Bring out the Zamboni: Utah H.C. prepares for preseason home opener
Sep 23, 2024, 2:55 PM | Updated: 3:01 pm
SALT LAKE CITY – Utahns are now just hours away from Utah’s first professional hockey game in front of a home crowd.
The Utah Hockey Club is making final preparations for Monday night’s preseason home opener at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City.
The ice is in and the arena is set for Utah H.C.’s first home game. Fresh off the team’s first preseason game, winning on the road, Utah H.C. got in a skate Monday morning in Kearns before playing Monday night at the Delta Center.
“It feels kind of like that movie premiere, you’ve thought about it for a long time but it’s actually here, when the puck drops at 7 o’clock tonight, it’ll be real,” said Jamie Galileo, Senior V.P. of Facility Operations with Smith Entertainment Group.
Galileo has been responsible for getting the arena hockey-ready over the last eight or nine months. The adapted arena now has pushed-back seating to fit the ice, new NHL-standard lighting and a remodel for new NHL locker rooms.
“Furniture, weight equipment, hockey sticks, you name it, equipment is moving into the locker room for the first time today,” Galileo said.
Utah hockey fans are anxious for the team to take the ice, and the team is motivated.
“That just makes you want to compete harder and work harder every single day to deliver the best possible product and experience for the people here in Utah,” said Chris Armstrong, Utah H.C. President of Hockey Operations.
Now their home is ready for a smooth start to Utah’s own professional hockey club in Salt Lake City.
Now that the ice is in, it’s going to be a juggling act between swapping the floor for Utah Jazz games and bringing it back for hockey games — sometimes the next night. It all starts Monday at the Delta Center at 7:00 p.m.
