Utah hockey fans say the arrival of an NHL team could be a boon to youth sports programs. 

• Cover photo by Cham Larsen

The Utah Hockey Club's first preseason game is just over two months away. Local fans are anticipating the NHL franchise's inaugural season in Utah, and excitement has been building in the state's youth hockey scene.

The Davis County Youth Hockey Association started in 2002, the same year Salt Lake City hosted the Winter Olympic Games. It is one of several amateur youth hockey organizations in Utah—among others from Idaho and Nevada—that travel and compete against each other. Children as young as 4 can participate.

Alex Wright has been on the ice since he was around that age.

"Always after swimming lessons, I wanted to go and watch the Zamboni cleaning the ice at the hockey rink," Alex said. "I thought I wanted to go skating on that, and I started skating and got involved in hockey."

Now age 11, Alex plays left defenseman for the Davis County Wind, a traveling tournament team, as well as a club team called the Kraken, after Seattle's NHL franchise. He said he is ready for Utah's team to take the ice.

"I'm super-excited about it. I've been waiting for this for a long time," said Alex, who added that he became a fan of the NHL's Las Vegas Golden Knights after attending one of their games. "I'll probably like Vegas as well as Utah," he said.

Utah hockey enthusiasts have hope that an NHL franchise spurs growth and local attention for the sport, as it did in the neighboring Silver State, home of the 2023 Stanley Cup champs.

When the Golden Knights began playing in 2017, there were about 400 youth hockey players in Nevada; now, more than 4,000 children in the state are involved in hockey, according to Patrick Jacobsen, president of the Davis County Youth Hockey board of directors.

"The growth that we are expecting for the sport is going to be huge," Jacobsen said, adding that it comes with other challenges, however welcome. "The biggest hope we have is more rinks will be built. We have an ice shortage right now." The Davis league plays at the South Davis Recreation Center in Bountiful.

Cham Larsen's family knows that the love of the game will find people playing wherever they can. She said her husband—Stefan Wilson—played in Ogden in his younger days on a rodeo arena surface that would be flooded, then frozen for hockey.

Larsen has two sons in the Davis County league and looks forward to more youths joining the ranks.

"There will be new interest because we are going to see more players at the top of their game play here all year," she said. Larsen's sons Coen (pictured, at left) and Merek Wilson, ages 11 and 15, also play for the Bountiful Middle and High school teams.

What Larsen enjoys about hockey is the sense of commitment and the qualities it can develop for those who play.

"It takes effort and time to learn to skate well ... So it is a commitment, but that means kids and families want to be there," Larsen said. "This co-ed sport creates character, decisiveness and trust in a team. Your kids will learn how to win and lose gracefully, and to sit and think in the penalty box when they get out of line. They will make friends."

That has been true for young Alex Wright, as well.

"I really like the community, everyone's super nice. It's not a very common sport," he said. "Most of my friends are hockey friends."

For young boys and girls interested in hockey, USA Hockey offers a Try Hockey for Free Day each year. Both Alex and Larsen encouraged participating in it, as well as other ways to develop interest in the game.

"I would probably just take (friends) to an NHL game," Alex said, alluding to the opportunity many Utahns will have beginning this season. "Once you go to a game, you pay attention to it a lot more."

Larsen said the youth programs have benefited her children, and she recommended it for families interested in sports.

"I asked my sons what they'd choose between playing 20 games they knew they'd lose or not play hockey; they both said they would play," Larsen said. "So I say to parents, 'sign up'."