for instance, there are many small towns like Erie around. Cities biu enough for their own TV stations but too small for Big 4 sports. The Wasatch Front is pretty much one metro to me, although it's 3 main valleys do have separation. If you look at Phoenix they are one of the few cities with 4 league teams where the NBA team is the head honcho and biggest deal. This is because they fit into the group of cities like Portland and SLC only in the past 20 years has grown to be an isolated Megalopolis. Tucson is nice but it's not like in Ohio where 300,000 person metros are every few counties.

I've always wanted to be into hockey. I've always had respect for the players of the NHL. Just regular family guys playing the sport that they love. I think that if it were to be brought here, i'd make the jump into hockey mania.

Hockey players are easily the toughest athletes of the five major leagues in this country. I love hockey games, and am pretty fed up with everything else. Especially the NBA.

It's too bad Harpring never got into hockey. He would have been phenomenal, and he has a perfect hockey name.

The speed of hockey is just on a different level than any other sport as well. They are gliding around on steel blades on ice. You don't realize just how fast it is until you do it. The puck is heavy and travels fast. That is what makes hockey so exciting for me to watch. Plus, they have to be tough mofos to make it in that league. No flopping and no dogging it on defense.

My best chance of liking hockey is viewing it like soccer on ice.

I went to a Grizzly game right after I moved here from Minnesota. It was a joke. I think your average high school team in Minnesota has more skill.