The Birth of a Team: From Options to Mammoth

in early May, the National Hockey League’s (NHL) newest franchise, based in Salt Lake City and formerly known as the Utah Hockey Club, officially adopted its name: the Utah Mammoth. The selection process involved a wide array of potential names, including Black Diamonds, Blast, Blizzard, Canyons, Caribou, Freeze, Frost, Fury, Glaciers, Hive, Ice, Mountaineers, Outlaws, Powder, Squall, Swarm, Venom, and Yeti. Ultimately, the team chose a name that resonates with the region’s rich paleontological history.

The announcement was met with mixed reactions. While some expressed skepticism, others, particularly paleontologists and mammalogists, celebrated the choice. One Tampa Bay Lightning fan, self-identified as Chef Boyardipshit, humorously questioned on X, Are they collectively one mammoth? Like imagine if it was Pittsburgh Penguin.

Mammoth Gear Takes Manhattan: A Museum Adventure

Following the unveiling, Mammoth forward Alex Kerfoot, 30, and defenseman Sean Durzi, 26, embarked on a promotional trip to New York City. They showcased their new team gear on the NHL Network, at a Knicks playoff game, and, most notably, at the American Museum of natural History (AMNH), where they connected with the fossils of their team’s namesake.

Before reaching the mammoth exhibit, Durzi and kerfoot, both dark-haired, affable Canadians, found themselves captivated by the Hall of Saurischian Dinosaurs. I love the museum! Durzi exclaimed, taking a picture of a Tyrannosaurus rex skull. So cool.

Kerfoot was equally impressed by a 64-foot skeleton of an Apatosaurus, commonly known as a Brontosaurus. This thing’s huge, eh? he remarked.

Durzi reflected on the scale of these creatures: This was walking the earth at one point. Are you kidding me?

The players even pondered hypothetical scenarios involving humans versus dinosaurs. How many humans, do you think, to take down one of those guys? Kerfoot wondered.

Durzi jokingly responded, I don’t even want to-I like these guys.uh, depends. If it was me? Probably just me.

Kerfoot countered, If it was me, it would be probably ten thousand. Durzi upped the ante: Thirty thousand.

Meeting the Expert: A Mammoth education

At the Paul and Irma milstein Hall of Advanced mammals, Durzi and Kerfoot met Ross macphee, an AMNH mammalogist emeritus originally from Edmonton.MacPhee, with a specialist’s playful disdain for other fields, quipped, you didn’t like the dinosaurs, did you?

Durzi quickly clarified, No, no, of course not. We’re ready to see the mammoth.

Even Kerfoot had to admit, The dinosaurs are smaller than I thought, eh?

The mammuthus skeleton proved to be a sight to behold: nearly 14 feet tall, with dramatically curved tusks and femurs the size of hockey sticks. Kerfoot noted the importance of fierceness in a team emblem: In hockey, you want to have a little bit of fierceness as your emblem. Mammuthus fit the bill: That is what you want in a mascot. he also addressed the misconception of mammoths as slow creatures, adding, But we learned yesterday that they can run up to about twenty-five miles per hour, which is almost as fast as durz.

Durzi modestly demurred, A little bit quicker than me, I would say.

MacPhee clarified, That’s over a very short distance. This point is particularly relevant to hockey,where players typically have short shifts,averaging around 40 seconds.

The Utah Mammoth has adopted “Tusks Up” as its slogan. MacPhee explained when Mammuthus would have put its tusks up: In breeding season. Males undergo-these guys wouldn’t know anything about this-there’s hormonal changes. They go nuts, basically. And fighting is part of it. He added, The tusks are also used for digging for water-anything that a shovel at the front of your face could be good for.

Regarding potential sound effects for goal celebrations, Durzi stated that incorporating trumpeting mammoth noises was above our pay grade. MacPhee pointed out that elephants,including mammoths,have a wide range of vocalizations,including chirp-like sounds-a fitting parallel to hockey,where “chirping” (insulting opponents) is common.

MacPhee also highlighted a unique dental feature of mammoths: dentally, the mammal grew replacement teeth, back to front, throughout its life. Modern elephants can live sixty or seventy years this way. They never run out of tooth.

Durzi quipped,We could use that.

Reflecting on their experience, Durzi shared, Kerf just gave you ‘Mammoths for really, Really Dumb Dummies.’ Before departing, he looked at the Mammuthus skeleton and said, It’s what we are, and, when we’re explaining it to people, we have knowledge about it now. Now it’s kind of a part of us.