Latest news with #SmithEntertainmentGroup
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Cancer has limited Caroline Klein's tomorrows. Here's what she's doing about it
Sitting in her kitchen nook in her Salt Lake City home on a May morning, Caroline Klein describes her cancer diagnosis as ironic. Before it, she had always lived a healthy life and never had a cold or needed to use her health insurance. That all changed in September 2022, six weeks after Klein moved to Utah to start a new, high-profile job as Smith Entertainment Group's chief communications officer. First, one of her high heels began slipping off. Three days later, she couldn't pick up her foot. She started tripping constantly as her foot would drag. An avid hiker and trail runner, Klein was confused. Then she began feeling a 'very intense pain' from her right knee to the top of her foot. She decided to see a doctor. Klein ultimately visited four doctors over the course of nine months. The first thought her problems stemmed from back issues and bulging discs. She then saw another who did MRIs of her back, brain and nerves and thought she needed surgery to treat degenerative discs. The next doctor thought Klein had an autoimmune disease. Finally, in June 2023, she met Dr. Mark Mahan at the University of Utah's Huntsman Cancer Institute. He suggested an MRI of her thigh, though her thigh wasn't in pain. That MRI led to the discovery of a small tumor on Klein's sciatic nerve. Klein was told there was a 95% chance it was benign. But two months later, she went ahead with surgery to remove it — and all of her back and leg pain went with it. 'Everything was going great,' Klein said. In her professional life, Klein had quickly become invaluable to Utah Jazz owners Ryan and Ashley Smith as she oversaw the Jazz's broadcasting, public relations and community relations efforts. Personally, she was dating her boyfriend of nearly four and a half years, Mike Gartlan, and continuing to enjoy and explore her new home. But two weeks after the surgery, on Sept. 6, 2023, Klein was sitting next to Gartlan on the chairlift at Sundance Resort when she noticed she had two missed calls. Still on the chairlift, Klein received another call from Dr. Mahan. He told her the tumor had come back positive for proximal-type epithelioid sarcoma. 'I looked at Mike and I just said, 'So I have cancer,' and we both kind of looked at each other,' she said. It was the opposite of the distraught reaction she'd imagined she would have. 'I was so calm about it because there was nothing that I could do in the moment. So to me, I handled it kind of like everything else. I was very practical,' she said. The next month, Klein started 35 sessions of radiation on her right leg. She treated the sessions like any other appointment to help her continue to feel normal, going before and after work. She finished radiation in December 2023 and her scans came back clean. The next step was to have MRIs every three months on her leg, abdomen, pelvis and chest. Despite the clean scans, Klein, then 38, was told she only had a 50% chance to make it another two years. 'That was terrifying and so jarring in the moment,' she said. After she went in for the first of those scans in February 2024, her doctor told her the cancer had spread to her lungs and was now terminal. She had one to nine years to live. Three days later, Gartlan took Klein back to Sundance and proposed. Knowing that tomorrow isn't guaranteed for anyone and that she'll have fewer tomorrows than she planned, Klein has been on a mission ever since her diagnosis to live the remainder of her life to its fullest. 'I took my terminal cancer diagnosis, and I saw it not as a death sentence, but a license to live,' she said. 'My terminal diagnosis does not mean that my life is over. It will be soon. We don't know when, but it gave me this refreshed attitude to just live every day like there might not be a tomorrow.' Klein's cancer journey has coincided with her career reaching new heights. She's ushered SEG through one of its busiest chapters, helping it celebrate the Utah Jazz's 50th season and welcome an NHL team to Utah, the Utah Mammoth. Both Ryan and Ashley Smith are full of praise for Klein, noting that her hard work and character are part of why they wanted to be involved in this story. 'I've never done an interview like this about someone at this level,' Ryan Smith said. 'The fact that we both can't wait to talk about CK, like, that's what it's about.' Klein chose — and has been healthy enough — to continue working through her cancer, only taking time off for a vacation last October. Even right before lung surgery, she was working from her hospital bed. She did the same during chemotherapy. Klein said she never felt pressured by the Smiths to keep working. Rather, the decision was rooted in her love for and pride in her job and her need for normalcy. She appreciates the Smiths' support, 'especially in helping me have the freedom to live my life and to pursue things that I won't be able to pursue when I get sicker, and that has meant everything,' she said. Klein grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and studied journalism at Boston University. Prior to joining SEG almost three years ago, she spent the entirety of her career in the travel and hospitality industry. In 2022, she sought a career pivot that would challenge her and teach her something new at an organization that 'used their platform for good and really affected a community,' she said. She found that at SEG with the Smiths. In hindsight, Klein admits she may have taken on too much 'new' at once as she learned a new industry and company in a new state. But that hasn't gotten in the way of her impressing her bosses. 