The Utah Hockey Club are steadily preparing for puck drop on the 2024-25 season and their inaugural year in the NHL. After relocating from the Arizona Coyotes, the currently mascot-less Hockey Club has the promise of being a playoff contender right away.

The benches were a bit more roomy by the end of Anaheim's 5-2 preseason win over the Utah Hockey Club on Wednesday.

Utah Hockey Club forward Barrett Hayton, right, moves the puck against San Jose Sharks center Will Smith during the first period of a pre-season NHL hockey game, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in San Jose, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

The Utah Hockey Club knew of the little connection when it ordered two new Zamboni-brand ice-resurfacing machines for Delta Center. The machines helped build the ice for the inaugural season and made their public debut at Utah’s first preseason game Sept. 23. Each time they make a lap, you could say, in a way, they’re coming full circle.

This is the first season for the Utah Hockey Club in Salt Lake City. The club spent the previous 28 years in the Phoenix area most recently as the Arizona Coyotes.

Utah is lucky its power play has found some consistency. The team has scored five power-play goals in the preseason. Tourigny has experimented with different variations of the power play throughout training camp. Sunday night, Sergachev, Guenther, Clayton Keller, Josh Doan and Barrett Hayton composed the first unit — and it looked good.

What’s an avalanche to a yeti? The Utah Hockey Club beat the Colorado Avalanche 6-3 on Sunday night. Utah looked shaky at the start, spending seemingly the entire first period in its own zone. But as the game went on, they found their footing and filled the net.

And only 8% of those deposits for the Utah Hockey Club also were Jazz season-ticket holders, which means even more customers for Ryan and Ashley Smith, who own both teams. "So we immediately became very,

With new surroundings, Utah hopes for better results than it had before departing for Salt Lake City after 28 years in the Phoenix area, most recently as the Arizona Coyotes. The Coyotes made the playoffs just once in their final 12 seasons.