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With just two days to go until Utah’s governor either signs or vetos a controversial bill that would ban the Pride Flag from government buildings in the state, the chances of Sundance staying in the Beehive State aren’t looking good.

At least according to Park City’s Mayor.

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“Deputy City Manager Sarah Pearce and I have worked closely for a year now, one year now, with Jennifer Wesselhoff at the Park City Chamber, the mayors and staff of Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County, state elected officials and other stakeholders to reimagine a Sundance Film Festival in Utah that combines the magic of Park City with the affordability of the Salt Lake area,” Nann Worel said late Tuesday in her annual state of the Park City speech. Along with Gov. Spencer Cox, Utah Film Commissioner Virginia Pearce and the other officials Worel mentioned, the Park City leader has been a big advocate for the multi-million dollar United Utah effort that would see the state capitol become Sundance’s hub and Park City become the satellite screening venue in 2027.

But larger political winds may have blown that plan away.

“Unfortunately, a recent bill passed by the Utah legislature and comments made by some legislature have not been helpful in our bid to keep the festival here,” the retiring resort town mayor told local luminaries this evening of the bill designed to ban LGBTQ+ flags and banners on public buildings and schools.

Worel’s remarks come as a final decision on Sundance’s future expected very soon, according to what  festival director Eugene Hernandez told Deadline’s Mike Fleming Jr. on February 22.

After a year of bids, competition and reimagining of a post-Park City Sundance, Utah’s desire to keep the Robert Redford founded fest is up against a very strong and $34 million tax incentive juiced bid from Boulder CO and a resilient effort from Cincinnati, OH. Gov. Cox and the Utah legislature have put over $3.5 million in state funds directly on the table at the last minute to keep the big bucks gross domestic product, tax revenue and employment generating Sundance in the state. Yet, as first Deadline reported on March 12 and apparently has intensified since, the battle to keep Sundance that may already be lost in part because of the anti-Pride flag bill, several sources say.

With undeniable pessimism in her voice, Mayor Worel added Tuesday: “Regardless of the festival’s trajectory, I am proud of Park City’s efforts, and we will continue to support the arts and explore new opportunities. Change is inevitable with the festival, but if the Sundance Institute chooses to leave our state, we will not only survive, we will thrive.”

Trajectory or not, the tender to keep Sundance local once its current contract expires after the 2026 festival faces serious headwinds from the passage earlier this month in the Republican dominated state chambers of House Bill 77, or the Flag Display Amendments. Headwinds so strong that they have likely irrevocably tipped the fine balance that progressive Sundance and primarily Red State Utah have been able to maintain the past 40 years, I’m told.

Even with very vocal opposition to the Rep. Trevor Lee and Sen. Daniel McCay sponsored HB77 from SLC Mayor Erin Mendenhall, direct pleas from her and others in the state to the Sundance leadership to remember the history the Robert Redford founded fest and Utah have received a skeptical reaction. The bill is “a slap in the face,” according to a well-positioned source, to the festival’s proclaimed values of being “vibrant, inviting and inclusive.”

However, as much as Gov. Cox says he values Sundance, the 2024 re-elected politician also has a hard deadline of March 27 to either sign the anti-Pride flag bill into law or veto it. If Cox signs it, which smart money says he will, the measure will go into effect in early May. Starting months before the last Park City centric Sundance next year, there will be $500 fine daily for every Pride flag flying from state funded buildings.

Objections to the bill from the ACLU and Equality Utah have also seen longtime anti-Pride flag promoters Rep. Lee and Sen. McCay (who recently said Sundance makes “porn” and “does not fit in Utah anymore” while reposting a Deadline story) make their POV very clear online.

SLC Mayor Mendenhall’s office and Sundance did not respond to request for comment Tuesday. Neither Rep. Lee nor Sen. McCay got back to us about the state of their legislation with Gov. Cox or Mayor Worel’s speech.

