How the Comets ended up in Utica, twice
Utica got the Comets in 2013 as a Vancouver affiliate, lost that franchise in 2021, and kept the name with a New Jersey Devils team.
By Priya Nadler
The Utica Comets have played two different franchises under one name, which says something about how much the city wanted to keep pro hockey.
In March 2013, the Vancouver Canucks’ owners bought the Peoria Rivermen franchise in the American Hockey League and moved it to Utica for the 2013-14 season as the Comets. It was the second AHL team in the city. The Utica Devils, a New Jersey affiliate, had played there from 1987 to 1993.
Before the 2021-22 season, Vancouver moved its franchise to Abbotsford, British Columbia. Utica did not lose its team. The New Jersey Devils moved their own AHL club, then the Binghamton Devils, to Utica, and it took the Comets name.
The team is owned by Josh Harris and David Blitzer through Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, which also owns the New Jersey Devils. The Comets play in the AHL’s North Division at the Utica Memorial Auditorium.