SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — Hockey season is back in Utah.

The Utah Mammoth begins its 41-game home campaign against the Calgary Flames at the newly renovated Delta Center. To celebrate the start of the new season, fans are invited to a free to attend and open-to-the-public party at the Delta Center plaza.

According to the team, the party will start at 4 p.m. and include hours of live entertainment, family-friendly activities, giveaways and a beer garden. The celebration will also feature the “Mountain Blue carpet”, where Mammoth players will make their way into the Delta Center through a crowd of fans.

Inside the arena, crews are hard at work getting the ice ready for the first home game of the season.

RJ, an ice resurfacing technician, made several laps on a Zamboni Wednesday morning adding more moisture to the ice.

“It helps regulate the temp of the ice, make sure it’s not too cold throughout the day,” explained RJ. He added it’s a quick 10 minute process to regulate the temperature of the ice, ensuring it’s not too cold but not too warm.

During the off season, construction crews were hard at work adding a little more room for fans than they had in the inaugural season, when Mammoth was simply known as “The Utah Hockey Club.”

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In September, the Smith Entertainment Group completed phase one of the Delta Center’s renovation project, adding more than 1,100 lower-bowl seats for NHL fans. The new seating brought the official capacity for Mammoth games to 12,478 for the 2025-26 season.

The renovations also lengthened the bowl by 12 feet on each end and raised the floor by two feet, giving fans a better view of the entire rink. Nick Olyczyk, the analyst for Utah Mammoth, said the changes could make all the difference.

“As a player, when you’re on the ice and you look up and out, and you feel like the fans are right on top of you, you get an extra wind. You get a little bit more energy. All of a sudden you can skate a little faster,” said Olczyk.

The home opener will begin at 7:30 p.m. but the team said fans will want to be in their seats by 7 p.m. for a “special surprise moment” and some pregame entertainment.

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