Utah Mammoth

**History** edit **Background and establishment** edit **History of ice hockey in Salt Lake City** edit Prior to the arrival of the NHL, Salt Lake City's ice hockey history involved multiple minor-league franchises. The first team to call the area home, the Salt Lake Golden Eagles, played 25 seasons across the Western Hockey League (WHL), Central Hockey League (CHL), and International Hockey League (IHL) from 1969 to 1994. Playing out of the Salt Palace for their first 22 seasons and the then-new Delta Center for their final three, the Golden Eagles won three Adams Cup championships in the CHL and two Turner Cup championships in the IHL, before ultimately being sold and relocating to Auburn Hills, Michigan, as the Detroit Vipers after the 1993–94 IHL season. After just one season out of ice hockey, Salt Lake City received another IHL franchise in 1995, as the reigning Turner Cup champion Denver Grizzlies, having been replaced by the newly relocated Colorado Avalanche of the NHL, relocated to the Delta Center for the 1995–96 season as the Utah Grizzlies. The Grizzlies spent two seasons in Salt Lake City proper, including a second consecutive Turner Cup championship in 1996; notably, the Cup-clinching game 4 of the Turner Cup Finals saw an attendance of 17,381, at the time the largest single-game attendance in minor-league ice hockey history. The Grizzlies later moved to the newly constructed E Center (since renamed the Maverik Center) in the suburb of West Valley City for the 1997–98 IHL season, and joined the American Hockey League (AHL) in 2001 alongside five other surviving IHL franchises upon the latter's collapse. However, the Grizzlies voluntarily suspended operations for the 2005–06 season, before being sold to Dan Gilbert, the owner of the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers, and relocating to Cleveland, as the Lake Erie Monsters (later Cleveland Monsters) for the 2007–08 season. The AHL iteration of the Grizzlies were subsequently replaced by a relocated ECHL franchise of the same name; the franchise had most recently played in Lexington, Kentucky, as the Lexington Men O' War but had become dormant after the 2002–03 ECHL season. The new Grizzlies began play out of the E Center in 2005, immediately after their AHL predecessor had gone dormant, and have played 19 seasons in the ECHL since. However, the franchise has been comparatively unsuccessful; although they have missed the playoffs only four times, they have won just one division championship and no conference championships, only having reached the conference finals twice. In September 2025, over a year after the Mammoth's arrival, the Grizzlies were sold to an ownership group based in Trenton, New Jersey; the 2025–26 season will be the franchise's last in Utah before moving to Trenton. Delta Center previously hosted multiple Los Angeles Kings preseason games as part of the NHL's Frozen Fury series. However, the arena was not considered well suited to host ice hockey permanently, owing to poor sightlines and broadcasting capabilities. Maverik Center and Peaks Ice Arena in the suburb of Provo, hosted the ice hockey tournaments at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, which featured NHL players. Salt Lake City is also the host city for the 2034 Winter Olympics. **Establishment of the team** edit - Delta Center, where the Mammoth play their home games Salt Lake City initially emerged as a potential NHL destination in June 2023, with rumors regarding the Arizona Coyotes' potential relocation spreading after the failure of the New Tempe Arena referendum. Six months later, in January 2024, Ryan Smith, owner of the NBA's Utah Jazz and co-owner of Major League Soccer's Real Salt Lake, petitioned the NHL to begin the process of expansion to Salt Lake City. Discussions to bring an expansion team to the city were revealed to have been underway since early 2022, with the Utah State Senate passing tax legislation in February 2024 to support a new ice hockey-capable downtown arena proposed by Smith; the only condition asked by the Senate was that any potential team be branded "Utah" to honor the state in general, as opposed to any branding using Salt Lake City. On April 13, 2024, it was reported that, with the NHL's permission, the Coyotes were making efforts to relocate to Salt Lake City following concerns about an indefinite timeframe on a new arena and the effects of continued play at the 4,600-seat Mullett Arena. The deal became official on April 18 after the NHL Board of Governors granted an expansion franchise to Utah using the Coyotes' hockey assets. Under the terms of the agreement, the Coyotes franchise was essentially split in half. The Coyotes franchise was officially considered "inactive", with Utah regarded as an expansion team rather than a successor to the Coyotes, in a similar situation to the Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League. While the deal was reported in the media as a $1.2 billion "sale" of the Coyotes, it is in reality two separate transactions in which $1 billion is being paid by the NHL to Alex Meruelo for the Coyotes franchise while Smith is paying a $1.2 billion expansion fee to the NHL's other owners. The $200 million difference is thus in effect a de facto relocation fee to be shared equally by the other 31 NHL clubs. According to Smith, the team sold more than 11,000 season-ticket deposits in the four hours after going on sale, with 6,000 sold in the first two hours. The team was formally introduced at the Delta Center on April 26, with over 12,000 fans attending a welcome celebration featuring players and coaches. On May 6, the Smith Entertainment Group announced that a practice facility would be built for the team in the nearby suburb of Sandy, Utah, which had its groundbreaking ceremony on August 12. On June 13, the NHL announced that the sale of the franchise had officially been completed and that the team would be known as "Utah Hockey Club" for their inaugural season. **Inaugural