0:00

Charles Barkley texting saying hey I if you

0:02

need a goalie I'm available on the chief.

0:05

Ah Up Up Up Up

0:07

top of you find the

0:09

watch. I watch that. Working

0:13

with thirty two thoughts, The Interview

0:15

Podcast presented as always by the

0:18

Gmc Sierra Elevation I'm Jeff Merrick.

0:20

Monday afternoon Elliott I had a

0:22

chance to catch up with Nhl

0:24

Utah owner Rise, with yes, that's

0:27

right, the headline machine. He's young,

0:29

he's energetic, He's enthusiastic and well

0:31

there are skeptics of the Nhl

0:33

can actually work in Utah. Smith

0:35

was your boat to hear has

0:37

zero doubt you know. Last June

0:40

Alley and I sat down with

0:42

him and he told us quote

0:44

were here and we're ready to

0:46

go. And less than a year

0:48

later Ryan and his wife/business partner

0:50

actually are about to test that.

0:52

Here's Ryan Smyth Five Thirty Two

0:55

thoughts: The podcast. Ryan.

0:57

If I told you last June when we

0:59

first spoke here on this podcast that within

1:02

twelve months you would be the owner of

1:04

an Nhl franchise, you would have said what's

1:06

and walk into the podcast again by the.

1:09

Were. You're. Welcome

1:11

him as good a beer! Lot.

1:15

I probably would have said the. That's.

1:18

The way it was supposed to be in

1:20

the way that we planned it. But reality

1:22

is this black that's an hour. I. Know.

1:27

I think. I. Think timing is everything

1:29

on all of this was towards them

1:31

with business and everything else and like

1:33

sometimes time he works out sometimes it

1:35

doesn't I'm. I'm.

1:38

Still kind of waking up going

1:40

awry were doing this. So.

1:43

So or sell little bit and like

1:46

digest. Digest. A mode like

1:48

okay, how do we digesters had a we set

1:50

this up for success at a We show. That.

1:54

utah's a fresh start and something that these

1:56

guys get to go do for the first

1:58

time ever and them probably never do

2:00

something like this again in

2:03

their entire careers. And that's

2:05

an exciting thing. Um, so

2:08

we're all just kind of working together on it. So I

2:11

haven't taken a lot of time doing hell and

2:14

say, Hey, we've got this team. Like, Oh

2:16

my word, it's been much more like, all right,

2:18

how do we go make it be

2:20

everything we thought it would be when we asked

2:23

for it or wanted it. Ryan,

2:26

I was watching you on, uh, Pat

2:28

McAfee earlier Monday. And you

2:30

said something very interesting, which is, and

2:32

that is that in early

2:35

March, uh, Gary Bettman and

2:37

Bill Daly came to you about this and

2:40

your philosophy was don't

2:42

say no, say yes,

2:45

you can do it and then figure it out.

2:49

Two questions for you. Can

2:51

you take us through the timeline? And

2:54

secondly, I love that philosophy,

2:56

but did any part of you say, we can't

2:59

do this this quickly? Uh,

3:04

so the, so the timeline has been pretty well articulated

3:07

around, you know, really came

3:10

down to a couple of weeks before then

3:12

saying, Hey, could you guys play

3:14

and how many seats are in there? And for

3:16

us, it was really like, okay, how

3:19

many can we start with? And then can

3:21

we run a full Reno

3:23

on the, the arena and

3:26

not ruin the basketball experience because the

3:28

basketball experience is incredible in Utah. Um,

3:31

it's one of the steepest sloped arenas

3:33

out there. And then how

3:35

do we actually do something different that we

3:37

think has not been done in an arena

3:40

for both basketball and hockey, typically the

3:42

way to accommodate both as you kind of make

3:44

the bowl wider. And,

3:47

um, what if we were

3:49

able to like innovate around that? And

3:51

so when that came back as yes,

3:55

then it was like, okay, everything else is

3:57

around, you know, really

3:59

just. execution of landing

4:03

the team, starting the team, branding the team,

4:05

putting this up. And even

4:07

as we got down to it, it's like, okay, really,

4:10

what is this? Is this a reload? It's

4:12

not an expansion. And

4:15

it's like neither. It's legitimately

4:17

like we're starting a new franchise and

4:21

we're doing it with this

4:23

group of people. And

4:26

that's what we've, that was a

4:28

deal. And that's really what we've acquired.

