SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Mammoth announced their arrival in the NHL last year with a rowdy arena, late-game heroics and a sparkling new logo.

One trait may end up defining the team beyond its inaugural season, though, and that is the reputation of never shying away from a fight.

The Mammoth were tied for the second-most fights in the NHL last season with 30, according to Sports Geek, and forward Jack McBain was tied for fourth individually with eight tussles to his name.

If the preseason is any indicator, that rate isn’t slowing down anytime soon, with a fight in just about every one of the seven exhibitions, beginning with a feisty opener against the Colorado Avalanche.

Alternate captain Lawson Crouse was involved in two fights with the Avs in a 3-2 loss in Denver on Sept. 21. It started with some justice served by “The Sheriff” on Colorado’s Zakhar Bardakov following a hit on Logan Cooley that resulted in the Utah center missing the rest of the preseason.

Head coach Andre Tourigny described Crouse’s leadership and character reacting in that game as “unreal,” and has since spoken more on his team’s penchant for fighting.

“I like when you see the competitiveness, defending your teammate, those kinds of things,” Tourigny said. “I like that part of the game. I like that part of hockey.”

As fate would have it, Utah heads back to Denver to face the Avalanche again in the regular-season opener Thursday, the first time the two teams have met since the explosive preseason meeting.

Bardakov is on the NHL roster for the Avalanche but didn’t play in the team’s season opener against the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday.

Still, the Rocky Mountain rivalry is sure to produce some intense moments on Thursday, especially as the Mammoth approach “Game 1 like a playoff Game 7,” as general manager Bill Armstrong said during the team’s media day.

“We’re going in to get 2 points,” Cooley said when asked if there would be any extra emotion in Denver. “And, you know, maybe put some (goals) in the back of the net, but that’ll be my talking.”

Cooley is fully healthy and ready to go for the opener as he looks to improve on his 25-goal, 40-assist season last year in his second NHL campaign. He will likely team up with fellow rising stars Dylan Guenther and JJ Peterka to form a speedy first line for the Mammoth this season.

The second forward line features a more balanced, veteran group, led by captain Clayton Keller, Barrett Hayton — who is returning from injury — and Nick Schmaltz. The third line is where the rough and tumble is likely to come in.

Leading fighter McBain teams up with Crouse — both standing 6-foot-4 — on the enforcer line. They would typically be joined by utility man Alexander Kerfoot, but the 31-year-old is currently week-to-week with a lower-body injury, so newcomer Brandon Tanev and returning veteran Michael Carcone have filled in where needed.

The metal hits the ice on Thursday, with puck drop set for 7 p.m. MDT at Ball Arena, and streamed on Mammoth+. Utah remains on the road for games in Nashville and Chicago before returning to the Delta Center for the home opener against the Calgary Flames on Wednesday, Oct. 15.

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.