Overwhelming positivity surrounds first glimpses of Utah Hockey Club jerseys

Hockey fans in Utah and across the continent have reacted positively to the first few glimpses of the Utah Hockey Club’s jerseys.

Forwards Josh Doan and Clayton Keller both sported the jerseys at separate NHL media events this month. Utah HC has also held a number of on-ice sessions in recent weeks, showing off the team’s practice jerseys.

Here are the first glimpses of the Utah HC uniforms.

Clayton Keller, NHL Media Tour

The NHL and NHLPA held their annual North American players’ media tour in Las Vegas this week. As always, the event was closed to the publicz but wide open to invited media personnel for interviews, social media videos and, most importantly, incredible photos.

Keller also gave numerous interviews at the media tour, some of which are already available and others will surface in the coming weeks.

Josh Doan, NHLPA Rookie Showcase

Josh Doan represented Utah HC at the NHLPA Rookie Showcase in Arlington, Virginia, last week, giving the public its first glimpse of the new jersey in action.

On the same day, the Utah HC social media team posted a photo of Keller, Lawson Crouse and Mikhail Sergachev rocking the black and blue.

Karel Vejmelka and others, practice jerseys

Goalies always have the opportunity to look good because they’re the only players that get to design their equipment. Their masks and pads are typically self-designed, with help from artists, whereas everyone else has to wear the same design on their equipment.

Utah HC goalie Karel Vejmelka has really outdone himself this year with an incredible setup, which he debuted at the team’s practice on Thursday.

The jagged lines in his pads, combined with the frosty blue jersey and accents and the snow spraying in the photo — it makes him look like he’d be better suited playing outdoors in Siberia. How can the team name not be either the Yeti or the Blizzard with colors this cold?

The team has also held a number of on-ice sessions with their practice jerseys in full display. Vejmelka and one of the other goalies seem to be the only ones with the powder blue jerseys so far. Virtually everyone else has used black or blue versions with the same logo.

Don’t forget about the away jerseys

Photos have also surfaced of the away jerseys, which in the current NHL are predominantly white. It’s a shame the team won’t get to show these off at the Delta Center. Everyone seems to like them.

What’s next?

Utah HC plays its first game with its new jerseys on Friday at 2 p.m. MDT as they take on the San Jose Sharks in the Rookie Faceoff in Los Angeles.

The Rookie Faceoff only features prospects, but the players will wear the team’s official jerseys, rather than practice jerseys.

If you can’t catch Friday’s game, tune in for their Saturday matchup against the Los Angeles Kings at 8 p.m. or their Monday game against the Vegas Golden Knights at 1:30 p.m. All games will be streamed for free on the team’s website .

Will the Utah Hockey Club become the Utah Yeti?

The team has not made an official announcement on what the team will be called after this season, and it probably won’t announce anything until next summer. But regardless of the announcement, the decision has likely already been made.

The Deseret News reported last month that Utah HC’s retail jerseys will not be available until the early months of 2025 because it takes about nine months for the manufacturing companies to make the necessary amount of jerseys. Teams place their orders in December, meaning a team name, logo and color scheme must be set in stone well before December.

With Keller and Utah HC general manager Bill Armstrong both mentioning “Yeti” as a potential team name, it might be more than speculation.