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SALT LAKE CITY — Delta Center became the 91st unique venue in which the Rangers have played a regular-season game Thursday night when they beat Utah Hockey Club, 5-3, for the first time.
There’s always a sort of buzz to a team that’s competing in a new place, and the Blueshirts were no different.
The NHL era in Utah came quickly thanks to the diligence of owner Ryan Smith, who had been working on getting a team since 2022.
When arena and ownership issues hit a breaking point in Arizona back in April, Smith purchased the Coyotes assets from owner Alex Meruelo for $1.2 billion.
Now, Utah is the 25th state or district in which the Blueshirts have played.
In October, the Salt Lake City Council voted unanimously to approve and help fund Smith Entertainment Group’s renovation plans of Delta Center, which was constructed for the NBA Jazz and needs to be fixed for dual use with hockey now on the schedule, too.
The remodel, which is expected to unfold in three phases and address the 4,000-5,000 seats with obstructed views of the ice, is expected to be completed by the start of the 2027-28 NHL and NBA seasons.
“It felt pretty good,” Braden Schneider told The Post of his first touch of Delta Center ice. “I think it’s a cool rink. It’s a little different, it’s pretty steep. It looks nice. Everything that’s here with it is really nice. I think it’s a positive review from me.”
The commitment to making hockey work in Utah is evident in the city’s planned contribution of $900 million, as well as in SEG’s pledge to invest a minimum of $3 billion, according to the Sports Business Journal.
Hockey, however, already had a presence in Salt Lake City.
Before Utah H.C., which is supposed to announce a permanent name between the end of this season and the draft, there were the Utah Grizzlies (now of the ECHL) and the Salt Lake Golden Eagles (defunct).
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Peter Laviolette played for the Denver Rangers in 1988-89, which was also the last time the Rangers head coach was in the city.
He got a good laugh remembering how there weren’t many IHL teams around either Denver or Salt Lake City back then.
“God, we must’ve played them 25 times,” he said with a smile after the Rangers held an optional practice at the Olympic Oval in nearby Kearns.
The Oval, which was built for indoor speed skating at the 2002 Winter Olympic Games, was packed on a Wednesday afternoon with youth hockey and curling practice on the opposite side of where the Rangers skated.
Players had to walk from the Rangers locker room underneath the main level, up a couple flights of stairs and into their designated rink, which was surrounded by a massive speed skating sheet that wrapped around the entire facility.
The arenas and city may be new to most of the Rangers but not for Laviolette or assistant Michael Peca.
Peca has fond memories after winning a gold medal with Team Canada in 2002.
“Practice at the practice arena [felt] good for me because I know the Olympic Games were there,” Artemi Panarin told The Post before the game Thursday. “For me, Olympic Games are something special, and I just enjoy that energy from the arena. Pretty fun.”
Igor Shesterkin stopped 28 of the 31 shots he faced in his 14th victory of the season.
Zac Jones was a healthy scratch for the 10th straight game and the 12th time in the last 13.
The Rangers scored a shorthanded goal for the second straight game, which gave the team seven on the season. That’s good for third in the NHL behind only the Panthers (11) and Lightning (8).
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