'I dream that my daughters have the same confidence that she has, where she doesn't have all the answers and she's fine figuring it out,' Ryan Smith said. Since her initial diagnosis, some of Klein's work accomplishments include leading a documentary project for the Jazz's 50th anniversary and launching Jazz+, the team's streaming service. She later helped expand Jazz+ to UtahHC+ to stream the Utah Hockey Club's inaugural season. 'Everything insanely hard that we've done since we've been in the sports world, Caroline's been a part of, and she's carried so much of the weight,' Ashley Smith said. But according to the Smiths, Klein's greatest accomplishments at SEG are more intangible. Ashley Smith is most impressed by the way Klein has showcased the people around her, championed women and cared about her personally. Ryan Smith highlighted Klein's ability to build trust and 'get inside the brains of a bunch of people to get them to go do a job,' like she had to do with Jazz+ as she worked with and helped individuals within both the NBA and SEG to all be happy with the product. 'We're going to be coloring in the lines Caroline created for the next 20 or 30 years,' he said. 'She created the whole platform and she did it without a playbook in record time — and truly, something that, honestly, no one else had really done in sports." Following her diagnosis, Klein's relationship with the Smiths became more than professional. They're now family. When Klein told the Smiths that her cancer was terminal, the couple was heartbroken because Klein 'is literally just the entire package of everything you could want in a human and in an employee,' Ashley said. 'We were devastated for her. We were devastated with her, and we definitely felt helpless,' she said. 'I just remember feelings of like, 'This is very unfair,' because the best humans don't deserve that.' Klein's commitment to live life to its fullest has inspired Ashley, who has adopted the phrase 'What would Caroline do?' as a sort of life motto. 'Somehow, she has strengthened me through this,' Ashley Smith said. 'You feel like you would be the one strengthening someone else who's navigating this. No, she's strengthening me and making me want to be better and have a better attitude and come at things in different ways.' Klein knows her cancer journey isn't like most cancer journeys. Her life post-diagnosis has been relatively normal, except for having more doctor appointments — and chemo — than the average person needs. Following her terminal diagnosis, Klein did oral chemotherapy for eight months and experienced zero symptoms or side effects. With her back pain finally gone, she felt like she was in better health than she was before cancer, and she was able to start hiking again. 'I really was able to live a very full life,' she said of that time. 'If it wasn't for my doctors appointments and having to remind myself to take my medication twice a day, there was no difference.' During this time, she regularly traveled to Houston to meet with Dr. Ravin Ratan, a leading sarcoma oncologist and specialist in Klein's type of cancer, at MD Anderson Cancer Center. Klein was able to start seeing Dr. Ratan thanks to a connection made by then-Jazz sideline reporter and current in-game reporter, Holly Rowe. Last October, scans revealed the tumors in Klein's lungs had grown significantly and that she would need to start chemotherapy again, canceling the three-month sabbatical she had planned. Instead, she and Gartlan went to Bhutan for two and a half weeks to hike Tiger's Nest, a four-mile round-trip hike to a 17th century monastery perched on a cliff over 10,000 feet above sea level. Later that month, she learned she had qualified for a clinical trial at MD Anderson and could do that instead of chemotherapy. She elected to do the trial and started it after her trip. The trial consisted of eight nights in the hospital and five infusions. It was briefly broken up by a quick trip to New York City for Klein to be honored as part of Sports Business Journal's 40 Under 40. Upon the completion of the first phase of the trial, she flew back to Salt Lake a few days before Thanksgiving. On Dec. 19, Klein returned to Houston to begin the next phase of her clinical trial. She expected that first meeting with Dr. Ratan to be a routine visit. She was wrong. Dr. Ratan told her the main tumor in her left lung had grown by 120% in six weeks and that she was no longer in the trial. He gave her two options: palliative care or starting chemotherapy in Utah with her oncologist, Dr. Anna Chalmers, in the next five days. Klein's cancer wasn't usually responsive to chemotherapy, but Dr. Ratan said they had to try. She asked him, 'Am I going to make it to my 40th birthday? I've been chasing 40. I've been so excited to turn 40.' Dr. Ratan said he couldn't make any promises, but they 'were going to try to get you as close as possible.' That moment was her wake up call. She shared the news with her family and two days later, her siblings had all flown out to Salt Lake to be with her. Together, they attended a hockey game, but Klein said she was the sickest she had ever been. She was mostly confined to her couch, unable to eat and barely able to speak. When it was time for her siblings to leave, they said what they thought would be their final goodbyes. 