After a mammoth undertaking of buying an NHL team, moving players, coaches and a full staff more than 600 miles and getting it all together in a matter of months before the puck dropped on a new season, it is perhaps a fitting identity that owners Ryan and Ashley Smith chose after rounds and rounds of fan voting.
They unveiled Utah Mammoth as the franchise's permanent, full-time name Wednesday, with a profiled logo of the ice age creature featuring nods to the shape of the state, its mountain range and the same light blue, black and white color scheme that quickly became synonymous with the team in its first season in Salt Lake City.
鈥淥ur fans made it very easy for us,鈥� Ryan Smith said at a news conference at Delta Center celebrating the branding effort's competition after more than 850,000 votes were cast over the past 13 months. 鈥淓very single night we were doing the voting, Mammoth just started running away with it. ... And for us, it was like, 鈥楾hat鈥檚 it.鈥�"
Mammoth replaces the 2024-25 placeholder name , which was also one of . Yeti was taken out of consideration when the cooler company bearing that name could not come to a copyright agreement with Utah ownership, and Wasatch 鈥� a reference to the state鈥檚 mountain range 鈥� was quickly replaced as an option by Outlaws.
The Mammoth are maintaining the road jerseys with UTAH diagonally down the front. The logo, along with mountains and a hidden 鈥淢鈥� and more of what Smith called 鈥淓aster eggs,鈥� also has a curved tusk that forms a 鈥淯.鈥�
Mammoth fossils have been found throughout Utah, including a complete skeleton in Huntington Canyon in 1988. The team said 鈥淭usks Up鈥� will be its rallying cry.
鈥淲e uncovered a little bit of the mammoth history in this state,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淚t was daunting 鈥� of how close and tied and whether it was Lake Bonneville or Fairview, Utah, or Lake Powell and the size of the mammoth and how fast they go, it became like this really cool thing.鈥�
Utah holding the fourth pick in the draft, the first phase of arena renovations taking place and more than $20 million in salary cap space for general manager Bill Armstrong to make a splash in free agency and trades. With young talent like captain Clayton Keller, budding star forward Logan Cooley, two-time Stanley Cup champion Mikhail Sergachev and emerging goaltender Karel Vejmelka, the Mammoth could contend for a playoff spot as soon as next season.
Sitting next to Commissioner Gary Bettman, Ashley Smith said the goal was to bring him back with more to celebrate.
鈥淣ext time, Stanley Cup," she told Bettman, who responded, 鈥淚t would be my pleasure.鈥� Bettman, who turns 73 in July, added, 鈥淲hen you win the Stanley Cup, I hope I鈥檓 still doing this to present it.鈥�
Hockey in Utah has already been a win after previously known as the Arizona Coyotes from former owner Alex Meruelo and moved it to Salt Lake City. The Coyotes played in the Phoenix area since 1996 after moving there from Winnipeg, where the team was the original Jets.
鈥淭he first year has been almost mind-blowing in terms of how successful Utah and you and everybody in SEG has been,鈥� Bettman said. 鈥淭his has been the ultimate team effort for the ultimate team sport. And while you may be thrilled to have us, we鈥檙e thrilled to be part of Utah and are grateful.鈥�
The rollout of Mammoth even included a fan holding a Stanley cup 鈥� lower-case 鈥淐鈥� 鈥� Yeti coolers' biggest competition in that market. In the midst of a formative day in the organization's history, Ryan Smith almost seemed to want to manifest another one sometime in the future, not for a mug but the sport's most hallowed trophy.
鈥淲hen we etch Utah Mammoth in Lord Stanley鈥檚 Cup," he said, "that鈥檒l be a good one.鈥�
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AP NHL:
Stephen Whyno, The Associated Press
