Gary Bettman’s Market Push Pays Off as Golden Knights Advance
Gary Bettman’s push into non-traditional markets has reached another checkpoint: the Vegas Golden Knights eliminated the Utah Mammoth in six games during Utah’s first-ever postseason run. The series ended a first look at playoff hockey in Salt Lake City and added another result to a leaguewide trend that has spread far beyond the original NHL map.
Utah’s first postseason run
Utah’s building still gave the Golden Knights a playoff challenge. Noah Hanifin said, "It was a really cool experience playing there; it was a pretty rowdy building," and added, "I think it’s good for the league. It’s good for the game, and there’s a bright future there."
Brett Howden was just as direct after the series. "It was a lot of fun playing in Utah," he said, before describing how close the crowd sat to the ice and how much noise it carried. "The crowd is so good. They’re really into the game, which is really fun… And their stands, they’re really over top of you, so you can really feel them. But yeah, it was really cool. It was fun."
Vegas and Salt Lake City
The Mammoth’s postseason debut arrived after the Arizona Coyotes relocated to Salt Lake City in 2024, and the Delta Center handed every Mammoth fan a rally towel during the run. That backdrop gave the series a different feel from a standard first-round matchup, with Utah trying to establish itself while Vegas tried to end it.
Hanifin tied that atmosphere to the larger arc around Bettman’s 33-year run as commissioner, saying, "It was awesome, it was really cool to see," and, "I remember when Vegas [entered the league], and just what a cool environment it was to play in, and how much pride and passion the fans had, and I felt the same way in Utah." Vegas entered the league in 2016, made the playoffs in its first season, and won the Stanley Cup in its sixth season.
Non-traditional markets
The broader numbers show why this result lands beyond one series. The NHL has 32 teams, 10 are based in non-traditional markets, and five of the last six Stanley Cup champions have come from those markets. Anaheim, another non-traditional franchise, entered the league in 1993 and was back in the postseason for the first time since 2017.
Howden said the Utah environment reminded him of Winnipeg. "Me and Keegan [Kolesar] both said it kind of reminded us of the Winnipeg series," he said. "When we played there, they had the White Out, and they all had the white towels. So, it kind of had the same vibe." That leaves Utah with a playoff debut that ended in defeat, but not in silence, and it gives the league another market that already looks ready for the next round of noise.