'That was my reality check of 'I am very ill.' That was the first time,' she said, 'that I realized that my time here is going to be shorter than I would like and that I am not always going to feel good and that I have to take advantage and be very conscious of every day I wake up feeling healthy and strong.' She started chemotherapy a couple of days after her brothers left (her sister stayed through New Year's) on Christmas Eve. But before she could do that, she learned that since her visit with Dr. Ratan less than a week prior, her tumor had grown so much that her left lung had collapsed. She was put on oxygen as a result. She had a constant cough and was unable to sleep on her back or side. She couldn't walk a block without stopping. As her health declined, Klein didn't fear death or believe her situation was sad, but she felt like she still had 'so much more to give,' she said. During this time, Klein felt the love of her SEG family, who showed up to support her. Ashley Smith came to visit her at home multiple times. Instead of talking about work, they sat and worked on puzzles together. 'There aren't many other owners that I know of who would ... be that focused on me as a person and what I personally need versus what they need from me professionally,' she said. When asked about those visits, Ashley Smith said that Klein leaves everyone around her feeling elevated to their best and that she has been humbled and inspired by the grace Klein has carried throughout her cancer journey. 'It's been important to me to spend time with her personally just because we're so astonished all the time, not only by how great she is in the office, but what a remarkable human she is in every other way,' she said. 'And then, I just wanted to spend time with her in that way, so maybe it was selfish is what I'm trying to say.' Surprisingly, the chemotherapy quickly improved Klein's health. Though doctors didn't think it would work, 'it brought me back to life,' she said. In between treatments the last year, Klein took time to work on her bucket list and make memories with her loved ones. As a result of her diagnosis, she's adopted two questions as her motto: 'Why not?' and 'Why wait?' 'None of us are guaranteed tomorrow. But I know that I'm not guaranteed into my 50s, right? There's a time limit for me,' she said. Following the dive her health took in December and January, she now knows how sick she can get. 'I know I will get back there and I don't want to be back at that point thinking, 'Why didn't I do this?'' she said. In the past year, Klein introduced her niece and nephews to her love of hiking in national parks with a trip to Bryce Canyon National Park. She also hiked with her mom in Sedona, Arizona. She attended her first Olympics last summer, watching the U.S. men's soccer team's opening match against France in Marseille. She and Gartlan then traveled to Italy and hiked the Dolomites before heading back to Utah for their civil wedding in August. Just over a week later, the couple traveled again, but this time to Porto, Portugal, where 78 of their closest family and friends, including the Smiths, joined them for their wedding. Looking back, she's happy with how she spent the last year. Now, life is back to normal for Klein. Earlier this month, she was able to accomplish something doctors were unsure of: She reached her 40th birthday. 'If someone didn't know what I was going through and if I wasn't bald, they would have no idea (I have cancer),' she said. But Klein knows life can change in an instant, which makes waiting for her next scans in June 'the hardest thing,' she said. Those scans will determine what her life will look like for another month. 'The next scan could show that I need to start chemotherapy again or the next scan could show that I'm clear for another 30 days,' she said. Klein described it as living in 30-day windows, trying to decide how she's going to make each month 'big' or the 'best month.' For now, she is 'embracing the summer' and the offseason by prioritizing time with the people she loves and visiting the places she's always wanted to visit. Before her June scans, she and her husband will travel to Botswana and South Africa to unplug. Then, she'll visit her family in Milwaukee for the Fourth of July. 'Nothing about my situation is sad to me, but I want to make sure that when I'm gone, I've left people with a lot of great memories that bring them joy, too,' she said. Klein hopes people don't need a wake up call to live their lives more fully, but she's happy if her story can serve that purpose. 'I personally don't think my story is anything special. I hope that people don't need a story like mine to be living life the way they want to or the way that would bring them a lot of joy. But again, if there's one good thing that can come out of this, then that makes me happy.'