4:30

And so I think

4:33

that's exciting because we all get to kind of put our

4:35

hands in the middle and say, let's go do this together

4:38

and build up from here. So

4:40

it is unprecedented. It's not anything

4:42

I've ever seen in sports. But

4:46

at the same time, you

4:48

know, we've got a hot market. We're

4:50

only an hour away from Arizona. And

4:53

so it's worked out about

4:56

as well as we could so far. Now it's

4:58

just, okay, we got

5:00

four months to get ready to go. I

5:03

want to follow up on that. You

5:05

said that on the weekend or last Friday about

5:08

how you were going to do this with the

5:10

bowl. I'm really curious about it. How

5:12

are you going to go from, I guess

5:15

it's 12, five right now unobstructed

5:17

and eventually you're going to get

5:19

larger. And without changing

5:21

the basketball experience, do you seem

5:23

excited about something you're going

5:25

to do that is you said is new. How

5:28

are you going to do this? I'm really curious about it.

5:31

Yeah. So

5:34

if you look at technology, I think most bowls

5:36

and arenas were built. This is a 30 year

5:38

old arena, but it's got great bones. And

5:40

you know, I think the bottom half of the

5:43

arena is built with risers that kind of push

5:45

forward and back. And I think what we're trying

5:48

to do is look at new riser technology and

5:50

say, hey, you know, are

5:52

you able to push forward or back? Are

5:54

you able to elevate and lower? And

5:58

then, you know, why does it have to be built? to just

6:00

be the bottom, why can't it be further up? And

6:03

so on one side, I think that we

6:06

can take out a bunch of sweets. And

6:10

really what it is, it's just it's very steep

6:13

behind the goal. And

6:15

so if you're right above the

6:17

goal, you can't really

6:19

see that corner, if you're looking straight down. And

6:22

those corners right there, that's really what it is.

6:24

I mean, you can see a lot of

6:26

it. So it's not like all,

6:29

you know, this, the other 4200 seeds,

6:31

which would be

6:34

16 to our bad seats. And a

6:36

lot of times people are watching, we have

6:38

an incredible screen, or

6:41

people can watch there. So

6:44

it'll, it'll definitely, we'll try to fill those

6:46

up. The

6:48

thought is, though, how do you make it so it

6:52

can kind of, I don't

6:54

know, be configurable for

6:56

both without ruining the experience.

6:59

And so our

7:01

preliminary look at it is to

7:04

keep one side really steep and almost put

7:07

a bunch of sweets in and make it kind of

7:09

this cool wall. And on the

7:11

other side, you know,

7:14

I was just down looking at Intuit where a

7:16

bomber has, you

7:19

know, 51 straight rows of seats,

7:23

unobstructed, just down the standing room only and

7:25

some stuff like that. I think

7:27

that that's, that's a really cool

7:30

way to think through this where, you

7:33

know, maybe with basketball, it's, it's 51

7:35

or 50 or 60 rows.

7:37

And with hockey,

7:39

it might adjust and come down to

7:41

30 or 40. Just

7:44

from how we do it. And I've

7:46

seen it looks pretty, it looks pretty amazing

7:49

and renderings. So and

7:52

it's a little different. But

7:55

I actually think we don't

7:57

want to give up on the sides how

7:59

close our fans are to

8:01

the court and to the ice. Because

8:04

that's really, you know, and

8:06

I've been in a lot

8:08

of multi-use facilities and, you

8:11

know, they always kind of

8:13

optimize for the

8:15

largest area and

8:18

then kind of fill everything in. We want to actually keep it

8:20

the same and then figure out how to do it. And so

8:22

I think we got a good plan. And

8:24

that's probably hard. I'm kind of dancing around a little

8:26

bit because, you

8:30

know, it's changing constantly. I

8:34

know a name and a logo and

8:36

all these things are going to come

8:38

eventually. I am curious when you close

8:40

your eyes and you think about this

8:43

team and what they're going to visually

8:45

look like on the ice.

