Utah Hockey Club beats tight timeline to construct practice facility, renovate Delta Center

KEARNS, Utah (AP) — Bill Armstrong stood in the Utah Hockey Club locker room at a temporary practice facility as players came and went from a space that didn't exist not that long ago.

The quick transformation to meet NHL standards is difficult even for the team's general manager to grasp, and it's a testament to the commitment management has made since acquiring the then-Arizona Coyotes in April.

New owners Ryan and Ashley Smith could've scraped something together to get by while a permanent practice facility is being constructed. But even with a tight timeline, they opted to go all-in, even on a building the club probably won't use for even a year.

“It's been as much as I could've asked for as a player,” defenseman Sean Durzi said. “They put up a facility for one season for us — and it's world class — in five months. If that doesn't scream commitment and all-in and everything that they want us to succeed, I don't know what does.”

The temporary facility at the Utah Olympic Oval, where many winter Olympians train, was the most pressing and perhaps most difficult undertaking. It was not, however, the only one as the club raced against time after NHL owners approved the franchise's move on April 18 to get everything ready by the Oct. 8 season opener against the Chicago Blackhawks.

Among the items on the to-do list were an initial renovation of Delta Center, moving players, coaches and front-office personnel from the Phoenix area and breaking ground on a permanent training facility so that it could be completed in time for the 2025-26 season.

Personnel from the NBA's Utah Jazz, also owned by the Smiths, assisted in those efforts. Jazz business relationships in the Salt Lake City area also eased the transition.

The temporary facility was the most urgent priority because players spend far more time there than at the arena. Having the Utah Olympic Oval also helped because much of what was needed was already in place.

But not everything. The locker room, coaches' offices, video room and players lounge needed to be created.

“We don't have the space at the Oval that we're going to have at a permanent facility,” said Jazz President Jim Olson, who also heads facility projects for Smith Entertainment Group. “So we had to tighten up the spaces. It was important to us that it just wasn't a makeshift facility, but the players could really feel good there and feel like it gave them what they needed to be able to achieve what their goals are, and that's to be a great hockey team.”

Any hockey team, a great one or not, needs an acceptable place to play, and Delta Center wasn't NHL-ready when the Coyotes were purchased. The 33-year-old arena was built for the Jazz, undergoing a $125 million renovation in 2017.

To get the building prepared for the season opener, locker rooms, coaches' offices and an area for the training staff were needed. Olson said it was important that players have a direct pathway to the ice, especially crucial when an injury occurs so the athlete can quickly return to the locker room.

The broadcast team, game operations and media also needed working areas.

And the fans needed to be able to watch the game without obstructions — at least most nights. Capacity for this season is 11,131, with seats with obstructed views added for select games. Future arena renovations will add to the capacity and what officials hope is an improved game experience.

“To get the sightlines where we need, it'll be a significant renovation of the entire bowl — upper bowl, lower bowl, everything,” Olson said. “Because it's taking all of our efforts to get ready for this season, we've only looked at that at a very high level. But after we know everything's working well this year, we'll start more of our focus on the future.”

The present, though, beats the past two seasons when the Coyotes played at Arizona State University's arena as they hoped to secure funding for their own building in the Phoenix area.

“It was extremely tough in the sense that the player, his whole life growing up plays in small arenas trying to get into a big arena,” Armstrong said. "That's the defining moment for him, and we didn't have that available for him. I think the hard part was where we were, the fans from the opposing teams would buy up all the tickets.

“Now in saying that, I do think it made them tougher. I do think when the fans in Utah come out to cheer for us, we will appreciate them more.”

The organization also had to orchestrate the move of the team itself, including executives, coaches and players.

Forward Clayton Keller, who led the team with 78 points last season, played his entire career in Arizona, beginning with three games in the 2016-17 season before becoming a full-time player the following year.

He said the club employed a moving company to assist the players as they got ready to make the move northward.

“It was," Keller said, "a nice, easy transition.”

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL

Utah Hockey Club jersey is shown during a tour of the new temporary practice facility locker room at the Olympic Oval Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in Kearns, Utah. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Utah Hockey Club general manager Bill Armstrong speaks during a tour of the new temporary practice facility locker room at the Olympic Oval Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in Kearns, Utah. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Utah Hockey Club goaltender Matt Villalta suits up in the new temporary practice facility locker room at the Olympic Oval Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in Kearns, Utah. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Utah Hockey Club general manager Bill Armstrong speaks during a tour of the new temporary practice facility locker room at the Olympic Oval Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in Kearns, Utah. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Utah Hockey Club goaltender Matt Villalta suits up in the new temporary practice facility locker room at the Olympic Oval Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in Kearns, Utah. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Utah Hockey Club general manager Bill Armstrong points during a tour of the new temporary practice facility locker room at the Olympic Oval Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in Kearns, Utah. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

BEIRUT (AP) — Israel killed a top Hezbollah commander Tuesday as part of a two-day bombing campaign that has left more than 560 people dead and prompted thousands in southern Lebanon to seek refuge from the widening conflict.

