Early Returns For The Utah Hockey Club Are Positive... So, Should The NHL Have Moved The Coyotes Much Sooner?

Thanksgiving is a good spot to measure how teams are doing during an NHL season as it's just over a quarter of the way through the season, and while we normally judge on-ice play, this is a good time to check in on the Utah Hockey Club to see how things are going off the ice.

Utah is in its first season after the hockey assets of the now-inactive Arizona Coyotes were sold to Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith to start a new franchise which became the Utah Hockey Club.

Of course, we all still consider the Utah Hockey Club to be the zombified remains of the ‘Yotes even if that’s not exactly how the league sees it.

But what are the early returns from the team's first few months in Salt Lake City?

Well, according to a piece published by Canada's Sportsnet, pretty damn good.

"It was something that was bad in the NHL, and Gary came in — with Ryan and Ashley Smith and their group — and made it something great," Utah GM Bill Armstrong said. 

"It’s been amazing to watch the transformation of what they've done," Armstrong continued. "Such a good thing for the NHL, to put NHL hockey in a place where people are just crazy about it.

"For players to watch that? What was promised come true? It’s been amazing."

Just a few month into their inaugural season, it's already clear that putting moving the Arizona Coyotes to Utah was a good call.  (Photo by Jamie Sabau/NHLI via Getty Images)

So then why did the NHL wait until the Coyotes were wasting away in a college hockey barn (a very nice now, but it's still way too small for an NHL team) when in a little more than half a year things have made an about-face?

I have no idea, because clearly, the fans in Utah are already crazy about this team, just based on the beer and jersey sales.

It's no secret that NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman really did whatever he could to keep the team in Arizona. I mean, think how many issues there were in the almost thirty years the team was in the desert.

And it's not crazy to have done anything to get that team to work in the Phoenix area. That's a big market and without the Coyotes, the NHL is now the only one of the four major North American Leagues without a presence there.

But let's not pretend they couldn't have pulled the trigger earlier and not let things in Arizona get as bad as they did before exploring other options.

There are plenty of cities that would have been suitable options — Houston, Kansas City, Atlanta (eh, maybe; they've had their chances), and Quebec City comes to mind — but I guess it was a case of better late than never.