New NHL team marks coming

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — To casual sports fans and people outside northern Utah, it may look like an NHL team fell into Salt Lake City’s lap in the span of two weeks.

But local organizers say the Arizona Coyotes ' relocation to Utah is the product of a yearslong effort to beckon professional hockey and other elite sports to the fast-growing capital city.

The move announced Thursday marks a coming-of-age moment for Salt Lake City as a pro sports hub in the Mountain West, giving the midsize market its second major professional sports franchise in the 45 years since it welcomed the NBA’s Utah Jazz.

Now it remains to be seen if the city can generate the same enthusiasm for hockey that it has for basketball — and whether it can provide the stability required for a team that has bounced from place to place over the past few years, observers say.