Praising the Winter Olympics returning to Utah in 2034, Mayor Nann Worel surprised many in Park City tonight when that she announced she will not be seeking a second term. Worel, the first woman to be Park City’s mayor, will leave office in January 2026 – just before the next and possibly last Sundance Film Festival in Utah.

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A couple of days ago, Donovan Mitchell was back in Utah with the Cleveland Cavaliers, which gave an opportunity to ask, what if? What if the Utah Jazz had decided against tearing down the Mitchell-Rudy Gobert team?

Ultimately, I agree with what Mitchell said — that the team had run its course, that the iteration of the Jazz he played for missed its window. But, as I wrote on Sunday, a more fair question to ask is probably, could the Jazz have done more in the way of roster construction to give the Jazz a chance leading up to their 2021 and 2022 playoff runs?

There’s a good argument to be made that the Jazz’s 2020 offseason decisions were the worst of the Mitchell-Gobert era, and it all started with the 2020 draft, when the Jazz had a chance to draft Desmond Bane, and decided against it.

*Note: The Jazz could have also drafted Jaden McDaniels, Isaiah Joe, or any other number of players. But today we’re talking about Bane.

The Jazz had just one first-round draft pick in 2020, which was held on Nov. 18 following the suspended-bubble-COVID 2019-20 season. The Jazz used the 27th pick to select Udoka Azubuike, which for about 24 hours seemed like a reasonable, though unexciting, selection.

If the Jazz were looking for a seasoned college player who showed marked improvement over their collegiate career, and one that could come in and play backup to Gobert, then Azubuike made some sense.

But on Nov. 20, the first day of free agency in 2020, the Jazz agreed to sign Derrick Favors for a second stint with the Jazz, this time on a three-year deal worth $27 million, which would account for the entirety of the team’s mid-level exception.

Pretty immediately the obvious question was, if you were going to use the full mid-level on Favors, why would you use your sole first-round pick on a player that would likely not get playing time and had a skillset that was not as versatile or coveted in the modern NBA? Also, Favors was at the absolute tail end of his career and was not nearly the player he once was.

Meanwhile, the Memphis Grizzlies used the 30th pick in 2020 to select Bane, a four-year 6′6″ shooting guard out of TCU who was a sniper from 3-point range. Though there were questions about Bane’s ability to operate as a facilitator and whether he could hang as an NBA defender, what was certain was that he excelled at the most valuable and prized NBA skill — shooting.

Bane immediately stood out for the Grizzlies, playing heavy minutes for Memphis throughout the season and into their first-round playoff appearance. By his second season, he was a full-time starter, perfectly complimenting Ja Morant.

The Favors experiment lasted just a single season for the Jazz and the team had to tack on a first-rounder when they wanted to dump his contract the next offseason. That first-rounder impacted so much about the Jazz’s trajectory over the last three years.

The pick sent to the Thunder was top-10 protected in 2024. If it didn’t convey, it would be top-10 protected in 2025, then top-8 protected in 2026. Only if it doesn’t convey after 2026 does the obligation extinguish.

The Jazz originally thought that they would be able to play poorly enough in the 2022-23 season to be in the Victor Wembanyama race, and if they were able to land Wembanyama, it probably wouldn’t make that protected first-rounder look so bad, especially if they quickly became competitive.

But the Jazz saw that they were good, not great. They decided to pull the plug and go full teardown/rebuild. The early-season good results hurt the Jazz’s tanking hopes for the 2023 draft, where they eventually ended up with the 9th overall pick, Taylor Hendricks, who was a good upside pick, but he was no Wembanyama.

So, without a franchise cornerstone, the Jazz had to face the implications of the first-rounder sent to OKC. If they wanted to keep their first-round pick, they would need to do some serious tanking from 2024 to 2026, which is where we are now. The Jazz are still looking over their shoulder and paying the price for having signed Favors, despite drafting Azubuike.

What if the Jazz had not flubbed the 2020 offseason decisions? What if they had drafted Bane and used the mid-level exception on a player with a few more years ahead of them?

