Utah's NHL Team Picks an Unusual Name

The NHL team in Salt Lake City is now known as the Utah Mammoth. As the AP reports, owners Ryan and Ashley Smith unveiled the franchise's permanent name on Wednesday morning after more than a year of fan input and voting. "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," they said in a statement announcing the name. "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."

Mammoth replaces the inaugural season placeholder name Utah Hockey Club, which was also one of the three finalists. The moniker Yeti was taken out of consideration when the cooler company bearing that name couldn't come to a copyright agreement with Utah ownership, and Wasatch—a reference to the state's mountain range—was quickly replaced as an option by Outlaws. The Mammoth are maintaining the same black, light blue, and white color scheme and the road jerseys with "UTAH" diagonally down the front. The logo includes a nod to the mountains, the shape of the state, and a curved tusk that forms a "U." Mammoth fossils have been found throughout Utah, including a complete skeleton in Huntington Canyon in 1988.

Utah has an exciting summer ahead 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 goalie Karel Vejmelka, the Mammoth could contend for a playoff spot as soon as next season.

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The rebranding comes less than 13 months since Smith Entertainment Group bought the team 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. (More National Hockey League stories.)