Utah Grizzlies

Fare Thee Well, Utah Grizzlies

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Photo: Trent Nelson/Salt Lake Tribune

First, it was the Colorado Avalanche arrival that forced the Denver Grizzlies to move to Utah. Now, it seems the arrival of the Utah Mammoth (coupled with other outside reasons) may be what moves the Utah Grizzlies to possibly Trenton, New Jersey. With the announcement in late July of West Valley City council giving up their minority share in the Grizzlies, freeing the way for the transfer of ownership to Pro Hockey Partners LLC; the 2025-26 season will be the last for the Utah Grizzlies in this incarnation. 

Now, of course, I highly doubt the Mammoth had anything to do with the Grizzlies leaving, but it is an interesting note of how the Grizzlies name has been affected by NHL team relocation. In this instance, the passing of David Elmore of the Elmore Sports Group– who owned the Grizzlies and other minor league entities– and the declining health of Elmore’s widow Donna Tuttle, the Elmore Sports Group announced they were looking to sell the team in late June. The last hurdle for a sale would be West Valley City agreeing to sell their share. 

The Utah Grizzlies came to be after the Denver Grizzlies needed a new place to play thanks to the Colorado Avalanche moving into town. The Grizzlies had just completed their first season in the International Hockey League where they dominated their division and won the Turner Cup in their first season. Even after a title, the NHL called and the Grizzlies were bounced out of McNichols Sports Arena. Luckily for the Grizzlies, the Salt Lake Golden Eagles left the IHL in 1994, which gave them a spot to relocate to with fans knowing the league already. That next season, they won the Turner Cup again in 1996 where they would set the then-record for biggest minor league hockey game attended when 17,381 turned out to see the Grizzlies sweep the Orlando Solar Bears. The team would be a solid part of the IHL and would be one of the six teams to move to the American Hockey League in the IHL/AHL merger. 

The AHL Grizzlies wouldn’t make as big of a dent in their new league, only having one winning season and two playoff appearances in their four seasons in the AHL. The owners of the Grizzlies would appeal for a voluntary suspension of the team, which would later end up in them selling to Dan Gilbert of the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers and see the franchise move to Cleveland to become the Lake Erie and now Cleveland Monsters. 

Fans in Salt Lake City didn’t have to wait long for a new team, as the Elmore Sports Group saw a good chance for a team in the lower ranks to flourish in the area. That led them to buy the dormant Lexington Man O’ War franchise and brought it to Salt Lake. To keep branding consistent, ESG bought the copyright to the Utah Grizzlies name and logos to keep the Utah Grizzlies name alive. 

The ECHL Grizzlies saw a little bit of a tougher time about things, as they only finished above 3rd place once in their 20 seasons in the ECHL, but had a record at or above .500 14-times while only missing the playoffs four times in that span (five if you count the COVID-cancelling playoffs, but we don’t). The attendance was consistent through the years, but due to the unfortunate passing of the Elmore patriarch and the new kids in the NHL in town, it was time to close this chapter down for the Grizzlies. 

As mentioned before, the Pro Hockey Partners group– who is based out of Delaware– now reportedly have eyes on Trenton, another former ECHL town where the Trenton Titans won the Kelly Cup championship in 2005. 

Though the Mammoth will be the big shiny thing for many in the Salt Lake City area, there are many fans who will reminisce about the Grizzlies. A team that helped start the careers of several notable NHLers like Tommy Salo, Steve Ott, John Erskine, Todd Bertuzzi, and Trevor Daley just to name a few. Others will remember the veteran players who toiled with the Grizzlies like Jim Montgomery, Chris Taylor, John Purves, and legendary all-time leading scorer for the ECHL Grizzlies and current head coach Ryan Kinasewich. 

The Grizzlies will leave a lasting mark in the hockey landscape of the Salt Lake City/West Valley City area. Hopefully the groundwork they laid won’t be covered over with the arrival of the Mammoth and the memory of the Grizzlies will continue to linger through the Utah area for decades to come.

Better Know An Affiliate: Colorado Avalanche

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AHL: Colorado Eagles (36-27-4-1, 4th in Pacific, lost in first round)
TEAM LINEAGE: In their first year of the AHL, the Eagles will probably stick around as the primary affiliate for a while, especially since– you know– they’re in the same state as their parent club. Previous to the Eagles, the Avalanche had their top prospects with the San Antonio Rampage, Lake Erie Monsters, Albany River Rats, Lowell Lock Monsters, Hershey Bears, and the Cornwall Aces
FREQUENT FLYER CANDIDATES: With the number of signings and trades made, the Avs are deep as it is– that’s going to make it harder for someone like AJ Greer to crack the opening night roster, but will make him a candidate for the shuttle. Logan O’Connor will be a dark horse to be a shuttle player down the middle, but he could definitely use a lot more time in the AHL before getting too familiar with the Avalanche line-depth.

ECHL: Utah Grizzlies (37-26-4-5, 3rd in Mountain, lost in first round)
TEAM LINEAGE: The Grizzlies were another first-year affiliate for the Avalanche, though it’s only because the Eagles moved up to the AHL after being the Avs’ secondary affiliation for two seasons. The Avs split between the ECHL and CHL when the latter was an option. Prior to the Eagles, the Fort Wayne Komets were the secondary affiliates, with the Denver Cutthroats, Tulsa Oilers, Charlotte Checkers, Johnstown Chiefs, Arizona Sundogs and San Diego Gulls played the role of starting point for future Avs.
NOTABLE GRADUATES: A couple of graduates from the ECHL Grizzlies include Mikko Koskinen, Aaron Dell, Micheal Haley– all who started their careers there, while the likes of Brandon Yip and Richard Jackman ended their North American careers there.