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Petiton started to bring the ‘town' back to SLC's Japantown
SALT LAKE CITY () — A petition has been started online, looking to bring the 'town' back to Japantown and to fill the historic area with Japanese businesses once again. This petition follows the recent announcement that Salt Lake County approved the sale of 6.5 acres of the Salt Palace for a new entertainment district, as well as Delta Center Renovations. The petition says its purpose is to activate 100 South Japantown Street with 'Japanese businesses, restaurants, and artist space within the Sports, Entertainment, Culture and Convention District, especially for any commercial space facing Japan Town Street.' How a Utah-based non-profit is working to fight food insecurity 'The whole thing that I have been focusing on is trying to reinvigorate the commercial aspect on that street, especially because the Smith Entertainment Group has mentioned that they will activate first south, and there's not that many specifics,' Clarissa Park, who started the petition, said. 'But to me, I just hope that they would activate it with commercial space and that they would prioritize Japanese businesses on Japantown Street.' Over two thousand people lived in Japantown before it was destroyed in the late 1960s when the Salt Palace Convention Center was built. It spanned across 100 South in Salt Lake City. Now, only a smart part of it remains, west of the Salt Palace, with the honor title 'Japantown Street.' The Salt Lake Buddhist Temple and the Japanese Church of Christ exist as landmarks that reflect the town's history. Yearly, Nihon Matsuri and the Obon Festival are celebrated in Japantown, focusing on Japanese culture and beliefs. Park wrote another petition about Japantown last year, focusing on , known as the Capital City Revitalization Zone, and asking that the Japanese American community be involved in the Participation Agreement between Smith Entertainment Group and the Salt Lake City Council. This petition received over 5,000 signatures. Park hopes the new one can reach the same amount. Park said that she lived half her life in L.A., and half in Utah, and was inspired by the celebration of cultural diversity she saw there. 'When I moved back, I saw that they had named 100 South between 2nd and 3rd West Japantown Street. I was like, 'Oh, that's so cool,'' she said. 'But where's the 'town' in Japantown? All that's left are the two churches. Coming from L.A., which is so culturally and ethnically diverse, it just made me really want to try to bring elements of what I experienced there back to Salt Lake because I know how ethnically rich Salt Lake is, too.' Park writes in the new petition that it remains imperative that the Salt Lake Buddhist Temple, Japanese Christian Church, and Japanese Garden remain protected and preserved as historical beacons and remaining pieces of Japantown, along with additions to celebrate the local Japanese community. 'I would love a place for me and my family to go to just on a whim. We don't have to be dependent on there being a festival happening or anything else,' she said. 'I just really saw this as an opportunity to get involved in the community again and hopefully raise awareness.' Park is grateful for all the support the petitions have received, and is asking people to continue spreading the word. Tonight, May 9, there will be an opportunity to sign the petition in person at Sugarhouse Coffee during the Sugarhouse Art Walk from 6 – 9 p.m. To learn more, visit the SLC Japantown Instagram. St. George set to host final IRONMAN race this weekend Otter-ly adorable: Help name the new river otter pup at the Loveland Living Planet Aquarium Rule banning off road vehicles in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area overturned Petiton started to bring the 'town' back to SLC's Japantown Pope Leo XIV celebrates first Mass as details emerge of how conclave votes coalesced Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Forbes
09-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
The Utah Mammoth Have A Name. For Owner Ryan Smith, There's Much More To Be Done.
