The Utah Grizzlies were an

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

team in the International Hockey League (IHL) and

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

(AHL). They originally played at the Delta Center in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

, before relocating to the E Center in the Salt Lake City suburb of West Valley City in 1997. After the 2004–05 season, the franchise was suspended. It was sold in 2006 and moved to

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

where it returned to play in 2007 as the

Lake Erie Monsters A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a depression (geology), basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land an ...

. A new

Utah Grizzlies The Utah Grizzlies are a professional ice hockey team in the ECHL. They play their home games at Maverik Center in West Valley City, Utah. Franchise history The current Utah Grizzlies franchise started in 1981 as the Nashville South Stars i ...

franchise in the

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a minor professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams across the United States and Canada. Competitively, it is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The ...

began play in 2005.

History

The original Utah Grizzlies moved to Utah in 1995 after one IHL season in

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

, as the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

Quebec Nordiques The Quebec Nordiques (, pronounced in Quebec French, in Canadian English; translated "Northmen" or "Northerners") were a professional ice hockey team based in Quebec City. The Nordiques played in the World Hockey Association (1972–1979) an ...

relocated to Denver to become the

Colorado Avalanche The Colorado Avalanche (colloquially known as the Avs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. The Avalanche compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Con ...

. The Grizzlies were admitted to the AHL in

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

after the IHL folded. They played their home games in the Delta Center until the E Center was built a few seasons after their arrival in Salt Lake. While in Denver, the Grizzlies won the 1994–95

Turner Cup The Turner Cup was the championship trophy of the International Hockey League from 1945 to 2001 and the renamed United Hockey League from 2007 to 2010. The Cup was named for Joe Turner, a goaltender from Windsor, Ontario. Turner became professi ...

, the championship of the IHL. After relocating to the Salt Lake City area, the Utah Grizzlies once again marched to victory in the IHL playoffs. Utah swept the

Orlando Solar Bears The Orlando Solar Bears are a professional ice hockey team that plays their home games at Kia Center (formerly Amway Center) in Orlando, Florida. They play in the South Division of the ECHL's Eastern Conference and are affiliated with the Tampa ...

in four games to win the 1995–96 Turner Cup. The fourth (and final) game of the series was played in the Delta Center; 17,381 fans attended, which, at the time, set a national record for largest attendance at a minor league ice hockey game. The franchise was granted a voluntary suspension for the 2005–06 season, and on May 16, 2006, it was sold to an ownership group from

led by Dan Gilbert, the owner of the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers, often referred to as the Cavs, are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Divis ...

and

Quicken Loans Rocket Mortgage, LLC, formerly Quicken Loans, LLC, is an American mortgage lender, headquartered in Detroit, Michigan. Rocket Mortgage uses wholesale funding for loans and online applications as opposed to a branch system. History Early histor ...

. The franchise was moved to Cleveland to replace the departed Cleveland Barons and resumed play in 2007 as the

. After the suspension of the IHL/AHL Grizzlies, a new ownership group purchased the

identity and resurrected a team of the same name in the

that started playing in the 2005–06 season. The

would eventually place a team in Salt Lake City with the

Utah Mammoth The Utah Mammoth are a professional ice hockey team based in Salt Lake City. The Mammoth compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. ...

, who play at the Grizzlies' old home of Delta Center.

Market facts

The Salt Lake City market was previously served by: *

Salt Lake Golden Eagles The Salt Lake Golden Eagles were a minor professional hockey team based in Salt Lake City from 1969 to 1994. History They played in the Western Hockey League from 1969 to 1974, the Central Hockey League from 1974 to 1984 and the International H ...

of the WHL (1969–74) *Salt Lake Golden Eagles of the CHL (1974–84) *Salt Lake Golden Eagles of the IHL (1984–94) The franchise was replaced by: *

of the

(2005–present)

Affiliates

New York Islanders The New York Islanders (colloquially known as the Isles) are a professional ice hockey team based in Elmont, New York. The Islanders compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (N ...

(1995–98) *

Dallas Stars The Dallas Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in Dallas. The Stars compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The Stars ...

(2000–04) *

Phoenix Coyotes The Arizona Coyotes are an inactive professional ice hockey team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. They competed in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division (1996–1998, 2021–2024) and ...

(2004–05)

Season-by-season results

* Denver Grizzlies 1994–95 ( International Hockey League) * Utah Grizzlies 1995–2001 (International Hockey League) * Utah Grizzlies 2001–05 (American Hockey League)

Team records

Single season

:Goals: 46 Kip Miller (1994–95) :Assists: 60 Kip Miller (1994–95) :Points: 106 Kip Miller (1994–95) :Penalty minutes: 317 Mike MacWilliam (1995–96) :GAA: 2.21 Rich Parent (1999–00) :SV%: .928 Wade Flaherty (2001–02) :Wins: 45 Tommy Salo (1994–95) :Shutouts: 5

Mike Bales Michael Raymond Bales (born August 6, 1971) is a Canadians, Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. He played in the National Hockey League over four seasons from 1992 to 1997 with the Boston Bruins and the Ottawa Senators, accumulati ...

(2000–01) *Goaltending records need a minimum 25 games played by the goaltender

Career

:Career goals: 111 Chris Taylor (1994–98) :Career assists: 167 Chris Taylor :Career points: 278 Chris Taylor :Career penalty minutes: 694 John Erskine (2000–03) :Career goaltending wins: 73 Tommy Salo (1994–96) :Career shutouts: 7 Tommy Salo :Career games: 440 Gord Dineen (1994–2000)

References

External links

The Internet Hockey Database - Utah Grizzlies
{{DEFAULTSORT:Utah Grizzlies (1995-2005) Defunct ice hockey teams in Utah Ice hockey clubs established in 1995 Ice hockey clubs disestablished in 2005 New York Islanders minor league affiliates Dallas Stars minor league affiliates Arizona Coyotes minor league affiliates 1995 establishments in Utah 2005 disestablishments in Utah