At best Bane and a different player might have propelled the Jazz to more than a second-round playoff appearance. At worst, Bane would have been more valuable as an asset than Favors and Azubuike combined.

Favors is retired. Azubuike quickly fell out of the league and is playing in Montenegro. The Jazz are still tanking to avoid losing their first-round pick. And on Tuesday night the Jazz got to watch as Bane led the Grizzlies (who were shorthanded playing without Morant and a number of other players) to a 140-103 win at the Delta Center.

Utah-based solar energy company Torus last week joined exclusive company when it was certified as one of only two commercial battery providers to pass Rocky Mountain Power’s testing standards for the Wattsmart Battery Program.

The program allows residential and commercial customers to let Rocky Mountain Power manage qualified solar and battery setups while also providing the customer with an up-front enrollment incentive and ongoing bill credits.

“Commercial-scale energy storage is a necessary piece of the grid of the future, and Torus’ solutions have demonstrated their ability to integrate within the Wattsmart battery ecosystem,” Bill Comeau, vice president of customer experience and innovation at Rocky Mountain Power, said in a statement. “The Wattsmart program creates a more flexible and resilient grid while saving customers money, and Torus has proven their innovative systems can deliver.”

The approval builds on a January memorandum of understanding between the power company and Torus to develop a 70-megawatt demand response initiative capable of powering the equivalent of approximately 20,000 homes using Torus’ Nova technologies.

And both of Torus’ recent dealings with Rocky Mountain Power fall into Utah Gov. Spencer Cox’s initiative to double the state’s power production over the next decade.

“This energy storage partnership is a great example of Utah’s leadership in innovative energy solutions,” Cox said in a statement. “As we double our power production capacity over the next decade through Operation Gigawatt, we’re making sure Utah continues to be a net energy exporter. This collaboration between Rocky Mountain Power and Torus demonstrates how we’ll achieve these ambitious goals.”

Last week’s certification enables commercial and industrial customers to harness Torus’ energy storage solutions, providing critical capabilities including power quality management, uninterruptible power supply with sub-250 millisecond failover (a system designed to switch over to a backup or standby system within 250 milliseconds in case of a primary system failure), long-duration backup and on-site generation integration with automated dispatching.

“We made sure that Torus’ systems met the highest technical and operational standards. This certification represents a major step forward in embedding energy storage as a core asset in the modern grid,” Dave Rackham, CXO of embedded systems at Torus, said in a statement.

The approval from Rocky Mountain Power positions Torus to scale commercial solar deployment across the entirety of PacifiCorp’s territory, helping businesses reduce energy costs and improve grid resilience while also providing more sustainable energy for the future.

“Being one of only two approved commercial battery providers by Wattsmart is a testament to our relentless focus on quality, performance and grid-scale impact,” Nate Walkingshaw, CEO and co-founder of Torus, said in a statement. “This milestone reinforces our commitment to pioneering energy storage solutions that deliver real value to businesses and the grid alike.”

“Deflated” might be the best word to describe the mood inside the Delta Center on Monday night.

After battling for months, the Utah Hockey Club’s 5-1 loss to the Detroit Red Wings put the former six points out of a playoff spot with three teams ahead of them and just 11 games to play.

Hope is not yet lost in the locker room, though.

“There’s never going to be any quit in this room — ever,” said team captain Clayton Keller. “We’re going to fight all the way until the end.

“We’re going to try to win every single game from here on out. (You) never know what can happen. We’re going to stay motivated, learn from this game (and) attack this next road trip. We go 3-0, you never know what will happen.”

For large stretches Monday, UHC maintained control of the puck — they just couldn’t get past Detroit goaltender Alex Lyon, who took the place of Petr Mrázek less than two minutes into the game after a collision with Dylan Guenther resulted in Mrázek’s departure.

Utah was in such control that through the first 36 minutes of the game, it allowed just four shots on net.

