SALT LAKE CITY – Utah Hockey Club coach Andre Tourigny wants to soak it all in on Tuesday night.

The crowd, the lights, the sounds, the atmosphere, everything. It’s not often that you get to be a part of the very first game in a new franchise.

It’s been a hectic six months for the Utah Hockey Club. The team relocated an entire team from Arizona, converted the Olympic Oval into a temporary training facility, broke ground on a permanent facility and established two NHL-level locker rooms at the Delta Center.

All of this was in preparation for Tuesday, Utah’s first regular season game.

“You want to enjoy the moment. You don’t want to miss any of it,” Tourigny said.

It might be hard not to miss anything on Tuesday. Smith Entertainment Group turned Tuesday’s franchise launch into a block party.

The schedule?

• 12:30 p.m. – Team owners Ryan and Ashley Smith and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman will host a live press conference open to fans.
• 2:00 p.m. – ESPN begins a live broadcast outside the Delta Center. Steve Levy, Mark Messier and PK Subban will perform pregame, intermission and postgame shows for an NHL tripleheader that ends with Utah’s game against Chicago.
• 4:00 p.m. – Fan festivities begin around the Delta Center, including DJs, free hockey activities and games.
• 5:00 p.m. – Utah Hockey Club players will arrive for a special entrance.
• 5:30 p.m. – Popular recording artist Shaboozey (of “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” fame) will perform in front of the stadium at 300 West and South Temple.
• 6:30 p.m. – Pilots from Hill Air Force Base will conduct a special flyover.
• 8 p.m. – The game begins. The Delta Center plaza becomes a party for those who can’t get or afford tickets. The game will be shown on large screens at 300 West at the corners of South Temple and 100 South.

It’s meant to be a celebration of Utah’s newest professional team – a team that seemed like a far-fetched idea early in the year.

“I know for a fact that there are several other cities that would like to have the NHL right now, and if that happens, that’s a big question mark for them,” Ryan Smith said. “We were able to do it. But Utah was able to do it because no matter how great we are or how well funded we are or how ready we are, the state will carry it.” The day, the city will be the day. The people who show up will be the day.

So far Utah has shown up.

15,000 people attended the welcome party in April. The team sold 8,500 equivalent season ticket packages for the entire season (for an arena with barely more than 10,000 “unobstructed” seats, no less). During the preseason game, the team sold $160,000 worth of Utah HC merchandise – the second-highest amount in the arena’s history.

And there will likely be a party on Tuesday – both inside and outside the arena.

“We’re just excited,” Smith said. “I hope everyone gets the chance to experience this moment in history. My biggest fear is that we don’t sit back and actually say, ‘This is a moment.’ I hope everyone takes a selfie and sends it to someone.

But after all the pre-game celebrations and what is expected to be an exciting performance from the team, there is still one more game to play. Tourigny wants to give fans a reason to continue the celebration long after the premiere.

“We have a job to do, we have to make sure we do our job so the party can get started,” he said. “We’re here to be a good hockey team and play a good game. We have a great opportunity to start with a lot of energy in front of our fans. There is a lot of enthusiasm in the team. That’s why we want to be on top of the challenge.”