Utah Mammoth name, explained: Utah Hockey Club finalizes team mascot, logo

Over a year after the NHL officially awarded a new franchise to Utah, the team has a new name.

For the 2024-25 season, the new squad has been playing under “Utah Hockey Club” as ownership decided on the brand and identity it wanted moving forward. 

Now, after finishing the regular season 38–31–13 but missing the playoffs, Utah’s NHL team has a name.

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Here’s what to know about the new name replacing Utah Hockey Club.

MORE: Full results from the NHL Draft Lottery

Utah Mammoth name, explained

Utah will be adopting the team name “Mammoth,” moving forward, the team announced Wednesday. A formal announcement is expected from NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and team owners Ryan and Ashley Smith later on Wednesday, per the Daily Faceoff.

The franchise was officially created in April 2024, unveiling a temporary logo, name and color scheme by June 2024. Since then, the team has operated under the “Utah Hockey Club” name; now, it will be the Utah Mammoth. 

The team heavily involved fan voting in its process for selecting a new name. Per the Daily Faceoff, there were a total of over 850,000 fan votes on team names, and the Mammoth’s new hashtag will be #TusksUp.

“We love the passion of the people of Utah and the way they showed up for the team during its inaugural season and the energy they brought to voting on its permanent identity,” Ryan and Ashley Smith, owners of the Utah Mammoth, reportedly said in a press release. “From day one, 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. 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 uniform colors that Utah had throughout the 2024-25 season will remain the same, with a black, white and light blue. The team said its new Mammoth nickname “captures the fierce power of the mammoth mid-charge, tusks up and ready to attack.” There is also plans to introduce a Mammoth-themed mascot by next season, per ESPN. 

There is one other professional sports franchise with the name “Mammoth,” which is the National Lacrosse League’s Colorado team. The Utah Mammoth reportedly got permission to move forward with the name and trademark it in the process. Earlier on in the name process, “Yeti” was emerging as the favorite in the fan voting, but the confusion with the cooler brand Yeti ultimately stopped that from happening. 

Instead, the team said “Mammoth” was the “clear favorite” and “prevailing choice” in its voting process.

“When it came to naming the team, we did something unprecedented — going through four rounds of community voting, including getting feedback not only on potential names but also on potential logos,” Utah owners Ryan and Ashley Smith said in a statement, per ESPN. “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.”

Utah recently moved up from No. 14 to No. 4 in the NHL Draft Lottery, giving its soon-to-be first-round selection an opportunity to be among the first players to wear a new Mammoth uniform. The team began selling Mammoth merchandise in its team store on Wednesday, but jerseys will be available later on.