Sean Durzi held a coffee cup in the air and yelled, “Mocha latte, anyone?”

The Utah Hockey Club defenseman was behind the counter at a Salt Lake City coffee shop.

Durzi is not on the ice blocking shots and making big plays for Utah right now. The blueliner underwent shoulder surgery in October and was given a four-to-six-month timeline for his return.

In the meantime, he took a twirl as a barista on Wednesday, working to make community connections away from the rink while recovering from injury as part of the SEG Foundation’s “Pay It Forward” Day.

“If we can’t do it on the ice right now, it’s nice for us to contribute in other ways,” Durzi said. “With this free time, it’s really important for us to come here and show everybody that we love this community and we love to give back.”

Durzi is no longer in a sling but said he did not have a date for when he could be back in the lineup.

Fellow Utah defenseman John Marino joined Durzi at Bjorn’s Brew and manned the drive-through window while his teammate was at the register. Marino underwent lower back surgery in October and will be out for three to four months, but he’s also been active in getting to know his new home.

Rehabilitating from a serious injury is hard. Players are away from the team, do not travel, do not play and are at the facility hours before or after practice to work on their recovery process.

Durzi and Marino have been able to lean on each other in what can be an isolating experience.

“I don’t want to ever wish injury on anyone, but for me and John to be going through it together, it keeps us motivated. Pushing each other every day. Obviously, it’s unfortunate that you’ve got to go through it but there couldn’t be a better guy to be going through it with,” Durzi said. “For us to be bonding and pushing each other and competing to try to get back on the ice as quickly as we can has been as good as it can be.”

While Durzi skated in four games this season before getting injured, Marino has yet to hit the ice for Utah and missed the entirety of training camp, too. The 27-year-old was traded to Utah from the New Jersey Devils in June but has had to wait to make his debut.

Marino had 25 points (four goals, 21 assists) through 75 games with the Devils last season while averaging 20:57 of ice time a night. Durzi had 41 points (nine goals, 32 assists) through 76 games last year in Arizona and averaged 22:43 of ice time.

The puck-moving defensemen’s eventual returns will greatly bolster Utah’s backend which has been riddled with injuries this season.

“Huge contributions all across the board — next-man-up mentality,” Durzi said of his defensive teammates. “You always say that and it’s so hard in the best league in the world. The guys couldn’t have done a better job so far.”

Durzi has been following his team from afar and attended games at Delta Center as he waits to jump back into the action. Players like Mikhail Sergachev, Michael Kesselring and Olli Määttä have taken on greater responsibility in Durzi — and Marino’s — absences, and the work won’t stop soon.

Robert Bortuzzo left Tuesday’s game with a lower-body injury and head coach André Tourigny said he did not think the defenseman would be ready for Thursday’s matchup against the Colorado Avalanche. Not to mention, Maveric Lamoureux is sidelined for four to six weeks with an upper-body injury.

Utah announced Wednesday it recalled Kevin Connauton from the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners, likely to fill the gaps.

“You want to be out there, you hate to miss games. But at the same time, it’s part of our game, it’s why we do what we do,” Durzi said. “When you miss a game or two, you watch it systematically and you try to keep that. Obviously a bit of a fan which is weird right now. I’m really just dying for the guys to get some wins. In that sense, I’m cheering the guys on pretty hard.”

Utah is entering a two-game road trip in which it will face the Avalanche and San Jose Sharks before returning to Delta Center next Wednesday to play the Vancouver Canucks.

It is safe to say Durzi will be supporting the team back home.

“It’s nice to kind of sit back and see the crowd at games and how passionate they are,” Durzi said. “It’s motivation for us wanting to get back out there on the ice, in the community.”

Utah has its new quarterback.

New Mexico quarterback Devon Dampier is following his offense coordinator, Jason Beck, to Salt Lake City.

Dampier, a sophomore, was the catalyst for the Lobos’ high-powered offense, which generated 484.2 yards per game (fourth-best in the country) and scored 33.5 points per game (No. 27 in the country).

In his first season as a full-time starter, Dampier was one of the most productive quarterbacks in college football, totaling 3,934 yards of offense in 2024 — 2,768 passing and 1,166 rushing.

Against Power Four (and former Power Five) competition this season — Arizona, Auburn and Washington State — Dampier threw for a combined 725 yards with five touchdowns and four interceptions. He added 354 yards and five touchdowns on the ground.

New Mexico’s offense was the reason why the Lobos finished the year with a 5-6 record, their best mark since 2016, despite a defense that allowed 38 points and 492.1 yards per game, and Beck and Dampier will try and replicate that production at Utah.

