Utah Hockey Club finally reveals permanent identity as the Mammoth
The NHL team in Salt Lake City will be called the Utah Mammoth going forward, ending a protracted, year-long naming process that began with the Arizona Coyotes becoming the Utah Hockey Club last year.
The franchise revealed its new identity with a video on X on Wednesday.
Of course, fans were already well aware of what name was coming. Some social media users noticed the club's YouTube account had changed its handle to @UtahMammoth in April, and the franchise declined to confirm or deny if the leak was real.
With a name in place, the Mammoth can finally end a saga that went through an extraordinary amount of phases and possibilities before landing on an option that was there from Day 1.
How did it take this long for the Utah Hockey Club to find a new name?
The Hockey Club nickname was instituted on an interim basis last summer, with 20 options presented for a fan vote. The possibilities were largely snow and mountain-themed, including the Mammoth, along with options such as the Swam, Fury and Hive. That list was eventually narrowed to six finalists: the incumbent Hockey Club, the Mammoth, the Yeti, the Outlaws, the Venom and the Blizzard.
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And then the team picked the Mammoth from that group, right?
Wrong! While those six options were put up for a fan vote, those results were never revealed. Months later, it was reported the club was scrapping its choice of the Yeti due to a copyright with the Yeti Cooler Company, and so the matter was sent to a third round of voting with the options consisting of the Hockey Club, the Mammoth and a new combatant, the Wasatch.
In case you weren't aware, the Wasatch is the mountain range overlooking Salt Lake City and was basically a go-around to use the team's Yeti-themed art with that specific name no longer an option. Fans hated it so much that it was replaced by the Outlaws on the ballot before voting even finished.
And now, we have a winner, after three rounds of voting and 21 different names put forward by the team. Utah can finally rally around the Mammoth.
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