“I think we got a little bit unlucky on our goals against,” said head coach André Tourigny. “The puck was bouncing a lot tonight. It was tough to execute. I would have loved to simplify a little bit, go more at the net and (be a) bit more dirty.”

Utah Hockey for dummies

Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but Dylan Guenther is an important player to this UHC team.

He was one of Utah’s few bright spots on Monday — and not just because of his early goal. All night long, he was in the mix offensively. He led the team in both scoring chances and high-danger scoring chances and he took the second-most shots of anyone in the game.

“He’s such a great guy, such a great player,” said Keller, who had the primary assist on Guenther’s goal. “I’ve said it so many times — one of the best shots I’ve ever seen. He works on it a ton in practice, before practice, after practice. … I can’t say enough good things about him.”

Guenther’s goal on Monday marked the 100th point of his NHL career. He signed an eight-year contract extension this summer worth just north of $7.1 million annually, and it already looks like an absolute steal for the team.

Utah Hockey for casual fans

Karel Vejmelka has started more consecutive games than anyone else in the last four seasons: 14. Per the Utah HC media relations department, the last to do it was former Jacob Markström with the Calgary Flames in 2021.

As solid as Vejmelka’s been this season, he seems a little tired.

“He should be tired,” Tourigny said. “All the players in this league are a little bit banged up or a little bit tired or a little bit worn down, but you need to battle through it and find a way.”

Vejmelka’s .692 save percentage on Monday was the worst of his career, excluding a few games wherein he played less than 10 minutes.

In all fairness, there were some bad bounces Monday that shouldn’t be blamed on Vejmelka, but he’s probably not as sharp as he might have been if he were more rested.

As hesitant as Utah is to rely upon the less experienced Jaxson Stauber for a game or two, it might be time. He stole a game in Las Vegas earlier in the season, earning the franchise’s first-ever shutout.

Who’s to say he can’t go on another good run?

Utah Hockey for nerds

For the first time since March 12, UHC scored a power play goal, but don’t go thinking all their woes are solved on that front.

They ended the game with a 20% success rate with the man-advantage — and that’s against the team with the worst penalty kill in the NHL.

“Quicker puck movement, I think,” Keller said in response to the question of what the power play needs to do differently. “At times, getting pucks to the net (and) being a little more simple. I think that’s the key for us — That’s when we’re at our best.”

Though you wouldn’t believe it given the final score, Utah trailed 2-1 the majority of the game. When the revolving door started on the Red Wings’ penalty box, the home team could have assumed that it would find ways to take advantage — but it just didn’t work out.

Two things come to mind when considering adjustments Utah could make to its power play, and they both have to do with personnel.

Ever since Barrett Hayton got bumped down to the second unit in favor of Logan Cooley, the first unit has struggled. Yes, it’s important to give power play time to your budding stars, but if it’s not producing the right results, you have to change something.

The other potential adjustment has to do with the second unit, which has struggled all season long. Utah doesn’t have the offensive depth to put a full firing squad on PP2, but they do have some players not playing there that have been successful in the past.

The first is Matias Maccelli, who has looked better since his return to the lineup and may be able to provide a boost. The other is John Marino.

Utah’s second unit currently includes four forwards and one defenseman, but changing that to three and two could be valuable, if for no other reason than to try something new.

What’s next?

UHC embarks on its penultimate road trip of the season — and it’s a sunny one. They visit both Florida teams, followed by a stop in Chicago on the way home.

First up are the Tampa Bay Lightning, whom Utah hosted on Saturday. It’s Mikhail Sergachev’s first game back in the city where he won the Stanley Cup twice, so expect an emotional tribute video and a prolonged standing ovation.

In their previous meeting, Utah walked away with a 6-4 win at the expense of Brandon Halverson, who made his first-ever NHL start in net for Tampa Bay.

This time around, it’s likely UHC will have to face Vezina and Conn Smythe winner Andrei Vasilevskiy instead.

The game starts at 5 p.m. MDT and can be seen on Utah HC+ and Utah 16.

An octopus came flying onto the Delta Center ice.

