SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Hockey Club's inaugural season began about three months ago, and FOX 13 News checked in with downtown businesses to see if fans have had an impact.
"I love my customers, and I love visiting with them and it's just so much fun," said Linda Clark, the owner of Trinkets and Treasures.
Clark said she enjoys when tourists stop in, and many customers are jazzed about the new pro team.
"They absolutely love it and all the people. It's crazy to me that they would travel that far to watch a hockey game," said Clark.
Clark is not the only business owner who's had out-of-state customers for a hockey game.
"What we've noticed is the NHL fan bases travel a lot more than NBA fan bases so we see a lot of road fans," said Ryan Oliver, the owner of The Break Sports Grill Downtown.
Oliver said game days bring in great crowds.
"Very energetic fanbase. Super excited to have the NHL here and it's been out of sight," he said. "On these hockey nights, it's been incredible."
He's grateful to have added another professional team to Utah's roster.
"Incredible... Typically you know for Jazz basketball, there's about 42 home games every year and now we're getting double that, so it's double the amount of business over here and it's been really, really good," said Oliver.
Downtown Salt Lake City business owners see long-lasting positive effects for local retailers.
"I think that as people hear about us and know that we have a hockey team here and especially those states that don't have hockey, then we will definitely get impacted and it'll help us a lot," said Clark.
Oliver explained that the energy NHL fans bring is great and encourages others to get to a game.
"This is a very unique opportunity for Salt Lake and the state of Utah so go out and enjoy it. They're a lot of fun, those games," said Oliver.
They're also asking Christmas shoppers to consider buying local this holiday season.
"Oh, absolutely, please shop at your local businesses. Most of us are small. We're not huge. We're not the big box retailers, but some of us have a lot of good quality products," said Clark.
