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Utah Hockey Club wrapped up its inaugural NHL season by finishing sixth in the Central Division with a 38-21-13 record and 89 points. Despite missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs, excitement over hockey in Salt Lake City has been through the roof, especially late Tuesday night, local time.
When owners Ryan and Ashley Smith brought the Arizona Coyotes’ roster, coaching staff, and front office to Utah in April 2024, Ryan Smith made it clear he wouldn’t rush the process of choosing a team nickname.
“It will 100 percent be ‘Utah,’ and then it will be ‘Utah Something,’ obviously,” he said. “I don’t think given this timeline that we’re going to have time — or nor should we rush with everything else that’s going on — to go force what that is in the next three months.”
Ryan Smith—already well-known to Utah fans as the owner of the NBA’s Utah Jazz—wanted the community to help choose a permanent team name. So, he and the organization let fans vote on the original options and then the finalists, which included Utah Mammoth, Utah Hockey Club, and Utah Outlaws.
The name was expected to be announced this summer before the 2025–26 NHL season, but those plans may now be changing.
Just after midnight Eastern Time on Wednesday morning, a fan scrolling through the official team YouTube account noticed the handle read “UtahMammoth” instead of “Utah Hockey Club.”
The news then began to spread like a wildfire on social media.
It didn’t take long for the team’s YouTube page to go down, displaying the message: “This page isn’t available. Sorry about that. Try searching for something else.”
It’s unclear when the official announcement will be made, but following the apparent leak, it may occur sooner than the team originally planned.
The team played its first season at the Delta Center, where seating was limited, but owner Ryan Smith has already announced plans for renovations. The 47-year-old made it clear the upgrades will take two summers to complete.
Related: Wayne Gretzky Predicts 2025 Stanley Cup Final Matchup