What started as a tradition for Detroit Red Wings fans in 1952 made its way to Salt Lake City for the first time on Monday night as Utah Hockey Club fell 5-1.

The ice crew, equipped with their shovels, came out to scoop the octopus off of the surface to allow the teams to finish the third period. It was the bookend to a slimy showing from Utah.

The “Legend of the Octopus” goes back to when Detroit won the Stanley Cup in 1952. Fans reportedly threw an octopus on the ice at the beginning of the run and the Red Wings went on to sweep the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens en route to the championship. It took Detroit just eight wins (the same number of arms on an octopus) to hoist the trophy.

So, the octopus ritual stuck. Utah — 73 years later — got an up-close view of it due to a mix of turnovers, struggles on the power play and a stagnant offense that awarded the Red Wings a win.

“I think for the most part it was a good effort defensively. Clogged up the middle, took away chances, blocked shots when we had to,” Ian Cole said. “But ultimately, goals went in the net and that’s the determining factor of whether you win or lose.”

Dylan Guenther put Utah ahead under four minutes into the first period while on the power play. Clayton Keller got the puck in the right corner and swung it across the zone to Guenther who was planted at his — now staple — left circle position. The 21-year-old ripped it by Detroit netminder Alex Lyon for the 1-0 lead at 3:46. It was his 26th goal of the season (a team-high) and 100th career point.

That was Utah’s first and last goal on the man advantage on Monday. Despite the Red Wings having the worst penalty kill in the league — coming in at 69% ahead of the matchup — the Club could not get anything going for the rest of the night. Utah proceeded to go 0-for-4 on the power play after Guenther’s tally — unable to convert on timely opportunities to tie the game.

“Power play has to be better,” Keller said. “Quicker puck movement, getting pucks to the net, be a little more simple. I think that’s the key for us, that’s when we’re at our best. Winning the loose pucks, those wall battles in the corner, supporting each other. Just a little bit more simple. We have a lot of talent so it’s just doing the little things right.”

The Red Wings found the 1-1 equalizer at 5:08. Sean Durzi mishandled a Guenther pass at the blue line which created a turnover the other way. Vladimir Tarasenko took off into the offensive before sliding it over to Elmer Soderblom who one-timed it past Karel Vejmelka (who made his 14th consecutive start).

“[Vejmelka] should be tired. There’s nobody in the league that did that — 14 starts in a row. He should be tired. You think [Sergachev] is not tired? You think [Dylan] Larkin is not tired on the other side?” Utah coach Andre Tourigny said. “It’s the NHL. All the players in that league are at this point a little bit banged up, a little bit tired or a little bit worn down. But you need to battle through and find a way.”

Despite holding Detroit to three shots on goal in the middle frame, Utah still found itself behind heading into the third period. A failed breakout by the Club turned the puck over once again and led to Marco Kasper’s tally in front which bounced off of Lawson Crouse and in to make it 2-1.

Austin Watson extended the gap for Detroit in the final stanza. Kevin Stenlund won the O-zone draw but Utah lost possession and could not create a rush up ice. Instead, Simon Edvinsson stopped the puck at the point and lofted it on net. Watson got a stick on the shot and tipped it in for the 3-1 scoreline at 9:51.

An empty-net goal from Alex DeBrincat at 17:06 and a snapshot from Tyler Motte at 18:32 brought the contest to its final 5-1 standing.

Utah’s playoff aspirations got further out of reach on Monday. The Club remains six points out of the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference and is now three points behind the Vancouver Canucks who beat the New Jersey Devils in a shootout. The St. Louis Blues’ recent 12-2-2 record has them currently locked into the last playoff position with 81 points.

Up next is a three-game road trip for Utah during which it will face the Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers and Chicago Blackhawks.

“There’s never going to be any quit in this room ever. We’re going to fight all the way until the end. We’re going to try to win every single game from here on out,” Keller said. “You never know what can happen. We’re going to stay motivated.”