The Utah Grizzlies are gone. Now what?

Utah Grizzlies defenseman Andrew Noel (77) skates around the arena to thank the fans as they hold up hearts after the Utah Grizzlies lost 5-4 in overtime to the Rapid City Rush at the Maverik Center in West Valley City on Sunday, April 12, 2026. The overtime loss brings to a close 30 years of hockey in the Maverik Center, as the Grizzlies are relocating to Trenton, New Jersey, for the 26-27 season. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News Greg Jones moved to Utah in 1995, just in time to witness the Utah Grizzlies’ first season in their new home.

They won the Turner Cup that season, and it’s still the only championship Jones has been able to witness. Three decades later, he and thousands of others with similar stories bid the Grizzlies farewell. The team played its final game on Sunday, losing 5-4 in overtime to the Rapid City Rush after completing a three-goal comeback with 1:21 left in the third period.

They’ll suit up next season in Trenton, New Jersey as the Trenton Ironhawks . While the easy assumption is that the NHL ran the ECHL out of town, it’s not true. Selling the team became necessary after the passing of both owner David Elmore and CEO Kevin Bruder.

Besides, ECHL games are meant for a separate demographic than NHL games. Jones, for example, is now in a position where he can afford Utah Mammoth season tickets, but he thinks back to a time when he was putting two kids through travel hockey. Cheap Grizzlies tickets would have been the only option, even if an NHL team had been in Utah back then.