Ryan Smith has never spoken to Arizona Coyotes owner Alex Meruelo. It didn’t stop him from executing a $1.2 billion acquisition that will add an NHL team to his growing Utah sports empire. “It’s a little unprecedented in how this is all happening, but with the timeline—there’s so much to do,” Smith said in an …

Utah is officially getting an NHL team. NHL owners voted Thursday afternoon to approve the $1.2 billion sale of the Arizona Coyotes to the owners of the NBA’s Utah Jazz, according to multiple people familiar with the matter. The vote concludes one of the most unique team sales in modern U.S. sports. Led by billionaire …

TEMPE, Ariz. — The Arizona Coyotes are gone, but the retirement banner for Shane Doan, who spent his entire 21-year NHL career with the franchise, remains behind. While the Coyotes are being boxed up and shipped to Salt Lake City, Doan’s No. 19 banner was found in a dusty crate in the depths of what …

The NHL playoffs begin Saturday with the Carolina Hurricanes the slight favorites to raise the Stanley Cup. The playoff opener will also mark the start of the NHL’s partnership with BodyArmor as the league’s new official sports drink partner. The agreement, which runs through the 2028-29 season, will have the brand integrated on benches during …

PHOENIX — For the Arizona Coyotes, this is their last stand. There will be an auction on June 27 for the club to buy a 95-acre parcel of untreated Arizona state trust land in North Phoenix on which the Coyotes can build a state-of-the-art arena; the starting appraisal price for the site is $68.5 million. …