New Utah NHL team announces 111-acre practice site outside Salt Lake City

The new National Hockey League franchise in Utah will be moving to downtown Salt Lake City, but the team is set to practice about 18 miles away, in an 111-acre site in Sandy, the team’s new owner Smith Entertainment Group announced Monday.

The company, which also owns the Utah Jazz, the state’s National Basketball Association team, said in a news release that it had placed The Shops at South Town under contract to turn it into the NHL team’s permanent practice and training facility and official offices.

The project is scheduled to be completed ahead of the 2025-2026 NHL season, according to the release, and it would include a minimum of two ice surfaces that comply with NHL standards for the team. 

“The city of Sandy could not be more excited to become the home to the new NHL team’s long-term practice facility,” Monica Zoltanski, Mayor of Sandy said in the release. “We have worked collaboratively with Smith Entertainment Group for many years and are excited about their expanding presence in our community with one of the world’s premier hockey training facilities in our city.”

The plans come after Ryan and Ashley Smith, the owners of Smith Entertainment Group, announced the Arizona Coyotes would move to Utah under a different name and logo. The team is expected to play at the Delta Center, which is set to undergo major renovations to accommodate both hockey and basketball. The project would be partially funded by a Salt Lake City 0.5% sales tax increase that has been approved by the Utah Legislature, but hasn’t received the final nod from the city. 

The Sandy site is also set to host youth and amateur hockey programs and other community recreational activities, with amenities for the public including an NHL team store, locker rooms, elevated seating around both rinks and other multipurpose spaces for community programming, the Smith Entertainment Group said in the release.

“(Smith Entertainment Group) is committed to ensuring The Shops at South Town continue to be a vibrant and integral part of the community, and the NHL practice facility is an important first step towards this goal,” according to the release.

In the meantime, the company is working with different local partners for a temporary home for the professional hockey practices before the inaugural 2024-2025 season.

More details on the construction and layout will come at a later date.