With the two sides on the brink of all-out war, Hezbollah launched dozens of rockets into Israel on Tuesday, targeting an explosives factory and sending families into bomb shelters.

Families that fled southern Lebanon flocked to Beirut and the coastal city of Sidon, sleeping in schools turned into shelters, as well as in cars, parks and along the beach. Some sought to leave the country, causing a traffic jam at the border with Syria.

Issa Baydoun fled the village of Shihine when it was bombed and drove to Beirut with his extended family. They slept in vehicles on the side of the road because the shelters were full.

“We struggled a lot on the road just to get here,” said Baydoun, who rejected Israel’s contention that it hit only military targets. “We evacuated our homes because Israel is targeting civilians and attacking them.”

Volunteers cooked meals for displaced families at an empty Beirut gas station that first became a hub for relief after a devastating port explosion in 2020.

Israel said late Tuesday that fighter jets carried out “extensive strikes” on Hezbollah weapons and rocket launchers across southern Lebanon and in the Bekaa region to the north.

Asked about the duration of Israel’s operations in Lebanon, military spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said at a news conference that it aims to keep them “as short as possible, that’s why we’re attacking with great force. At the same time, we must be prepared for it to take longer.”

Tensions between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah have steadily escalated over the last 11 months. Hezbollah has been firing rockets, missiles and drones into northern Israel in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza and its ally Hamas, a fellow Iran-backed militant group.

Israel has responded with increasingly heavy airstrikes and the targeted killing of Hezbollah commanders while threatening a wider operation.

Israel said a strike in Beirut Tuesday had killed Ibrahim Kobeisi, who it said was a top Hezbollah commander with the group’s rocket and missile unit. Military officials said Kobeisi was responsible for launches towards Israel and planned a 2000 attack in which three Israeli soldiers were kidnapped and killed. Hezbollah later confirmed his death.

It was the latest in a string of assassinations and setbacks for Hezbollah, the strongest political and military actor in Lebanon and widely considered the top paramilitary force in the Arab world.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry said six people were killed and 15 were wounded in the strike in a southern Beirut suburb, an area where Hezbollah has a strong presence. The country’s National News Agency said the attack destroyed three floors of a six-story apartment building.

The U.N.’s High Commissioner for Refugees in Lebanon said one of its staffers and her young son were among those killed Monday in the Bekaa region, while a cleaner under contract was killed in a strike in the south.

Hezbollah said its missile attacks Tuesday targeted eight sites in Israel, including an explosives factory in Zichron Yaakov, 60 kilometers (37 miles) from the border. It fired 300 rockets, injuring six soldiers and civilians, most of them lightly, according to Hagari, the Israeli military spokesman.

The renewed exchange came after Monday’s barrages racked up the highest death toll in any single day in Lebanon since Israel and Hezbollah fought a bruising monthlong war in 2006.

On Tuesday, mourners carried 11 bodies through the streets of the Lebanese village of Saksakieh, some 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of the Lebanon-Israel border, including those of four women, an infant and a 7-year-old girl. All were killed in Israel’s bombardment of the village Monday.

Some of the bodies were draped in Hezbollah flags, others wrapped in black clothes. A wreath of flowers was placed on top of the smallest one.

Mohammad Halal, father of 7-year-old Joury Halal, said his daughter was an “innocent child martyr.”

“She is a martyr for the sake of the south and Palestine,” Halal said and defiantly stated his allegiance to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Israel said it targeted sites where Hezbollah had stored weapons. Data from American fire-tracking satellites analyzed Tuesday by The Associated Press showed the wide range of Israeli airstrikes aimed at southern Lebanon, covering an area of over 1,700 square kilometers (650 square miles).

NASA’s Fire Information for Resource Management System typically is used to track U.S. wildfires, but can also be used to track the flashes and burning that follow airstrikes. Data from Monday showed significant fires across southern Lebanon and in the Bekaa Valley.

The Lebanese Health Ministry said at least 564 people have been killed in Israeli strikes since Monday, including 50 children and 94 women, and that more than 1,800 have been wounded — a staggering toll for a country still reeling from a deadly attack on communication devices last week.