Chairman Ryan Smith of Smith Entertainment Group speaks during an introductory press conference ... More announcing the Utah Mammoth on May 7, 2025 in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Photo by) Now that his NHL team has a name and logo, Utah Mammoth owner Ryan Smith is keeping his gaze set on what's to come. 'On to the next,' he said Thursday, one day after the Mammoth identity was unveiled. By that point, the club's two-minute reveal video had logged more than eight million views and its new hashtag, #TusksUp, had already been used more than 20,000 times, according to team sources. And while the new Mammoth jerseys aren't ready for sale at this time, retail sales of Mammoth merchandise at the Delta Center team store doubled the strong single-day totals that the team put up during its 'Welcome to Utah' party last April, and its draft party last June. Getting to this point has been a whirlwind. It was April 18, 2024, when the league announced the sale of the Arizona Coyotes' hockey operations to the Smith Entertainment Group for $1.2 billion. Less than a week later, players and staff were welcomed to Salt Lake City — first at the airport, then at a jam-packed Delta Center. Now, the team has completed its first season, entered Stage 2 of its arena renovations, established a temporary practice facility and will have its new purpose-built practice facility with two ice sheets and team office space ready by September. Plus, the Mammoth have established community outreach and youth hockey programs and built out a robust roster of corporate partners. 'You are executing beyond our wildest imagination,' said NHL commissioner Gary Bettman at Wednesday's media conference. 'For that — not only did we trust you, you did more than we ever could have expected, and we're grateful for that.' Gary Bettman, commissioner of the NHL, speaks alongside Ryan Smith, chairman of Smith Entertainment ... More Group, and Ashley Smith, co-founder of Smith Entertainment Group, during an introductory press conference announcing the Utah Mammoth as the permanent franchise name at Delta Center on May 7, 2025 in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Photo by) As for the name itself — Mammoth was a community effort, selected after a four-stage fan-voting process which saw more than 850,000 ballots cast. That's not for the faint of heart. But in the end, the Mammoth stampeded to a clear victory. 'When you commit to that, you're really going to have to deliver on that commitment,' Smith said. 'What if the fans don't like it? What if they come up with some really weird names that you don't like, or your design team doesn't like at all, so they're working on something they have no conviction on? To have it go the way it did, and everyone kind of land the plane, was the payoff for all the madness.' That type of customer-focused thinking — and much of the Mammoth playbook — carries over from Smith's days in the tech industry, where he founded the experience management software firm, Qualtrics. 'In tech, you learn real quick that you're not going to get everything right, and that's generally accepted,' Smith said. 'Also, you learn that when you launch something, it's not going to be right the first time, or the first iteration. And everything we build in tech is iterative. After operating at a high level in tech for 20 years, you're definitely bringing that mentality that whatever we launch is probably going to be wrong, and we're going to iterate on it. There's no pride of authorship and the customer is pretty much right. Let's give them a big seat at the table.' One example of that iterative approach is SEG's ongoing renovation plan for the Delta Center. Built for basketball in 1991, many parts of the arena didn't have proper sightlines for hockey. But Smith was confident that a solution could be found. By the beginning of the inaugural season, his team had established an initial capacity of 11,131 seats for hockey. Those seats were sold out for every game. Then, the club used its clearly-designated 'single goal view seats' for giveaways, community groups and discounted ticket programs. This summer, with an eye toward maintaining close-to-the-action intimacy for the Utah Jazz's NBA games while also making the arena more functional for hockey, work is underway on elongating the bowl, raising the floor and installing risers of retractable seats that will optimize the viewing experience for both sports. When all is said and done, the arena's capacity will be about 17,000 for hockey, and 19,000 for basketball. That also sets up hockey at the Delta Center to be the centerpiece of the 2034 Winter Olympics — which will be the first time the Olympics have been held in an NHL city since Vancouver in 2010. Smith's infrastructure projects, including the revitalization of the downtown core of Salt Lake City with the development of a sports and entertainment district between the arena and the convention center, dovetail neatly with Olympic preparations and align with SEG's mission to celebrate and elevate the state of Utah and its residents. Utah Hockey Club owner Ashley Smith drops the ceremonial first puck for Clayton Keller of the Utah ... More Hockey Club and Nick Foligno #17 of the Chicago Blackhawks prior to the inaugural game of the Utah Hockey Club on October 08, 2024 at Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Photo by) 'I can't even articulate how exhilarating this last year has been,' said Ashley Smith, SEG's co-founder, at Wednesday's event. 'We are all together at SEG and in Utah on our same goals that we started with. We're going to bring the Stanley cup to Utah. We want to do good in the state of Utah with this platform. We want to unite Utah around the Mammoth and around the Jazz, and we want to create the best fan experience in all of sports.' While Utah fell short of qualifying for the Stanley Cup Playoffs in its first season, the team's 19th-place finish in the league standings set it up for an unexpected bit of good luck earlier this week. With just a 3.2 percent chance of success, Utah's four-number combination came up in the second drawing of Monday's 2025 NHL Draft Lottery, moving the team up from 14th to fourth in June's first round. 'Good things happen to good people,' said Bettman on Wednesday. 'Luck and skill and execution and vision and passion have always been on your agenda, and it's great to see good things happen to good people — the two of you and this entire community.' The team's next top prospect will pull the new Utah Mammoth jersey over his head at Round 1 of the 2025 NHL Draft at the Peacock Theatre in Los Angeles on June 27.