8:49

Is there going to be a symmetry in

8:51

your mind between your hockey team and your

8:53

basketball team? Do you

8:55

want them to look profoundly different? How

8:58

in your mind does this team look,

9:00

whether it's, you know, the sweaters, the

9:02

helmets, the socks, the pants, all of it? What

9:04

does it look like in your head? Yeah,

9:08

I mean, we brought back purple and we're going

9:10

to continue to do that for basketball. I

9:14

think there's a mountain component that

9:19

we authentically kind of own, especially in the

9:21

NBA, if you look at the mountains on

9:23

the jersey. And

9:26

I think that kind of breeds

9:28

a little bit of a color palette naturally, you know,

9:32

fresh ice, the whole setup,

9:36

blue skies, like you see that. And so I

9:39

think that if you were

9:41

in a dream scenario, there's a

9:43

Venn diagram where you've got the

9:46

jazz and this team

9:48

and like there's

9:50

a little bit of a Venn diagram where

9:52

things could and

9:55

look, I mean, we've hired Doubleday and they're the ones that are going

9:58

to come up with this. like

10:01

kind of overlap. And then I think

10:03

both teams given like

10:07

the NBA jerseys and the sweaters and the helmets

10:09

and all this stuff, like there's

10:11

a lot of innovation being done around those. And

10:13

so you've got to leave a little room for

10:15

teams to get out and do special stuff. That's

10:18

not going to be part of that diagram, but

10:20

I think there could be a really cool symmetry. And

10:23

I don't think it has to be just like,

10:25

you know, Pittsburgh or everything else where everything's

10:27

exact same color. That's

10:30

my thought though, but you know, we've hired the best

10:32

in the world to go do this. The

10:35

goal is we want it to be by

10:37

Utah for Utah and let our fans and

10:40

our people and our players come and like,

10:42

you know, take part in creating that. It's part of the

10:44

beauty of this is like, I

10:47

was telling the guys last week, I said, you

10:50

know, you'll

10:52

probably be in a spot where you're going to be asked a

10:54

lot of questions in your opinions, maybe

10:56

for the first time ever in

10:59

your careers. And

11:01

I think if we had already had an established

11:03

franchise, I'm not sure we'd be asking this

11:05

much input, but

11:07

we really want to know what you care about because we're

11:10

going to build it all out from scratch. And, you know,

11:13

rather than guess on everything or assume

11:15

on everything, like we want

11:17

all of your input and you get a chance

11:19

to kind of craft like the perfect

11:21

setup. And that's the benefit of

11:23

being able to start a new franchise. So

11:26

what kind of feedback have you got so far? I know

11:28

it's quick. From

11:32

who? Like just

11:35

in the first couple of days, like what

11:37

kind of feedback have you gotten about what

11:39

you should do or what you, maybe

11:42

anything that was suggested to

11:45

you by anyone that

11:47

you said, that's not a bad idea. We

11:49

might do that. So

11:52

I think if we look at the

11:54

overall experience, we say, hey,

11:56

like what would be a really cool hockey

11:58

experience in Utah? And

12:01

then you break it down by also like

12:03

the players and the coaches and the staff

12:07

Like on Wednesday, you've got 80

12:09

people coming into town and you're like, okay What does

12:12

that experience look like and so I think it starts

12:14

with the travel experience? I think it starts with the

12:17

the health and wellness experience. I think it starts

12:19

with the facilities Some

12:21

of these things are a little slower and they're

12:23

gonna take some more time than others And

12:27

then I think it also starts with

12:29

our fans what we want that experience to

12:31

be like and how they want to interact

12:34

and The naming

12:36

experience. So so really what we're doing is

12:38

we're taking every little experience That

12:40

is out there and trying trying to help

12:43

and turn it up as much as we can

12:45

and involve as many people as we can I

12:48

think we've got a community of people who all

12:50

want to help. I mean just watching real estate

12:52

brokers moving companies sponsors

12:54

people who are like Hey, you know when

12:56

the players get here Can we do a

12:58

little swag bag for the rooms like just

13:00

to welcome people and like I think that

13:02

your natural reaction is Someone in

13:05

my position is like no no no no we got

13:07

it and I think in this case. It's more like

13:10

No, absolutely not like we want the whole

13:12

community involved and that's It's

13:16

for them as as much as it is for

13:18

us where someone feels like hey, we're a

13:21

part of this we want everyone to feel like

13:23

they're a part of this new franchise

13:25

and and almost start a

13:28

little more open and so You

13:31

know the in the the in-game

13:33

entertainment or the run of show

13:35

that we've got a set up within

13:38

the NHL Different

13:41

than hoops Pre-game

13:44

how we're gonna do it All

13:48

of it all of it plays into it. So And

13:51

by the way if you ask me in two weeks from now,

13:53

I'm probably have a talk Okay,

13:57

because we are you know Gary's like you're gonna

13:59

be you know, the fire hose. And it's like,

14:01

it's true. Like, every hour people

14:03

are reaching out, people are calling me what's

14:06

crazy is how many like inbounds I'm getting

14:08

from people all over the world being like,

14:11

Oh my gosh, I want to be a part of this. And

14:14

so I think they feel a little bit of momentum. We're

14:16

now up to 27,000 as a Monday, like 27,000 people who

14:18

have pre

14:23

ordered season pre-cooked. So we'll

14:25

figure out how to slice

14:27

and dice it in a way

14:29

that works. And

14:31

then I think we're going to do a bracket when

14:34

it comes to the naming. So we have like six

14:36

or eight names seem to be the ones. And

14:38

then, you

14:41

know, we've engaged Qualtrics

14:44

to do it from a survey standpoint to grab

14:46

all the feedback and run like the bracket. So

14:48

it's it's right. And then we'll, we'll

14:51

get them down. And then and

14:53

then we've got to grab mascot and color scheme and all

14:55

that. So Gary was pretty adamant.