Nearly a year of fighting between Hezbollah and Israel had displaced tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border before this week’s escalation. Israel has vowed to do whatever it takes to ensure its citizens can return to their homes in the north, while Hezbollah has said it will keep up its rocket attacks until there is a cease-fire in Gaza, which appears increasingly remote.

The Israeli military says it has no immediate plans for a ground invasion but is prepared for one. It has moved thousands of troops who had been serving in Gaza to the northern border. It says Hezbollah has some 150,000 rockets and missiles, including some capable of striking anywhere in Israel, and that the group has fired some 9,000 rockets and drones since last October.

Israel said its warplanes struck 1,600 Hezbollah targets Monday, destroying cruise missiles, long- and short-range rockets and attack drones, including weapons concealed in private homes.

Monday’s escalation came after a particularly heavy exchange of fire Sunday, when Hezbollah launched around 150 rockets, missiles and drones into northern Israel.

Last week, thousands of communications devices used mainly by Hezbollah members exploded in different parts of Lebanon, killing 39 people and wounding nearly 3,000, many of them civilians. Lebanon blamed Israel, but Israel did not confirm or deny responsibility.

Melzer contributed from Tel Aviv, Israel. Associated Press writers Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Bassem Mroue and Fadi Tawil in Beirut; Julia Frankel in Jerusalem; and Emad Haddad in Saksakieh, Lebanon, contributed to this report.

Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-wa r

Israelis sit next to a public bomb shelter to stay safe from rockets fired from Lebanon, in Haifa, northern Israel, on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

Israelis rest in a residential building bomb shelter to stay safe from rockets fired from Lebanon, in Kiryat Haim, northern Israel, on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

Israelis rest in a residential building bomb shelter to stay safe from rockets fired from Lebanon, in Kiryat Haim, northern Israel, on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

A man reacts as he stands on the rubble of a building hit in an Israeli airstrike in the southern village of Akbieh, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

People react during the funeral procession of their relatives, who were killed in Monday's Israeli airstrikes, in the southern village of Saksakieh, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

Lebanese citizens who fled from the southern villages amid ongoing Israeli airstrikes Monday, sit in a pickup in Beirut, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

A wounded girl lies in a hospital bed in the southern village of Saksakieh, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

Flame and smoke rise from an Israeli airstrike in the Khiam valley, as seen from Marjayoun town, south Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Residents and rescuers check a building that was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Beirut's southern suburbs, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Residents check the site of an Israeli airstrike in Beirut's southern suburbs, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Israeli Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept rockets that were launched from Lebanon, in northern Israel, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

A wounded girl lies in a hospital bed in the southern village of Saksakieh, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

A boy checks the damage to a building hit in an Israeli airstrike in the southern village of Akbieh, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

A wounded boy lies in a hospital bed in the southern village of Saksakieh, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

Men stand on the rubble of a building hit in an Israeli airstrike in the southern village of Akbieh, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

A man checks the damage to a building hit in an Israeli airstrike in the southern village of Akbieh, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

Flames and smoke rise from an Israeli airstrike on the Mahmoudieh mountain, as seen from Marjayoun town, south Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

A wounded girl lies in a hospital bed in the southern village of Saksakieh, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

Lebanese men who fled on the southern villages amid ongoing Israeli airstrikes Monday, sleep on a public beach in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

Lebanese citizens who fled on he southern villages amid ongoing Israeli airstrikes Monday, stand on a pickup at a highway that links to Beirut city, in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

Lebanese citizens who fled on the southern villages amid ongoing Israeli airstrikes Monday, sit on their cars at a highway that links to Beirut city, in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

Lebanese citizens who fled the southern villages amid ongoing Israeli airstrikes Monday, sit at a park in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

Lebanese citizens who fled the southern villages amid ongoing Israeli airstrikes Monday, sit in their cars at a highway that links to Beirut city, in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

Emergency workers use excavators to clear the rubble at the site of Friday's Israeli strike in Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Smoke rises from Israeli airstrikes on villages in the Nabatiyeh district, seen from the southern town of Marjayoun, Lebanon, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024.(AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

A man watches rescuers sift through the rubble as they search for people still missing at the site of Friday's Israeli strike in Beirut's southern suburbs, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Israeli Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept rockets that were launched from Lebanon, in northern Israel, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

Lebanese citizens who fled the southern villages amid ongoing Israeli airstrikes Monday, sit on their cars at a highway that links to Beirut city, in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

Cars sit in traffic as they flee the southern villages amid ongoing Israeli airstrikes, in Sidon, Lebanon, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

Israeli Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept rockets that were launched from Lebanon, as seen from Haifa, northern Israel, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)