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
A matter of trust: NHL commissioner praises ‘incredible vision' of Ryan and Ashley Smith
Ryan and Ashley Smith, co-owners of the Utah Mammoth and Smith Entertainment Group, are joined by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman as they pose with jerseys after a press conference announcing the Utah Hockey Club is changing their name to Utah Mammoth at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, May 7, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News It's rare that NHL commissioner Gary Bettman speaks publicly without getting booed. It's become a tradition throughout the league. But when he comes to Utah he receives no such treatment. In fact, it's quite the opposite. Bettman was just as positive about Utah Mammoth owners Ryan and Ashley Smith on Wednesday as Utah fans are about him. Ryan and Ashley Smith, co-owners of the Utah Mammoth and Smith Entertainment Group, are joined by their family and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman after a press conference announcing the Utah Hockey Club is changing their name to Utah Mammoth at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, May 7, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News He spoke at a press conference alongside the Smiths Wednesday morning at the Delta Center, following the unveiling of the team's new identity, where he shared plenty of praise for the couple. Advertisement 'You have the ability, both of you, to have an incredible vision, to motivate people and to execute beyond anybody's expectations,' he said. The agreement to move the Arizona Coyotes to Salt Lake City was done, at first, on little more than a handshake; the process had moved so fast that they didn't have time to draw up all the legal documents before initiating the relocation of the team. Trust became a necessity, and both Bettman and the Smiths exceeded each other's expectations. 'Not only did we trust you — you did more than we ever could have expected, and we're grateful for that," Bettman raved. The trust didn't stop after the pen hit the paper, either. Bettman admitted that when Smith Entertainment Group asked for the league's permission to hold a fan vote and allow the community to choose the team name, he was skeptical. But he's pleased with the result. People wait in line to shop in the team store after a press conference announcing the Utah Hockey Club is changing their name to Utah Mammoth at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, May 7, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News 'The community weighing in on the treatment of the team's identity, we thought it was crazy — but we do crazy pretty good,' he said. Advertisement Bettman also weighed in on the downtown redevelopment project, which will be funded in part by taxpayer dollars in exchange for a public benefits fund provided by SEG. 'The community weighing in on the treatment of the team's identity, we thought it was crazy — but we do crazy pretty good.' NHL commissioner Gary Bettman 'Being part of the community and making a difference in the quality of life here and transforming downtown — not just for the next few years, not just for the Olympics, but generationally — is a testament to your vision and everything you and your people accomplished," Bettman said. Ryan Smith, co-owner of the Utah Mammoth and Smith Entertainment Group, points out features of the new logo during a press conference announcing the Utah Hockey Club is changing their name to Utah Mammoth at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, May 7, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News Making a difference in the local residents' quality of life was a theme of Bettman's remarks. He commended SEG for doing so through the Learn to Play programs, which collectively saw 10,000 Utah children try out hockey for the first time. He mentioned the life skills that those children can learn through the game of hockey as a benefit. Advertisement He shared a quote from Thomas Edison: 'Vision without execution is nothing more than a hallucination.' 'Well, watching all this, I feel like I'm hallucinating,' he said. 'You are executing beyond our wildest imagination.' 'When you win the Stanley Cup, I hope I'm still doing this (job) to present it.' Kevin Hashimoto, of Sandy, looks through Utah Mammoth hoodies in the team store after a press conference announcing the Utah Hockey Club is changing their name to Utah Mammoth at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, May 7, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News Salt Lake City firefighters hoist up new signage before a press conference announcing the Utah Hockey Club is changing their name to Utah Mammoth at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, May 7, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News A person holds a Utah Mammoth hat as they shop in the team store after a press conference announcing the Utah Hockey Club is changing their name to Utah Mammoth at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, May 7, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News A Utah Mammoth shirt is displayed as people shop in the team store after a press conference announcing the Utah Hockey Club is changing their name to Utah Mammoth at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, May 7, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News A person holds Utah Mammoth hats and a signed hockey puck as they shop in the team store after a press conference announcing the Utah Hockey Club is changing their name to Utah Mammoth at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, May 7, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News