Vegas Golden Knights doing their part to ensure hockey doesn't return to Arizona

It's arguably the biggest hockey story of the 2024 calendar year so far. What seemed like a never-ending saga with the Arizona Coyotes looking for a permanent home arena in the desert, Coyotes owner Alex Muruelo eventually folded what was left of the franchise after the team was sold to Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith and moved to Salt Lake City. Muruelo had been promised the first crack at bringing a team back to the Glendale-Phoenix area, but gave up on all of it after another failed bid on a development plan. Now, the closest team to that fanbase it's doing it's best to bring Coyotes fans' into their fold.

The Vegas Golden Knights, who have built up a pretty good fanbase for themselves in Nevada, announced hockey fans in Arizona could now tune into channels based in Phoenix and Tucson to watch their games. It goes well beyond that, too with the Golden Knights hosting watch parties and hockey clinics all over Arizona.

It's an aggressive bid by the Vegas Golden Knights to capture a group of fans who are "wandering the desert" looking for a new team to call their own. Meanwhile, Utah Hockey Club recently won a historic preseason home opener against the Los Angeles Kings in front of a full house of 11,131 cheering hockey fans. Plans for an arena with more seating are in the works.