What Pat McAfee said about Ryan Smith bringing the NHL to Utah

The news of Ryan and Ashley Smith purchasing the Arizona Coyotes to relocate to Utah is continuing to spread across the sports world, with one of ESPN’s top personalities now chiming in on the matter.

Pat McAfee opened Friday’s edition of his self-titled talk show with a summary of the events that led to the franchise’s move, praising the Smiths for their efforts to bring the NHL to the Beehive State.

Ryan Smith has appeared on the show several times over the past few months and developed a friendship with McAfee, who claimed the Jazz owner told him that hockey season tickets were already in extreme demand among local fans.

“He said 20,000 as of this morning, 20,000 people have tried to register to get season tickets over there in Utah,” McAfee said. “(The Arizona Coyotes) couldn’t fill an arena with 5,000 people ... they couldn’t fill it up every night, and now they’ve got 20,000 people in Utah saying, ‘Yeah, we’d like to be in.’”

Smith had previously shared social media updates regarding season ticket sales, sharing Thursday that more than 6,000 deposits had been placed within the first two hours of being on sale and last checking in at 11,000 deposits.

“The place is gonna be packed out there,” McAfee said of the Coyotes’ move to Utah. “The NHL has to be incredibly pumped ... good on ya, Ryan, and good for hockey. That barn is gonna be a loud one.”

McAfee was later joined by TNT hockey analyst and former Coyote Paul Bissonnette, who added further praise and excitement for Smith entering the NHL scene.

“He’s an incredible sports owner in the NBA and I think he’s got a lot of bright, amazing ideas in how to also grow (Utah) from a hockey community sense,” Bissonnette said. “With good support and him wanting to put his own money and resources into building that new arena and new area, I think they’re going to get tons of fan support and that it’s going to be a first-class organization with a lot of forward thinking. This guy is 10 steps ahead of the next guy, he’s a brilliant mind ... I do think that (hockey)’s going to have that community support and be successful. The only thing they’ve got to worry about now is naming the team.”

Applications for five possible Utah NHL team names were sent to the US Patent and Trademark Office Tuesday: Blizzard, Venom, Fury, Utah HC and Utah Hockey Club.

McAfee said that Smith would appear on his program this coming Monday to discuss the recent developments even further.