Utah wins ‘truly special’ 1st preseason home game

SALT LAKE CITY -- Sarah Lambourne walked into the lower bowl of the Delta Center on Monday about an hour before the Utah Hockey Club’s first preseason home game. By chance, she ran into owner Ryan Smith. He shook her hand, and she teared up and told him: “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”

Her grandparents had been inaugural season-ticket holders when the Salt Lake Golden Eagles joined the Western Hockey League in 1969-70. She had gone to her first Golden Eagles game when she was 10 days old. Now here she was, 45 years old, an inaugural season-ticket holder with Utah joining the National Hockey League.

“They’re not here to see it,” Lambourne said of her grandparents, emotion on her face and in her voice. “But we’ve done it. It’s here. It’s happening.”

The players pulled on their new jerseys in their new locker room at the Delta Center, and they defeated the Los Angeles Kings 3-2 in overtime before a cheering, chanting, capacity crowd of 11,131.

It was just a dress rehearsal for the season opener against the Chicago Blackhawks here Oct. 8, and much remains a work in progress. But it showcased what Utah has accomplished already and gave an encouraging glimpse of the NHL’s newest market.

“This is for you,” Smith told Lambourne. “This is for you and your family. For whatever reason, we’re in this spot. It’s not about [wife Ashley] and I. It’s about our community, and the cool thing is, there’s people like you all over.”

The NHL established a new franchise in Utah on April 18 after the Arizona Coyotes could not find a permanent arena solution. Utah acquired the hockey assets of the inactive Arizona franchise, raced to be ready for the inaugural season and started working on the seasons to come.

Utah created temporary uniforms; it is developing a permanent brand identity. It built a temporary practice facility inside the Utah Olympic Oval; it is building a permanent practice facility slated to open next season. It did preliminary renovations inside Delta Center; it will do more renovations over the next two or three years.

“I’ll tell you a thought I had the other day as I walked through the dressing room,” Utah general manager Bill Armstrong said when training camp opened Sept. 18. “I know it’s going to sound bad, but I’m going to say it anyways. I was like, ‘Wow. We’re really an NHL team. This dressing room is absolutely spectacular.’

“Not only did they get it done, but they got it done in a spectacular fashion. And there’s so many people behind the scenes that I can’t tell you that just crushed it, that worked night and day to make this happen, and it looks like it’s all pulled off so easy. Everything just magically appeared. We are grateful.”

Utah dressed a lineup full of regulars while Los Angeles didn’t Monday. Coach Andre Tourigny said Utah had one chance to make a first impression on the fans, and it wanted as many regulars as possible to get used to the Delta Center -- the room, the boards, the ice. Utah won’t play at home again until opening night.

“Walking in here today and seeing the room for the first time, it’s unreal, and we’re so happy,” forward Liam O'Brien said. “They put so much work into this in the last four or five months, and they’ve done a tremendous job, so hats off to them.”

Delta Center is the home of the NBA’s Utah Jazz and built for basketball. For now, the stands are retracted in each end zone and covered with black banners for hockey. Thousands of seats have obstructed views. Eventually, after renovations are complete, those issues will be resolved.

Utah held back some game presentation elements, using a brief video montage before the game and a DJ during stoppages.

“We have lots of tricks in our bag for opening night, and we’re excited to wait to share those with our fans on Oct. 8,” president of hockey operations Chris Armstrong said.

Still, Utah sold out the unobstructed seats, which constitute the official capacity for hockey. (The team expects to exceed capacity when it sells obstructed-view seats.) The fans wore Utah gear and jerseys from around the NHL, and they were engaged.

Little more than a minute after the opening face-off and throughout the game, the fans chanted, “Let’s go, Utah!” They roared when forward Lawson Crouse scored the first goal at the Delta Center at 15:04 of the first period, and they roared some more when O'Brien and forward Travis Barron got into fights immediately afterward. Some chanted O’Brien’s nickname, “Spicy Tuna!” At times, the fans chanted simply, “U-tah!”

“We’re all excited to be a part of this,” Crouse said. “It’s something truly special, and tonight’s an example of that. With the fans that we had in here, we could really feel it on the bench, and a lot of credit to them. We love having that energizing impact in the game, and it gives us a huge edge. We hope we put on a good show for them, and we hope to have them back here.”

Finally, the fans erupted when forward Clayton Keller scored 19 seconds into OT.

“Obviously, it was a preseason game, but [Keller] said it was one of the most fun preseason games he’s ever played, if not the most fun,” O’Brien said. “We had a blast, and the energy was unbelievable.”

Asked if he had a message for the fans, O’Brien said, “That’s just a taste, so super excited for them to see that home opener. Just look forward to playing in front of that crowd this season.”