Utah Mammoth owner Ryan Smith joined the “Pat McAfee Show” on Thursday to talk about his team’s new name.
The group threw around a number of branding ideas that would make the Delta Center a must-visit building: tusk-shaped novelty cups, massive mammoth statues and a mammoth-shaped tunnel for the players to skate out of (similar to what a number of teams do with their own twists).
These are all spectacular ideas. I thought I’d add some ideas of my own.
Mammoth skeleton display
There’s no way the team could get its hands on an actual mammoth skeleton, but with the right connections and perhaps a sizable donation, they might be able to get a museum to make them a cast replica to display somewhere in the arena.
Casting is a common technique among museums to negate the risk of damaging actual fossils. They’d likely already have the mold made for their own displays, so it shouldn’t be too invasive to make another copy for the team.
I’m not sure where there would be room for a big thing like that, but Smith Entertainment Group has found ways to do trickier things. If they want to get it done, they will.
Stampede Mode
A team’s pregame presentation can really set the tone for the game. It’s important to get the crowd excited early, and “Stampede Mode” would do just that. Here’s what it is.
As the players are lining up in the hall, preparing to come out onto the ice, the words “Stampede Mode” would flash across the big screen as the lights went out. Fans (a.k.a. “the herd”) would stomp their feet and make as much noise as possible. The players would come flying out of the mammoth-shaped tunnel to the tune of a good rock song and the place would be ready for hockey.
Mammoth stomp after home wins
The Carolina Hurricanes engaged a non-traditional hockey market when they introduced the “Storm Surge” after home wins: a clapping ceremony that involved the fans and always had a different ending.
The Mammoth could do something similar, but with a mammoth stomp. It would keep the fans engaged until the very last minute and it would discourage everyone from rushing out early to beat traffic.
Mammoth goal horn and hype song
In my conversations with fans and media last season, I heard a lot of griping about the goal horn and the goal song. Now is the perfect time to change them.
The goal horn could include both a fog horn and a mammoth sound. Wouldn’t that be epic?
As far as the goal song goes, they just need something more exciting. They could kill two birds with one stone by using “House of Wolves” by My Chemical Romance, as it’s an upbeat song that begins with what could be interpreted as a mammoth roar.
Caveman mascot
Full credit goes to KSL Sports’ Cole Bagley, who posted this on X on Friday: a caveman mascot named “Clubber.”
It pays homage to the franchise’s inaugural season as the Utah Hockey Club, while continuing with the prehistoric theme.
‘Frozen in Time’
It’s a bit early for this, but someday, the team will have retired numbers to hang in the rafters. When that day comes, the ceremony should be called “Frozen in Time,” just like the mammoth.