14:57

And I think it's right. Like, all

15:00

right, you're not going to get this done in three

15:02

weeks or a month. Don't rush it. It's it's a

15:04

total one way door. The NHL does not

15:06

want us to just go through and slap some name

15:08

on there and be like, All right, this is a

15:10

forever name. You only

15:12

get to do this once. And so

15:16

that's kind of where we're at. Okay, so as

15:18

if by fate, about four minutes

15:20

before we started this interview, I got one

15:22

of those just

15:24

emails that you get in this

15:27

business with the Utah

15:29

NHL franchise naming odds. Okay, so

15:31

I want you to tell me

15:34

which of these names I should put some

15:36

money on Utah Blizzard at

15:38

plus 275 Utah Venom at plus 300 Utah

15:44

black diamonds at plus 1500 Utah Yetis at

15:46

plus 700 or Utah Golden

15:51

Eagles at plus 3000. If

15:54

you were me, which one would you

15:56

put some money on? Um,

16:01

it's a good question.

16:03

I, I look, I have my opinion,

16:05

but this is part of the reason why I want

16:07

to do it with the fans is because like, unfortunately

16:10

or fortunately, my, my opinion weighs

16:13

pretty heavily here. It does. And

16:17

that's not what we're trying to do. Like

16:20

I want, I truly

16:22

want this organization to, or this

16:25

fan base to be able to name it. I mean, I

16:28

think there's three, whether it's the,

16:30

the Blizzard or the Yeti or

16:32

the Outlaws or then, um, like

16:34

there's, there's a bunch of those

16:36

who that like, depending on the week,

16:38

like seem to trend higher. And

16:41

it's kind of interesting because what's happening is the

16:43

community is kind of digesting one, right?

16:46

And then they're like, nah, I like this one better. I could get

16:48

my head and they fall in love with it. And then I'm like,

16:50

eh, like I, so,

16:53

so I think taking people through like

16:55

the bracket will be actually

16:57

really cool. So like you have a face off

17:00

and, and then we'll get down to

17:02

them. But I mean, if

17:04

I were to say one of those on the list probably

17:06

has a good chance. I think it's, it's

17:08

way better than 50 50. Okay.

17:11

And I didn't help you at all. No, you didn't. I

17:13

actually couldn't believe you humored the question to

17:15

be perfectly honest. I thought you were just

17:17

going to laugh at me right off. No,

17:21

I pretty much, I pretty much am an open

17:23

book. Well, I like that. Let

17:26

me, um, Elliot and I

17:28

have, have, have bantered this one back and

17:30

forth a couple of different times and I'm

17:33

really like, I'm genuinely curious about this as

17:35

someone who's followed hockey my whole life. Um,

17:39

I think we looked at this and said,

17:41

okay, what is it? Is it expansion? Is

17:43

it relocation? There's an Arizona coyotes

17:45

team that right now is, is

17:48

dormant. But one of the questions

17:50

that Elliot and I have bandied

17:52

about is where

17:54

does the history go and essentially what I'm

17:56

asking is, is Shane Don't

17:58

your leading score. or or does you

18:01

leading scorer not exist yet? That's.

18:06

Really difficult. You

18:09

know you. why? You

18:11

want them to. Feel. Like they

18:13

have a spot nip but. You.

18:15

Know I dig The better. Question is. In

18:18

I'm assuming the coyotes are going back.

18:23

So in that case, Seems.

18:26

Like. They

18:28

would carry that history with them. If

18:31

they don't come back like I don't

18:33

know that that was you know they

18:35

blend I'm just I'm I'm with you

18:37

like I keep gone back and forth

18:39

in in my own had about it

18:41

as well So you haven't been told

18:43

either way or had discussions about you

18:45

know your your your your your this

18:47

organization has gone from Arizona to Utah

18:50

and along with it you know with

18:52

with the purchase hear the history comes

18:54

along with it to. Die

18:57

it. It actually is it in I

18:59

understand this. I remember. You. Know

19:01

playing golf with. A

19:05

Hall of Fame. In be a

19:07

player who. Looked at me.

19:10

At. the first around and said. Hey,

19:12

you know you inherited all the dna

19:14

when I took. Over the

19:16

jazz. And

19:18

so. Like the history comes

19:21

with a nice, I couldn't the good, the

19:23

bad, the ugly, it's all you, I know

19:25

you're like two months on the job. Like.

