It’s been a wild six months for owner Ryan Smith and the Utah Hockey Club, and it’s all led up to Tuesday's season opener against Chicago.

The Utah Hockey Club will play its first regular-season game on Oct. 8 against the Chicago Blackhawks at Delta Center in Salt Lake City (10 p.m. ET; ESPN, ESPN+). NHL.com is counting down to the first game with a five-part series about hockey in Utah. Today, in Part 5, columnist Nicholas J. Cotsonika looks at how Utah has welcomed the NHL:

Utah Hockey Club has a tough decision to make. The team wrapped up preseason Saturday night with a 2-1 win over the Colorado Avalanche at Maverik Center. Dylan Guenther and Nick Schmaltz both scored, and Connor Ingram had 30 saves en route to the victory. Now it is time to finalize an opening-night roster.

For viewers living in Utah and in ZIP codes within 150 miles of the Delta Center, all but one of the Jazz’s regular-season games can be seen on KJZZ. The only exception is a TNT exclusive game on Jan. 30 against Minnesota at the Delta Center.

The structure sits in a corner inside the 275,000-square-foot Utah Olympic Oval, the long-track speed skating venue for the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics, the home of US Speedskating, and an official U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Training Site.

Keller’s popularity with the fans and his teammates has not wavered. It is part of the reason he was chosen to be Utah Hockey Club’s first-ever captain. Keller’s winning mentality will hold the team to a higher standard as it looks to turn a corner in the standings this season.

For their final preseason game, the Utah Hockey Club will host the Colorado Avalanche. Here’s what you need to know about Saturday’s game, which starts at 5 p.m. MDT. Saturday’s game is Hispanic Heritage Night, and the Utah Hockey Club marketed it with a $30 special that included tickets and a kid’s hockey starter kit. The offer sold out quickly.