SALT LAKE CITY — In Utah's inaugural season in the NHL, Utah Hockey Club Head Coach Andre "Bear" Tourigny is calling on a familiar face for some help.
"Hey Bear! It's Coach Bear. We'll really need your help during the season this year," Tourigny said in a video to Jazz Bear on social media.
Utah Hockey Club will introduce its lasting identity and mascot ahead of next season. But in the meantime, Utah Jazz Bear will swap his basketball jersey for hockey threads, splitting his role through a total of 82 NHL and NBA home games.
"This fell into place quite naturally," said 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 adds: "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."
On Tuesday Utah Hockey Club will take the ice in its first regular season game in franchise history. The Chicago Blackhawks will come to the Delta Center in what will be a historic night for Utah and both Bears.