season and early years (2024–present)** edit Jack McBain, Logan Cooley, and Dylan Guenther line up for a faceoff during Utah's first preseason game in September 2024. On June 17, Utah made their first official player signing, with former Coyotes third-round pick Noel Nordh signing his three-year, entry-level contract. This was followed just under two weeks later by their first NHL entry draft, where they selected Kelowna Rockets forward Tij Iginla as their first-ever draft pick at 6th overall. Utah played their first preseason game on September 22, 2024, defeating the St. Louis Blues 5–3 in a neutral-site matchup played at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa. On September 23, Utah played their first home preseason game at the Delta Center, defeating the Los Angeles Kings 3–2. On October 4, Utah named forward Clayton Keller as its first captain in franchise history. On October 8, the team defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 5–2 in its first regular season contest, with Dylan Guenther scoring the first goal. The team's first season ended with a record of 38–31–13, placing them sixth in the Central Division, but ultimately out of playoff contention.[citation needed] In a more successful second season, Utah clinched the first wild card spot in the 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs, earning their first playoff berth in franchise history. During that season, Utah became the first team in NHL history to play the full 82-game season without any shootouts since that form of tiebreaker was adopted in 2005. ^ Turner, Tim (June 9, 1996). "ORLANDO OUSTED IN OT". Orlando Sentinel. - ^ Fraser, Belle (September 8, 2025). "The Utah Grizzlies have their new home. Here's everything you need to know". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved October 27, 2025. - ^ "LA Kings to Play Frozen Fury Preseason Game in Salt Lake City". LAKings.com. NHL Enterprises, L.P. June 15, 2021. Retrieved October 1, 2021. - ^ "Salt Lake City Shows Out For Frozen Fury NHL Game". October 6, 2021. - ^ Larsen, Andy (October 6, 2023). "The NHL's only Utahn thinks the state is ready for hockey's best. Is a major league team ready for Salt Lake?". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved March 29, 2024. - ^ Hill, Victoria (November 29, 2023). "Olympic Committee recommends Salt Lake City as preferred host for 2034 Winter Games". KUTV. Retrieved December 10, 2023. - ^ Cluff, Jeremy (June 6, 2023). "Arizona Coyotes to Salt Lake City? Relocation speculation swirls around NHL team in Utah". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved March 29, 2024. - ^ Fox, Derick (January 24, 2024). "Utah sports mogul Ryan Smith submits bid to bring NHL to Salt Lake City". ABC4. Archived from the original on June 19, 2024. Retrieved January 27, 2024. - ^ Romboy, Dennis (February 27, 2024). "Utah Senate passes bill for potential downtown hockey arena". Deseret News. Retrieved March 29, 2024. - ^ "Coyotes bid Arizona farewell with bittersweet win over Oilers". ESPN.com. April 17, 2024. Archived from the original on April 18, 2024. Retrieved April 18, 2024. - ^ Cite error: The named reference Cotsonika was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Wyshynski, Greg (April 15, 2024). "Everything we know about the Arizona Coyotes moving to Utah – How is the transaction going to work?". ESPN.com. Retrieved April 15, 2024. - ^ Friedman, Elliotte (April 10, 2024). "NHL, Arizona Coyotes preparing for possible relocation to Utah". Sportsnet.ca. Retrieved April 13, 2024. - ^ "Report: NHL, Coyotes make progress on framework for Utah relocation". Sportsnet.ca. April 10, 2024. Retrieved April 13, 2024. - ^ Boudway, Ira (April 18, 2024). "Billionaire Ryan Smith Gets His NHL Team, Moving Arizona Coyotes to Utah". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved April 19, 2024. - ^ Gould, Mike (April 18, 2024). "Ryan Smith says Utah NHL team has already sold more than 11,000 season ticket deposits". Daily Faceoff. Retrieved April 19, 2024. - ^ Cotsonika, Nicholas J. (April 25, 2024). "Players receive warm welcome from 12,400 fans in Utah". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L.P. Retrieved April 26, 2024. - ^ Romboy, Dennis (April 24, 2024). "'My best day in the NHL so far': Salt Lake shows up for new hockey club". Deseret News. Retrieved April 26, 2024. - ^ Miller, Ryan (May 6, 2024). "Utah NHL club's training facility will be built in Sandy". KSL.com. Retrieved May 7, 2024. - ^ Carlson, Brian (August 12, 2024). "Ground broken on new Utah Hockey Club training facility". KSL Sports. Retrieved August 13, 2024. - ^ "Smith Entertainment Group Officially Acquires NHL Franchise". NHL.com/Utah (Press release). NHL Enterprises, L.P. June 13, 2024. Retrieved June 14, 2024. - ^ "Utah Hockey Club officially joins NHL, unveils uniforms, logos". NHL.com (Press release). NHL Enterprises, L.P. June 13, 2024. Retrieved June 14, 2024. - ^ "Nordh becomes 1st player to sign with Utah Hockey Club". NHL.com. June 17, 2024. Retrieved June 17, 2024. - ^ Shilton, Kristen (June 28, 2024). "Utah Hockey Club takes Tij Iginla No. 6 overall in NHL draft". ESPN.com. Retrieved September 24, 2024. - ^ Tavss, Jeff (September 22, 2024). "Utah Hockey Club scores first-ever win with 5-3 preseason victory over Blues". Fox 13 Utah. Retrieved September 24, 2024. - ^ Miller, Ryan (September 23, 2024). "Utah Hockey Club has a near-perfect debut at Delta Center". KSL. Retrieved September 24, 2024. - ^ "Keller named 1st captain in Utah history". NHL.com. October 4, 2024. Retrieved October 4, 2024. - ^ Walker, Sean (October 8, 2024). "Dylan Guenther scores twice as Utah Hockey Club holds off Chicago for franchise's 1st win". KSL.com. Retrieved October 9, 2024. - ^ Bogart, Catherine (April 15, 2026). "Utah Clinches First Wild Card Spot With Win over Winnipeg". NHL.com. Retrieved April 16, 2026. - ^ "Utah becomes 1st NHL team to ever do this — and here's why that's unfortunate". Deseret News. April 17, 2026. Retrieved April 28, 2026.