As Neil Sedaka sang, “Breaking up is hard to do.” Sedaka was referencing love and relationships, but it also applies to sports.
The Arizona Coyotes struggled for years to build a competitive team, find competent ownership, and most importantly, make money. For a long time, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman refused to even entertain the idea of moving the Coyotes out of Arizona.
Finally, back in The Spring, the situation became so untenable that The NHL was forced to broker a deal to sell the Coyotes to Ryan and Ashley Smith, who already owned The NBA’s Utah Jazz. The deal included stripping the Coyotes of their name, logo, trademarks, history; everything except the players currently on the roster. And the biggie, they moved the now-nameless team to Salt Lake City, Utah to share an arena with The Jazz.
The undesired breakup finally happened. It certainly was difficult. And also necessary.
However, part of the move did see them keep TV Play-by-Play broadcaster Matt McConnell, but they gave him a new Color Analyst: former NHLer and national TV Analyst, Dominic Moore. So, Blittner’s Blue Line caught up with Moore to talk about the new Utah Hockey Club and his experience with the team so far.
*Editor’s Note: Questions and Answers have been lightly edited for clarity.
WHY DID YOU JOIN THE UTAH TV BOOTH?
MOORE: “For me, it’s just the experience of joining a new franchise. I think anyone who watched Vegas and Seattle come into The League, might have been a little bit envious with all the excitement and enthusiasm, the way those teams were embraced by their communities, building something from the ground up. This was an incredible opportunity and not one to be passed up.”
WHY DID YOU LEAVE YOUR NATIONAL BROADCAST GIG FOR A REGIONAL ONE?
MOORE: “It came down to the organization. The vision of Ryan and Ashley Smith, the culture with Smith Entertainment Group. The people who are working within this organization, pulling on the same rope together is really unique. I’ve been a lot of places as a player and played for 10 different organizations. I worked with NBC and ESPN. I just know from experience that this type of leadership and culture is exceedingly rare.
“The opportunity to be a part of it and to be a part of a community who will be embracing hockey for the first time and being one of the front-facing personalities to help do that, grow the sport and grow the game, was a really great opportunity and one that I was really excited about.”
WHAT DO YOU SEE FROM THE FANS/COMMUNITY? HOW IS THE TEAM TRYING TO INTEGRATE ITSELF?
MOORE: “That’s a great question. For the players, it’s just very evident the commitment that the organization has to provide all the resources that they need to be a world-class organization. The organization has said that, but then they’ve backed it up with every decision they’ve made and every action they’ve taken since they birthed the franchise or were awarded the franchise. It’s those little things they’ve done and those big things that they’ve done.
“They’re building a world-class practice facility and team headquarters in Sandy, Utah. What they did to get up and running this year, all the steps they took at the Delta Center, I think the players feel that and they also feel the passion from the community. Utah is an incredible sports community. They love their sports, particularly their winter sports. I really think that hockey (in Utah) is a match made in heaven.”
YOUR THOUGHTS ON RYAN AND ASHLEY SMITH?
MOORE: “I did not have any prior relationship (with them), but, as I was touching on earlier, everything they’ve said is one thing. But everything they’ve done is even more. They’ve talked about being stewards and not liking the moniker ‘Owners.’ The reason for that is that they feel like they’re leading this community asset, which is the organization, but they don’t feel like they’re Owners. They feel like they’re temporarily leading this on behalf of the community.
“They feel like the organization is a gift to the community, but they back that up with the things that they do. Utah couldn’t be more fortunate to have people who are this community-focused, leading the organization and the Utah Jazz for that matter. The other part of it is their commitment to upholding a culture within the organization, that again is, I’ve been to other places and it’s very strong here. Everyone feels it and does their best to uphold it.”
WHAT ARE REASONABLE EXPECTATIONS FOR THE UTAH HOCKEY CLUB THIS YEAR?
MOORE: “On ice, they have a talented group of players, particularly the forwards. The young forwards are incredibly promising. There’s still a lot of youth. Having said that, as much as Dylan Guenther and Logan Cooley have started the season incredibly strong, I would fully expect lots of growing pains throughout the season. And that’s okay. These are players who are just 20- and 21-years-old.
“It takes time to round out your game and find that consistency to be able to manage the ups and downs of a long grinding season. Collectively we’ll see that within the group. The focus is to have this attitude of improvement. (Head Coach) André Tourigny has done an excellent job of preserving that focus in the locker room, which is just daily improvement. Whether you win or lose, they’re focused on what they can do to get better each and every day. The results will take care of itself.
“I would expect that down the stretch, this team will be playing meaningful games. I think you could see in the opening three games how dangerous they can be. The biggest key will just be managing those challenging moments of adversity throughout the season. But I think the community will help them through that. Being in Utah, the organization is committed to the players, the fans, Utah and the state, everyone’s rallied around this team. I think that will help get this team through some of those tough moments of the season.”