Smith Entertainment Group’s Wednesday announcement of a sports medicine center at the South Town practice facility drew the hockey world’s attention momentarily.
The facility is the home of the Utah Mammoth, and will soon host the Utah Jazz as well. Ryan Smith, who owns both teams, envisions it becoming comparable to Real Madrid’s training complex — a campus, rather than a mere building.
From the restaurant-style kitchen to the swimming pool, hot and cold tubs, barber shop, 8,000-square foot gym and team-sized sauna, the Mammoth Ice Center has the reputation of a top-two practice facility in the NHL.
The only one that can compare, people say, is that of the Florida Panthers, where the players drive their golf carts to the rink each morning.
But the practice facility is far from the only thing NHL players have liked about the league’s newest locale.
“There’s a lot of things to like about Utah,” said defenseman Nate Schmidt, who is now playing in his sixth NHL city. “... My family and I have really, really enjoyed our time here so far this year. I mean, just the stuff you can do, the family environment and I was really impressed with our fans.”
John Marino, who has suited up for three teams in his seven-year NHL career, sees Utah as a destination for players.
“I think everyone in the league’s pretty well aware of this organization, how first-class it is,” he said. “I would assume that free agents would be excited to sign here.”
JJ Peterka, the Mammoth’s biggest off-season acquisition last summer, was asked what surprised him most.
“Honestly, the weather,“ he responded. ”It was pretty warm overall. I was kind of hoping for a little snow.
“But I think, like I said, coming here, I was so excited to have those mountains, and every day to drive down to Sandy, especially when (there) was snow up there, was so nice with the sun coming in. That was always a pleasure in the morning, driving to the practice rink.”
Sean Durzi, who’s playing in his third NHL city, appreciates the people.
“Utah as a state and just my community as a whole has made it so welcoming for myself, my family,” he said.
“I think it’s so important that we take pride in being here, we take pride in being in the community and this is home. When you play for the people around you and not only for yourself, it just gives you that much more motivation. To see the love that not only my close community has given me, but the state as a whole, it’s something to be excited about.”
Brandon Tanev, a veteran of 12 NHL seasons, agreed.
“It’s just one of those places where you’re always kind of out and smiling, people are chatting with you,” he said. “It’s one of those places where you’re very welcome.”
Durzi said he feels like a local now.
“I love it here, it’s an amazing place, I’m really, really happy to be here.”
On the ice, captain Clayton Keller sees a lot of potential in the group, which is another major factor in making players want to be in a particular area.
“I think we have a great team,” he said. “We have a little bit of everything: lots of speed, skill and we can play any style of hockey.
“You look at our team and the strengths that we have and how young we are. We’re only going to get better. We’re going to get hungrier.”
Tell me how you really feel
Of course, it would take major problems for players to say anything negative about their team — that’s how hockey players are wired, for the most part. Talk is cheap, as they say.
But with Nick Schmaltz signing a maximum-term, team-friendly extension months before he would have hit free agency, it’s probably safe to assume this is more than lip service.
Karel Vejmelka is in a similar boat with the five-year deal he signed in March 2025; Logan Cooley, Dylan Guenther and Jack McBain all committed as restricted free agents and MacKenzie Weegar waived his no-trade clause with six years left on his deal to join the Mammoth.
GM Bill Armstrong, who was with the Arizona Coyotes for their ugliest years, knows what it’s like when players don’t want to play for a team.
“When you go through a rebuild, as we did, you really understand the character of a person,” he explained after Schmaltz’s contract extension was announced. “We had a lot of people bail on us. We had a lot of people not play well, not hard, didn’t want any part of it.”
This is not that at all.
Looking forward to free agency
The Vegas Golden Knights have only been around for nine seasons, but they have already cemented themselves as a place where NHLers want to be. They have leveraged that into eight playoff runs, two Stanley Cup Final appearances and a championship — with the possibility of doing it again this season.
Salt Lake City doesn’t have the lights, weather or tax advantages of Las Vegas, but it does offer a family-friendly place with good facilities and ownership that cares. With free agency rapidly approaching, it will be interesting to see how much that reputation influences players’ decisions.
The Mammoth are always said to be interested in the big names that become available. If players truly love Utah as much as they say they do, it won’t be long before they start landing the Mitch Marner-level players that Vegas has.
“It’s really just a well-oiled machine,” said Mammoth defenseman Nick DeSimone.
