Grizzlies begin new season in a new league

WEST VALLEY CITY — It is finally time for Night 1 of Dave Elmore's downsizing venture.

The Utah Grizzlies play their first game in the Class AA ECHL tonight in the E Center at 7 when the new Phoenix Roadrunners visit.

When the ECHL puck drops, the Grizzlies' owner will begin to find out if Utah accepts not having a team at the highest minor-league level for the first time since the mid-1980s, when the old Salt Lake Golden Eagles had to beg the International Hockey League, which was then a bus league in the Midwest, to accept them because the Central Hockey League had folded.

The IHL soon expanded nationwide to AAA level.

This, however, is a voluntary move.

After two years of last-place finishes with two different NHL parent teams in the Class AAA American Hockey League, Elmore suspended his AHL franchise last spring, dropped his affiliation with the NHL Phoenix Coyotes with a year left on the contract and announced in June that the Grizzlies would move to the ECHL and become an independent.

Some season ticket holders have told the Deseret Morning News they will not attend this level of hockey.

But at the Grizzlies' fan forum on Tuesday night in the E Center, some 125 fans were clearly enthused. With the chance to vent, they instead cheered the change, especially when new coach Jason Christie promised his players would play hard every game because their contracts are day-to-day and can't rest on their guarantees.

Fan questions Tuesday night were about the new players and how they could support the youngsters who hope they're on the way up the hockey ladder. The ECHL allows a few veterans like ECHL career scoring leader Louis Dumont and defender Ian Forbes, but most players must be in their first few pro seasons.

The ECHL has put 264 of its players on NHL rosters in its 17 years — its 18th season opens tonight.

The fan favorite Tuesday night was rookie center Kris Kasper, whose blond haystack of hair outdoes the wild hairdos of Jazz forward Andrei Kirilenko.

Earlier Tuesday, Christie told a group of sponsors and media, "Everyone wants to talk about the American Hockey League and the ECHL. I had a chance to play in all three, in the 'I,' the 'A' and obviously the East Coast League. You come to a game, you pay (for) a ticket, you want to watch a team play on the ice. When you come on Friday, and all year, you're going to see that. We're going to be going out every night working hard. We owe that to the community."