The NHL finally completed their aspiration for a new expansion team. The league awarded Salt Lake City the Utah Hockey Club, and the new franchise unveiled their jersey schemes for the 2024-25 season.

The organization’s primary color scheme will be light blue, white, and black with intriguing designs, as unveiled by their new X account:

 

The league provided more in-depth insight into the color scheme with an elaborate description.

“The color palette consists of rock black, representing the darkness of night in the mountains and the volcanic rock of Utah’s deserts; salt white, illustrating both the snow on Utah’s peaks and the famous salt flats; and mountain blue, a representation of Utah’s rich winter sports history and its clear skies for more than 230 days a year. The distinctive colors will establish the cornerstone of the club’s brand as it evolves through the team’s name selection ahead of the 2025-26 NHL season,” per NHL.com.

Utah Hockey Club marks start an exiting era

Fans in Salt Lake City are delighted to have an NHL team. Ryan Smith, team governor and chairman of the Smith Entertainment Group, released a statement alongside the franchise’s unveil.

“Today is a monumental day for the state of Utah as we officially close on the establishment of a new NHL franchise,” Smith said. “The NHL has been incredible to work with throughout this process, providing us with invaluable guidance and support. We have a ton of work to do — training camp starts in less than 100 days — and could not be more excited about what’s to come.”

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman also spoke on the team’s formation.

“On behalf of the Board of Governors, I am delighted to officially welcome Utah to the National Hockey League. Congratulations to Ryan and Ashley Smith, their entire organization, the state, and the fans as the Club continues its exciting march toward puck drop in October,” Bettman said.

The Utah Hockey Club is not done growing. Fans have the opportunity to vote for a new team name. The choices include Utah Blizzard, Utah Hockey Club (Utah HC), Utah Mammoth, Utah Outlaws, Utah Venom, and Utah Yeti. The voting is open until June 20th.

The new franchise is not just focused on branding. They want to build a winning team. Utah general manager Bill Armstrong spoke about the team’s talent-gathering process at the Scouting Combine in early June.

“I think our staff has done a tremendous job at acquiring prospects and going through the draft and just accumulating a good mass of prospects in a short period of time. So, I think they’re excited about the process that we’ve developed here and the talent, not only that we’ve drafted but also in our staff that allows us to kind of feed the engine every year,” Armstrong said.

It will be interesting to see how the newfound organization fares in 2024 and beyond amid exciting times.