Fans of the ECHL’s Utah Grizzlies will have one last chance to roar for their favourite team before they move across the country.
The Grizzlies announced on Tuesday, September 9, that the ECHL Board of Governors has approved the transfer of the controlling interest in the team’s membership from Grizzlies Hockey Club, LLC to Pro Hockey Partners, LLC. This means the 2025-26 season will be the Grizzlies’ last playing out of the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Utah, before they relocate to Trenton, New Jersey.
“This was a difficult decision, but it is one that we feel is in the best long-term interest of the franchise. Our focus right now is entirely on the fans and the community that have supported us for three decades. We are dedicated to delivering the best possible experience for our final season and celebrating the incredible memories we’ve made together.”
— D.G. Elmore
The team was founded in 1995 as the Denver Grizzlies in the International Hockey League, but moved to Salt Lake City after just one season in Colorado. It then moved to West Valley City in 1997, but kept the same nickname. When the IHL folded in 2001, the Grizzlies were admitted to the American Hockey League.
The AHL franchise was suspended after the 2004-05 season, but a new ownership group purchased the identity and started a new Utah Grizzlies team in the ECHL, where they’ve played ever since. The suspended AHL franchise was eventually bought by a group from Cleveland led by Dan Gilbert and resumed play in 2007-08 as the Lake Erie Monsters (now the Cleveland Monsters).
The Grizzlies are currently affiliated with the AHL’s Colorado Eagles and the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche. With the passing of former owner David Elmore in 2023, though, and amid the declining health of his wife and co-owner Donna Tuttle, the organization began a formal process to explore the sale of the Grizzles in Juen 2025. “The family’s ability to remain actively involved in team operations has understandably diminished,” reads a statement posted to Twitter.
During the 2024-25 season, the Grizzlies wore their standard white and black uniforms, along with a cream-coloured alternate jersey. They wore several specialty jerseys for theme nights throughout the season, including Star Wars Night, Military Appreciation Night, Grizzlies Fight Cancer and an ugly Christmas sweater for their Teddy Tear Toss Night. They also wore Retro Night jerseys that harkened back to their IHL days, and their Fishing Night jersey was named the ECHL’s Specialty Jersey of the Year.
With the relocation, pro hockey returns to the New Jersey capital in 2026-27 after a 13-year hiatus. The city was home to the ECHL’s Trenton Titans from 1999 to 2013, although the team was renamed the Trenton Devils while it was owned by and affiliated with the NHL’s New Jersey Devils from 2007 to 2011. After the team was sold, it reverted to the Titans name and logo. The franchise ceased operations in April 2013.
The new Trenton ECHL team will play out of the 7,000-seat CURE Insurance Arena in Trenton, which previously hosted the Titans and Devils.
Would you like to see the Titans name resurrected in Trenton? Or is there another name you’d like to see the team adopt? Let us know in the comments!
