The Utah Mammoth are SHOCKING everyone…
The Utah Mammoth are shocking everyone after a very hot start to this season. What has been the key to their early success? Can they keep this up and get a wildcard spot out of this Central division? We’re going to break it all down for you guys coming up on this episode of Hatrick HQ. So, let’s just dive right on into it here with the Utah Mammoth beating the Boston Bruins last night in a very close game, 3-2 win, which extends their win streak to now three games, and they are now undefeated on home ice this season thus far. This team has looked phenomenal. I mean, over these past couple of years and over we’ve only had one year, a full year in Utah yet, but you know, when they were the Arizona Coyotes, this team was kind of on the brink of breaking out and being a good team. They got a lot of great prospects down there. Still some that aren’t on the team yet, like TJ Gilma and Caleb Denoier. Both great prospects in their own right, but this team comes out this year with the new name, the new logo, new mascot, and they’re ready to go. So, they’re buzzing. They want to get a few wins together uh for the city of Utah and show that Utah is indeed a hockey town. And they have definitely done that thus far this season. Like I said, on a three-game win streak currently, putting them tied for second in a very, very tough central division. There is a lot of great teams in here like the Stars, the Wild, the Blues, and the Jets, the Avalanche. This is a tough division and the the Mammoth kind of come out early on this season and say we’re ready to battle. We’re we want to get in the playoffs. We want to show this ownership that we are here to compete for Stanley Cup for the next coming little while. And that’s what they’ve done so far with a lot of contri contri contributions by a lot of key players here. One of those players being Nick Schmaltz. goes out, pops a hat-tick against the San Jose Sharks and has been ever since then has been putting assists on the board every night, setting up uh Keller with a phenomenal goal last night as I roll the highlight package for this guy for you guys. And the second goal here will be coming very soon. The first goal goes off Koulie’s back, but you see Schmaltz with a beautiful feed to Keller there. And uh it just shows how big of a step this player has taken. I think Nick Schmaltz might have been one guy who’s very underrated here uh in the league and has really stepped out this season and last season and said, “Hey, I’m a I’m a good player here. You know, you got to you got to think about me. You can’t just leave me alone on the ice because I’m going to make you pay for it.” And that’s what Nick Schmaltz does. And you know, having him paired with such a skilled player like Kate Clayton Keller, these guys are going to very feed off each other a lot. And you see this early on with Keller with two goals and five assists as well. They are, you know, very good chemistry between these players. And I think that’s something they have worked on a lot is just getting, you know, better as a team, understanding where what players on my line are going to be in what positions of the ice and where I need to set them up or where I need to put myself in to create the best scoring chance possible. And that is what this Utah Tah team has worked on. Dylan Gunther as well has had a really big step last season. He continues his stride this season with five points through six games. JJ Purka great acquisition for this team early on. You see four points, two and two uh for the beginning uh six games of the season. And Logan Culie uh at one point coined one of the best prospects in the world. He he’s showing that he is on pace to have a very good season here in Utah as well. And I really like this quote from the captain here, Clayton Keller, saying, “I think our team has grown a lot since past season.” I said, “We’re a more mature team. We have a lot of confidence. The guys are comfortable with one another. Our chemistry seems to be good. We’re still jelling as a team and trying to be connected as much as possible, and you just want to keep going forward and learning after every game.” And I think this is a fantastic quote and a very mature quote for the young captain here in Clayton Keller saying, “Hey, why why are we being so successful this season?” It’s because we’re growing as a team. We’re learning after every game. Whether it’s a win, whether it’s a loss, we’re still jelling. We’re still needing to try. We’re still trying to find our footing as a team. And it’s it’s you see it now a lot of these young teams. For example, the Montreal Canadians, they got a young roster similar to the Utah Mammoth where now they’re starting to gel and they’re forming into a dominant team. And I think this is the season we see the Mammoth take a big jump because, you know, they were building this team for a very long time. Before it was Utah, when it was down Arizona, and now it seems like it’s finally coming to the forefront with even more prospects in the pipeline for next season. So, this team is going to be very, very scary going forward. And hearing that, you know, they’re getting chemistry from their captain is just a huge thing to take from here. And there’s another one I want to talk about here is Caril Vmela. I think this guy has been one of the most underrated goalenders in the league for a very long time. I think he’s always been a good goalender even when the team was bad. Now that the team is looking good, his numbers are there as well. He’s 31 and1 to start the year with a 2GA and a 912 save percentage. the 6-4 Czech goalie is here this season and he has made some remarkable game-saving saves uh for this team. Go just go look at it. If you’re not familiar with Kil Vila, look up a highlight package of this guy. He is definitely one of the next best goalenders in the league in my opinion. He’s still half young as well. I mean, look, he he’s only 29. I mean, you know, he’s kind of in the prime of his career. He’s still probably got three more good seasons left. And it’s just great to see Vamela, you know, have that in them now that keeping this team in games. I mean, winning a lot of tight contests and and a big thing for the Mammoth that that they, you know, was a problem for them last year was they were losing a lot of tight games, but it seems like early on this year, they are closing out those tight games. And when you’re winning those tight games and not losing them, it definitely helps you in the standings. No doubt about it. especially, you know, in those overtime games, instead of getting one point, you are now getting two points. And it seems like something that this team has worked on this off season and something they’ve talked about extensively, uh, is how good, how can they change, and how can they be better as a team and that is just how they can do it. They can win these close games. They can bite down when it’s crunch time, tie the game late, score a winner late. This is just what this team is about now. And I think there’s no stopping this team going forward. I really like what they have built uh in Utah. I mean, just just take a look at a at, you know, the injuries right now because the team is doing this without some of their best players. I mean, Shawn Dury, he’s a great defenseman, a guy who’s been on my radar for a very, very long time. I love this guy. I think he’s a phenomenal defenseman. This is a big, this is a big loss for this team. I mean, getting Dery out. Um, he’s out now for four weeks, uh, from the latest report. This is a big hit to take, but I do think that the defensive core that they do have there with Sergeev obviously being the big man back there, I think they will be able to hold it down while Dery is out when he gets injected back into this lineup. It’s only going to help this team get, you know, be better and be more sound defensively. But it’s they are proven to uh be holding it down without one of their top guys. Also, another guy in this injury list uh that I’m keeping an eye on is Yuso Valamaki. Another defenseman who uh during his time in Calgary was very solid for that team and I think he will be very solid for this team uh in Utah when he does come back up the injury reserve. I’m not quite sure the timet on him or Kuroot as well. Uh but right now this team looks good. Looking at the the full lineup here, uh you see Keller, Hatton, Schmaltz. That line has been buzzing to start the year. And then you see Kulie, Purka, and Gunther. And I think that might be one of the sneakiest, best second lines in the entire league. A lot of great young talent there. It’s only a matter of time for them to break out. And it looks like, you know, last season we seen shades of it. Looks like this season we’re going to see them burst through the ceiling uh for this Utah team. But I want to hear your guys’ thoughts down below in the comments section. What do you think about the Utah Mammoth? Do you think that they are going to finish in the playoffs this year? Looking at it early right now, it’s looking like it. It’s going to be a tough battle in the Central, but like I said, if they can close out those tight games, there’s no reason why this team cannot make the playoffs this season. But your guys thoughts down below in the comments section. Uh, but as always, I’ve been your host, Casey. We’ll catch you in the next one.
KC breaks down the Utah Mammoth’s surprising start to the season and discusses what the key to their success has been and what they need to do to secure a playoff spot.
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