The Utah Mammoth have been such a welcome addition to the Beehive State.
For a state that has a very small and limited history with the sport, seeing the team explode within our communities has been a pleasant
experience. From lifelong fans to beginners who don’t even know what they are looking at — my grandma — everyone has gladly hopped on the tusk train.
The new mascot, Tusky, is already an NHL favorite, the home sweaters are some of the most beautiful in the league and the in-game experience has been a blast every time I’ve gone to the Delta Center to cheer on the boys in black and mountain blue.
But there’s one thing that the Mammoth have going for themselves that makes me salivate at the thought of it: A definite playoff roster this year, and a definite playoff roster for years to come.
That’s something the Utah Jazz haven’t had going on four years now.
The Mammoth’s win over Winnipeg on Sunday boosted their record to 8-2-0, and they now sit in first place of not only the central division, but the Western Conference. That’s an .800 win percentage in only the second year of the franchise. A larger than life gift to Utahns.
I have not had this much fun with one of my favorite professional sports teams since the Utah Jazz boasted the No. 1 record in the entire association in 2020-21. It was such an exciting feeling to not just think that your team can win the finals, but to actually have some merit behind it. Yes, the Jazz’s season didn’t end how many would have liked and it more or less derailed the organization’s faith in actually winning the elusive Larry O’Brien Trophy with that makeup of players, but for a moment, the faith wasn’t misplaced. It was real.
That’s how I feel with this Mammoth team. While still very early in the season, winning on the road against Winnipeg and getting the best of the much more established Colorado Avalanche show that this team’s record isn’t a fluke. It can — it will — make the playoffs. And with the Stanley Cup Playoffs, anything can happen.
It’s also a great feeling knowing that for the rest of the decade, the Mammoth will be in the playoffs more often than not. Clayton Keller, Logan Cooley, Dylan Guenther, JJ Peterka and Karel Vejmelka will all be on this team for the foreseeable future, and will only continue to get better as their young careers progress. It’s something that fills my heart with hope.
Can the Utah Jazz get back to this level? Even if it’s not that historic 2021 season where they grabbed the No. 1 seed, for four years before that and one year after, making the playoffs was never a question. Even as bad as some of those playoff exits were, it was nice to win 50-ish games a season. It was nice to be on national television in April and May.
Can the Jazz have their own promising young core of Ace Bailey, Walt Clayton Jr., Kyle Filipowski, Keyonte George and whatever other young players you’d like to throw into that mix? Or will they always be potentially, maybe, possibly promising — which is where they are right now?
While the Mammoth’s success has been great, the idea of both the Jazz and the Mammoth having playoff battles at the same time as one another makes me excited for the state of Utah.
The Mammoth are doing their part. Now it’s up to the Jazz.