Beck’s spread offense makes heavy use of the run-pass option and is at its best with a quarterback that can run, and Dampier fits the bill. He executed Beck’s offense at a very high level this season and was durable despite running the ball 155 times — playing in every single game this season.

Under Beck, Utah will look to run first, with the quarterback run being a huge factor. In 2024, New Mexico had the fifth-best rushing offense in the nation (253.6 yards per game), with Dampier leading the way with 1,166 rushing yards and 19 touchdowns. Running back Eli Sanders wasn’t far behind with 1,063 rushing yards and nine scores.

Dampier is a true dual-threat quarterback and is at his best when he’s running the ball. He possesses top-end speed, can make defenders miss (he forced 51 missed tackles this season, according to Pro Football Focus), and is explosive when the ball is in his hands. While there were a lot of designed quarterback runs called by Beck for Dampier, he’s also adept at both reading the defense and knowing when to run the ball on the RPO and at scrambling when there’s no receivers open.

“We don’t win without him,” New Mexico coach Bronco Mendenhall — now at Utah State — said about Dampier after a 38-35 win over No. 19 Washington State.

“And when your quarterback could run the ball like that, that tough and that physical, with the deception also of having Eli Sanders and NaQuari (Rogers) running the ball, as well. Gosh, well, that’s what winning and really good football teams do, right? They run when they need to, and you stop the run when you have to.”

Utah has never had a 1,000-yard rusher at the quarterback position. While other quarterbacks at Utah have shown the ability to run the ball in the past, Dampier does it at a level that hasn’t been seen at the university since Alex Smith ran Urban Meyer’s spread offense in 2004.

Dampier is a fantastic runner, but that’s only half of the equation that makes up a dual-threat quarterback. This season, Dampier was one of the least accurate passers in the FBS, completing just 57.9% of his passes, and had a 1:1 touchdown-to-interception ratio (12 touchdowns, 12 interceptions).

To continue the success he enjoyed in the Mountain West Conference at the Power Four level, Dampier must improve his accuracy this offseason. With a starting season under his belt and another offseason working with Beck, he should progress in that aspect ahead of a crucial 2025 season for Utah.

Dampier’s 2,768 passing yards ranked No. 34 among FBS quarterbacks this season and he showed that he can make plays through the air. With his scrambling ability, he has the ability to buy time for himself and was the least-sacked quarterback in all of college football. He had two 300-plus-yard passing games and nearly another against Auburn, where he racked up 291 passing yards.

As Utah begins to install a new offense for the first time since 2019, when offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig was hired for his second stint at the university, having a quarterback that is already well-versed in Beck’s system is extraordinarily important and will make the transition easier for the offense.

Dampier should have a clear path to start right away at Utah after every quarterback that played this season, except Cam Rising, entered the transfer portal this offseason. Rising has not made an official decision, but a report from 247Sports national reporter Matt Zenitz says that the current expectation is that the 25-year-old quarterback will not be on Utah’s roster next season.

Since the regular season ended, Isaac Wilson and Brandon Rose both announced their intentions to enter the transfer portal, and Luke Bottari is out of eligibility. If Rising does indeed decide to move on, the only quarterbacks — aside from Dampier — on Utah’s roster are incoming three-star freshmen Wyatt Becker and Jamarian Ficklin.

The Utes will likely try to get another quarterback from the transfer portal to shore up the position ahead of the 2025 season.

The BYU coaching staff is recruiting the transfer portal to fill a few positions of need. Cornerback, in particular, is one of the top positions of need for BYU in 2025. The Cougars are set to lose three of their top four cornerbacks in Jakob Robinson, Marque Collins, and Mory Bamba. A former Utah cornerback, Cameron Calhoun, has emerged as one of BYU’s top targets.

Calhoun announced his offer from BYU on Tuesday. He has also picked up competing offers from Houston, Miami, Maryland, Wisconsin, and Louisville since entering the transfer portal. Calhoun was a critical part of the Utah defense in 2024. He had 21 total tackles, 9 pass breakups, and 1 interception. He had another interception, ironically against BYU, that did not count as an interception since it was on a two-point conversion. It was Calhoun that intercepted Jake Retzlaff on a fade route intended for Keanu Hill.

Calhoun signed with Michigan out of high school. After one season at Michigan which included a national championship run, Calhoun transferred to Utah. He was a redshirt freshman in 2023, so he will have three years of eligibility remaining at his next school.

BYU is up against some stiff competition to land Calhoun’s services. If they were able to get him to Provo, it would be a home run. Calhoun would immediately slide into the starting lineup at cornerback.