The NHL’s newest franchise has finally found its identity.
The Utah Mammoth, formerly known as the Utah Hockey Club, were introduced yesterday by the organization. The name was chosen by fans over the course of four voting rounds that lasted 13 months and totaled 850,000 votes.
Utah’s franchise joined the NHL last year as an expansion team. After the Arizona Coyotes’ failure to finalize a deal for a permanent arena in Phoenix, the team’s players’ and coaches’ contracts were sold off, effectively relocating the team as-is to Salt Lake City in April 2024.
The Utah Hockey Club, as the temporarily nameless team became known, finished its first season in the NHL with a 38-31 record, and its fans were there in droves the entire way. The franchise sold out all 41 home games on its schedule, playing in front of a packed house of 11,131 fans each night. The Delta Center also can be configured with just under 5,000 partially-obstructed view seats that are sold for $10 a piece, a price that includes a hot dog and bottled water. It’s tough to beat a deal like that, even for fans who aren’t hockey-crazy.
The name “Utah Mammoth” was selected to reflect the state’s rich natural history, as remains of the team’s Ice Age namesake have been found across Utah for centuries. Similarly, the club opted to retain its current color palette that mirrors Utah’s landscape, with shades like “Rock Black,” “Salt White,” and “Mountain Blue.” Visually, the franchise is among the most uniquely-branded in the NHL, making for great new team apparel options for fans.
The organization has a select number of items for sale already, including hats, t-shirts, and hoodies exclusively at the merchandise stands in the team’s home venue, the Delta Center in Salt Lake City. If fans are interested in becoming among the first to purchase a jersey, they should complete this form. Fans can purchase team gear at the NHL’s merchandise site beginning next Wednesday, May 14th.
When jerseys went on sale following the team’s initial founding last year, Utah set the second-highest single-day merchandise sales total in NHL history. With such strong fan support, and now a unique identity, Utah is set to become one of the NHL’s stalwart franchises.
As the NHL playoffs continue into the Second Round and every game matters more than the last, the league’s newest team can lean on its new identity in hopes of making a playoff push of its own in the near future.
