WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah — They’re calling it the final hunt, and no matter where they came from, fans will always remember the time they became a Grizzlies fan.
“There was an ad in the newspaper — Utah Grizzlies hockey. I say to my wife, 'Hey, Utah Grizzlies hockey. Do you want to go to a game?' She goes, 'I'd love to,'” said Jim Williams, treasurer of the booster club. “It was like finding plutonium by accident. It was great."
“We've initially came here for our first game and fell in love with Grizzlies and ended up falling in love with hockey, just in general,” said Dawn Gerber, who was visiting from Nevada.
While there was excitement in the air heading into the team’s final home opener here in Utah, you couldn’t help but feel the sadness.
“We were very heartbroken, because this is something that we always love coming and doing, seeing the games,” Gerber said.
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Utah Grizzlies skating off to New Jersey following final campaign in Utah
“My dad said he's got a lot of Jersey stuff for Grizzlies, so we've kind of always grown up around them. We're very upset to see them go, but my brother is equipment manager, so we're excited to get the new opportunities for him and watch him grow in that way,” said fan and hockey player Emma McFarland.
The Grizzlies are leaving Utah to head to New Jersey after the season is over — something many fans unfortunately saw coming.
“We knew when the Mammoth came number one and when the gentleman who owned the team passed away, that probably something was going to happen,” said booster club president Cydne Butler. "We had hoped that they would do something to keep the team here, but that's not a surprise that they're leaving. We're very, very sad about it."
Williams has been a season ticket holder for 19 years and said he will miss the friends he made through the Grizzlies community.
“Other people have taken their season tickets and gotten near us because we cheer loud. I’m not sure if I can say this, but when one of the other teams' guys goes into the penalty box, you’ll hear us — we say, 'Shame, shame, shame, shame!' and 'You suck!'” Williams joked.
Some are now worried about not having an affordable option.
“The ticket price has always been reasonable. The community's been able to come out and enjoy games all the time,” Butler said. "I don't know that the same fans will be able to attend Mammoth games, so we're losing that, I think.”
In the meantime, fans will cherish the memories they have with the Grizzlies.
“We have a holiday party every year, and we always have the rookies get up and sing a Christmas carol a capella, and they never know the words, and it's always just a riot,” Butler said.
“Coming here with my daughter, she ended up getting breast cancer, in remission now, but we came here after that, and it was one of the funnest experiences, just to see her having fun and getting away from everything,” Gerber said.
The booster club said the rest of their funds will go toward a charity that will support kids’ hockey.
Their final game is scheduled to be against the Rapid City Rush on April 11.
