Hockey is now officially available in Utah

If the NHL's return feels like it's going a little under the radar – obviously not for you; They studied Lauren's preview like it was the Dead Sea Scrolls – that's why the season's soft start is to blame. Is it really Opening Day when there are five separate Opening Days depending on the team? Some clubs won't play their first significant hockey game until Friday, a full week after the boys tried it out in Prague. It doesn't help that many of the games so far, including the games against the Czech Republic and Tuesday night's tripleheader, have involved teams that still ring a little fake to me: the “Utah Hockey Club,” the “Seattle Kraken,” the “Buffalo.” Saber.”

But it's real regular season action, and I've come with video to prove it. The Utah Hockey Fellas are, of course, the old Arizona Coyotes in all but name. (They are all the same players, but the history and intellectual property still belongs to Alex Meruelo, at least until 2029. These Coyotes also own the history of the original Winnipeg Jets, not to be confused with the current Winnipeg Jets who own the history of the Atlanta Thrashers. Isn't sports fun?) So it's not an expansion of the roster – despite the temporary lack of a name and the rent in a building that only has about 11,000 seats for hockey players after a hasty first round of renovations – and it won't be Be dog shit, or at least no more dog shit than the Coyotes. This is a real hockey team making it big, and the Salt Lake City fans who came in large numbers to purchase season tickets were ready to welcome them. In their first game against the Blackhawks (who Are Dogshit), Dylan Guenther ensured that fans didn't have to wait longer than five minutes.

I'm officially naming Guenther one of my Western Conference guys to pay moderate attention to. The 21-year-old right winger, selected ninth overall in 2021, was first called up as an injury replacement last January but immediately showed enough impact to avoid being pushed back. In 45 games at the end of the season he scored 18 goals and 17 assists. He has a dangerous shot and likes to play from distance – there's more than just a little Stamkos in his ice hockey DNA. Playing on a line centered by Logan Cooley, who assisted on both of Guenther's goals (including an empty-netter) in the 5-2 win, he's going to get a lot of good looks, and I can't imagine him She will destroy many of them. Utah is already pretty confident in this guy, signing him to an eight-year, $57 million deal last month.

While I'm trying not to get it to is happy with a win over Chicago, UHC could be…pretty good? Or at least certainly not terrible. The forward group, led by Guenther, Cooley, Lawson Crouse and team captain Clayton Keller, is young and talented and can trade goals with anyone. Their defense, improved with the addition of Mikhail Sergachev, could be serviceable. The goal is still a small question mark. But in a Central Division where nothing is certain other than Colorado and Dallas, they could easily end up in the secondary group fighting for a playoff spot.

And they have a good, hearty Torhorn. Things go uphill at the lake.