BySteve Silverman,
Contributor.
The vote has been taken and the Utah Hockey Club has been named the Mammoth. (Photo by Mike … More
The team that shall be named is no longer going through life as the Utah Hockey Club. The franchise has selected the “Mammoth” as its official name, and that selection came after 13 months of consternation and four rounds of fan voting.
The name Mammoth relates to a powerful, 14-foot-tall animal that roamed the Utah area 10,000 years ago. The Smith Entertainment Group made the announcement Wednesday and explained that the naming is a key step in establishing the growth of the franchise.
“The community chose the Utah Mammoth brand, and it stands as a symbol of who we are, where we came from and the unstoppable force we’re building together,” said owners Ryan and Ashley Smith.
The team colors from the team's first year Utah remain the same. The Mammoth jerseys are rock black, salt white and mountain blue. Other names that were considered included the Outlaws, Wasatch, Blizzard and Yeti. The latter name had to be taken out of the running because the hockey team could not reach an agreement with the YETI cooler company.
The franchise went through its first season in Salt Lake City as the Utah Hockey Club and was often referred to as the Utah HC. The arrival of the franchise in Utah came as the NHL cut its ties with the Arizona Coyotes at the conclusion of the 2023-24 season.
The Coyotes had started life in the desert as the Phoenix Coyotes in 1996-97 and changed its name to the state affiliation in 2014-15. The Coyotes made the playoffs in just one of its last 12 seasons. They finished their run in Arizona playing in the 5,000-seat Mullett Arena on the campus of Arizona State University after multiple attempts to build new facilities failed.
While it appears that the team simply relocated from Arizona to Utah, the NHL made it clear that the Utah HC is considered a new franchise. It did not take the Coyotes’ history with it, but this team had the same players and coaching staff that closed the previous season in Arizona. The franchise was widely accepted in its new location.
Utah played at the Delta Center, the same arena that serves as the home to the NBA’s Utah Jazz. The arena sold out 11,131 seats for the full season along with more than 4,000 obstructed view seats for the bargain price of $10.
The team says that renovation of the Delta Center will take place in the coming years to make sure that all seats offer a complete view of the game. However, specific dates for the arena changes have not been disclosed.
Clayton Keller is on his way to becoming a star in Utah. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
The first year of the team in Utah saw limited success. The Utah HC did not make the playoffs, but the team with a 38-31-13 record and 89 points. That left them seven points behind the St. Louis Blues, the team that finished in the No. 8 spot of the Western Conference’s playoff structure.
While the Utah HC was far from a dominant team, they were extremely competitive on the road with a 20-16-5 record.
Head coach Andre Tourigny's team played with quite a bit of resilience in its first season in Utah, and the Mammoth has some legitimate talent to build around in 2025-26 and future seasons.
Center Clayton Keller is a legitimate star who scored 30 goals and 60 assists for 90 points. Fellow centers Logan Cooley (65 points) and Nick Schmaltz (63 points) give Tourigny and the Mammoth strength up the middle.
Defenseman Mikhail Sergachev earned a championship pedigree during his time with the Tampa Bay Lightning and is the anchor of the team's blue line after scoring 15 goals and adding 38 assists.
Goaltender Karel Vemelka demonstrated legitimacy as a puck stopper with a 26-22-8 record along with a 2.58 goals against average and a .904 save percentage.
