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Utah Hockey Club unveils its first captain in franchise history

Originally posted on Hockey Unplugged | By Axel Williams | Last updated 10/4/24

This season is a pivotal one for the Utah Hockey Club franchise. Although this is their inaugural season, there is still a lot of pressure to perform.

Quite frankly, the team still has the stink of the Arizona Coyotes. The NHL did not work in the desert, and now, the league is trying something fresh in Salt Lake City. However, if the on-ice product is bad, then the fans in SLC might abandon the team as quickly as the fans in Arizona did. It is a rough situation and the Utah HC has to find a way to build trust and hype by any means necessary.

Today, the team made a very exciting announcement, that will certainly lend itself well to the hype train. On Twitter, the team unveiled that Clayton Keller will be the first-ever Utah HC captain. This is fantastic news for the American-born player who has certainly earned the nod.

Now, it will be up to him to go out there and perform, while leading by example. Utah is a young club and they are one with a lot of potential. While they may not make the playoffs out of the gate, there is going to be some excitement there. Only time will tell whether or not hockey proves to be successful in Salt Lake.

If it isn't, then the league may just have to go back to the drawing board here entirely. The league has discussed Houston and Atlanta as potential places to put a team. So perhaps this could be a good opportunity for that if the Utah project falls through. Either way, a fascinating season is ahead.

This article first appeared on Hockey Unplugged and was syndicated with permission.

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