Utah Prepares for First NHL Season with a Mascot Collaboration

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah is set to enter the National Hockey League (NHL) circuit in its inaugural season, and the Utah Hockey Club is making headlines by calling on a recognizable figure for assistance. Head Coach Andre "Bear" Tourigny extended an invitation to Jazz Bear, in a social media announcement, to support the team’s debut season. “Hey Bear! It’s Coach Bear. We’ll really need your help during the season this year,” Tourigny stated in the video.

The Utah Hockey Club plans to unveil its permanent identity and team mascot in anticipation of the upcoming season. In the interim, Jazz Bear, usually seen in a basketball jersey, will don a hockey uniform, serving dual roles over a grueling 82-game schedule split between the NHL and NBA seasons.

The arrangement was described as flowing “quite naturally” by Elaina Pappas, the Smith Entertainment Group‘s senior vice president of marketing. “Once we learned that Coach Bear was coming to Utah, we thought, ‘Delta Center is no stranger to bears,'” Pappas said. She added, “We’re really excited and we’re really all-in on Utah, on being ‘one team.’ We feel like this was a really good brand connector between Utah Hockey Club and Utah Jazz.”

Tuesday marks the Utah Hockey Club’s inaugural regular season game when they face the Chicago Blackhawks at the Delta Center, a historic event for Utah fans and both of their beloved mascots.