19:28

Your. Now carrying all of it and so I

19:30

understand how the history is a big part

19:32

of it. Any

19:35

good either comes or a dozen. I don't

19:38

know that you organically be like the

19:40

i want those boxes. yeah gimme other

19:42

history, Gimme the skate sharpen or smith birthday

19:44

hope I I don't the you choose

19:46

that. no way. I. Think you

19:48

just cannot let it. gotta let time. Bear

19:51

it out. ah

19:54

i'm you never get a second chance to

19:56

make a first impression it was set up

19:58

so that after the sale was official, you

20:01

could meet with the Coyotes players in

20:03

Arizona. I heard

20:06

you did very well. How

20:08

did you prepare for that? What

20:10

was the most important message that you

20:12

had to give to them? Look,

20:17

I don't know what you hear. I imagine

20:20

you're pretty well connected. Look,

20:23

there's no way to really prepare.

20:25

I mean, my first message was

20:27

just thinking the

20:29

leadership because it seemed like it

20:32

had been pretty noisy around the

20:34

team and the

20:38

uncertainty of the situation. And

20:40

I'm one that always says I think

20:42

people can handle change

20:44

pretty well. I think handling

20:46

uncertainty really takes a toll for a

20:49

long period of time. And

20:52

so I think that

20:54

they handled a lot of uncertainty, right

20:56

or wrong, like whatever it

20:58

was. And

21:00

so I was just grateful that they could do

21:02

that. And the

21:05

next was just trying to introduce

21:07

myself and my wife, Ashley, and

21:10

just this is who we are. And this

21:12

is what you can hopefully expect. And that

21:16

we're real people and we're

21:20

not perfect at everything, but we'll try

21:23

hard and we'll try to

21:25

listen and be collaborative and actually

21:29

just create a good experience for you

21:31

all and for everyone else. And so

21:34

and I think that was that's

21:37

just kind of it. I mean, there's only one

21:39

story with me. There's

21:41

not multiple stories. This is who I am kind

21:44

of. You

21:47

know, this is how I roll. And, you know, I

21:49

just wanted to look everyone in the eye and tap

21:52

them up a bit so they could just

21:56

realize like one by one that like I

21:59

Care. They care about them personally Am. You'll.

22:03

Get a chance to see that

22:05

overtime. So first of I heard the

22:07

one of your T messages was whatever

22:09

we build we will build together. Can

22:12

you talk a bit more about

22:14

that? For

22:16

the thing about this, do like all

22:18

we have as the people so we're

22:20

getting. It.

22:23

Was super unique. Like

22:25

in in in business and sports you

22:27

hear it So much Words like it's

22:30

all about the people. Like it's all

22:32

about the people. Everything's about the team.

22:35

But. Like is it really? Like.

22:38

Is it always? In this case it is

22:40

like. One. Hundred

22:42

percent. Were.

22:45

Getting a new franchise with the new name.

22:48

We. A new facilities that we've gotta

22:50

move everyone into. Like. When.

22:53

A plane gets here Wednesday.

22:55

That's what we've. Actually

22:57

run towards. Whatever

22:59

is on that plane. And

23:02

so the idea is. Is

23:06

truly juice like? Authentically.

23:09

We're gonna go do something and we're going to

23:12

do it together because. This is

23:14

what we have. You,

23:17

you said, you daft everybody up.

23:19

That's another thing that was told

23:21

to me. You introduce a new

23:23

and Ashley introduce yourselves to every

23:25

one individually. I think that's a

23:27

small thing, but a big thing.

23:31

Where did you get that philosophy? Because I

23:33

knew that really impress people that. I

23:37

don't really sit on the chair looking around

23:39

the room looking at so many people that

23:41

had so many questions. And

23:44

should sell it like it almost wasn't

23:46

really the setting. For. Every

23:48

one the like ask everything.

23:52

And. Like. It.

