I’m calling a penalty on The Tribune for neglecting hockey

People said that the market was too small for an NBA team, but that turned out not to be true. Some people are saying the same thing now about Utah and the NHL.

A recent op-ed published in The Salt Lake Tribune, which concluded that “Utah shouldn’t waste time or money on an NHL team,” ignores one relevant fact: Public funding played an important role in the development of the current Delta Center back in 1991 with $24 million of the $90 million cost paid through a public bond. It happened again in the 2016 renovation. The same logic that said it would be a benefit to Utahns back then applies equally today.

The “hockey rink bill” draws money from Salt Lake City sales taxes, which is appropriate because it’s hard to argue that Moab, for example, will benefit economically. With the influx of people and spending estimated to be $1 million per home game, it’s clear that Salt Lake City has benefited from the Delta Center and the Jazz.

On the other hand, the “baseball stadium bill” draws money from state funds.

I’m a long-term subscriber to the Tribune and it appears to me that nobody at the Tribune likes hockey. News flash for Tribune readers — the Utah High School Hockey playoffs just ended. The winners were Park City and Salt Lake Stars, where I’m an assistant coach. Maybe the Tribune staff prefer basketball, but why tear down the NHL and the state of the game of hockey in Utah?

I read about USA Hockey player registration numbers being used to indict the state of the game in Utah in the March 17 op-ed. The reality is that both Colorado and Idaho have more hockey ice surfaces per capita than Utah. Colorado in particular has three times the number of hockey ice surfaces as compared to Utah, and the participation shows it. Much of the growth of hockey in Colorado happened after the NHL came there.

Access to ice time in Utah when players are not in school or work is maxed out. The Salt Lake Stars is one team looking for more ice time. Tamara Terrill, Assistant Hockey Manager at the Olympic Oval, tells me that games start as late as 10:45 p.m. on weeknights, and the size of the waiting list to get in the league is “unreal.” There are many players that want to get involved but nowhere to play.

Utah…