Ryan Smith, joined by his wife, Ashley, both co-owners of the Utah Mammoth and Smith Entertainment Group, speaks with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman after a press conference announcing the Utah Hockey Club is changing their name to Utah Mammoth at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, May 7, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News Ryan and Ashley Smith, co-owners of the Utah Mammoth and Smith Entertainment Group, applaud while joined by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman during a press conference announcing the Utah Hockey Club is changing their name to Utah Mammoth at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, May 7, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News Ryan and Ashley Smith, co-owners of the Utah Mammoth and Smith Entertainment Group, are joined by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman during a press conference announcing the Utah Hockey Club is changing their name to Utah Mammoth at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, May 7, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News Dallin and Jessie Jackson, both of Layton, sort through merchandise for family and friends as they shop in the team store after a press conference announcing the Utah Hockey Club is changing their name to Utah Mammoth at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, May 7, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News Kaycee Anderson, of Mona, tries on a Utah Mammoth hoodie as he shops in the team store after a press conference announcing the Utah Hockey Club is changing their name to Utah Mammoth at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, May 7, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News Hunter Hiatt, center, of Clinton, and his cousin, Dalon, of Syracuse, wait in line with Utah Mammoth merchandise in the team store after a press conference announcing the Utah Hockey Club is changing their name to Utah Mammoth at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, May 7, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News
Forbes
08-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Name Not The Same: NHL's HC Becomes 'Mammoth' In 2025-26
The team that shall be named is no longer going through life as the Utah Hockey Club. The franchise has selected the 'Mammoth' as its official name, and that selection came after 13 months of consternation and four rounds of fan voting. The name Mammoth relates to a powerful, 14-foot-tall animal that roamed the Utah area 10,000 years ago. The Smith Entertainment Group made the announcement Wednesday and explained that the naming is a key step in establishing the growth of the franchise. '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,' said owners Ryan and Ashley Smith. The team colors from the team's first year Utah remain the same. The Mammoth jerseys are rock black, salt white and mountain blue. Other names that were considered included the Outlaws, Wasatch, Blizzard and Yeti. The latter name had to be taken out of the running because the hockey team could not reach an agreement with the YETI cooler company. The franchise went through its first season in Salt Lake City as the Utah Hockey Club and was often referred to as the Utah HC. The arrival of the franchise in Utah came as the NHL cut its ties with the Arizona Coyotes at the conclusion of the 2023-24 season. The Coyotes had started life in the desert as the Phoenix Coyotes in 1996-97 and changed its name to the state affiliation in 2014-15. The Coyotes made the playoffs in just one of its last 12 seasons. They finished their run in Arizona playing in the 5,000-seat Mullett Arena on the campus of Arizona State University after multiple attempts to build new facilities failed. While it appears that the team simply relocated from Arizona to Utah, the NHL made it clear that the Utah HC is considered a new franchise. It did not take the Coyotes' history with it, but this team had the same players and coaching staff that closed the previous season in Arizona. The franchise was widely accepted in its new location. Utah played at the Delta Center, the same arena that serves as the home to the NBA's Utah Jazz. The arena sold out 11,131 seats for the full season along with more than 4,000 obstructed view seats for the bargain price of $10. The team says that renovation of the Delta Center will take place in the coming years to make sure that all seats offer a complete view of the game. However, specific dates for the arena changes have not been disclosed. The first year of the team in Utah saw limited success. The Utah HC did not make the playoffs, but the team with a 38-31-13 record and 89 points. That left them seven points behind the St. Louis Blues, the team that finished in the No. 8 spot of the Western Conference's playoff structure. While the Utah HC was far from a dominant team, they were extremely competitive on the road with a 20-16-5 record. Head coach Andre Tourigny's team played with quite a bit of resilience in its first season in Utah, and the Mammoth has some legitimate talent to build around in 2025-26 and future seasons. Center Clayton Keller is a legitimate star who scored 30 goals and 60 assists for 90 points. Fellow centers Logan Cooley (65 points) and Nick Schmaltz (63 points) give Tourigny and the Mammoth strength up the middle. Defenseman Mikhail Sergachev earned a championship pedigree during his time with the Tampa Bay Lightning and is the anchor of the team's blue line after scoring 15 goals and adding 38 assists. Goaltender Karel Vemelka demonstrated legitimacy as a puck stopper with a 26-22-8 record along with a 2.58 goals against average and a .904 save percentage.
