In 2010, Dylan and Ryan Carty started playing EA Sports NHL video games and fell in love with hockey.
The brothers joined hundreds of fans at the Utah Hockey Club's first-ever NHL draft party at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Friday night to celebrate the team's new young players and their hometown franchise.
“This is the first draft so I knew I had to come here,” Dylan Carty said. “To be here is phenomenal.”
The free event included on-ice photo opportunities, player autograph sessions, in-arena entertainment and many other activities. Additionally, the night marked the first opportunity to purchase the team's new Rock Black, Salt White and Mountain Blue apparel, which many fans quickly donned as they splashed the lower bowl seats in Utah colors while ESPN's draft coverage was playing on the video board.
“I wanted to get my hands on some of the first merch, I didn't want to wait for it to be shipped,” Ryan Carty said. “I want to support the team in any way I can, show the team that they have a good support base and that they're ready to go.”
The Carty brothers were fans of other NHL clubs (Ryan was actually an Arizona Coyotes fan) but have since pledged their loyalty to Utah, buying season tickets with a group of friends and planning to attend around 15 games this season.
California natives Hannah Hickman and Zach Tripp, who both came to Utah for college, had casually taken an interest in hockey over the past year even before there were any rumors about the Coyotes coming to Salt Lake City.
“The timing was really good,” Hickman said.
Despite relocating to the area, Hickman and Tripp are proud to have become supporters of the Utah Hockey Club, and are especially proud of helping to establish a tradition and culture within the fan base.
“We've been fans since day one when the team was announced,” Tripp said. “Just being here today (witnessing history) meant a lot to us. This is the first ever draft, the first pick for a brand new franchise. How often does something like this happen across the country and the world? It's pretty cool to be a part of this and feel like the whole city, the whole state and everyone in the community is immediately embracing it together.”
Hickman added, “It's been such an incredible experience. It's been so great to watch and be a part of. We've embraced this team with open arms and shown what it can be. I think it's only going to get better from here. It's been so great to be a part of this team from the beginning. We've talked about it so much, and that's why we want to be at all the events and really show our support for the team.”
Joe Dupe, a Salt Lake City native who is now the football coach at Southern Virginia University, was in town to visit family and ended up attending Friday's celebration.
Dupay isn't necessarily a huge hockey fan, but he considered Utah getting an NHL club “one of the greatest things ever” and couldn't resist heading to the Delta Center.
“If you look across the country, there should be a hockey team in Utah,” Dupe said. “We have mountains and a lot of snow here, so it just makes sense. We're excited that Ryan (Smith) is bringing a strong Utah hockey club to us.”
“Utah is going to have one of the loudest arenas in the league, I expect that.”
Utah has yet to play a home game, but the growing expectations for the new team were evident at the Delta Center on Friday, and now those local hopes will be further boosted by the club's two first-round draft picks, Tiji Iginla and Cole Beaudoin.
“With them here and with this support, I feel like they're within striking distance of making the playoffs. It's possible,” Ryan Carty said. “They've got a pretty good foundation. They're in desperate need of defenders… but they're going to get some momentum. How can they not get some momentum from a new organization, a new arena and everything new that's here?”