23:56

It was just. like

23:58

we got the basics outta the way but Like

24:00

we would have been there for a long time. And so I

24:02

was just like Maybe

24:04

they can just Feel it

24:06

a little bit, right? And

24:09

so I just got up Dapped

24:12

up the first dude and like went around

24:14

and But i'm not leaving until every

24:16

single person I can at least look in the eyes

24:18

and be like we got you What

24:21

was the question or maybe

24:23

the request? That surprised

24:25

you that maybe you said I wasn't

24:28

expecting that one Um

24:36

Nothing was surprising to

24:39

be honest with you like nothing was super

24:41

crazy like I I

24:43

probably if anything I was probably expecting a lot more

24:45

i'm sure there was a lot more thoughts But once

24:47

again, like you're in a room for a lot of

24:49

people Um, those

24:52

are things that are coming are going to come

24:54

over time um You

24:59

know a lot of these kids are younger in their career,

25:01

um And

25:03

they're just there's just a little more i'm

25:06

just trying to say hey look like once

25:08

again the uncertainty can Hopefully

25:10

stop now. There's going to be a little anxiety

25:12

as you're coming into a new situation, but also

25:15

That there's an a new opportunity to create

25:17

something that's never been done before And

25:20

like they're never going to get a chance to

25:22

do this again in their career Like I don't think and

25:25

like that's cool. Like I love that And

25:29

last one here. I understand you took a bunch

25:31

of them golfing after and

25:34

I have I know myself that

25:37

my best chance to

25:39

absolutely chunk a golf ball

25:43

is the first time i'm

25:45

about to hit In front

25:47

of all these new people

25:49

that are checking me out

25:51

these elite alpha male athletes

25:54

That are checking me out to see can

25:56

this guy really hit a golf ball? How'd

25:59

you hit? And were you nervous

26:01

to hit in front of them? I

26:04

wasn't nervous. There's

26:07

some good golfers on that. Yes, Keller. Hockey

26:09

players can play golf. Yeah, Keller is great.

26:11

Like these guys are good golfers. I

26:15

played a lot of competitive golf. So you

26:17

can't get nervous in that situation. You just kind of

26:19

get up. That doesn't mean the ball is going to

26:21

go straight. But I

26:25

played okay. I mean, we were talking a lot. We had a lot

26:27

going on. And I have

26:29

been playing a lot recently. We've been pretty busy.

26:31

So that was

26:33

all right. For me, I was

26:36

like kind of B. Definitely

26:39

wasn't my A-game. But I

26:42

didn't embarrass myself. Good to hear. Good to

26:44

hear. The

26:47

last time we spoke, one of the

26:49

things I think that people took away

26:51

from the interview was this guy really

26:53

loves hockey. You can tell that, you

26:56

know, emotionally invested in it. Now financially

26:58

invested in it. I'm curious what

27:02

happens when you become an NHL

27:04

owner. Do you watch

27:06

the game differently? Like what are the things

27:08

that run through your head when you watch

27:10

a hockey game previously as a

27:12

fan and now as an owner? Yeah,

27:16

I have a long way to go. I

27:20

think it's a similar as like when you're a player and

27:22

you watch a sport. I've

27:25

even seen that in the NBA. Like the way I

27:27

look at it two years in,

27:30

three years in is very, very different than I

27:32

even looked at as a fan. You're

27:35

just seeing different things. You know, you know

27:38

the backstory on every player. You

27:40

know the league, you know

27:42

the coaches, you know what they're trying to

27:44

do, you know what the tendencies are. Sometimes

27:47

as a fan, you're just kind of innocent

27:49

to all the variables that go into that

27:52

team even being on the ice or on the court. And

27:55

then, you know, you

27:58

almost don't. don't

28:00

care because you're just like, this is what they should

28:02

do. And it's like, well, actually, the reason why that

28:05

can't happen is because of X, Y, and Z. So

28:10

I'm looking forward to seeing

28:13

the day to day, seeing the

28:15

practice, understanding the dynamics, you

28:20

know, understanding who's the

28:23

next up and comer or who, who,

28:26

you know, what lineups have to be in

28:28

there because of the makeup of veterans versus

28:30

young guys. And like, those are

28:32

the things that you you really,

28:34

truly get

28:37

a chance to look at. And then also being more

28:39

familiar with the league as well and being able to

28:41

compare, like, OK, we're here on purpose

28:44

and this is where we have to go from here. And

28:47

here's why we would or wouldn't want to do this. And

28:50

all those decision making, all

28:52

those decision making processes

28:54

around players and the

28:57

league in general in that marketplace is also

29:00

goes into how you watch again. You

29:05

said that Bill Armstrong and Andre Tourney

29:08

are staying, will you add

29:11

to your front office staff? You

29:15

know, that's tough to say. I think, you

29:17

know, we've kind of got to get everyone here and like.

29:21

See, see what we've had. I think the worst

29:23

thing I can do is probably just have some

29:25

knee jerk reaction and like go add

29:27

a bunch of people. You

29:30

know, we're not opposed if it makes us

29:32

better to do stuff. Right.