Minor League News: Re-No and New Found Land for ECHL in St. John’s??

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There has been some news out on the ECHL in the past couple days when it comes to markets that are looking to get into the league. One of the stories is good, the other– not so much.

The bad news first in that the mirage of the Reno market for the ECHL continues. It seems that Reno has been in the mix for the ECHL for the better part of a decade. There seemed to be some traction when the Reno Puck Club came to be in 2016, but since then– there has been some personnel turnover on the city of Reno side which has stalled a team getting into the market, while the Reno-Sparks Convention and Visitor’s Authority is looking to get out of managing the possible Events Center that the team could be playing in. While some in Reno think this is just a formality before a team gets there– especially with Vegas being in the NHL and a perfect link to affiliation– I wouldn’t hold the collective breath of the area.

However, one interesting story popped up about a group trying to bring the ECHL to St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labarador of all places. Since the St. John’s IceCaps are no more after Montreal moved their AHL operations to Laval, the Mile One Centre has been bare. There are two groups trying to get hockey back to the area, though– one of which is trying to get the QMJHL back into the arena, while there’s a second group looking to get the ECHL into the area. In fact, it seems that Dean MacDonald, the man heading up the ECHL St. John’s effort, thinks that he could ice a team in the ECHL for 2018-19 if all goes to his plan…which seems really quick and really quiet for all involved.

This story has had some rumors come out of it, but it’s never really taken serious considering how much of an outpost that St. John’s has been when it comes to minor league hockey. The fan base there is second to none when it comes to support, but at the same time, even with the Northeast expansion the ECHL has had– St. John’s would still be over 1,200 miles away from their closest competition, the newly-minted Maine Mariners. That’s been the problematic part with St. John’s being in the AHL and possibly the ECHL.

In all honesty, the QMJHL makes sense since there is a Maritime Division and there would be much closer rivals. Not only that, but the QMJHL could bring a little better profit with the shorter distance to travel, less player payment, and probably better turnout for hockey. The ECHL seems like something that would be lost on Canadian fans. There’s only one team currently in Brampton and only two in the history of the league– lest we forget the Victoria Salmon Kings.

Yet, the fact that focus is on the ECHL shows that there’s a really good business model that owners want to get into. Sure, the lack of other leagues help– but there hasn’t been much of anything to say that the ECHL doesn’t have the best model to go by. That’s one of the reasons why the Utah Grizzlies haven’t jumped ship back to the AHL and that’s due to how the ECHL works out for them dollars and sense-wise.

While we patiently wait for Reno and eyebrow-cock St. John’s, the fact that more people want to get into the minor league hockey business is a good problem to have for the league looking to keep growing from their 27 teams right now.

Minor League Monday: Roadrunners Setting Pace, Thunder Cracking in ECHL, Trask Getting Mayhem Going

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AHL

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-Unlike their parent affiliate, the Tucson Roadrunners have been utterly successful this season, getting off to a 5-1-1 start to the young season. Seventeen of the 24 players who have played a game this year have a goal on the season, while Dylan Strome leads the team with 10 points (1g, 9a). Three of the top-five in team scoring are rookies with Strome, Nick Merkley, and Kyle Capobianco. While Adin Hill and Marek Langhamer have played well, rookie Hunter Miska definitely is dealing with the pro learning curve, posting a 3-0-0 record, but a dismal 4.02 GAA and .884 Sv%.

-In his third full pro season, Lehigh Valley Phantom Danick Martel is priming himself for a breakout year. In only 10 games so far, Martel has 10 goals (half of his total all of last year) and is second in league scoring with 13 points. With the help of rookie Mike Vecchione, as well a veterans Phil Varone and Greg Carey, the Phantoms are off to their best start (7-2-0-1) since 2007-08 when they started 8-1-1. Both Alex Lyon and Dustin Tokarski have played well in their appearance, though Lyon seems to be the horse leading the way for Lehigh Valley.

ECHL

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-The first Marvel game happened this weekend and the jerseys were nothing sure of spectacular. The Worcester Railers, as the Incredible Hulk, defeated the Utah Grizzlies, as Thor, 4-1 in the first game of the branded era. The win gave the Railers their third on the season in five games, placing them third in the North Division. The loss put the Grizzlies at 3-5-0 on the season, putting them next to last in the difficult Mountain Division.

-Speaking of the Mountain Division, break up the Wichita Thunder. A team that last year was dead last in the Central Division and next to last in the league has become one of the last unbeaten teams in the league (along with the Reading Royals). After a difficult time in the AHL, Kyle Platzer has found his scoring touch with the Thunder, potting five goals and six assists for the Thunder. In net, both Joel Rumpel and Shane Starrett have three wins while being in the top-5 in the league in GAA and save percentage.

SPHL

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-Jake Trask helped the Macon Mayhem get their first win and first points of the season this weekend thanks to his four goals and two assists Friday and Saturday. Trask’s hat-trick on Friday helped the Mayhem get an overtime loss against the Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs; while on Saturday, Trask got the first goal to help Macon get their first win of the season. Trask now leads the league in goals and points with four and seven respectively.

-There’s no wonder why the Peoria Rivermen are atop the SPHL. They not only have the most goals in the league, they have distributed the points, as well. 16 of the 18 rostered skaters have a point on the year, with Michael Economos not having a point because he hasn’t played a game year. However, while the offense is good, the fact they only have a plus-4 goal differential is a bit of a concern. Eric Levine and Michael Santaguida have had a lot of goal support, but will need to steal some wins if the deep forward crew has a dry run.