here are two versions of Ryan Smith. There's the public-facing 40-something billionaire tech mogul who answers questions in a way that can be direct, earnest and open to admitting he might not have the right answer ... or an answer at all.

That's the version most people see. But there's also another version of Smith that's unapologetically Utahn. That version comes out in the way he talks about Salt Lake City, the state of Utah and the preconceived beliefs many people have about a place that they've likely never visited.

While the first version of Smith is the reason the Utah Hockey Club exists, it's the second version that is hell-bent on ensuring that the franchise is going to thrive in the most Utah way possible.

"I put everything in Utah. They said we couldn't build tech here, and we'd have to move to the Bay Area," Smith said. "We couldn't get venture funding here. We couldn't IPO a company from here. We couldn't sell. We proved every single person wrong.

"Then I think that people started believing, 'Holy cow. What's going on in Utah?' That's incredibly gratifying when you're fighting for a bigger cause."


https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/42211899/nhl-2024-25-utah-hockey-club-success-playoffs-sellouts-arena-fans