29:34

I think. But that'll be a conversation

29:36

that we all have together to say,

29:38

hey, this

29:41

is where we want to go. Is there

29:44

anyone over the past year that

29:46

you've leaned on, used,

29:49

referred to, talked to,

29:51

who's acted as a essentially, for

29:53

lack of a better term, hockey consultant

29:56

for you? Yeah,

30:00

there's a couple people, you know, I

30:02

will probably mention them

30:05

just because it's You

30:08

know, I think it's they've kind of

30:10

done it just being gracious and I mean to

30:12

be honest with you in the hockey community I

30:14

know Every single person I've

30:16

talked to has been like call me as much

30:18

as you want. Here's myself Like let

30:20

me help you including like other

30:23

governors, you know Whether

30:27

it's Up

30:30

in Winnipeg or like early

30:32

on sis or tannenbaum or

30:34

blitzer like everyone's like Whatever

30:37

you need, whatever you need and

30:41

I think that's pretty cool Like

30:43

I think that that's been a

30:45

pretty cool Kind

30:48

of culture What what

30:50

was the best note or

30:52

call or text message you

30:54

got in the last 72 hours? I'm

31:00

not even sure I'm gonna look through them. I Don't

31:05

know It's

31:08

probably my daughter asked me every five minutes if we

31:10

have a name yet Everyone

31:14

in school once Every

31:19

Canadian basketball player we've had whether it's Kelly

31:22

a linen Like

31:25

congrats like I don't

31:27

know. I'm just cruising through stuff a

31:31

Few CEOs like who follow

31:34

hockey Surprisingly

31:37

some folks in Arizona saying hey,

31:41

sorry didn't work out but we're cheering for you. Hmm. I Don't

31:49

know Charles

31:51

Barkley texting saying hey if you need a

31:53

goalie I'm available on the chief I'll

31:59

be fun to watch I'd watch that. I

32:02

thought that was pretty good. Last

32:07

one for me Ryan is you always

32:09

take pains to point out that you

32:11

are not the sole owner of Smith

32:14

Entertainment Group. It is Ryan and Ashley

32:16

Smith. And I know with

32:18

my wife whose name is Stephanie, the

32:20

most important role she plays with me is

32:23

look, you're being an idiot. Take

32:25

a deep breath and figure out how

32:27

you really want to solve this problem.

32:31

What is Ashley Smith's role and

32:34

how will she be involved in

32:36

the formation of Utah's hockey team? Yeah,

32:40

we don't have a big group. It's me and Ash and

32:42

a couple of our partners that we've been in business with

32:44

for a long time. Ryan Sweeney and

32:46

Excel partners and a couple

32:48

of my other friends. It's

32:51

just kind of like a family and it's really

32:53

cool. Ash

32:57

provides just a different view for everyone. She

33:02

knows when, I mean she's

33:04

probably, she's kind of

33:06

been riding co-pilot on my business endeavors.

33:08

And I've been doing that with hers

33:10

for a long time. And she's definitely

33:13

talked me out of two

33:15

or three of what looking back would have been

33:17

horrible mistakes. Which

33:20

I think is like what you want in a partner. Like

33:22

you want someone who's there like kind

33:25

of sitting in the passenger seat going, hey,

33:28

you're going to hit that mountain

33:30

if you don't change course, right? And

33:33

then I feel

33:35

like if she can't get her head around something,

33:37

then it probably causes me to pause a little

33:40

bit. And so watching her

33:42

at the press conference, like stand

33:44

up saying, hey, like we want to stand

33:46

up here. I was like, all right, we're doing

33:49

this. You know, like, like I thought that

33:51

was cool. I was like, first of

33:53

all, like, Like,

33:55

what do you know about the Stanley

33:57

Cup? Like, Because like I had never.

33:59

Talk To her. Any of that. Like.

34:02

But she'd been following it and

34:04

like she's interested. I mean, It's

34:06

hard because we have five kids under the age

34:09

of a mean, under the age of sixteen like.

34:11

Or. In It. Like work in it right

34:14

now. And so adding another like forty

34:16

two nights a year plus to the

34:18

schedule is not. Something.

34:20

That like. I. Could easily I

34:22

could easily see her be I'm like. Dude.

34:24

Where maxed out like we're not doing this.

34:27

But. I think she she gets her. She

34:29

understands the what it does for Utah.

34:32

She. Understands like. What

34:34

it does for other kids who. Can.

34:37

Grow up and find a passion and

34:39

another team sport that. Like.

34:41

Everyone who plays it is like an

34:43

Evangelist about a going hey. This is

34:45

incredible. I learned so much. So.

34:49

I think I think for me it's just.

34:53

You know I don't think was. You.

34:56

We. We. Met each other the

34:58

like I would ever thought that this was in

35:00

the car is already boasts be sitting up there

35:02

going hey like how do we? How do we

35:04

operate and. I. Also believe

35:07

like the amount of feedback I get from.

