Английская Википедия:Ice hockey in Utah
Utah has a growing interest with ice hockey in the United States.
History
Utah had its first big introduction to the game with the debut of the Salt Lake Golden Eagles in 1969. The club was a member of the WHL and got off to a slow start by finishing last in the standings in this first two seasons. 1972 saw huge changes for the team as it suddenly became competitive, reaching the league championship, but it was also the beginning of the end for the league. The early 1970s saw massive amounts of westward expansion by both the NHL and WHA that caused many teams in the WHL to fold. 1974 was the final year of operation for the WHL, however, Salt Lake was one of the teams that was still round to be absorbed by the Central Hockey League. The Eagles responded to the adversity by winning the league championship in their first season. They continued to be one of the top teams in the CHL and won two more titles in the early 80s.
By 1984 the CHL had declined to the point of bankruptcy but the Eagles still remained popular in their home town. Despite losing the backing of their then-parent club (Minnesota North Stars), the team jumped to the International Hockey League in 1984. The new league was a step up in terms of competition, with the IHL playing just below the NHL, but the Eagles were quick on the uptake. After winning the league championship in 1987, the Eagles signed an affiliation deal with the Calgary Flames and repeated their title run the following season. In the ensuing years, however, the team began to flag in the standings and became a middling team by the mid 90s. In 1994 Larry H. Miller, who had purchased the team in 1989, sold the Eagles to a group out of Detroit. Despite the loyal and established fanbase, the franchise was moved out of Utah before the next season.
After a year without a team, Salt Lake City welcomed its second franchise when the Utah Grizzlies arrived from Denver. The team had already won a league championship before their arrival but recommended itself the old Eagles fans by capturing the title in 1996. While the Grizzlies remained one of the better teams in the IHL for the remainder of the decade, they were unable to get any further successes in the playoffs. Despite the lack of postseason performance, attendance figured remained high with the team routinely seeing crowds above 7,000.[1] After the IHL folded in 2001, the Grizzlies were absorbed by the AHL, previously the IHL's chief rival. The team saw even less on-ice success in the early 21st century and by the middle of the first decade their fans were beginning to disappear. In 2005 the team saw its average crow size drop below 5,000 for the first time and then suspended operations after the season.
Not willing to miss out on a ready market, a local group purchased the right to the Grizzlies name as well as a mothballed ECHL franchise and made sure that the E Center had ice hockey available for the 2005–06 season. Though they started slow, the second franchise played very consistently over the years, making the postseason for eleven consecutive years. While the team was unable to win a title in that time, the fanbase rewarded the team by seeing its attendance numbers rise from 3,800 in 2006 to over 5,600 in 2018.[2]
During the residency of the second Grizzlies franchise, junior hockey arrived in Utah when the Ogden Mustangs relocated from California. While it wasn't the first junior team to call the state home, it was the first to last more than one season. The Mustangs swiftly became one of the best teams in the Western States Hockey League, finishing either second or first in their division for 7 consecutive years. In 2019 and 2020, Ogden won the league regular season title, capping off back-to-back runs to the league championship game. After the WSHL went dormant during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Mustangs left to join the USPHL and have continued their strong play (as of 2023).
Teams
Professional
Active
| Team | City | League | Arena | Founded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| style="color:white; background:#00483a; Шаблон:Box-shadow border"|Utah Grizzlies (second) | Salt Lake City | ECHL | Maverik Center | 2005 † |
Inactive
| Team | City | League | Years Active | Fate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| style="color:white; background:#ffef18; Шаблон:Box-shadow border""|Salt Lake Golden Eagles | Salt Lake City | WHL CHL IHL |
1969–1974 1974–1984 1984–1994 |
Defunct |
| style="color:white; background:#901a3a; Шаблон:Box-shadow border""|Utah Grizzlies | Salt Lake City | IHL AHL |
1995–2001 2001–2005 |
Cleveland Monsters |
Junior
Active
| Team | City | League | Arena | Founded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| style="color:white; background:#10103a; Шаблон:Box-shadow border"|Ogden Mustangs | Ogden | USPHL | The Ice Sheet at Ogden | 2011 † |
Timeline
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id:act value:rgb(0.5,0.8,0.5) legend:active id:out value:rgb(0.8,0.5,0.5) legend:out id:inact value:rgb(0.5,0.8,0.8) legend:inactive id:line value:black id:bg value:white
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width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s
bar:1 color:act from:07/01/1969 till:06/01/1994 text:Salt Lake Golden Eagles (1969–1994) bar:2 color:out from:07/01/1994 till:06/01/1995 text: bar:2 color:act from:07/01/1995 till:06/01/2005 text:Utah Grizzlies (1995–2005) bar:2 color:out from:07/01/2007 till:end text: bar:3 color:out from:07/01/1981 till:06/01/2003 text: bar:3 color:act from:07/01/2005 till:end text:Utah Grizzlies (2005–Present) bar:4 color:out from:07/01/2002 till:06/01/2004 text: bar:4 color:out from:07/01/2005 till:06/01/2011 text: bar:4 color:act from:07/01/2011 till:end text:Ogden Mustangs (2011–Present)
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:10 start:01/01/1970
</timeline>
Шаблон:Font color Шаблон:Font color
Players
The long-time presence of professional ice hockey in Salt Lake City has helped the region build the local ice hockey community and resulted in several players of note from the state. However, the rest of the state remains largely unaffected by the game. This has resulted in Utah having a lower level of engagement (0.114% of its population is registered with USA Hockey) than most of its mountain-west neighbors.[3]
Notable players by city
Draper
Salt Lake City
Raised elsewhere
† relocated from elsewhere.
References
