SALT LAKE CITY -- The list of firsts continues to grow for the Utah Hockey Club.
The latest came Thursday, when the team held its first-ever training-camp practice at the Utah Olympic Oval.
“There's a lot of excitement around the camp,” coach Andre Tourigny said. “Everybody says camp started yesterday with medical [exams] and that kind of stuff, but today it's real.”
That excitement was seen everywhere Thursday, from the players on the ice to the staff and media watching the first session from the stands.
“I thought it was a great practice,” center Clayton Keller said. “Getting our legs under us, competing against one another a little harder than we do in the summer. It's great to be back out there with your teammates, linemates, and getting that chemistry going right away.”
Keller is familiar with many of the players in camp, having been with the Arizona Coyotes for the previous eight seasons. The Utah franchise was established by the NHL Board of Governors on April 18, with all assets from Arizona transferring to Utah.
Though most of the team is back, newcomers such as defenseman Mikhail Sergachev are learning to adjust to not only a new location but a new organization as well.
“Just learning the team ways, how the team is playing,” said Sergachev, who was traded to Utah by the Tampa Bay Lightning on June 29 and is entering his ninth NHL season. “How they're playing D-zone, neutral zone, forecheck, stuff like that. It's going to be a learning process so that's what I'm looking forward to, and today was a good day of that.”