Utah Hockey Club is morphing into the Utah Mammoth.
That’s what the NHL franchise will permanently be known as, the organization announced Wednesday, following a 13-month process that included four rounds of fan voting and more than 850,000 ballots cast.
In revealing the new identity on Wednesday, Smith Entertainment Group hailed the choice of a powerful animal that claimed Utah as their home more than 10,000 years ago.
“From Day 1, we committed that this team would be built with and for the people of Utah, and we are excited to celebrate today’s launch with the entire state,” said Ryan and Ashley Smith, owners of the club. “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.”
The team played its inaugural season as Utah Hockey Club, or Utah HC. That was selected as a temporary name in April 2024 after Ryan and Ashley Smith purchased and relocated the Arizona Coyotes on extremely short notice.
The colors from Year 1 in Utah remain unchanged in the new jerseys designed for the Mammoth: rock black, salt white and mountain blue.
The black home sweaters feature a primary logo with multiple small nods to the region, including Wasatch Mountain Range and snow-capped peaks that form the beast’s crown; the shape of Utah, which is subtly embedded in the mountain silhouette; and the curved tusk to form a “U.”
The white away jerseys feature a UTAH stairstep design from the franchise’s inaugural season — a choice made because the team wanted to keep the state they’re representing front and center when playing in visiting buildings, according to the team.
The Utah Mammoth jerseys will keep the team’s current color scheme. (Courtesy of Utah Hockey Club / the Utah Mammoth)
Mammoth fossils have been found throughout Utah. The now-extinct mammals stood over 14 feet tall, weighed up to 22,000 pounds and used their curved tusks to dig through snow, fend off predators and thrive in Utah’s glacial terrain.
Those qualities should also lend themselves well to a mascot when the organization is ready to unveil one.
How did we get here?
The path to selecting the permanent identity of the team was an exhaustive one and included some complications because of trademark and intellectual property restrictions.
An initial list of 20 possible names was narrowed by fan vote last June to what the team announced as six finalists: Utah Blizzard, Utah Hockey Club (Utah HC), Utah Mammoth, Utah Outlaws, Utah Venom and Utah Yeti.
Following a subsequent round of fan voting, there appeared to be some momentum building around Yeti. However, the NHL team had to move on from that possibility because no deal could be reached with the Yeti cooler company to secure the rights to use it.
“Nothing came from the trademark office that was surprising in any way,” Smith Entertainment Group executive Mike Maughan said in a news conference in late January. “We have engaged with Yeti coolers. The NHL has helped engage with them. At the end of the day, they have a trademark that allows them to print Yeti on clothing and other merchandise.”
At that point, three possibilities for the name remained: Utah Mammoth, Utah Wasatch and Utah Hockey Club.
Fans attending four home games at Delta Center were given the opportunity to choose between those final three options and also multiple different logos at iPads stationed throughout the arena.
From there, Mammoth was identified as the clear choice, the organization said.
Of particular note is the fact that Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, which owns the National Lacrosse League’s Colorado Mammoth (plus the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche and others), was very supportive of Utah adopting the name as well, according to the organization.
The new gear
A limited selection of first-run Mammoth merchandise will go on sale at the team store inside Delta Center on Wednesday, with more items being made available for online purchase starting next week.
It won’t be until closer to the start of the 2025-26 NHL season that fans can buy jerseys.
However, after winning the second draft lottery on Monday night and jumping up 10 spots to the No. 4 overall pick, the team expects to adorn draft picks in black Mammoth jerseys after making those selections at next month’s draft in Los Angeles.
The phrase “Est. 2024” will be stitched inside the collar of both the home and away jerseys — a tribute to the NHL’s arrival in Utah.
(Photos courtesy of Utah Hockey Club / the Utah Mammoth)