35:10

Fans and entrepreneurs and women

35:12

out there going. You. Don't

35:14

know if you don't understand how like

35:17

refreshing. And inspiring is

35:19

is to see Ashley up there. Like.

35:23

And. That's cool. Like I think that's like

35:26

cool because I know that when she

35:28

woke up. On.

35:30

Friday. And. Like

35:34

and it apply to go up. To.

35:36

The arena early and ended up like. Point

35:38

Five kids up there and I do and as

35:40

like she doesn't want to go sit up on

35:43

the stand and talk to the media for to

35:45

out like she's not. At the not hurt

35:47

your. But. She's like. Bother.

35:49

At the school. Like. And

35:52

so it's is kind of work. the

35:55

rubble she's it through leader and like

35:57

she plays out leadership role. Arm.

36:00

And a bunch of parts of our life and. I

36:03

am. I. Doing everything goes better

36:05

when she's around. I'm.

36:08

Ryan last one for me. I know

36:10

you have a lot of things right

36:12

now around this new team that you're

36:15

trying to find. You know safe landing

36:17

for here. I do feel obliged to

36:19

the hockey dad to ask you about

36:21

youth hockey. I know

36:24

ever again. you have a lot of things going on

36:26

and a lot of things to do to get the

36:28

thing off the ground. Where does youth hockey in Utah

36:30

fit into all of it? Yeah,

36:33

I think there's like seventeen. Risks

36:35

in this area. We've

36:39

gotta like turn that up. I.

36:42

Was on the phone this morning. Or.

36:45

The group talking about like what they've done in

36:47

San Jose. And they created

36:49

like. The largest. Adult

36:51

Hockey League. Kind

36:54

of the way they've done that. And.

36:57

You know, imagine doing that for for a

36:59

youth and me. We have the most. The.

37:01

Youngest demographics in the whole United States.

37:04

Here in Utah. I mean, It

37:06

it you got a lot of big families with young

37:08

kids. Have kids. I. Have five kids

37:10

and. Not everyone has five, but. You.

37:13

Know. There's. A lot of found them

37:15

and sixty kids on our streets. Of.

37:19

It. And. If. They do play

37:21

hockey most the time. They're starting on

37:23

Rollerblades here, right? just because of ice

37:25

time. and so. That's something that

37:27

everyone's gonna. Mess. Around with.

37:30

You. Know and that's where I first started skating. The.

37:34

A we play, we play roller hockey and

37:36

that in the cold a sack and it

37:38

was so much want right arm. But.

37:41

Like. Okay how do we take that Were

37:43

there is ice time and we build all

37:46

that the so part of Se T and

37:48

part of like what gets people excited My

37:50

partner says light kind of creating this new

37:52

movement because. The fact that we

37:54

got people like going to play games at

37:56

one am. Too. That's the only time they get

37:59

on the ice like we. That to. We.

38:01

Have to increase that in. The. The

38:03

cool thing is that me one five hours from

38:05

Vegas like. Who. Is who are actually

38:07

grew up. I'm. Like.

38:10

They started with less than we that

38:13

we're five thousand register junior hockey players

38:15

like state like. They. Had lesson

38:17

that they are less arenas and like.

38:20

I think that. You're. Going to

38:22

start see that seeing that movement. We.

38:25

Also have seventy thousand.

38:27

Junior. Jazz players. Which.

38:30

Are. You. Know. Kids. Who

38:32

are playing in our junior basketball program? It's

38:34

Hot! It's the largest to the United States.

38:37

And so we know it's there. We know it's

38:39

gonna work. On. The.

38:42

Question has is like okay, who's building all

38:44

these are who he is, someone else like

38:46

what does it take him. And.

38:49

I. Believe that. You. Know there's

38:51

so many entrepreneurs here in the state you to

38:53

have it. Hopefully. We get. Some.

38:56

Of these folks that. You know

38:58

want to build out these warehouses that are

39:00

a side of the for years freeway or

39:02

industrial district Since I was just for some

39:04

ice down. As great I'm listen

39:07

are you spend a lot of time with us

39:09

and I know you're really busy. We really appreciate

39:11

it. Best of luck with the new team! Yeah

39:14

was was locked. Hockey's

39:19

right, right? Smith owner of Nhl Utah.

39:22

Now he can tell that he wants

39:24

to get going, but he isn't going

39:26

to be rushed into anything hobby. Juri

39:29

the Pod for talking and. ah

39:37

elliot yet another start to another

39:40

week now other than the thirty

39:42

two thoughts podcast there's not much

39:44

else really to look forward to

39:46

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