St. Louis Blues to Face Utah HC in 2nd Preseason Game

Monday's 2024/25 preseason schedule for the St. Louis Blues came with a surprise 2nd opponent- for the first time in franchise history, the Blues face off against the newly reborn Utah Hockey Club after the Arizona Coyotes left Glendale for Salt Lake City.

The Coyotes were a Central Division member and, like the Blues, struggled through last season, finishing 7th out of 8th. Now, that franchise is still technically around unless the state of Arizona can't ink a new arena deal by 2029. But for now, the new Utah team is set up in Salt Lake City for the foreseeable future. The game against the Blues will be on September 22 at 6 pm Central/7 pm Eastern and won't actually be played in St. Louis or at the Delta Center, home to the NBA's Utah Jazz and now also Utah HC. It'll be played at a neutral site in Des Moines, Iowa, at Wells Fargo Arena, not to be confused with the Philadelphia Flyers' Wells Fargo Center. This arena currently holds 3 teams- the Iowa Wild of the AHL, the NBA G-League's Iowa Wolves, and the Indoor Football League's Iowa Barnstormers.

The Utah Hockey Club is currently operating under its temporary name, with another rebrand potentially coming after the 2024/25 season. For fans who want to know more about the NHL's latest expansion franchise, they have colors similar to the Seattle Kraken, another Western expansion team, despite obviously playing in a much smaller market. There was also a temporary fan vote to decide the team's permanent name for 2025/26, with finalists being nicknames like the Blizzard, Yeti, Mammoth, Venom, Outlaws, and, of course, HC, for "Hockey Club."

Utah was home to at least a few different minor hockey teams in the past, having the old, then now Utah Grizzlies in the defunct International Hockey League from 1994-2001 and then in the current AHL from 2001-2005. In 2005, another Utah Grizzlies franchise appeared, and this one is still in operation today, playing in the ECHL. Before the 90s, the only other hockey club to call the Salt Lake City area home was the Salt Lake Golden Eagles, who played in the 1950s-1970s Western Hockey League from 1969 to 1974 before moving to the Central Professional Hockey League, which existed from 1963-1984 and the team's membership lasting from 1974 til the CPHL's closing, and then finally, the International Hockey League from 1984-1994. The IHL, founded in 1945, folded itself in 2001, at which point the defunct mentioned Utah Grizzlies moved to the AHL from the IHL for the next 4 years before becoming the ECHL franchise they are today.

The Blues' other preseason games are on September 21 with a visit to Central Division rival Dallas also at 6 pm central, followed by the Utah trip, then a visit to Columbus to face the Blue Jackets on Sep. 25 at 6 central, before heading to their first home preseason game on Sep. 28 against longtime rival Chicago at 7 pm central. All following games (vs. Columbus, Oct. 1; vs. Dallas, Oct. 3; and at Chicago, Oct. 5, location TBA) are set for the same time. The regular season schedule for 2024/25 will be announced at a future date.