The Utah Mammoth enter their second season with a new name. With that new name comes a new identity. With that new identity comes a new mascot.
At the team’s home opener on Wednesday night, the Mammoth introduced Tusky. The giant blue fluffy wooly Mammoth was introduced to the crowd wearing jersey number 00. Previously the Mammoth, then called the Utah Hockey Club, used the Utah Jazz’s mascot “Jazz Bear” as their temporary mascot. Jazz Bear, who is in the Mascot Hall of Fame, has been a staple in the community since his introductions in 1994 and both teams share the same ownership with Smith Entertainment Group. All it took was a simple swap of a Jazz basketball jersey to a Utah Hockey Club jersey.
Tusky emerged from a block of ice in a pregame ceremony prior to puck drop against the Calgary Flames. The name comes from the team’s rallying cry of “tusks up”. Wooly mammoths apparently lived in Utah during the ice age, and the team added in a piece for NHL.com “Tusky embodies the strength, momentum and earth-shaking presence of the herds that once roamed Utah more than 10,000 years ago.”
Fellow NHL mascots reacted to their new coworker. Gritty of the Philadelphia Flyers lamented on how he was close guessing the new mascot would be named “Tusk”. Gnash of the Nashville Predators pointed out that he is also a blue prehistoric animal. Prior to relocation (yes, we know the NHL considers them an “expansion” franchise) the Arizona Coyotes mascot was Howler the Coyote.
Tusky resembles the Mammoth’s own jersey crest logo yet they found a way to make him look both cute and cuddly while being intimidating and fierce. His listed height is 6’5”. We’re curious to learn the process of how “Tusky” came to be. Remember the team name was originally planned to be the “Utah Yeti” until copyright issues with the cooler company lead to the trademark being rejected. How quickly did the team have to pivot with a new name and a new mascot? You have to imagine if the original name was used the mascot would have been a Yeti, right? There are currently no abominable snowmen mascots in the NHL.
The Mammoth would beat the Flames 3-1 so they are technically undefeated in the Tusky era. The team currently sits at 2-2-0 as they try to push for a playoff spot in their sophomore season in Salt Lake City. Their arena Delta Center, which they share with the Jazz, underwent significant upgrades this past offseason while the team got a sparkly new training facility. Tusky is just one of the many initiatives the team is taking to firmly plant their roots for long term success in Utah.