The owners of the Utah Grizzlies announced they were preparing to sell the team last summer. In 2023, David Elmore, who owned the team with his wife, Donna Tuttle, passed away. Due to health concerns, Tuttle was unable to stay actively involved.
The Maverik Center in West Valley City, the team’s home base, will still host the local NBA G League team, the Salt Lake City Stars. The higher-tier NHL team, the Utah Mammoth, will continue playing at the Delta Center. So, while there will be plenty of hockey in Utah, actual Grizz games will soon be only memories for the team’s longtime Utah fans.
Grizzlies supporters will remember enforcers like Mick Vukota showing their strength on the ice, team mascot Grizzbee hyping up kids in the audience, goalie Trent Miner’s impressive shutouts and the crowd going wild as the team won the 1996 Turner Cup, which was the championship trophy of the International Hockey League that operated from 1945 to 2001.
Thankfully, there’s still time to make new Grizzlies memories as they play one final season on Utah ice.
“You see a lot of families there,” said Tyson Whiting, director of broadcasting and media relations. “It’s a good time at an affordable price.”
Whiting recommends getting tickets early for Grizzlies-themed nights, like the annual Guns & Hoses game on Jan. 31. Tickets include entry to police vs. firefighters charity games before the Grizzlies take on the Greenville Swamp Rabbits. Proceeds from tickets and raffles will support first responders. Whiting also suggests attending Grizz Fight Cancer nights on Feb. 27 and 28, when the team will honor all who have battled cancer, and Military Night on March 14, when the Grizzlies honor former and current military service members.
Heading into the season, Whiting names the following players to watch: returning team captain Mick Messner, goalie Dryden McKay—statistically one of the best goaltenders in college hockey history—and defender Luke LaMaster, who will have his first full season with the team after joining and impressing toward the end of last season.
Know Your Grizz History
Following a 1994-95 Turner Cup championship season, the Grizzlies arrived in Utah from Denver as the Colorado Avalanche established themselves in the Mile High City. The Grizzlies played home games at the Delta Center during their first Utah season, where they won their second consecutive Turner Cup title in 1996. “That night, a minor league hockey record of 17,381 was set at Delta Center,” Whiting said. “That had to be the first sign that if someone had the money to bring an NHL team to town that it would be successful.”
The Maverik Center, originally called the E Center, was built in 1997 to host the Grizzlies and the 2002 Olympic Winter Olympics. Fans filled the arena on game days, many losing their voices from cheering after each Grizzlies goal.
Over the years, more than 200 Grizzlies players have went on to play in the NHL.
Of course, you don’t have to know the team’s history, research its players or even go on a theme night to enjoy the experience. Order a beer, sit back and watch a classic Utah team once more before they’re gone.
Along with lighthearted, fun activities for fans before the game and between periods, “the hockey on the ice is a lot of fun as well,” Whiting said.
A schedule for upcoming games is available here.
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